Page 218 - MY STORY

An old friend of mine in marketing, Al E, seemed to have

a microphone embedded in every management office or
got every secretary to talk to him about everything. He
always seemed to know what was going to happen in the

company long before it was announced. He also enjoyed
jerking my chain whenever he could. Our professional
and friendly relationship goes way back to my Douglas

Aircraft days in California.

Anyhow, Al told me that: “in order to be promoted to

Director, I would have to shave off my beard.” He made
it clear that our management did not think senior

managers should have facial hair, and if I was serious
about becoming director I should appear at work clean
shaven. I could not tell if he was yanking my chain again
or speaking truth — you really could not tell with Al. I

finally relented and shaved off my beard. Two days later I
got the notice that I was promoted to Director! Go figure.

APPLY FOR YOUR JOB!
Our company president, one fine day, decided to eliminate

functional departments completely. This meant that every
employee belonged to an organization that was
completely self-contained. When a program concluded or

was terminated, there was no “home department” to