The Planning Process

The Planning Process

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” (Lewis Carroll)

But Elizabeth knew where she was going, or at least where she wanted to go. She had known immediately, after the first week with the company, that this was her destiny. She was not totally stupid. After all she had received a Masters degree in Management Consulting hadn’t she?  She realized that Troy was just a human being. A male human being at that, a male of the human species, with two arms , two legs , a head and all the things that go with that, eyes, ears, nose and so on.  What she had not realized was that love could hit you before you had noticed it. Wham! It was all simply beyond her comprehension. She ought to know better. There was simply no reasonable explanation! Is there ever?

But what was that written down on the web site that she had just this minute consulted, about being in love? The internet description she had googled, fitted her exactly.

It had been scientifically proven, she read, that when engaged in romantic love, the parts of your mind, responsible for making critical assessments about anything, shut down. She could definitely relate to that.

Her mind had shut down on critical thinking, particularly about Troy. She might just as well have been afflicted with Puck’s love potion from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“Damn, damn, damn” It was Troy at the copy machine. The paper is stuck.” Elizabeth had seen to that.

 “Can I give you a hand? I have been using these machines since my student days at University .”  Troy looked up and noticed her. First mission accomplished!  She had put on her new top which matched the colour of her eyes - green. Green suited her and the new fashion showed off her figure to advantage.

“Yes, see if you can sort this machine, I have been trying to make some  copies for the last 10 minutes.”

“ Well, impatience won’t get you anywhere” Elizabeth retorted and with a quick reshuffling of the paper in the cassette, the machine started to roll.

“Thank you. Have you been with the company long? My name is Troy.” As if she didn’t know!

“Elizabeth at your service.”

Troy smiled at her and her knees melted. He had a very nice smile! Had to explain it somehow!

Elizabeth had not done Management Consulting for nothing. She was busy trying to apply her management skills to her present objective which was to captivate Troy, hook, line and sinker.

The Planning Process consisted of five essential steps.

1.       To establish your objectives. She had done that.

2.        To determine your investment style. Her investment style, included putting all her energy in  getting Troy to notice her. Some form of aggressive behaviour might be necessary on her part to sharpen his concentration. She also wished to reveal her mental powers.

3.       Evaluate investments. She would have to take stock of how effective her behaviour was in attracting his attention, and thereafter impressing him.

4.       Step four was to choose an investment plan.  She would have to choose between aggressive behaviour and submissiveness . She might have to investigate how to show off her cooking skills. She had always been socially inept but cooking was her strong point. Remembering her mother’s advice about men in general, she acknowledged that a lot of advice from that quarter had been somewhat lacking in solid guidance.

5.       Execute and examine. Stick to the plan. She was good at sticking to plans.

 At the next board meeting, Elizabeth contradicted all Troy’s proposals for a tighter budget, a stricter investment plan for the company. He proposed spreading their chances over a small number of possibilities helping to reduce the chance of losses.

“ I do not agree with you Troy, I believe in diversifying. Keeping a strict control of our assets is one thing but we must always bear in mind what our real objectives are.”

Troy looked at her quizzically across the table and gave a kind of sneer in her direction. She was using jargon.

At the next meeting, Troy put forward some clever ideas on how to strengthen the work force by letting some of the non essential staff go, without jeopardising their future prospects.

 He had a humane streak to his nature!  Nice to know.  However she knocked this one on the head too.

Elizabeth thought that her behaviour was heading in the right direction to cover steps 2 and 3 of the planning process.

The next step was to show off her culinary skills.

“How would you all like to come over to my place on Saturday next, for a supper date?”

This invitation was put to the  members of staff who were working in the Information Technology department, of which Troy was one.

There was enthusiastic acceptance from all eight, including Troy.

Elizabeth spent all Friday evening shopping.  She decided to make a roasted pork dish, (she was prepared to go the whole hog) which could be served at room temperature and make a dish of Kartoffelsalat, the German one,  not the Danish. This could be served hot or cold depending on the weather and she would make a strawberry, cucumber and mint salad made with mint jelly. The mint flavour gave it a ‘wow’factor.  She would make a Crème Brulee for dessert. This  always attracted positive attention and was very popular with male guests. The dinner party, she thought, would be the sort of investment that fitted in with steps two, three and four.

Saturday arrived and Troy was the first visitor who rang her doorbell.  Hopefully this was a sign of being an eager beaver.  Things were looking up!

The others drifted in at intervals.

As hostess, Elizabeth had prepared a mojito cocktail for everyone.  In the front room she had laid out and filled eight small glasses with chilled vodka, mint syrup, lime juice and soda. The glasses were decorated with sprigs of mint. They were good starters to the party and certainly had eye appeal.

When all eight were present, Elizabeth laid down some rules for the evening. “Hi everyone, this is going to be a ‘no small talk’ evening.  Small talk is banned and so are cell phones. Furthermore I have a list of conversation pieces. Here is the first one: We can all take turns in stating what excites us right now but keep each story brief. We all need a good laugh after the week we just had. When I serve supper we can move on to other questions, for example ‘What is the most important thing you should all know about me?’

The evening proved to be a huge success. ( People are happier when they are not talking trivialities and when they are talking about themselves! )The food was swilled down with an expensive unoaked Chardonnay.

“Would you care to go out for dinner tomorrow evening?” Elizabeth turned, it was Troy talking softly to her while the visitors were getting their jackets and umbrellas. Hmm, she thought, plans are already getting a result.

 “Why, yes, that would be great”

“Ok I will pick you up here at your place at round seven.”

This was of one of many such evenings over the next few weeks. Elizabeth began to think she could relax her more obvious manoeuvres, like always being at the copy machine when Troy was around. She fell into her low tension mode and just began to enjoy herself.

She was soon astonished to see that Troy was flirting with the girls from the typing pool. What could this mean? What was his game? It had seemed that he was on the verge of committing himself  to a steady relationship with her. They had good vibes between them. She kept in the background then renewed her acts of aggression at meetings.

“I don’t agree with you Troy” she said one morning . Your suggestions for this company, are way out of line. I know I am a comparative new comer but then so are you. The company should be looking for new clients on the internet and not just waiting for the horses to come and drink from the trough.” She wanted to get under his skin.

Troy spied Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye and smiled to himself. She was hovering around keeping him in her sights. She was evidently getting worried - not about to let him go. He had deliberately dated her for weeks and now was showing himself up as being a flirt. It was very amusing to watch her antics. First off, he had noticed that she was smitten with him and played her like a fish at the end of a line. He had kept his cards close to his chest, always reticent to show his feelings to anyone.  What should he do next? Maybe he ought to stop these games with such a naive player as Elizabeth. She was deliberately trying to catch his attention and showing off. Two could play at that game.

“Hey, how about a date tonight at the Mamma Roma? They make a very good steak with mushroom sauce.”

Elizabeth looked at him with a doubtful expression in her eyes. What did he mean playing around with all the females in sight and then having the nerve to ask her out, as if he had not been ignoring  her for a week?

“Well, I think I am free tonight, so Ok lets go.”

“Pick you up at 7.”

Elizabeth chose her outfit with care. Black skin tight jeans and a cool grey top with her favourite pendant.  It all looked good together. The jeans showed off her legs and the pendant had a rich pale blue glow against the grey shirt.

Troy was punctual. He parked his car and they walked across the road, his hand under her elbow. Sitting down, Troy smiled and said “Ok shall we stop playing games?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we both were both smitten with each other from the word go. That’s what I mean!”

“But you never showed me how you felt.”

“Well you were so busy playing your games that you would not have noticed it if you had fallen over yourself.”

“ I had to do something proactive!”

“You seem to forget that I have also done a Management Consulting course and saw through you from the beginning, with your Planning Process.”

“But what about you flirting with all the girls in the office this week?”

“Diversifying not to your taste then?”

“Yes, but...”

“No buts anymore. Let us go steady and start from the beginning, boy meets girl etc.”

“”Yes, let’s”

Now, who was rigging the outcome here?