About the Battle
Battles rage every day in every aspect of life. I am reminded today of a past battle which I feel is instructive and which I will characterize vaguely and with pseudonyms and made-up settings. It is a battle fought over a decade ago, so I suspect the statute of limitations (defined by law and by life) has long expired. Most involved in the battle probably wish it would just be forgotten, but I am burdened with the memories.
The players besides me were the scientist (George) and his handler (Slick), both who worked for me. Then there was the overseer (Benny), who worked for me, but was the wizened hand who was placed there by the Gods on Olympus to watch the proceedings. And there was the risk guy (Slim), who had 20-something years of experience in the products at hand and was in place specifically to curtail risk. Finally, there was the lawyer (Apollo) who was there to opine on all the legalities both precedent and ongoing. There were obviously lots of other people involved at the edges, but these are the players that matter to this story.
George and his team were experienced and smart guys who had a very successful product that they had sold far and wide. They had performed admirably for over three years and were team players. They worked well with their handler, Slick, who managed the business end of the business, but was not a specialist who could have gotten into the weeds of the product. The product was highly sophisticated and not easily understood by many other than George and his team. It was all overseen by the experts, Benny and Slim with Apollo also watching for foot-faults. Slim was the “senior statesman” who had supposedly seen it all and was not-so-secretly advising the brass upstairs about the risks and the goings-on on a day-to-day basis. Apollo’s job was to manage the risk of the product and formally advise me and the business at large of those risks. I sat atop this and many other product teams selling a wide variety of products, but this product had been one of our stars.
Over the span of several months, the product got into hotter and hotter water and looked to be heading for a major debacle. We were all alternately optimistic and cautious because the ebb and flow of markets tell us not to panic too quickly because things sometimes correct. Then again, sometimes things go from bad to worse. In this case, they went from bad to worse.
The point of this story is not to delineate the rise and fall of this product or even of this team, but to examine the manner in which people acted during the battle. I find it instructive for purposes of assessing the players in many following and future battles.
I am reminded of an incident twenty years before this particular battle when a team member on a trading desk had a seizure one morning in the midst of the morning’s activity. Watching the way people reacted to the event was very telling. They broke into three categories; the take-charge people, the run-away people and the people who became frozen bystanders. The take-charge rush in and do whatever they can to help the man. The run-away do precisely that, they head for the hills and rationalize it all later (usually there is deep psychological reason they claim was to blame for their exit). And the majority of the people stand idly by and call for help or kibitz with suggestions while not fully engaging. Some say they were stunned. Some say they were not qualified. Some say whatever they have to say to not feel bad about being of minimal help.
That’s pretty much the way the people in this battle break down. George and team worked the problem, but with declining confidence of those around them. They were, after all, the perpetrators of the problem. And yet, they were the most qualified to work the solution, if there was one. Slick was a take-charge person with a strong sense of self-preservation. He jumped into the trench with the other team soldiers and lent a hand while being cautious where he stepped and was always ready with an exit plan. Apollo hung around the edges of the trench and advised form a distance, not wanting to soil his shoes in the trench itself. I was in the trench with George, the team and Slick, trying my best to understand who to believe and not expecting that an exit for me (this was happening on my watch) was even remotely possible.
The interesting action was the inaction by Benny and Slim. The two people charged informally and formally with watching that nothing bad happened in this or any other product area were nowhere to be seen. Benny took an ill-timed vacation in the form of a road trip where he was largely incommunicado. Slim went and opted for some elective surgery at the moment of truth. The point was, they were some combination of run-away and innocent bystander types in this Kabuki. I would argue that George and team were honorable warriors who stayed to fight while Benny and Slim were the opposite.
As for Slick and Apollo, they fall somewhere in between. They tried to be helpful, but its hard to be fully helpful if you don’t want to get your shoes dirty. I never seem to care about my shoes. What this all tells me is that the kind of guy I want to be at all times is the kind that is both helpful and honorable. The run-away people are unfortunate, but inevitable. My best advice to the in-between bystanders is that they are not doing themselves any favors standing close to the problem but hanging back. Either jump in the trench and your shoes be damned or run away far enough not to catch any of the splatter. Obviously, I would never recommend running away, but some people are just not up to the fight and I’d just as soon not have them in the trench reminding me how stupid I’m being ruining my shoes.