Week 2 : The story continues

Six Sigma Made

Simple

Kirankumar_varri@hotmail.com

An hour later I was driving to have lunch with Larry at one of the new company restaurants.

I wasn't prepared for what I saw : Pizza makers spinning the dough in the windows, a greeter meeting me as I walked in, clean, well-lit place.

Larry looked strong & vigorous, with a ready smile and a sparkle in his eyes. The world has not beaten him down, as it seemed to have done to so many of my old colleagues – me included, I had to admit.

Larry :‘Great to hear from you Joe!’ ‘Thanks for coming out on such a short notice’, apparently unaware that my daily schedule was suddenly quite open.

Me :‘How’s the family, Larry?’ I asked.

An American Pizza Store

Me : ‘Okay’, I mumbled.

Larry : ‘Family doing fine?’

Me : ‘Both the Kids entered high school, Kelly’s career in real estate is taking off ’

I didn’t tell him that she’s paying more than half the bills – and might be paying all of them, for a while.

‘Actually, I was laid off’, I said, although I felt like I’d been fired, not released with a proper severance package.

Me : ‘It happened this morning. They had a clean sweep.’

His wife Renee and his daughters, Emily and Kate were all doing fine, he said, but since both kids were in high school, he’d succumbed to buying a second phone line for them upstairs. ‘Occupational hazard, I guess’, he joked. ‘So how are you?’

Larry was doing his best to be nice about it, but it didn’t change things much. It doesn’t matterhow rare or common the disease is. If you’ve got it, that’s all that matters. But it was nice to heara sympathetic voice, something I didn't hear from anyone when I was packing my things.

It was nice to be pampered by the greeters, who took our coats and gave us numbers without lookingfor a tip, and to have our seats pulled out for us by the waiters. Small gestures go a long way ondays like this.

Me : ‘Well, what about you?’

Me : ‘Executive? That’s a big step up from the mailroom!’

Larry : ‘Oh no’, ‘I’m really sorry to hear that, Joe. From the burger side?’

Me : ‘Yeah’, I said. ‘You know, I’ve been there since I left the mailroom.’

‘I knew the new American Foods CEO was going to make some cuts in that division’ , he said.

Larry : ‘I’ll say. Who knew that burgers would dive, and pizza would skyrocket?’

‘Well, yeah’, Larry said. ‘But that’s not what I meant’.

‘I got lucky because shortly after I moved over to pizza, Cathy Baker became head of the pizza division.’

Me : ‘The Queen of American Foods?' I said, and we laughed again, chuckling over baker’s recent business magazine cover, which identified her as one of the most powerful women in business.

Larry : ‘You know, in hindsight, being left behind was probably a lucky break for me’ ‘Fifteen years ago burgers were selling like, well, burgers.’

Larry : ‘You had the most burger stands in the country – 4000! And American Pizza was just a start-up with a few dozen shops. But I got lucky.’

‘I remember’, I said ‘You guys were barely on the map, while we had over 50 % of the burger market.’

Larry : ‘Hey, sometimes it helps to have nothing to loose!’

‘Don’t I know it’, I mumbled, finding just a little humor in my new situation for the first time.

Me : ‘What did the story say, the brains behind American Pizza?’

‘That’s her’ ‘You’ve got to give her credit. She was bold, willing to take a chance. What the heck, we only had 5 percent of the market anyway.’

Larry chuckled. ‘No, Six Sigma. The number six and sigma, the Greek letter. But the expression “Six Sigma” means something more in business and industry. It represents a statistical measure and a management philosophy.’

Larry : ‘Anyway, Cathy got us started on this new programme called Six sigma’

Me : ‘Sick Sigmund ???’

Larry : ‘You’ll be back on you feet before you know it’

I think he meant it, although I found it pretty difficult to believe at that point. I almost objected to the comment, but felt his intentions were good and let it slide.

‘Nice to be back’ , ‘Susan, this is an old friend of mine, Joe Meter. Make sure he gets the VIP treatment, okay?’

‘But of course, Mr. Hogan!’

“Everyone gets the VIP treatment at Amerian Pizza”

Just then the waitress arrived at our table.

Larry : ‘Hello, Susan. How are you today?’

‘Just fine, Mr. Hogan’ ‘Nice to have you back’.

Turns out their motto is,

Will Joe be able to swallow Six Sigma???

Let’s see it next week…Don’t miss IT ! !

Looking at the menu, I was stunned by the number of salads, appetizers, and entrees. They’d definitely expanded their repertoire. Nonetheless, at Larry’s suggestion I decided to try their New York thin-crust mini-deep dish, and we were back to talking.

Me : ‘Well, what’s so great about Six Sigma?’

Larry grinned. ‘Glad you asked.’

Thank You