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“The War is Over” - People, Not Technology, Making the
World Go Round
 You
know what it’s like when you think you can be the smartest technical person
in the world and you still can’t solve the problem with the business. Sometimes
it’s not about the technology, it’s about the people.
Let me tell you about the time I was working with a global Scandinavian
manufacturing company. They were in serious trouble. There were
major disconnects everywhere: in the systems, in the information
flows, and most of all, among the people.
Months and months had passed, flying all over the world to select
the correct software solution. Finally we gathered all the “C”
people of the enterprise, as we had finally narrowed it down to
one absolutely appropriate software solution – SAP, the primo
German enterprise management system.
We held a marathon planning and negotiating session in an Oslo hotel
suite where everyone had been assembled: Norwegians, Swedes, Americans,
Australians, and the contingent from Hong Kong. Nearly everyone
was on board with the solution, that is, except the head of the
Norwegian operations.
Each of us tried different methods, but we could not budge him.
We argued data. We argued real-time access. We argued software,
controls, maintenance. And this guy had a rebuttal for everything.
Finally about 3-o’clock in the morning, I said to him: “Lars,
what is it?! There isn’t another package in the world that
comes anywhere close to SAP, and yet, you keep shooting it down.
What’s the problem, Lars?!”
“Jim,” he replied in a strikingly emotional voice. “They
killed my father.”
Oh.
I paused for a moment. I gave it time to settle in a bit. And then
I empathized, “I think I understand. My father was drafted
in 1940, but had a bad leg and was classified as 4F. All his boyhood
chums joined up and were set to Pearl Harbor. They were all on the
Arizona on December 7, 1941. All his friends were dead – and
he believed he should have been with them. He wouldn’t –
or couldn’t – talk about the war, or about his friends,
or the damned Japanese who did this horrible thing.”
I went on, “Until one day, when I took my regular trip back
home to visit my parents. I pulled up to see a new car in the driveway…it
was a Honda! And in the living room was a new television set…a
Sony! I asked him about why he suddenly had all these Japanese products.”
With a calm resolve, my Dad said to me, “The products are
very good, and…the war is over.”
“Lars,” I said, “Maybe the war should be over
for you too.”
His shoulders slumped a bit. He looked down toward the floor. Then
he looked up and said, “Ja, Jim. You’re right. It should
be SAP. The war is over for me too.”
Sometimes it isn’t about the technology or the process. It’s
the people. And the ability to handle complex people issues is an
equally important skill as a consultant.
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