Joe asked, “what was the major problem — that they didn’t appreciate how much it took to run the company?” “well, that was a problem. but the biggie hit me like a sledgehammer — if they thought it cost so little to keep our doors open, then where did they think the money was going? it dawned on me that they must have thought i was making about 80 percent pro昀椀t. No wonder they weren’t motivated to make us pro昀椀table — i didn’t communicate with them the info they needed to understand. Of course, sharing some of the pro昀椀t with them helped, too.” Joe said, “at our company, we’re afraid to give too much information — that people won’t want to know, or they’ll think we’re making too much” — Joe stopped himself. “Obviously, they must think we’re making far more than we are, and it’s my fault.” bill and two employees quietly left the meeting to go to his of昀椀ce. Joe followed. They closed the door. Hank spoke up, “bill, something has to be done about the situation.” evidently there was a personnel issue that was concerning the two employees. bill nodded, “Okay everyone, what do we do?” Joe watched as bill and his employees tossed ideas back and forth — bill allowed any thought to be considered. after 20 minutes, they had reached a decision. The employees were elated. “i know that this idea is outside the box, but, bill, i know you’ll support us,” Hank said. bill smiled. “sure will. Do it,” he said. after the employees left, Joe quizzed bill. “you really let them make a decision there, didn’t you? at our company, it would have taken months to come to consensus. you did it in an informal meeting in 20 minutes. That’s why i had to see what’s going on here — you guys have no fear!” bill interrupted 昀椀rmly, “No we do have fear; it’s just a different fear than you have. large corporations are afraid to make decisions too quickly, too rashly. They’re afraid of political consequences. 16