One
Late for a Very Important Date

Bob the Manager woke up earlier than usual one Monday morning. He always set his alarm for 6:00 A.M. so he had time for a half-hour walk around the small lake that was two short blocks from his house. This day, though, his alarm went off at 5:30 A.M. That's because he had a 7:30 A.M. breakfast meeting with his boss, Dave.

Bob was a little apprehensive about the meeting. He wasn't sure his longtime dream of being promoted from Team Manager to Group Manager was coming true, or if the meeting would spiral downward into an unwelcome discussion of a few minor "performance issues" in his past.

In any event, by rolling out of bed a half hour earlier, he'd have time for his walk and would still be able to make the meeting on time.

Bob completed his brisk walk, took a quick shower, sprayed on his favorite cologne, got dressed, and tied a perfect knot in his most "corporate" tie. He hadn't worn a tie for several years—what with the advent of relaxed dress codes in the business world—so he struggled a bit with that stupid knot.

Then he strapped on his very expensive, highly accurate Swiss watch and noted the time. Oops! He was running a tad behind. Getting dressed "just right" had taken more time than he'd anticipated.

Not to worry, Bob the Manager thought. I can make up some time on the road, he assured himself. He threw his PDA—his palmtop computer—and his sleek aluminum-clad laptop into his computer bag and got into his car.

He glanced at his watch again. He compared it with the clock in the car. Yep. Still running behind. Better call Dave.

When he reached the next red light, Bob the Manager dug through his computer bag, found his PDA, looked up the number, and called his boss.

"Dave here," said the voice on the other end.

"Dave, this is Bob. I'm running a little behind. Are you at the restaurant yet?"

"Yes," said the voice. "And so far, you're fifteen minutes late."

"I know. I've run into traffic," Bob said, even though he knew that traffic this day was no worse than usual. He could easily have allowed for it if he had thought things through ahead of time. "I'll get there as soon as possible."

"Good," said Dave. "I've got a full day going here."

When Bob arrived, he parked his car and practically ran to the door. He was out of breath when he walked inside and scanned the restaurant for Dave.

"About time," Dave said when Bob approached the table.

"Sorry, Dave. I hate to keep you waiting," Bob huffed and puffed, still gasping for oxygen. He took his seat and looked at Dave with considerable embarrassment.

Dave hesitated for an uncomfortable length of time before he finally responded. "Bob, how long have you been with Algalon Micro?"

"Six… no, seven years, I think."

"Seven is about it," Dave agreed. "And what concerns me is that in all that time, you still don't seem to have grasped what's really important to us."

Bob the Manager began to tense up. "I'm really sorry, but what have I missed exactly?"

"This is a fast-moving business, Bob. Technology advances not by the year, or month, or even week. We are on the fast track. My view is that things change daily. As the saying goes, 'The cheese has moved.' And it keeps moving at lightning speed."

Copyright © 2004 by The Blanchard Family Partnership and Priority Multimedia Group, Inc.