Me and Jessica Fletcher
Do you ever feel like Angela Lansbury, or more specifically Jessica Fletcher? Is your workplace in Cabot Cove?Growing up, the Sunday night staple of Murder, She Wrote was must see viewing for my family. It didn’t take me many episodes to declare to my parents if we were ever on vacation and Angela Lansbury, the actress portraying mystery writer Jessica Fletcher, were to show up, we would leave immediately.
If you aren’t familiar with the show, Angela Lansbury, a widowed English teacher, would use her uncanny ability to pick out overlooked details and ask the Columbo-esque questions that, although seemingly impertinent, always ended up being the key to the unsolved murder at hand. Another episode, another murder, most taking place in sleepy little Cabot Cove, Maine.
Sadly, since joining the professional workforce, Jessica Fletcher is exactly who I feel like. Let me explain before you go running and screaming away from this article. My venture into the professional workforce upon completing my MBA from Mizzou in 2001 was to join the highly respectable, world renowned, Business Consulting firm of Arthur Andersen.
By now, the amateur private investigator inside you should recognize a significant clue. Arthur Andersen and Enron are terms inextricably linked. It was incredible having a front row seat to the history making fall of one of the greatest accounting and consulting firms in the world. The not so great part was to then be sold to PWC Consulting and ultimately downsized just prior to their acquisition by IBM.
After some time building a variety of skills and figuring out a career path and industry, I began working as a contractor to Monsanto. I spent years learning as much as I could about their businesses (Dairy, Crop and Chemical) and after 4 1/2 years as a contractor, was hired into the Monsanto Dairy Business as a Project Manager. Smooth sailing, right? 5 months later Monsanto announced the divestiture of the Dairy Business. Ultimately we were sold to Elanco and became Elanco employees during the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. I found out years later we were referred to as “shirt changers”. We went to Dairy Expo in Monsanto shirts, came home in Elanco shirts.
- For those keeping score at home - Divestitures: 2 Downsizings: 1
Elanco was, and is, a great company. After 1 1/2 years working for them in St. Louis, they offered to move me to Greenfield, IN, their corporate headquarters. The job was great, the company and co-workers were great, the timing however, was not so I turned down the relocation and moved into a role with Novus International.
- Scoring update - Divestitures: 2 Downsizings: 1 Declined relo: 1 Time span - 8 yrs
More recently, after 3+ years at Novus International, Murder, She Wrote began making a comeback. No, not in the form of a re-union TV Movie, but in the form of a corporate re-organization.
- Final score: Divestitures: 2 Downsizings: 2 Declined relo : 1 Time span - 11 yrs
Like most TV shows, lessons are learned in each episode but in this case, the lesson is learned from the series as a whole. If Jessica Fletcher was a Typhoid Mary, why was everyone so happy to see her? In other words, Why hire me (nothing like addressing the fourth wall)?
Jessica was the person you were happy to have show up. She treated everyone with respect, was genuine to who she was, was a problem solver, and made friends along the way. In summary, a rising tide lifts all ships.
Everywhere I’ve worked, I have tried to follow the same basic rules. I’ve worked hard to be a part of the team and get the job done with as little fuss as possible. Life is tough enough, the last thing I need to do is create more drama in an already challenging environment.
My career has taken a wandering path, and I am excited to see the next stop along the way, but wherever the stop is, and for however long it lasts, I will continue to strive to live up to the standards Jessica Fletcher established, the work ethic standards, not the murder solving standards.
Along the way I have learned much and picked up many skills. Sales Support, Brand Support, Product Support, Product Management, Operations, Siebel CRM, Salesforce.com CRM, Production Planning, Raw material ordering and scheduling, Communications, Market Research, Marketing, Teaching, Training, Presenting, Problem Solving, Small Business Management, Troubleshooting, and Logistics. Let me know if I can help you and your company meet its goals.