Larry never thought about things too far in advance. It’s not as though he scrambled to meet deadlines at the last minute, but he wasn’t great at planning ahead. Maybe it was just that he didn’t think about the cause and effect of things, he didn’t care for consequence.
When his boss first started asking Larry to report all of his ideas to him personally, Larry smiled and complied. There was a weekly brainstorming meeting, and Larry almost always heard his boss suggest one of Larry’s ideas every meeting. Having the boss take a shine to him and his ideas was instantaneously gratifying; he felt so accomplished. He entered through those mahogany doors carrying a plastic folder full of his typed ideas and left with a lofty saunter through those same doors, satisfied and proficient.
Larry liked working for the French-based company, Foire d’Empoigne Incorporated. He thought that he had a very good future as an idea man, and hoped to keep this job longer than his last couple of jobs. As long as his boss liked the ideas he presented, he wouldn’t be fired. He just kept smiling and hoped for the best. Larry really wanted to be his own boss so he could present his own ideas, but he couldn’t without the blessing of his current boss. There was a rule at Foire d’Empoigne Incorporated that dictated strict parameters on advancement. Until he got the go-ahead from his boss, Larry kept smiling.
One day, Larry stopped smiling. At the weekly meeting, the head of the company pointed his trademark golf club at Larry. He had noticed Larry, “You! What’s your name?”
Larry grinned his usual, pleasant grin that most everyone hated, and replied simply with, “Larry, sir.”
He must’ve said something wrong, because Martin (the head of the company), launched into a red-faced rant. He called Larry a freeloader who was incapable of any ideas. He formulated a threat.
“You won’t advance in this company unless you report your ideas directly to me. Actually, this is the only way not to get fired for you. If you don’t contribute all the ideas in your little pinhead, I’m canning you. FIRED. Understand?”
Martin then swiveled and focused his rage to Larry’s boss, Steve. There was a residue of fire in his eyes, but it was slightly tamer. His rant stopped, giving way to compliments.
“Nice work here Steve. You’ve been really consistent with these great ideas. Keep it up.” Then his tone shifted completely. “But if you let up, one inch, I’m dropping you. I don’t keep obsolete people on my payroll. Know that.”
Steve gulped hard and turned to look at the recently disillusioned Larry. Larry knew that Steve relied on his ideas, and he knew that he would be fired if he failed to turn in another plastic-covered weekly report. Larry also knew that regardless of Martin’s mercy, he couldn’t escape being fired by Steve if that report wasn’t on Steve’s desk. A written form must be submitted to the head of the company suggesting their advancement onto the next level at the company, and without that, he couldn’t abandon Steve’s request. But if he abandoned Martin’s request, he would be fired just the same.
