A Permanent Vacation
The CEO of the Acme Shoe Company visits the warmth and hospitality of Easter Island and decides to stay there. Forever. As in he is never coming back. The board of directors sets up an emergency meeting to look at their options. The conversation around the table starts out in a bit of a panic, but notice that Kim steers them towards an AI approach.
| Chair | So folks, we all know why we are here. David went to visit Easter Island and has decided to stay. I cannot believe this myself; I thought he was really committed to our cause. We make the best running shoes sold in the world, don’t we? |
| (People nod and make noises of agreement around the table) | |
| Director Don | I am choked, actually. We were in the middle of a product launch; what the heck are we going to do? We’ve got all this stuff set up and now we have to drop everything to recruit someone new. It took us a year to find David! |
| Director Kim | Well, how about if we focus on what we know and what we have? |
| Director Max | Oh, yeah, real pie in the sky, Kim. It’s not going to get David back in here. I think we could lose the business and you want to look on the bright side? |
| Kim | Members of the board, I would like the floor. |
| Chair | You have five minutes. |
| Kim | Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we do appear to be in the midst of a crisis. David has resigned his position with no notice. I suggest that we move forward under the premise that he is not willing to come back, and that we develop a plan. |
| Max | Kim, we don’t have time for this fluffy nonsense stuff. We need to decide about this company and fix the problems at hand. |
| Kim | Max, bear with me. I have another 4 ½ minutes. Folks, I suggest that we use an Appreciative Inquiry method to figure out how we can overcome this problem, this gap we have in a critical position of the company. I want to start by asking you a few questions. First, who do we know that has most or all of the leadership and technical skills that David has? Second, of the people that we know off the top of our heads, who is interested in moving into a highly public and challenging position like the CEO of this company? Third, if no one has expressed interest, what is the most effective way for us to find the answers to these questions? From what I know about this organization, I believe that the talent that we need is right here in this building. I think that if we take some time and actually do what is opposite to problem solving – some Appreciative Inquiry – we can get the answers that we need very quickly. We may have to look at bundling some duties and we may have to consider doing things differently than we ever have before. I suggest that we speak with our department managers today and forge ahead in this manner to discover what we are doing that works well. |
Instead of going to battle stations and abandoning projects or selling the company, AI is going to actually get this board, and the company, to the best place they can be.