The Future Firing Procedure

In over a two decades working as either a publisher or editor in newspapers and magazines, and one decade as a restaurant owner, I had never nor was I a victim of FFP. I found it rather comical that someone would implement FFP without knowledge of the circumstances, but assumed it was one of general electric's Indian procedures that fit perfectly with his quirky dysfunctional characteristics that made one have bittersweet feelings for the little guy.

Yes, only an arrogant narcissist with enough insecurity to keep the other half of the co founder's shrink's couch full would fire one over the phone and offer a future termination date.

Like everything else in the company, from the framework used to build platforms and sites to the framework used to build an organization, the structure and leadership was shaky, at best.

And, just like everything in life, without structure and framework – a blueprint of sorts- you cannot have a successful company.

After the hang-up, I knew I would have a week to plot my course and to look at the past and the future. I immediately went back to the day almost four years earlier when I asked what their mission statement was. The co founder's reply an oddity both then and now: "We don't have a mission statement. We don't need one. We change on a regular basis."

No kidding.

I knew then the road ahead would be rocky but I also knew that you don't have to go to Harvard to get a great education. And, if I paid attention, I knew I could learn as much about the Internet and its relationship to the automotive industry by working for a fledgling company as I could by working for a company that was successful. I also knew from the subordinate position of The Co Founder, the slap dog in the eyes of general electric, that it would be impossible to implement anything unless it was the general's idea. So my first plan of implementation was to make sure he stole as many ideas as possible. He obviously stole the golf tournament idea.

I knew for a company that had absolutely no experience in golf tournaments or even country clubs it would be a great adventure to hold a national tournament in ten cities and agreed to oversee the event. The plan seemed relatively sane. Except for the lack of funding needed to organize and execute the event correctly, everything else was in order, with the exception of a true committment for the Pebble Beach event. Would the championship ever really take place at Pebble Beach? We were all skeptical.

The sales representatives that were told to get the potential clients to the tournaments knew little, if anything, about golf. I admit I know nothing about golf and really don't care to learn. However, I do know about sailing, and if someone where going to ask me to participate in a sailing regatta and they knew nothing about it I would probably decline. Especially if I assumed the outing was going to be sales based. Essentially that's what happened to our tournaments. Low turnout, low sales and low morale.

The company's ringer, however, was the new sales manager, Don Cane, who came with an impressive resume and a great spirit. Unfortunately for Don, he had no idea how the dysfunctional duo of general electric and The Co Founder would impede his progress. His goal, once hired was to organize, develop and expand the sales team. What he didn't know was that the company was having difficulty delivering the product it had already sold so to sell more would begin an implosion of dynamic proportion.

As Don was organizing, The Co Founder was fending off the problems from disatisfied clients and general electric was telling everyone to stay out of support. It was sitcom material except nobody was sponsoring the show.

Tomorrow: Why general electric calls them "Suckers".