If Charlie came up with an idea for a design, or for an improvement in a design or process, or for promoting a product, Fred would condescendingly prove that Charlie was wrong, that his approach was inferior. With his perpetual smile, Fred would almost pat Charlie on the head as he explained why his own way was superior.

Fred could explain everything he did. Every decision, even a decision spurred by a moment. He could support his every move with the most solid logic, a sprinkling of debatable facts and a vast store of historical tidbits. Looking at recent national and world history, and taking a lesson from politicians and world leaders, Fred labeled every change he made a reform, however devastating its effects. Fred was the kind of guy you love to hate because he was so superior.

Rather than fight or argue, Fred's people just did just what Fred wanted while they quietly looked for other jobs. Fred felt vindicated. It was clear that, with his superior logic, he had convinced everybody that his way was best.

Several of Fred's policies had severely negative effects. In most cases, people just didn't talk about them, at least, not out loud. Fred usually didn't talk about them either. If he did, he explained the effects with the authority one expects from Wall Street experts explaining why the market behaved the way it did yesterday.

Anybody with a smattering of understanding could see, Fred would point out, that there was nothing inherently wrong in the policy. The problems were temporary and had nothing to do with the policy itself. Or it may have been poor execution on the part of some people on the staff. Or maybe the timing wasn't perfect. Or the stock market was down. Or the phase of the moon was bad. Or they weren't really problems. But there was never anything wrong with Fred's decision.

So it's easy to understand the elation Charlie felt when Fred left the company to join a family business, and the exhilaration beyond that when Charlie was appointed Fred's successor.

Charlie was determined to bring new freedom, new expression, new exuberance, new inspiration, new creativity, new life to the organization.

Taking advantage of the new atmosphere, Joe approached Charlie one day with an idea for improving a procedure Charlie had established. Very patiently, Charlie explained all the reasons his approach was superior.