I joined American Optical
in February of 1977, where my first responsibility was to run the Scientific
Instrument Division which I did for about 1 year. When I was then assigned
the difficult task of improving the ailing International Division, I volunteered
to move to Europe for what ever time it would take to learn the business
inside and out.With this in-depth
knowledge I felt I could turn this business around.What
I didn’t know was that this knowledge would be invaluable when I was appointed
President of American Optical one year later, in December 1979.
Having
learned the European Optical business intimately, I was then able to more
fully develop a relationship with American Optical’s employees. By that
time , I had already moved back to the United States. As President, I moved
into the 4th Floor Executive Office area of the AO Main Plant
in Southbridge. Many of my immediate reports also had their offices in
this lavish area high above the factory workers. These offices were just
beneath the Clock Tower, and were considered Prime Real Estate.In
these offices it seemed that the management of AO was out of touch with
the employees of AO.
One incident
related to these offices, that I vividly remember, occurred at an Annual
Quarter Century Club Outing that took place in the Hamilton Rod and Gun
Club in Sturbridge at a traditional AO Quarter Century Club Function. It
was the summer of 1980, and I was eager to find out what others, especially
the long service employees, believed to be wrong with AO which had been
experiencing problems for some time.
Late in
the celebration, when several of us had consumed “a few beers”, I pushed
to find the answer to this question by asking others “What is wrong with
AO and how can we fix it?” After some hesitation, I was told “You
and others who report to you can get out your Ivory Tower and learn what
the average worker already knows”. That occurred on Saturday. I
thought all week end about what I had learned from the others in their
moment of honesty.
There was no doubt in
my mind what had to be done. When I entered the Main Plant fourth floor
office area on Monday, I immediately asked the management staff to meet
with me. I told them about my discussions with a group of employees at
the Quarter Century Club outing. And then I told them that ASAP, everyone
was to move out of their offices in the “Ivory Tower”, as the workers had
cynically called it. Shortly thereafter we all moved down to the second
floor office area and “Moth Balled” the Ivory Tower. More importantly,
I stressed that all of us should get out of our offices and become more
in touch with the people who continued to make the company great. I shall
never forget the lessons learned from that experience.
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Comments or Suggestions? e-mail Dick Whitney