It's Not Luck - Eliyahu M. Goldratt [90]
She thinks about it. At last she says, “I would feel much better if I knew that you had a plan. Not just for your companies, but for yourself. Is it too much to ask?”
Contrary to the common opinion, I hate to plan. Especially when Julie is involved. I know my wife. When she is talking about a plan, she doesn’t mean some vague list of actions. She will maneuver me into performing a meticulous analysis. In this regard, she is more Jonah than Jonah.
However, nothing is bad about it. It’s good to have a plan.
“I must agree with you,” I say. “The time has come to put together a rigorous plan.”
“Do you have enough intuition about the subject?” Now Julie is all business.
“I think so.” It’s not as if I haven’t thought about it the last few months.
“Good.” A pad appears in her hand. “As long as we’re talking about you—not UniCo, not your companies, not your people—but you, do you have any quarrel with the following objective: ‘Get an equal or better job’?”
When Julie moves, she moves.
“No quarrel.” I try to be as practical as she is.
“If that’s the case, I think that we agree on the Thinking Process we should use,” she says categorically.
“Yes. The Prerequisite Tree.” I’m also a good student of Jonah’s.
“Okay, start to raise obstacles.”
Now, I know that this might sound strange. If we want to reach an ambitious objective, why start by raising obstacles? Isn’t it counter-productive?
But this is Jonah’s way. As he puts it, “Always start with a step that people are expert at performing.” And everyone of us is an expert at bitching and moaning. In other words, coming up with all the reasons why it can’t be achieved, raising obstacles.
“We still don’t have a marketing solution for Stacey’s company. This is a big problem.” I start to bitch.
“Agreed.” Julie writes it down. “More.”
“The profits of Pete’s and, even more, Bob’s companies are still far from being satisfactory. I know that we took the proper actions but it’s not yet in the bag. If we have to sell them now we are not going to get much.”
“I’m writing it as two obstacles,” Julie informs me. “One is ‘Profits of Pete’s and Bob’s companies are abysmal.’ And the second, ‘Values of Pete’s and Bob’s companies are low.’ Okay?”
“Fine,” I agree. “Now take what we discussed at dinner. This issue is not yet complete. In spite of what I said I don’t yet have a clear understanding of the buyers’ needs. At least not to the extent that I can put together a persuasive enough presentation.”
“Why is it so important?” she asks.
“What are you talking about?” I’m surprised. “How else can I leverage the price of Pete’s and Bob’s companies?”
She writes it down and then says, “Alex, will you please start to address the real obstacles. If you want to get an executive vice-president position in a substantial company, you must have excellent recommendations from respectable and powerful people. It’s essential.”
“Yup, it is. Add it to the list.”
“Well?” she says.
“Well, what?”
“What about some more obstacles of that sort. You know much more about it than I do.”
“You are doing very well,” I encourage her. “Please carry on.”
“As I understand it, there aren’t many jobs like that waiting to be filled.” She doesn’t like that she has to bring it up.
“What an understatement. But remember, to get one of the few that are there, recommendations are not enough. I must have an outstanding record. Otherwise I don’t stand a chance; the internal people are the first to be considered. And Julie, so far, as an EVP, I don’t have an outstanding record.”
“Turning around your companies from bottomless pits into what they are today is not enough?”
“No. Not if they are sold for less money than what they were bought for. Besides darling, you’re ignoring Stacey’s company. As it stands now, it’s going to be sold for demolition. Any executive carrying a black mark like that can kiss good-bye any chance of getting