Who: Alec and Graham Urquhart What: Whizz Hard 2: Whizzier and Harder When: Monday October 16, 1999, late morning (backdated) Where: The Office Warnings: Father Son chatting
“Alec, stay a bit”, Graham said. The staff meeting was over, projects that were in trouble were assigned help, projects that were doing well were reviewed, and Graham was going to bring up Friday’s dinner at the castle, as soon as they were alone.
Alec was already half out of his seat when he heard his name called, and had to resist sighing at his failed escape. Nobody else blinked as they left the room, why would they, this was the boss talking to his son. But Alec really wished he could've escaped what he knew was not going to be a conversation about business.
Taking his seat again, Alec pursed his lips and rested his hands over the folder in his lap as they waited for the last of the staff to filter out. It was only when the last person left did he turn to face his father and wait for the inevitable.
Once the door was closed, Graham composed his thoughts. “I don’t want to leave things where we left them Friday night, because that’s not good for anyone. While I want to resolve the issues we’ve uncovered, what I really don’t want is them spilling over into Whizz Hard. So, let’s start with the simplest question I have. Are you going to be able to keep working for me, here?”
The question took Alec by surprise, and he was so bewildered by it he didn't bother hiding his reaction. A part of him was offended, but he was too surprised to take it as badly as he might've otherwise.
"Friday has nothing to do with Whizz Hard. And it doesn't change what I do at the company. It just changes my expectations of...you, and why I thought you wanted me here." Alec looked down at his hands folded on top of the folder in his lap, the hurt from Friday bubbled up but he did his best to squash it down and think what it meant practically. "I obviously was wrong about some things and I clearly expected something else about me being in Whizz Hard than you did. So if I'm just an employee here then I can't expect what I used to. I'll stick to the projects I'm given and I'll make sure they're up to quality, you don't need to worry about that."
“Not at all what I’m worried about. You’re my son. One day, Merlin willing, you’ll own all this. I want you to know it inside and out so you can use it to keep the family prospering. But, I know men who can’t work with someone they can’t break bread with, so I needed to ask. If you’re wondering, I want you right where you are, doing what you’re doing, and it’s not just because you’re a good employee.
“But, as your father, I’d like the knives at the dinner table to be reserved for the meat, so I want to try to come to a better understanding of why you’re upset. Despite my reputation to the contrary, I do want to listen.”
Alec tapped his fingers against his folder lightly, playing out a familiar song on a nonexistent piano as he thought how he should put things, and if he should even say them. But maybe now was better than never.
“I thought...the point of wanting me here, in Whizz Hard, was that you wanted me to learn how you do things so that one day when I need to take the reins on things, I know how. And I don't mean just Whizz Hard, I thought this was just an entry point. I mean...all of it. I thought I was trying to show you I was reliable and could be trusted so that you'd want me in your confidence. I don't know how I can learn how you sort through things and pick what's important if I never hear of anything unless it's from other sources.”
Alec tried not to look up as he finished. “I didn't think I was doing that badly or had done anything for you not to trust me. But either I've misunderstood the point of all this or I haven't done well enough to earn your trust yet.”
Graham listened, trying not to take notes. This wasn’t a note-taking kind of meeting. “I agree on the goals side. We are 100% aligned there. There’s an additional goal of putting you in the trenches so that when you do take over, our suppliers, workers, and customers feel they are in experienced hands. That’s why you have our most important product line to manage. And that’s on track, so I have no issues there.
“So, why do you think I don’t trust you?”
Alec looked up to meet his eyes, confused but not irritated like he’d been at dinner. “I think you trust me to do my work well and not embarrass or leave a bad impression of you, the family, or the clan. But as for the rest...Peggy was right, you don’t trust my discretion even though you’re paying me. Anything outside the Neep project I’m not privy to. So what I can only take from that is that while you trust my competence as an employee...I haven’t done enough, or I haven’t earned being in your confidence yet.”
Graham nods, but it’s an ‘I hear you’ nod. “Keep going. Why do you think that? Spell it out for me, because I’m missing something. I know what you think, but I don’t know why, or what I can or should’ve done differently.”
"You tell me things that relate to my project at Whizz Hard and whatever you want the whole family to know. But anything outside that scope, outside my role as an employee...I either have to hear it from Skeeter or from other sources, or from Peggy who got it from someone else. Because either you don't want it out yet or it's not something you think your children need to know. And that's fine if you just want me as an employee. But if you still want me here as someone who's trying to learn from you so I can one day handle all of this..." Alec swallowed and steeled himself a little. He rarely asked for anything, much less from his father but maybe this was a test to see if he would. "I'd like to be more involved. I'd like at least a chance to be in your confidence or at least the opportunity to earn it."
“Well, I can definitely get you more involved, but remember, I thought that went fine, which you didn’t. I found out about something that I thought wasn’t ripe yet. You found out and asked me and I told you what I thought and why. That was what I thought learning the business looked like. I’ll be more hands-on about it going forward.
“Here’s two lessons that will, if not make you feel better, at least help you understand. First, if you’re in charge, speak last. Other people are going to defer to your opinion and then you stop getting input and options. If you want everyone in the room’s opinions, start with the juniormost person. Otherwise they won’t tell you what they think, they’ll tell you what someone else thinks.
“And it’s hard enough with them trying to guess which answer you want. One day this will be second nature to you, but now it’s something to learn.
“Related is second, which is that many things aren’t critical to do something about now. If you can put off drastic moves, you can often see how others react to the same things and what outcomes they got. You don’t want to be overcautious, because sometimes you need to sign an author or commit to a book without being able to take your time, but most crises other people bring you aren’t really your crisis.
This motion is one of those things that isn’t important now. It’s Una’s crisis more than ours. No matter what we eventually want, we can delay this motion for a long time, if it suits us. First we’d tell Fraser that the vote needed to be delayed because, while we’d heard rumors of such a thing, we didn’t see the wording of the motion until the meeting, then he can ask for DOMGAS to give an opinion, then it’s March and such matters can be considered in the summer, between seasons when people have time to meet, then he can form a committee, then etc, etc. All of those things can be done before we’d have to declare a position one way or the other.
“That’s how bureaucracy works. It’s a machine for slowing down the ship of state if it’s going to grind up the minority, or it is when that minority is us.
“And here’s the thing, while my conservative instincts say ‘this is a bad idea’, it may not be, and it may be a very popular idea. And if it is, why, then, we’ve been in favor of it all along, as long as we were careful and deliberative about the process.
“Really, at this stage, I’m pretty happy with what I did, which was alert Gwen and trust her to bring it back up to us when it becomes important.”
Alec wasn't entirely sure what had just been agreed to, but then again he supposed that was one of Da’s skills that he had yet to learn. Still, he made mental notes on the advice he was being given. It may not come into use just yet but surely it would in time.
“Right,” he nodded. “Speak last, ask the juniors first, drastic moves can often be put off, bureaucracy is a useful tool at times for slowing things down.”
“So. Where do we go from here?” Had anything changed, or was he just being given the impression it was going to? Time would tell, Alec supposed, but since it seemed like now was the time to say and ask the things he normally didn't...might as well ask.
“Depends on you, mostly. Here’s what I propose. First I drag you to a bunch of boring meetings to make sure you see even more of the business of being us. Second, I do that without giving you a bit of slack on the anniversary edition, and third, we probably need a weekly meeting to go over things. We may want to make that breakfast at the Castle.”
“Fourth, try to calm your excitable siblings down. I don’t really feel I have wronged them greatly, but they think so.
“Are we good?”
"Meetings and breakfast sound good," Alec agreed, at least it'd give him a chance to show Da he could be trusted for it. That's all he'd wanted, the opportunity.
"As for Peggy and David, I can smooth things over a bit so they're more open to talking to you but I think after that the most effective thing would be a gesture from you. I'm not sure exactly what, maybe something you would know that they don't yet that affects the team. At least something small so that later they can't say you never tell them anything."
"But, we're good Da. Thank you, for giving me a chance. I'll do you proud."
“I’m already proud of you. All of you. You three work harder than any of the other owners’ kids and it’s because you want to make something of yourselves. Of all the things I’ve ever done, the one I understand the least and am the most proud of is my children. We should probably get back to it, though. There’s a lot to do.”