Canceling Our Meeting

Dr. Marty - Make Stuff Up, Part 2

Because we were late, Dr. Marty greeted us when we walked in. I headed straight for his office. Dee followed. I took off my coat and put it in the middle of his coach.

“Dr. Marty,” I said. “Why did you cancel our last meeting?”

Dee set her coat on top of mine.

“Tom, I called you, but got voice mail so I talked with Dee instead,” he said and then waited for Dee to sit on the opposite side of the coach.

Dee said, “I told you when we had lunch at Yak’s. Remember?”

“Yeah.”

Dr. Marty wheeled his ergonomic chair across the floor. “I told Dee that I had to go help a college roommate of mine who needed to move all of a sudden. She was sweet. She understood and wished me well.”

“So you just blow off your clients?” I asked.

“We haven’t worked much together yet.” He shifted to talk to both of us. “What I find is that most of my clients want me to be flexible with their schedule.”

I said, “I’d prefer a set schedule.”

“I’m very accommodating,” he said. “There are always last minute changes, business meetings, sick kids, and the odd excuses that are used to simply cover up the idea that they didn’t do the work that I assigned the week before.” He fiddled with his chair, throwing a lever so that it could swivel and rock.

Dee said, “I need flexibility sometimes.”

“Yes, most of my clients do. The reason is because where there is a fair amount of work involved, my clients typically schedule for once a week but we usually meet only every other week.”

“Are you supposed to help them be productive?” I asked.

“Of course.”

“Then why don’t you hold them to the schedule?”

“He’s a coach,” Dee said, “not the boss.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Sometimes, I need my clients to be flexible, too. Some of the corporate clients that I work with want to hire me on short notice.”

I asked, “Why not give us a list of assignments to work on when you’re gone?”

“That doesn’t really work. Each client is different, so I have to make stuff up as we go along.”

“Make stuff up?”

“Customize, Tom.” Lately, he had taken to addressing me by my first name. “You’re a serious, no nonsense guy. I don’t yet know if you want only to maximize your personal productivity, or maybe you want to have more fun or be more creative.”

I said, “Productivity.”

“You probably don’t want some vague concept either,” he said. “So I will have specifics that make sense to you. Dee will be far different, she loves concepts.”

Dee nodded her head, and hung on his words.

“So let’s talk about assignments,” he said.

I’d rather stare at the walls.

… continued

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Dr. Marty - Make Stuff Up

Part 2: Canceling Our Meeting
Part 1: Watch Out! Stop!