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When the company's president came in, a supple, lively man, with
slightly graying hair, and with prudent eyes, the engineer reported in
detail the data loss incident to him. The president was maddened by
the news.
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As he came to my office in the usual manner, he looked at me
intently, trying to discover if I had a solution to the problem.
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I defended myself: "President, I am not trying to embellish things for you, but neither do I want to disavow or disguise the fact that I made the effort, strived and struggled even when and where I was at fault. But whether or not my attempt to make the system reliable and secure was conceit on my part, the disaster occurred -- the company was not disciplined enough to cover accidental events." The president was exceedingly emotional, although quite obviously struggling to control himself, and seemed to be trying to unburden himself from the weariness which had piled up and been haunting him since he knew about the loss of the data. .......... "I must admit," said the president, still smiling, "that you have handled the incident admirably, most admirably." He paused for a moment and looked at me, uncertain as to whether I was upset at him or not. My eyes caught his and found in them an expression of attention and friendliness, which eased me. .......... "Why do you think that a real flower is more beautiful than a fake one?" said Mike, smiling. .......... |