Corporation: The Game - Update

I had multiple responses - whether in posts or in e-mail - to the first post about the goings on at my company. Some of those responses showed concern for my future employment at the company. Others encouraged me to see a silver lining. As a person who likes to balance I listened to both and then set out to do my own analysis of the ongoing situation. Since I know that most - if not all - of you have some concern about my welfare as evidenced by those responses, I thought I'd follow up from time to time about the opportunities and challenges at my job. Not to mention the fact that I think this would make a great story some day... perhaps even a short novel.

I left off on that Friday (8/29) when all hell broke loose. We had just attended a meeting at the Westin to listen to our new CEO, Ed, explain to us what had happened that day. The restructuring of the company. The mutual agreement for Erik to leave. The push to create a vision for our company. The push to make the company more profitable.

We had the weekend to think about it. And Labor Day to boot. I celebrated the end of the Softball World Series. I followed - somewhat - the opening day of college football. I set up my 'Random Rejoinders' blog to be viewed by the public. In essence, I tried to forget about what had happened.

And then I stepped into the Darth Vader building on Tuesday. I rode the recycled elevator to the 9th floor - successfully - and went to my desk. Toasted a bagel. Poured some tea. Got to work. Nothing had changed. I almost expected that Erik would walk around the corner. But no, that was real. Still, there wasn't much difference.

Now, before you start wondering - if you're wondering - if there was any talk of Erik that Monday - and even during that week - well, there was. There were those who had spoken to him over the Labor Day weekend, who heard his side of the story and told it. And then there were those who told a different story about what had happened. I heard that he left of his own accord; I heard that it wasn't his choice. I heard that there was a specific cause; I heard that he just didn't agree with the company's direction. I heard so many things about how and why Erik left that I choose not to discuss any of them lest this post turn into a gossip column.

Instead, I move forward with the happenings at the company. Well, I've already told you that there aren't many. So, I decided to start asking some questions. The first person? Well, the CEO of course. Now, you must understand that I feel that I know Ed relatively well. He went out on a limb and hired me at the company (another story). And then he took me into his accounting department fold and treated me exceptionally well. I have respect for the man based on past experience. So, it was nothing for me to knock on the door and start asking a few questions.

After I sat, I told Ed as clearly and as succinctly as possible that I didn't think my talents were being adequately used within the company. In addition, I told him that I hadn't really deployed a project since the third quarter of 2007 because all of my projects had been canceled for reasons completely out of my control.

He responded that he understood and already recognized the fact that the company was lacking a corporate vision. He said that Lone Star has a vision for us and, effectively, we have to see if we can insert ourselves into that vision. He told me it begins with a business management strategy named Six Sigma, a strategy that has increased production at companies like GE and Motorola. Pointing to his bookshelf, he offered for me to borrow any of his numerous books on the subject. He then told me that he intended for the project management group to be extracted from the Information Technology realm and placed at the Business Process realm to ensure that the company - on the whole - was proceeding as efficiently and effectively as possible with as little waste and error as possible.

A whole lotta jargon to say that the company's going to be restructured in its entirety, but not so quickly and immediately that it would send all of the employees reeling. Do I need to look for another job, I asked. He said he couldn't yet say, but he also said that if I was willing to immerse myself in Six Sigma methodology and drink the 'Kool Aid' then I'd be fine.

As we concluded our informal meeting, Ed added, 'I liked your blog'. I discovered that Ed has his search engine set to alert him any time my company's name is used. And so, because I did use the company's name in that post, he read the post and even commented. I wasn't sure exactly what to think when he said that to me. Either 'Big Brother is watching' or 'Cool, somebody's actually reading my blog'.

After that discussion, I decided that I wanted to know more about Lone Star. Well, it's almost 11 here and even if it weren't I wouldn't want to bore you with details with which you can bore yourself by simply searching for them in Google. But, I will say that Lone Star is in the process of buying out failing international banks - most recently in Germany. From these banks they will acquire billions - no, hundreds of billions - of dollars in bad debt. In what kind of business does my company engage? American Bankrupt debt. Not a far cry, if you think about it. A merger here, a buyout there and suddenly my company will be servicing some Bavarian family's bad debt.

Many questions remain. Can all of this work be outsourced? Can the operational part of the business be shipped to somewhere like Dallas or Oklahoma City where it's much cheaper to operate? Can this company grow to become a powerhouse company in the market? Will I have a job at this company in 6 months? in a year?

I don't know. But I do know that I hadn't asked these questions before that fateful Friday.