A Most Unusual Artifact (9)

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Geiger leaned back again in his chair.

“Maybe you should have been here twenty years ago,” he said.  “A product like yours might have fit in then.”  A nostalgic expression came over his face.

“We used to run these ads with lots of small color pictures:  ‘At ERGOS we chop...dig...stitch...bevel...’ and so on.  Diversification.  That was the profile then.  Wall Street just ate it up.”

McGinty nodded dutifully.

“But that was twenty-five years ago.”  The executive lost his far-away look.

“Times have changed.  We've kept pace with them.  Today, we've made a commitment to excellence.  It's permeated everywhere in this corporation.  Look, it's even right here in our logo.”

He tore off a small sheet of notepad and handed it across his desk.  McGinty squinted curiously at it.

"Stick to your knitting," quoted the executive, beginning to pace around his desk.  “That's one of the first points of excellence.  We've taken that to heart."

McGinty wasn't sure what to say.

"We're streamlining all our operations.  We’re integrating our product lines.  We're working to make it all fit together like the notes in a symphony.   And when we've got it working like that, we'll gladly stand toe to toe in competition with anybody in the world."

McGinty beamed appreciatively at this.  It was obviously a speech that Geiger had spent some time working on.

The executive's focus returned to the smaller confines of the room.

"But I'm afraid that just doesn't leave much room for your product."

McGinty blinked and tried to find words.

"The fact is, we don't have a product line where it would even begin to fit."

"But if it...works..."

"Well, we can't very well go back to the days of non-integrated product lines.   We have to keep pace with change.  Have to stay organizationally lean, if we want to be competitive."

He looked searchingly at McGinty.

"I know that may sound confusing, to a layman.  Certainly a lot more than just 'Buy low, sell high.'  It's all gotten so much more complex than the public realizes..."

McGinty put the bottle incredulously back into the bag.  He hesitated before rising from his chair.

"You know, maybe you could try a venture capitalist," the executive suggested.   His voice had drifted into a less theatrical, more natural register, and it had a ring of genuine concern.

© COPYRIGHT 1994 ROBERT WINTER.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.