The Arithmetic of Life and Death by George Shaffner

Because there was so much to be done, they agreed not to reconvene until the consultant had finished his study and they had finished their budgets.
    Four months later, everyone got back together except for one of the original managers, who had been replaced. The consultant presented his findings in detail. Then, after a full day of review, questions, and discussion, the consultant took a third straw poll. Reginald, the consultant, and three line managers, including the new addition, now favored option one while Cecilia and the remaining three line managers favored option three. Option two, unfortunately, had been eliminated due to recent market entry by a major competitor.
    With only two alternatives remaining, Reginald turned to Cecilia. She knew, however, that the probability of 100 percent consensus on one of two equal choices among nine people was about 1 in 250. And, since ranking by order of preference would no longer be of value, she had no suggestions. The consultant, however, felt strongly that the only conscientious way of dealing with the deadlock was a detailed survey of future customer requirements.
    Pleased that the company had not made a major mistake by choosing option two, Reginald concurred. Cecilia and the line managers in charge of marketing, sales, andcustomer service all agreed to assist with the study. Because there was so much to do, and because they still had a company to run, the team agreed to reconvene in three months.
    Ninety days later, everyone met except the manager of marketing, who had resigned but had not been replaced. The consultant presented the findings of the customer survey in detail. After four hours of presentation and discussion, Reginald took another straw poll. Everyone now favored option one except Cecilia, who remained concerned that the high cost of a new software laboratory would put too much stress on the company’s limited financial reserves. Sympathetic to her position, the consultant offered to study the possibility of outsourcing software development. At that exact moment, Cecilia’s resistance collapsed. Reginald’s consensus, which had been ten months in the making, was complete.
    A few weeks later, Reginald invited his management team and the consultant to the local racetrack for some quality bonding time. By the third race, everyone had learned how to read the form and they were all placing their bets with fervor. Then, fifteen minutes before the post of the ninth and final race of the day, and possibly after a tad too much bonded refreshment, Cecilia suggested that they all bet their next paycheck on the same horse, and only to win.

CHAPTER
18

MB(U)O
     
    “The bow too tensely strung is easily broken.”
     
—PUBLIUS SYRUS
     
     
    B usinesses almost always perform better when each employee in the business knows what his or her objectives are. That is why a technique called Management by Objective, or MBO, was invented. Unfortunately, MBO may not be the most commonly practiced form of the discipline in some companies, which may explain, with the assistance of Reginald DeNiall, the insertion of the
U
in MBUO.
    After Cryptogram’s management team had so much difficulty in reaching a consensus on market expansion, Reginald DeNiall had no choice but to convince the board of directors to accept a revenue growth objective of just 33 percent for the succeeding financial year. Being a firm believer in Management by Objective, Reginald began the process of parceling out the annual goal to his management team within days of the conclusion of the board meeting.
    Most of the goal-setting process was not difficult. The exception was sales. Since the consensus had taken so long, there would be no revenue from the new market in the coming year. But the diversification would absorb virtually all of the company’s investment capacity, so the existing sales force would have to shoulder the burden of company growth.
    Reginald believed that his sales force had the capability.