You win some, you lose some

It's a while since I posted one of my management consulting anecdotes, so here goes:

Some years ago I undertook a project for the UK operating subsidiary of a global pharmaceutical firm. The project went well and I was ready to present my findings to the client. The presentation was arranged for their next Board meeting, which was to be held at a hotel named the Anugraha in Egham, not too far from Windsor.

I was timed to present at 9:30 am and started on time. I had just started talking to the third slide of my presentation when the fire alarms went off. We were in a ground floor conference room with French doors, so we left through the doors and trotted through a steady drizzle to the assembly point under the front entrance canopy. After about half an hour we were given the all clear and went back to our conference room. The Chairman said "I think we all lost track of what you said - best to start again", which I did. I had just started talking to the third slide of my presentation with the fire alarms went off again, and we repeated the earlier evacuation procedure, though this time in somewhat heavier rain.

Eventually we were given the all clear again, and returned to the conference room. However, this time the Chairman said, "I'm sorry, we have a lot to get through today so I will have to ask you to defer your presentation to the next Board Meeting." I groaned inwardly - I had psyched myself up for this day, and the delay also meant a month's delay in receiving our final payment. However, I had no option but to agree, so I did and returned to our office, not far away near Maidenhead.

A couple of weeks later the Chairman's PA called me. "I understand you have a spot at the next Board Meeting." I agreed. "Good," she said, "I have your tickets". "Tickets?" I queried. "Yes," she said. "Didn't he tell you it would be in Montreux?" I raised no objection.

On the day before the meeting I flew to Geneva and was picked up by a chauffeur in a stretch limo, who took me to my hotel. It was one street back from the shoreline but my room had a spectacular view of the lake and the food, as you can imagine, was top notch. I discovered that the Montreux Jazz Festival was in two weeks time, and Montreux was in a state of high excitement.

This time my presentation went according to plan, was received with gratitude, and we got paid.

You win some, you lose some.