Internal Organizing
How I Met Your Contract Lawyer
Throughout this report, I share plenty of stories about things going wrong in fleet electrification. This section is the story of one of the best successes I have seen, and it highlights some of the challenges and opportunities that arise from getting everyone on the same page in a big company. I changed some details to maintain anonymity, and I included a few embellishments to highlight key points and maintain the narrative.
My friend, Jerry, works as a senior operations manager for a very large consumer goods manufacturer. He was tasked with developing a fleet electrification program, and he brought me onboard as a contractor to provide analytic and strategy support. I think I provided valuable assistance, but the project largely succeeded because Jerry did an incredible job of navigating the complex dynamics within a major corporation.
In fact, the project was so successful that the company organized an event for the CEO to recognize Jerry’s great work. What unfolded during and after that ceremony is illustrative of the types of internal organizing needed to run a great fleet electrification program.
Jerry’s mom asked me to record the event, so I sat in the front row next to Jerry to get a good view. The CEO entered the room and greeted the crowd with his usual ‘great to see you’ then picked up a microphone and began:
“If there’s one thing I learned at Wharton…”
A faintly audible groan emanated from the audience.
“…it’s that you have to trust your people.”
He explained that the company’s leadership deputized Jerry to work at his own discretion across organizational boundaries. They put their trust in Jerry that he would appropriately engage the right people, make sound business decisions, and be forthright about the status and needs of the project. As a result, Jerry – with the help of many others – launched a program that will reduce fleet emissions by more than 90%, reduce fleet operating expenses by 10%, and opened the door to new partnerships with key customers.
Over the years, I have watched the video of this speech a few times and this section always stands out to me:
We often talk about working for a company as being ‘part of a team,’ but a team where a few people make all the meaningful decisions for everyone else is – of course – no team at all. Giving Jerry the freedom to run this project is one of many examples where we have empowered individual employees to lead major transformations. So, I flew to New York today to celebrate Jerry’s success and to let each of you know that you don’t need to wait for me to empower you. I trust each and every one of you to collaborate with each other and make decisions that are in the best interest of the team.
As I listened on that day, I had a bit of an “aha moment”. Until that point, all I saw was Jerry hustling between stakeholders and putting out fires all day. It hadn’t occurred to me to ask why he was able to work across so many parts of the company to begin with – it was a strategic leadership choice. Not to detract from Jerry’s success, but this was also a success of the company’s leadership approach. And, I suppose, that’s why the CEO was there that day.
The CEO concluded: “Most importantly, I trust that Jerry and all of you will stay with our team even after you learn all the incredible things you’re capable of.”
The crowd clapped loudly, and the CEO asked Jerry to come forward to give his remarks. Jerry thanked the CEO for his support, and he began by conveying that the program was only successful because of great collaborations across the company. He went on to give examples of the breadth of stakeholders he worked with to get the project off-the-ground:
“I basically lived with Leon in Procurement for six months, and I have our lawyers on speed dial,” he quipped.
Leon shouted back: “You’re a great cuddler!”
The crowd chuckled and even the CEO bellowed out a rare laugh. Jerry looked for Leon in the audience, but Suzi – the contract lawyer – caught his eye. Interestingly, he and Suzi would get married two years later. They were flirty but not in a relationship at this time. Though – as I noted in my speech at their wedding – he actually did have her on speed dial.
He worked with the facilities team to ensure they understood and included the deployment timelines for EV charging stations, so they could appropriately engage the utilities and update their site development plans. Some of their fleet depots are on leased property, so he worked with the real estate team to navigate landlord relationships and adjust strategies around different lease terms.
Some employees take their company vehicles home at night, so he worked with HR to ensure policies were in place to support home and other offsite charging. They use union drivers for their logistics operations, so he worked with HR again to support the labor relations team in negotiating seemingly innocuous changes to driver requirements that took months to enact.
“So, truly,” he concluded. “None of this would be possible without support and collaboration across the company. I appreciate all of you.”
As Jerry concluded his speech, the crowd gave a big applause. The CEO thanked Jerry and the audience for attending, and people started to leave. A gaggle of people gathered around the CEO and other senior executives to schmooze and self-aggrandize. Several people came to pat Jerry on the back and congratulate him.
Behind the crowd Suzi stood by herself – presumably waiting to talk to Jerry. He made eye contact with her again to indicate that he’d be there soon. When it seemed like nobody was left to see him, he snuck in front of a few people to shake hands with the CEO one last time. As he turned back towards Suzi, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. It was Tony, the company’s fleet manager.
“I was pretty skeptical when you started this,” he said. “But I think you’ve got this thing moving in a good direction.”
Jerry expressed his gratitude: “Thanks for your collaboration. This was really a team effort.”
Of course, I knew that Tony had been one of the worst people to deal with throughout the process. He seemed viscerally opposed to EVs and was constantly trying to undermine Jerry´s work. It was nice of him to congratulate Jerry now.
“When do you think we’ll get those electric vans delivered,” Tony asked.
Jerry explained that they’re still working through the contract but that he would let Tony know as soon as they locked in a delivery estimate. Tony shook Jerry’s hand with an aggressively tight grip and walked away, leaving Jerry shaking off his hand in pain.
A few more people came to shake his hand and share platitudes. I could tell he was eager to talk to Suzi. He took a few steps towards her – she was now chatting with a colleague – when he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the Vice President of Finance, Sharon.
“Congrats, Jerry. Great work!”
“Thanks, Sharon,” he replied. “It was really a team effort, and it was great working with you and your team.”
Sharon looked around suspiciously then lowered her voice. “You know…your project’s savings kept a few people from getting laid off.”
Jerry was taken aback by the news: “Oh, wow. That’s great. I’m so happy we could make a real impact like that.”
“Along those lines, if we have any updates to the financials, we really need to get that in by the end of the month.”
“Of course,” Jerry said confidently. “I just need to get the engineering contract finalized next week, and I’ll get with your team to update the numbers then.”
Sharon thanked Jerry one more time then walked off waving to some other executive. I put my hand on his back and started to guide him away from the crowd towards Suzi, but Ian – the Communications Director – called out: “Jerry! Jerry!”
He jogged over from across the room.
“I was able to lock in the CNBC interview for Thursday morning,” Ian explained. “I was thinking we can meet at the studio around 7 to prep. You’re on at 7:45.”
Jerry said that would be fine, though he’d need some coffee.
“You got it,” said Ian. “They said they like your straight talk about things that haven’t gone right. So, let’s plan for some questions along those lines.”
“That’s fine. I’ll keep it positive but real.”
Ian gave a reassuring thumbs up and congratulated him on the successful project. As Ian walked away, Jerry started looking around for Suzi again. But she was already gone.
Seeing he was disappointed, I told him: “Sorry, man. I tried.”
I patted him on the back as we walked towards his office, and I told him we’d catch up over dinner. Then he walked into his office, and I went to my desk a few cubicles away. That’s when things got really interesting.
As Jerry later told me, he walked to a small cabinet in his office and pulled out a bottle of whiskey that he sometimes opens on “special occasions.” He poured a splash into a thick tumbler, then walked to the window and stared out pensively across the Manhattan skyline. Just as he took a sip, he heard a knock on the door. He turned to see Suzi peeking inside.
Visibly excited, he put his drink down on the bookshelf and gestured for her to come sit on the sofa. She smiled and came to sit next to him.
“I just wanted to say congratulations. You’ve worked really hard and deserve all this recognition…and the drink,” she joked.
Feeling shamed for having been caught drinking in the office at noon, he reverted to his standard refrain: “Thanks, but I’m just doing my job. It really has been a great team effort.”
“Okay,” she replied with a mocking eye roll. “Listen, I’ve been working on this contract with your electric van supplier. Their lawyer is trying to weasel out of the acceptance testing. I think we should stand firm. What do you think?”
Jerry agreed. Having independent validation that the vehicles perform as promised – while atypical in the industry – is really important, especially for retrofit vehicles that don’t even come from the original manufacturer. He was open to different testing protocols but was unwilling to take possession of any vehicle that couldn’t be validated.
“Alright then. I’ll tell them to keep their vans in Jersey if they don’t like what we’re offering.”
Coming back to the start of their conversation, he said: “Really. It’s been great working with you. We wouldn’t be where we are without you. Somebody needs to hold these vendors’ feet to the fire!”
“Don’t worry,” she giggled. “They’ll find a way to screw us anyway.”
They both laughed and were left with a long, nervous silence. She smiled and looked at him then put her hand on his knee. He looked at her and put his hand on hers. But then he looked down into his lap – hesitating for several seconds before he could speak.
“I’m sorry,” he explained. “I really like you a lot, but I looked at our HR policies and think we could both get in trouble if we’re more than friends.”
She withdrew her hand quickly as her gaze moved from him to the floor. For several moments, she didn’t move — just stared at the floor in thought. Then she stood up briskly and walked to the door.
Jerry felt terrible, filled with self-doubt. He hadn’t meant to upset her.
“Suzi, wait,” he pleaded.
But she walked through the door…and stopped.
She looked around for a moment at all the people filtering back in from the ceremony and yelled: “Hey, everyone! I want you to know that I quit...effective immediately.”
The room went quiet as I and everyone else looked up at her, confused.
Was this a joke?
Was she actually quitting?
Were the police going to storm in and take Jerry away?
Inside the office, Jerry stood up – his heart pounding and in shock of what she had done.
“But Suzi,” he said sternly as she turned from the door and walked back to him. “What about your promotion to Senior M…”
She grabbed him with both hands by the lapels of his suit and brought him in for a prolonged but gentle kiss. As she let go, he paused to process everything that was happening. Then he looked into her eyes and grinned widely.
“Before you quit, can we please get that engineering services contract signed?”
Laughing, she said “Okay, I’ll quit some other time. Let’s grab lunch and talk HR policies.”
A few moments later, they walked out of his office to find me and about 50 other people staring up at them from their cubicles expecting an explanation. Jerry, feeling nervous about the sudden attention on his budding romance, loudly blurted out the first thing that came to his mind:
“I’m going to help clean out her cubicle!”
As the words exited his mouth, his brain realized what he had just implied. He knew his colleagues well and braced for the coming response. Honestly, I was the first to laugh.
Then a woman in back screamed: “Don’t forget the surge protector!”
The room erupted.
“Need an extra hand?” yelled out Rajit from Accounting.
And the volume reached a level that I assume was heard all the way to Harlem.
Jerry stood frozen with his eyes closed, head shaking towards the ground, face flush with embarrassment. With great affection and care, Suzi took his hand and dragged him to the elevator which mercifully opened as they approached. He looked at her and gave a small chuckle as they entered, and then the doors closed.
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Before you jump on your favorite contract lawyer dating app, it’s important to clarify that this story is almost entirely fiction. But the lessons are factual. The most successful fleet electrification projects that I have seen involve an individual or small team that is empowered by leadership to act decisively. The functional areas represented in this story are also accurate: operations, c-suite, procurement, facilities, HR, fleet, finance, communications, and – of course – you really need a good contract lawyer.
Fundamentally, fleet electrification is a change management exercise – as much about motivating people as deploying technology.
Too often, I see companies taking a deterministic line of inquiry: Is the technology ready? Are the costs acceptable? Organizations are seeking a point solution in a complex system.
This approach belies the need to address a more fundamental question: Are we organized to accurately answer these questions and act accordingly? It is only through proactive internal coordination and collaboration that organizations can meaningfully identify the conditions under which fleet electrification is possible and over what time horizon.
I can’t promise that your fleet electrification project will lead to wild office romance and crude office humor, though I wish you the best if that’s what you’re looking for. I am, however, certain that a human-centered approach is the clearest path to success.
Relive the Magic
Dig into the Stakeholder Soup of Fleet Electrification:
Products & Services: What Can I Do to Put You in an EV Today?
Leased Property: The Case of Furley v. Roper (Coming Soon)
Public Policy: The 250lb Orangutan in the Room (Coming Soon)
…And the Rest: People You Don’t Know You Should Know (Coming Soon)
Or, Skip to the Punchline: