Silence fell around the table, while the Kandahar friendly fire incident was on everyone's mind. No one spoke a word about it.
"But the active drones, the ones currently in service, are not cleared to run on self-guided, right?" Walker wanted confirmation.
"No, sir, no drones currently deployed are cleared to run with self-guidance. This is in the research-and-testing phase only. So far, we have only been evaluating these drones on our testing fields. However, there are also situations in which a hardware error will combine with a software error. We lost a prototype drone like that, on the testing field, just a few days ago." Peter finished explaining, and sat quietly, awaiting instructions.
"Then, how are you fixing this mess?" Walker asked. "I am not talking to just Mr. Wilson, you know. This is everyone's mess. For all I know, it could have to do with crappy parts being installed on the drones, crappy parts and crappy assembly work, provided to us all by the experienced and knowledgeable plant leader, Mr. Dunwood. Do you also have some lame excuses for this, Mr. Dunwood?"
"I will have to investigate and see—"
"You didn't investigate yet? You had no idea this was happening?" Walker slammed his fist down with every phrase, leaning over the table in an attempt to get closer to John. "A couple of weeks ago you came in here with embarrassing performance results for the month of May, and you assured me that you were going to finally step up and do your job for a change. Now you're telling me you didn't even investigate the quality performance of the related parts and assembly processes? Explain to me again, Mr. Dunwood, why the hell should I continue to keep you around here?"
"This type of investigation takes time," John ventured an answer, in a trembling voice. "If you want good results, then it doesn't happen overnight."
"You should be the one to want good results, before I do!"
"That's what I meant—"
"Mr. Putnam, how does R&D feel about all this?" Walker shifted his attack unexpectedly toward Miles
"We're extremely concerned with the failure rates, and we're working around the clock to identify any concept failures that might be hiding behind these defect rates." Miles was on top of his game, giving Walker exactly what he wanted to hear. "We are working to isolate the modules, hardware and software, that are related to these defects, and redesign the modules in question, using new concepts and new components. We should be able to give you results within a month."
"How about you, Miss Templeton, are you sure your quality measurements are correct?" Walker shifted his line of fire again.
"I'm quite sure," responded Janet. "The quality assurance methodology is standardized, well documented, and followed religiously on every testing point. I vouch for the accuracy of our numbers. The fact of the matter remains that there's something wrong with some of our models, and we just need to identify and fix the problems. My team is ready to assist with all testing, at any time of day you should need us."
"OK," Walker said, turning toward another victim. "Mr. Wilson, what are you going to give me?"
Peter replied, "We started a number of projects geared toward identifying the root causes of failure in certain modules. So far, we have identified a substandard component in the guidance module. This module is common to many models. We've also identified a somewhat minor software issue that would require an investment in developer hours to fully evaluate and fix."
"Investment?" Walker's voice was calm again. "What's your return on this proposed investment?"
"I thought," Peter said hesitantly, "that these are strategic projects, requiring no return on investment. There is no ROI, or none calculated yet," he corrected himself, as soon as he saw the glimmer of anger in Walker's eyes. "We can estimate the ROI, if we consider the cost of all the defects we would eliminate."
"Well, do that," Walker said, "and give me the financial benefit of this investment. Once the projects are complete and the solutions implemented, I'll take that estimation out of the plant's operating budget."
"This will add some more time to the length of the project," Peter said. "I thought we were focusing these efforts on net quality, without necessarily going after a dollar amount."
"Mr. Wilson," Walker said, in his dreadfully calm voice, "how much money did you and your team make me this past month?"
"Sir, we were involved with this quality assessment, as per your request," Peter offered an explanation.
Alex became painfully aware she was holding her breath. Here we go…
"Involved with a quality assessment, as per my request," Walker repeated in a cadence. "How wonderful. Didn't I make it abundantly clear that you, and any of your Six Sigma belts, are supposed to generate, every year, enough net financial benefit to cover at least three times your fully loaded salary expense?"
"Yes, you did." Peter was looking down at the papers in front of him.
"So? Where are we with that?"
"At our current run rate for the year, we'd fall a little bit short, but we still have almost half the year left to recover. We've also been engaged in these strategic projects that don't necessarily yield much ROI."
"What's keeping you from making me money out of the strategic projects? Just because we're fixing an issue doesn't mean we shouldn't be looking to cut some costs while we're at it, right?"
"Yes, but—"
"No buts, Mr. Wilson, get me my money. That's what you signed up for when you took this job. If you can't find me my money, I'll take it out of your paycheck. It's too fat as it is."
"Sir, it might happen that the solutions we propose to some of these issues could potentially require us to put money back into the product. Our numbers indicate that, in some cases, the cost cutting might have been the root cause."
"Really? Didn't I say as clearly as possible that you were supposed to cut costs without bringing down quality?"
Robin was nodding her enabling approval again.
"Yes, sir," Peter mumbled.
"Then put back the cost you absolutely have to, fix the errors you've made, and find the money elsewhere. Find some people we can fire… I can't possibly believe we need all these people around here. Have you seen the cafeteria lately? This morning I had to wait almost five minutes to get my coffee. Our payroll is way too fat."
"Well, sir," Peter ventured, "we also grew quite significantly as a business. Our revenue increased by almost 20 percent over the previous year. We do need more people if we're growing so fast."
"I don't care about any growth. I don't!" Walker slammed his fist some more. "Do you know why I pay people like you more than they're worth?" No one dared to respond. "Because I need you to figure out ways in which you can get me the money I want. Growth rate is no excuse for hiring hordes of incompetents to crowd the parking lots and coffee lines. Find me some money, or I will take it out of your paychecks."
"If I might intervene," Alex heard herself say. She couldn't tolerate the abuse any longer.
"No, you may not!" Walker slammed her, without hesitation.
Janet gave her a comforting glance.
"We'll meet again in two weeks," Walker said. "Better have it figured out by then. Defect rates under control and cost savings as planned. Is that understood?"
Everyone nodded slightly.
"Dismissed!"
They started gathering their things to leave the room, while Walker did not move from his chair.
"Miss Hoffmann, please stay behind," he said, giving Alex the chills. She should have seen this coming.