I just had coffee with Georgie M, at least that’s what I call him. You probably know him as George Macdonald. He’s a really great guy. Anyway, I was telling Georgie about how helpful his advice was the other day.
You see I was having difficulty getting one of my clients to gain some balance in his life. The guy has the nasty habit of working to exhaustion on anti-virus definitions. But he’s so tired, he keeps making mistakes and not catching them. Of course, then I have to do all the clean up. I’m was in a tough position: one the one hand, I’m thrilled that he’s trying to meet the strict standards Our Team laid out. But the guy seems to have forgotten that he, unlike me, is only human.
I explained all this to Georgie and he nodded his head.
Georgie said, “Your man’s problem is that he is trying to show you that he has got what it takes. He’s gunning for a recommendation from you to the One In Charge. Unfortunately, he has gone about it the wrong way.”
“I’ll say.”
“Tell him this the next time you see him…”
My HIPS (Heavenly Intergalatic Paging System) went off. “Excuse me Georgie. Just a moment.” I looked at the message. Figures. It was this very guy I was telling Georgie about. “Well, that’s going to be quite soon, Georgie. It’s this guy again. I’ve got to get down there ASAP. He says the FBI is en route. He’s really done it this time!”
“Sistertech, before you go…” Georgie scribbled something on a piece of recycled parchment (we’ve got a lot of that around). “Here. Give him this. This should help.”
“Sure thing. Thanks Georgie. I’d better fly.”
While in flight I took the parchment out and read it. Yep. Georgie’s a keeper. Brilliant. The guy is simply brilliant! Here’s what he wrote:
Mind, it is our best work that He wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion. I think He must prefer quality to quantity.
What does it take? Our best. Our very best. Indeed.