We offered a client unlimited support for a project, for a fixed cost. The clienr understood. Corporate Procurement didn’t. It fact I think they thought we were mad. They wanted number of days, daily rates and deliverables. We pushed back. We said we did not deliver, Dominos Pizza did. At the end, we had to give in. We provided number of days and daily rates. The company ended up paying twice as much, literally. But Procurement was happy, my client got his Procurement off his back and we doubled revenues. Surreal.
A client has changed compliance practices in the context of financial regulations. They are mow whiter than white. One of their small vendors brings sandwiches to them every day; they don’t have restaurant or canteen. The company now wants Tom, the Fresh Sandwich Provider to sign a confidentiality agreement. About 6 pages. In duplicate. The Fresh Sandwich Provider told them to get lost. The company has ‘agility’ as one of their core values. But they don’t have fresh sandwiches now. Madness.
Surrealism plus madness is not a bad combination for an avantgarde art gallery, but as an organizational behaviour is brain-less pursue of processes. If the examples were not real, they would be nice jokes for a dinner party. But they are real.