The Interwise Story - Chapter 5
The man in the picture was infinitely present, as present as only a dead man can be. He was omnipresent, from the covers of the written material, the coffee mugs, and table placements to a huge poster above the conference hall entrance. He was even silently waiting in the form of a small intimate postcard on the edge of every bed in the hotel... the man was everywhere. Pail with a somber look. Sees all yet totally silent. For three days the sales force, gathered from the world over, carried along under his stern gaze, not even beginning to guess who the hell he was.
The company had to reinvent itself for the second time in its history and It was time for the new product that has been brewing for over a year in Tel Aviv, to make its debut. the Engineers have done their part. Now the market will have its say. But first, the market needed to hear the news and the sales force to deliver it. Change was in the air accompanied by tense anticipation, inevitable dread, and a strong glimmer of hope. There was even some craving for the old order of things turned into nostalgia in a glimpse of an eye. The bets were placed over a year ago. Now the wheel was spinning in front of everyone's eyes or under their feet. Either way, we were all about to find out.
It was time for the closing session. In the big conference hall suitcases and trollies lined up against the wall, windows white with heavy snow, I told them... I told them about the three Spanish battleships anchored in the bay and of the one hundred soldiers, ten horses, and three cannons that landed on the gulf's beach. I explained all about the one hundred thousand Aztek soldiers under the command of King Montezuma sent to wipe the Spanish newcomers off the Mexican beach. I described how one hundred thousand worriers sound chanting war songs in the small hours of the night in the ears of one hundred Spaniards alone on a beach three thousand miles away from home. I did my best to portray the comforting sight of the three battleships flying Castile banners from the top of their enormous masts, the men's only lifeline in case a hasty evacuation becomes a necessity.
And then in excruciating detail, I laid down the horror of the Spanish soldiers waking up to the sight of the three battlesships ablaze and sinking in the middle of the bay. A fire set by no other than their commander and chief - Hernan Cortes. The same one who will lead them into battle in a few hours time.
Cortes, the man under his stern look the sales conference was being conducted for the past three days and whom his image was impossible to evade, burned the ships four hundred years ago and with them any possibility of retreat. A hundred men conquered an empire because they were well equipped and well trained and because... there was no turning back.
When the sales team boarded their taxis on the way to the airport with an envelope of their commission plan in hand, they did it with a thought in mind that just in case the new product will not take off they will sell the old one and that will carry them to a safe harbor. Then they opened the envelope and were super excited to learn that commission on new product deals will be very reach... and then they read further and learned that commission on the old product will be zero, nada, gornisht. They read again but there was no mistake, the old product, which earned this title just a few days ago, is not for sale.
The closing session from just a few hours ago, with all its detailed stories of soldiers storming beaches and battleships on fire, lost most if not all its general motivational allure. They must have smelled something burning... Can it be that this Cortes guy had done it again? burned the ships? Again?
There was no turning back. The company had to turn the corner and do it now. And so it did.
Chapter 6 - To quit or not to quit
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