F

ortunately, Brad decides to act upon his suspicions—and the

information and insights he uncovered in his brief conversa-

tions with Bill, the Operations representative, and Ann, the engi-

neer responsible for installing the production lines four years

ago. With some investigation, some effort, and the support of

several people around the company, Brad determines that

there’s an excellent chance that the output of the four existing

lines could be increased to 800 units per week.

His proposal is overwhelmingly approved after he demon-

strates how this solution is better than the one given to him. In

addition to providing greater output than the original solution, it

would cost considerably less! Although it took a little digging,

cost a little time, and got him involved in a couple of testy con-

versations, Brad realizes that it was worth it.

But just as Brad is settling into his new role as corporate

hero, it occurs to him that he needed the support of many peo-

ple just to get his project pulled together, presented to manage-

ment, and approved. The support he’d gotten from these people

77

Building and

Maintaining an

Effective Team

5

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