“Yes, Mr. Harroll. I understand,” Juan was doing his best to calm the irate customer in front of him.
Mr. Harroll was the Production Manager for PhoenixData Nexus, a new data center scheduled to come online in the summer. Juan was overseeing the construction of a massive bank of steel shelving designed to hold the enormous computer servers that were waiting to be installed. Something had gone wrong with the delivery, and Juan had tried to make his team “look” busy while he tried to figure out the problem. But the Production Manager wasn’t buying it.
Mr. Harroll was screaming at Juan.
“We can’t finish the install without those parts…” Juan tried to explain. “No sir, I don’t know what happened…”
To make matters worse, no one at Juan’s company was answering his phone calls. They’d left him out here alone to face the wrath of this man. Juan didn’t have any answers, and he didn’t have any way to get them unless he personally drove across town to find out.
Retreating at last from the string of accusations, insults, and lawsuit threats, Juan dismissed his team for the day and headed for his fabrication plant. He burnt rubber as he squealed out of the parking lot and banged his hands against his steering wheel while issuing a string of his own invectives directed at everyone whose responsibility it was to support him at these remote sites. “You cabróns are not going to answer my phone calls? You’re gonna be sorry when you have to answer to my face!”
Juan’s anger was overmatched by the chaos he encountered when he arrived at the metal fabrication plant. There was a tumbled stack of 20-foot-long, quarter-inch angle iron laying haphazardly across the welding platform where they’d slipped from the forks of an overturned forklift. Nearby, a growing puddle of murky water was expanding beneath a delivery truck that was partially crushed beneath a pile of sheet metal.
Inside that delivery truck were the parts Juan needed for the PhoenixData job.
“Is everyone OK?” Juan cried, rushing forward to help lift corrugated metal off the hood. He regretted his lack of gloves. This steel could slice him in an instant. But there was no time to lose. He’d just have to be careful.
“He’d better be dead!” Richard Thompson, Juan’s boss, shouted back with a curse. He was also helping clear debris. His presence indicated the severity of the situation. Richard never came out of the office. “Because if he’s not, I’m going to kill him myself!”
It took hours to restack the steel, repair the broken water pipe, and rush the hapless employee to the emergency room. The kid was going to be all right. He’d suffered a mild concussion after backing the delivery truck into a support column. It was a rookie mistake, one that would cost plenty.
Back in the office, Richard offered Juan a cup of coffee.
“No,” Juan waved it away. It was late in the afternoon.
Richard poured himself a cup, then, from a drawer, produced a small metal flask. He dosed his coffee liberally and swirled it briefly before taking a sip.
“What happened?” The crisis had temporarily abated Juan’s anger over the PhoenixData job. But now that it was past, Juan needed some straight answers.
“New kid,” was all that Richard offered by way of explanation.
“What happened to Felipe?” Juan demanded, “Where’s our regular delivery crew? I didn’t see any of those guys.”
“I had to let them go yesterday.” Richard took another swig from his coffee cup.
“Why?” Juan’s exclamation was less a question than an accusation.
Richard glowered at him from beneath bushy gray eyebrows. He took another swig of coffee. “You know why.”
Juan did understand. Richard had been looking for ways to cut costs for months. By laying off an experienced (and expensive) delivery crew and replacing them with new hires, he’d tried to save some money.
“Ah!” It was a guttural sound of pure frustration. Juan pointed angrily out the door towards the shop floor, “How much money did you save today, Richard?” he shouted.
Richard slammed down his cup. “Dammit! Don’t you think I know that?” He fired back. “What do you want me to do, Juan? The price of steel has nearly doubled, and the few contracts we do have are mostly locked in. There’s only so many change orders we can do before we lose business!”
“You don’t save money by cutting your best guys!” Juan objected.
Richard hung his head, “Juan, at the rate this is going, if I don’t find ways to cut costs, we’re not going to last through the end of the year. Everything’s on the table, including my best guys.”
“At this rate,” Juan pointed again, indicating the disaster on the shop floor. “We’re not going to make it through the end of the month.”