HOW SENIOR MANAGERS THINK

Abstract

It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well. René Descartes Jim LeBlanc phoned Steve Baum, who formerly worked in his division, to ask about the CEO's new corporate task force on quality control that wanted to meet with Jim. Jim, the head of the industrial equipment division of Tanner Corporation, thought that Steve, now director of technology, could help him figure out why the task force wanted to meet with him in two weeks. “It's because you're doing so damn well down there, boss!” Steve replied. “Gee, thanks. By the way, Steve, what's the agenda for Singer's staff meeting for next week?” (Singer was the president and Jim's boss.) “Well, we're going to talk about the reorganization and look at the overhead reduction figures for each division. Then Singer's going to report on last week's executive committee meeting and his trip to Japan.” “How did it go?” “His telex from Osaka sounded enthusiastic, but he just got in last night and I haven't seen him yet.” “Well,” said Jim, “I guess we'll just have to see, but, if you hear something, call me right away because if Osaka comes through I'm going to have to hustle to get ready, and you know how Bernie hates to shake it. Now, about the task force..” In the space of three minutes, Jim LeBlanc got a lot done.