"Hungry for Success" by English Professionals. EPISODE 2 : Something Big

Tim is faced with some unexpected and possibly worrying news

Transcript

Hungry for success

A BUSINESS STORY

2. Something Big

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO :

Tim walked into the main office of Lightning Systems as he had done every Monday for the last four years. He tried to focus on the day ahead, pushing to the back of his mind the events of the weekend. In reality he realised that he was actually relieved to return to work - recently the office had become a haven for him. Home was a place where he preferred not to spend too much time. 

What can you say about the offices of Lightning Systems? After his father had retired last year James had taken over and wasted no time in trying to put his mark on the business. His first big change was to demolish the walls which previously had divided the company premises into a number of separate offices. 

“Open plan is the way forward” James had said. 

“It’s the future - everyone collaborating - releases the creative juices” - he had exclaimed enthusiastically. 

The employees were not so sure. Tim shared their doubts. 

The noise when the phones were ringing constantly off the hook - as they often did - was, at best, distracting. 

Tim made his way to his workspace - to all intents and purposes a little cubicle - a pair of grey screens gave him at least some privacy. Others were not so lucky. 

The first event every Monday morning was always a team meeting. It took place in James’ office - yes James had retained one private office - for himself. James’ office was a sea of black and chrome. Uncomfortable black leather armchairs, the kind you gradually slide off,  around a much too low meeting table.  James had originally suggested doing all the company meetings standing up,  alla Japanese as he put it. 

“Listen”, he had explained to Tim, “this is why the Japanese are so good. Everything efficient - no time wasted”

There was just one standing-up meeting before James himself discovered that his back would not permit such innovations. The idea was quietly dropped - much to the relief of all concerned.  

As Tim  and his colleagues filed into James’ office loitering briefly at the coffee machine on route hoping to reinvigorate themselves with a quick dose of caffeine, James sat impatiently behind his desk. No - James didn’t join the others perching uncomfortably around the stubby legged table. He preferred to  preside over his team from above - behind an ostentatious dark wooden monolith of a desk. 

James was clearly eager to begin. Tim knew him well enough to recognise the signs and read his body language. Each member of the management team was required to give an update.  There were six in total. Tim as head of finance was  always the last to report. The meeting began with Steve, head of sales. Steve was always so upbeat, so energetic, so unbearably optimistic - it made Tim feel tired just to listen to him. Steve seemed to have a dictionary of business idioms wired into his brain. At least you would think so to hear him drone on.

This is a key week for the sales team. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and my people are engaged in hand to hand combat in the trenches on the frontline. We need to move forward on all fronts and bring in the heavy artillery.

Nobody around the table had any clue as to what Steve was talking about but nevertheless nodded in agreement and encouragement. James appeared distracted - normally he was the only one to appreciate Steve’s updates.  Tim wondered why sales people always seemed to employ such aggressive military terms to talk about their work. Was it really that bad ?  Was there really fighting on the streets as Steve would regularly assure them.

One by one each member of the leadership took their turn.  Sue, head of HR, reported that Linda the new receptionist was no longer with the company - hence the empty glass desk in reception this morning. Sue continuing cited “gross professional misconduct” as the reason for Linda’s abrupt departure. For the first time that morning (or perhaps that year) Sue immediately had everyone’s attention -  unfortunately she seemed unwilling to fill the rest of the team in on the juicy details. That would have to wait until later - Tim’s assistant, Derek, could always be relied on to have the inside scoop on every office scandal.

Finally, after Tim had uttered the usual banalities about cost cutting and efficiency, James stood up to address the meeting.

“This is going to blow your minds, people” he began

“Lightning Systems is about to move into the fast lane” (had he been listening to Steve a little too much mused Tim, noting the colourful idioms in James’ speech)

“I got a call over the weekend from Libby Jones. She’s the head of customer engagement at Macrosoft. Yes - the Macrosoft” emphasised Jame looking around the room waiting for his words to sink in. 

“Macrosoft want us. They want to buy the company”

IDIOMS and VOCABULARY 

We learned in the last episode that Tim and his wife are having problems. His home life is not very pleasant and so work is actually a haven - meaning a place of safety - somewhere peaceful and calm.

James, the owner of Lightning Systems,  is clearly trying to show that he is as good as, if not better, than his father who started the company. So he wants to achieve something impressive without his father’s involvement - to put his mark on the business. He has a different way of looking at business in general and in particular wants the employees to become more inventive and creative - he thinks therefore that an open plan office will help this process - will help release his employee’s creative juices.

Back in the real world, the company is busy. The phones are constantly ringing - we say “ringing off the hook”. 

Not all James’ ideas are welcomed by the staff. His idea to stand up during meetings is dropped - which means nobody continues implementing it. 

Steve the sales director is very keen on military idioms and I have to confess that these are often used in the world of business. A dog eat dog world is used to describe a highly competitive aggressive business environment where competitors are prepared to do almost anything it takes to win. Steve continues with the military expressions and envisages his sales staff engaged in warfare, fighting with the enemy either physically in hand to hand combat - literally fighting using only the body as a weapon or, defending a position in the trenches - referring to the first world war in particular where soldiers dug long narrow ditches from which they fired at the enemy.

Sue the HR director talks about gross professional misconduct. In most organisations this is used to talk about behaviour by an employee that is so bad that the usual result is instant dismissal. Tim and his colleagues are anxious to learn exactly what LInda the new receptionist did which was so bad. Unfortunately Sue will not give them then the juicy details - which, in terms of office gossip,  refers usually to the exact details of something particularly exciting.

The news that Lightning Systems is going to be bought by Macrosoft is something which James believes is so amazing that the minds of the employees will literally explode on hearing the news. Let’s hope that nothing so drastic happens. It could get messy.

Maybe James can finally realise his dream of making his mark on the business. Moving into the fast lane is an expression used to indicate  speeding-up and radical change in a business - usually leading to higher pressure, more risk, and, hopefully, potential for much greater returns. 

More from this story in the next episode - “A dream come true”