The first movie I ever bought on VHS was “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid,” starring Paul Newman as Butch and Robert Redford as Sundance. Modern viewers will remember Newman as the voice of Doc in the Pixar Cars movies. And Redford played Alexander Pierce, the corrupt politician in Captain America: Winter Soldier.
“Butch Cassidy And the Sundance Kid” was filmed in 1969, nearly 50 years ago. There’s a scene where Butch Cassidy has been challenged for leadership by one of the members of his gang. And not just any member. “Logan” is huge. Easily 5 inches taller and 50 lbs bigger than the slim Paul Newman. When it becomes obvious that there is no way to get out of the knife fight that he will very clearly lose, Butch turns to Sundance,
There might be a way to make some money in this.
Oh yeah?
Yeah. Bet on Logan.
I would, but who’d bet on you?
The movie was written by William Goldman, the screenwriter for Princess Bride. The entire movie is quotable, but that line stands out.
A key member of our project team announced his resignation last week. He was offered a great position at another company. I can’t blame him for taking the new job. However, it left my project and to a large extent our business in a bind. Reggie was a key player. He’d been at all our migrations. In addition he was a key part of the management team. We have a big quarterly client meeting coming up. Reggie was part of the presentation team.
I had a choice to make. As the migration project leader, I had to figure out how to fill Reggie’s role. We’re nearly done. It was easy in consultation with our vice president, to decide that I’d take over much of Reggie’s role. The entire team would also pick up additional pieces,
But, yeah, Rodney, you should probably brush up on IRuff and the reports issues.
I was also asked to step up and do more in the client presentation, something I often hadn’t been invited to in the past. Our project was very high profile. And it was coming to a very exciting and successful conclusion. Reggie was the one that was going to get to be in front to accept credit for the team. That task now fell to me.
And that’s where this quote comes in. It’s very difficult when a key project member drops out in the final home stretch. It’s easy to become upset at the prospect. There isn’t time to bring in a new team member, and everyone else is already stretched. What you need to understand is that while it’s not an ideal situation, there is a way to turn it to an advantage. Maybe, you won’t find yourself in front of the company president describing how your project came in on time and on budget. But, even if you don’t, this is your chance to show your versitility and value to the team and to your company.
Look for an chance to help your team in a time of crisis. You never know, there might be a chance to make some money in it.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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