"My God. What have I done?" -- Once in a Lifetime, Talking Heads

Prelude

The call came on Thursday morning.

"Andy? Yeah, hi. Hey, about that trip to France: we've changed our mind about paying expenses for your family. So howsabout it? Are you in? We really need you, big guy."

Oh crap. Why didn't I see this coming? I was so relieved a month or two back when this thing had blown over -- I had done the "brave" thing, and said "yes" to a six-month gig in France, but when the word came back saying "No dependant expenses will be covered by the company", I got to play the righteous card and bow out: "No family? No Andy!"... all the while, my knees shaking... whew! That was close!

But now they're back! Crap! Ok... what to say, what to say... something decisive, assertive and self-confident.... deep breath...

"Ummm, wow, uhhh... well... gee, I guess I'd have to talk it over with my wife."

Geeze, Erickson, you're a first rate pud-knocker. Ok... but it's true. Ceil will know what to do... she'll find a way around this...

"Hey honey... it's me... Andy.... yeah, Andy Erickson... "
"Oh, yeah. Hi, Andy. Wassup?"
"Umm... you remember that France thing I talked about? Well, uhh, it's back. They say they'll pay expenses for you and the kids -- tuition and room / board. All that stuff. Ummm... what do you think?"

Good job Andy, put the ball in her court. She'll know how to get out of this.

"GREAT! Let's do it! Sounds like a blast!"

WHAT!!! Is she crazy! We don't even speak French? What will we do about the house? The kids' school? The cat? What about our jobs... will they be here when we get back? What the hell was I thinking putting the ball in her court? She's nuts!

"Ok, dear. that's what I thought too. Just checking in."

+++++++++++++++++++

So we're off to France for six months. God my wife is brave.

Some background:
I've been invited to join a team going to a company in Issoudun, France (south of Tours and Orleans) that supplies passenger seats to airframe manufacturers. They are currently behind schedule and over-committed. Our goal is to cajole them into getting the seats currently in production back on schedule, and along the way, identify and implement solutions to the problems which got them off-track in the first place.

Seats are a "wicked" problem. The airframe manfacturer doesn't buy them directly -- the airlines want to control the look and feel of their interior, so they choose their own seat suppliers -- and we don't have much recourse when they pick poor-performers. Seats have grown more complex (in-seat video, PC power and networking, satellite phones, credit card readers, etc.) and are increasingly integrated into the electrical systems of the plane. It's gotten to the point that we can't complete the testing of a plane if we don't have the seats. So we want the damn seats on time. The airlines, meanwhile, would prefer to wait as long as possible before committing to a seat design, in hopes of getting a leg up on their competitors. They want to design the damn seats at the last minute. And to further exacerbate the situation, the FAA and other regulatory agencies have dramatically increased the performance requirements for the seats -- often requiring many months of testing before approving a new design. They want the damn seats yesterday and wish we'd quit changing the design so often. Lots of conflicting requirements (time, perhaps, to enlarge the question).

To make matters worse, the seat manufacturers are going through the same "outsourcing" process my company has, sub-contracting for part fabrication and sub-assembly work -- but they haven't mastered the process of making sure the right bits get ordered and delivered at the right time to the right place. We hear lot's of stories which end with some poor guy saying, "oh crap, we forgot to order fitzenjammer-whatsits."

As our production rates are picking up, and a handful of seat suppliers are falling behind, we've reached a point where we cannot deliver certain airplanes per our commitments. If a plane doesn't deliver in the month we promised, the airlines get mad (which is silly, because it's their choice in seat suppliers causing the problem). But when a delivery slides out of the planned quarter then Wall Street gets mad, which is a bigger deal.

So.... my hunch is that the folks who manage commercial airplanes want to do everything possible to a) help the seat suppliers who are struggling and b) make sure it looks like we're helping (e.g. when the bosses in Chicago call, we need to be able to say, "we've pulled out all the stops.")

I've been included on the team mainly based on my background in Lean applied to production and supply-chain issues. I'm also looking forward to providing some 'process consultation' and leadership for the team along the way.

The whole thing is moving very quickly and seems chaotic. I'm not optimistic about our chances of implementing lasting change -- very little thought has been given to 'contracting' with the folks who run this factory -- we're going to be a "boarding party" in many respects. I've got more French than most of the team, and I haven't spoken a word since high school -- this is worrisome. And many of the problems seem to stem from cultural / social / political conditions -- most of which would be tough to address even if we had years and spoke fluent French. This project feels like it's "full speed ahead, direction to be determined later".

On the other hand, this is a great chance for me to practice "entering a system" and working across cultural boundaries.

And I couldn't pass up the chance to expose my kids to a different country.

Where things stand - 10:08pm PST July 9, 2006
We don't know precisely when we'll be leaving, but it'll likely be within the next month or so. We're planning to put the kids into school over there -- preferably an international school with at least part of the day conducted in English. Issoudun is a small town though, and we've yet to find such a school near-by, so we may wind up tossing the kids into the deep end of the pool, so to speak, and sending them to a French school. Several of our friends argue in favor of this approach, and it scares the hell out of me.

We've got some great leads on folks interested in renting the house (and, as importantly, watching the cat) while we're gone.

A million things to do: call the school and tell them the kids will be going to school in France for half the year; FIND a school in France; forward the mail; cancel the cable, phone, netflix, wine-of-the-month-club (well, maybe not the wine club... not yet...)

Looking forward... the plan for this "blog"
Not sure how we'll use this, but my hunch is that it'll be theraputic for us, and of interest to friends and family, if we keep a journal of our trip. Not sure how often we'll update it, but my ambition is running high.

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers and offers of support. Stay tuned!

Andy E.