Thad stood just outside the meeting area. He checked his hair, markers for colors, and tried to shake off his nervousness. Just another presentation, he lied to himself. It’s never Just.
The Cave, used only by executives, was the meeting location he was given. Can they not call meeting rooms by
number? Upon entry, he understood the reason for the name. Whatever this place had been converted from, had not done any favors to its layout. Seats were in a semicircle and there was only one source of light. It felt more like a place to conspire than to present.
Thad reassured himself. It doesn’t matter. The presentation practically sells itself.
#
The last few people that were seated were an older man and the head of HR. The man’s hair had just enough gray in it to convey wisdom and he wore the classic dark gray that said “C” level executive.
Thad cleared his throat, “Good afternoon everyone…”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” said the man. “I’m very busy today. I can only spare a few minutes, so let’s cut through the crap. What are you selling this time?”
Thad swallowed, hard. “Uh, yes. Sir. Yes Sir.” Thad pulled out a red marker. “I’m aware that our… your company, the company’s growth has stagnated. After interviewing key people over that last few days, I think the problem with growth is tied to your acquisition,” Don’t place blame! “The acquisition of raw materials.”
The man in the gray suits frown deepened.
“Well,” Thad continued. “It seems, the business trips for acquiring could be more efficient by adding two more head count and then splitting into two teams.” Thad was frantically drawing stick figures to represent groups of people. “The smaller teams would be more agile. And with a small amount of extra work per individual, you… we could bring back twice the volume you do today.”
The man nodded slowly. “Show me what that strategy would look like.”
“Are you a fan of hunting analogies?”
The man barely moved, but Thad got the meaning.
Thad turned around and drew a few animal stick-figures. “The single team is in competition with a few other groups. They can only pull from the herd one potential asset at a time. That hinders us on the material side. We can maintain our current level with one transaction, but if it fails, we are left looking for scraps to keep your group hobbling along. But, if we use two teams, here and here, we could work on two assets. The odds of both teams failing are minimal, but we could gain the materials for doubling our production. I understand that this might cause us a few small logistic issues, but I’ve got some state-of-the-art techniques to help manage that more efficiently.”
The man looked at the picture. Eventually he said, “I’m concerned about my people becoming lazy and wasteful. We are well known for using all of our resources, and it can be difficult to keep up efficiency when there is an abundance of raw materials.”
“That could happen.” Thad felt a drop of sweat slowly moving down his neck. “But, I’m sure with proper training and strong… your leadership, that can be overcome.”
#
Thad watched the faces of the men; they were staring at the diagrams he had drawn. “I, I can wait outside, if you would like to discuss.”
The Chief Elder stood. “Not necessary, I have made my decision. We will try your new hunting strategy this season. If it is as effective as you claim, we should have plenty of meat for our growing tribe. If you are wrong, well, perhaps we will eat you.”
Thad took in a deep breath. “You won’t be disappointed.” He turned and picked up some wet clay to cover his drawings with.
The Chief stopped him, “Leave it, we’ll use it to help train our hunters on your new technique.”
Thad dropped the clay and left his drawings on the wall. “Yes sir, thank you sir.”
#
Thad went back to his thatched hut with the same question circling in his head, Was the Chief serious about eating me? Thad shook his head to clear it. What a bunch of Neanderthals.
