It's Not Luck - Eliyahu M. Goldratt [74]
“Well, he came up with an interesting idea.”
“Yes?”
“It has many pluses . . . ” He starts to fudge. “You know . . . ” I know my boy. The next sentence will be, “Sorry, forget it” and he’ll disappear.
“Dave, what is Herbie’s idea?”
“You know that Herbie is as crazy about old cars as his father is.”
“And as you are,” I Cannot resist the temptation to add.
He smiles. “Nothing compared to them. You know the collection that they have. Six antique cars. One cooler than the other.”
“Yes, I know,” I assure him before he tells me again about Herbie’s father’s hobby. It’s nice to have such a hobby. The problem is that first you have to be a millionaire.
“So,” Dave returns to the issue, “Herbie wants us to buy an old wreck and rebuild it. He found a fifty-six Olds ninety-eight convertible. It’s falling apart. The engine is one solid block of rust but the chassis is okay. And the body can be nicely restored. It could be a real beauty.”
I keep quiet as he rambles on.
“Herbie knows where we can buy the parts that we’ll need. He even located an old transmission. It’s a fifty-nine model but we think it’ll fit. Herbie and I are pretty good mechanics. I think that we can turn it into almost a collector’s item. It has a lot of potential.”
“So what’s your problem, Dave? Do you want me to lend you money for it? That’s the advice you want?”
“No, not at all.” He seems somewhat offended, as if he never before asked for money. And for much worse purposes.
“Sure?”
“Quite sure. I think that we can manage ‘with less than fifteen hundred dollars. And I have enough for my share. I still have most of the money I made last summer. Besides, grandma promised me five hundred for my eighteenth birthday. Maximum I’ll need is a short-term loan.”
From past experience I’m starting to suspect that short-term loan, in my kids’ vocabulary, means to be repaid from their inheritance. And my mother intended the gift to be for Dave’s pocket money this fall when he goes to college. But what the heck, rebuilding a car from almost scratch will be good for him. I think that he can do it.
“I’m not sure about a loan,” I say. “But if that’s not the problem, what is?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “I have an uneasy feeling about it.”
“Any real reason?”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid that Herbie won’t be able to come up with his share, and I’ll end up financing the whole thing myself.”
“How are you going to manage that?”
“Don’t worry, Dad. It will never happen. I’d rather drop the project in the middle. I don’t think it’s likely, Herbie claims that he can get the money. I don’t know. There are more problems than that.”
“Like?”
“Like, who will take the car, when? Right now we go out together, but . . .” He starts to fudge again.
I let him ramble for a while. “I think I understand,” I finally say.
“So, Dad, what should I do?”
I don’t know what to answer. Herbie’s idea sounds okay, it seems they know what they’re getting into. But there are pitfalls, many things that might go wrong. Should I advise him to go ahead? Or to drop it?
Whatever I recommend, one thing is sure, before long I’ll be blamed for my recommendation. I almost cop out by saying, let me think about it, when I realize what I should do.
“Dave,” I start slowly, “whatever advice I give you, will you follow it without question? I hope not. So ask yourself, what good will it do?”
“It will help. I respect your opinion Dad.”
“Frankly, I don’t know what advice to give you. It’s not a simple matter, there are pluses and minuses on both sides.”
“Yes,” he sighs, looking disappointed.
“But there is a way I can help you,” I say. “I can teach you how you can make the decision. Without compromises, and without guesses.”
“Oh, come on. Can you? Even when it looks like there is no decisive answer?”
“Let’s go to my study,” I say, standing up.
“I hope it’s not too complicated,” he mutters, following me.
We sit down at my desk, and I give him a dime. “Heads is go ahead. Tails is tell Herbie to drop it.”
“That