Luke: Parable of the Shrewd Manager Glin, one of the division managers for Sluggo Cola was called into the office of the CEO one day. Goe sat in his chair behind his desk and looked at his employee. "Glin. I have been examining your records and think you have some explaining to do." "But sir, sales are up by 25% over the last quarter!" "So are expenses. And the expenses have been rising for the last six quarters. And some of you're numbers just don't add up." Goe squinted his beady eyes at Glin. He sneered, "I can only conclude that you have been, shall we say, 'skimming off the top.' I want you out of here by Monday." A dejected Glin slunk back to his office. What could he do? All he had worked for was gone. Sure, he had a little saved away, but what he had been skimming wouldn't last forever. High level jobs like his didn't come along every day, and he was to proud to go back to low level anything. After all, there is no honor in poverty (RoA 106). And then a light bulb came on over his head. He sat behind his desk and punched some numbers on his computer. The screen buzzed to life and the wizened form of Gimes, CEO of Ankh-Morpork Catering Co., Inc. appeared. "Can I help you, Glin?" "No. But I can help you. I've been examing your records and I think we can renegotiate your debt. You owe us 800 bars of gold pressed latinum. How about we call it 400 bars?" "Sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?" "No catch." "I'll sign." And the link closed. Glin smiled, showing all his crooked teeth. He punched up another number and was soon talking to the Smalk, CEO of Chik-Burgers!(R). "Let's cut the small talk, Smalk. You owe my company 1000 bars/gpl. What would you think about making it 800 bars?" Smalk nodded, thumbed the necessary documents and closed the connection. Glin spent the rest of the afternoon making calls. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A few weeks later, Glin decided it was time to talk to his new "friends." He called several of the debtors whom he had renegotiated things with. They all bemoaned his loss of work and were quite sorry for him. In the interest of good relations, several made monetary gifts from their accounts, and Gimes even offered him a nice job. "Aren't you lucky that your company offered to renegotiate our debt just before you lost your job?" Glin nodded, but he was thinking about the 44th Rule of Acquisition- "Never confuse wisdom with luck." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It didn't take long for Goe to hear about Glin's good fortune. A casual glance at the account's receivable showed what he had done. "That scoundrel! He was skimming off of me, and then he cheated me even more. He learned well. I hope Gimes knows to watch his back. Glin certainly knows how to think for the future."