Uncategorized

The Germans And Paperwork

Posted by admin on Feb 14, 2012 in Uncategorized | No Comments

So, there are headlines that there will not be a meeting tomorrow because the paperwork isn’t done. As much as that sounds bogus to me, and we should be selling off, I have to relate a story.

I was working for a German institution. A very old school German one. I had to do a new business initiative (which are torture anywhere). It had to be submitted by Thursday so it could be reviewed at the official new business initiative meeting the following Tuesday.

A bit formal, but fair enough.

On Tuesday I reach one of the board members who was supportive of the initiative and asked about the results. He said I hadn’t check a box in section 13-D. Section 13 was on about the 7th page of a 10 page form.

I asked if he couldn’t have gotten approved without that box checked, since it was a minor issue, but he re-iterated that it couldn’t be approved as submitted and that I had to resubmit. So, that was going to cost me a week, but I figured he could at least tell me what the other board members thought of the proposal.

I was told that box 13-D hadn’t been checked.

We were both becoming incredulous with the other. I couldn’t believe that no discussion had occurred. I thought at the very least if they had seen an error on page 7, that was technical in nature, he could have told me what they thought of the actual content. How can you get to the 7th page and not have comments or suggestions on the content that would have helped ensure its approval the following week.

He was growing equally flabbergasted at me, and couldn’t understand why I would think that not checking a box in 13-D was critical to the process and why would they discuss such an incomplete proposal.

In the end, the initiative was never approved. There were always modifications requested, that needed to be resubmitted. You were told what they didn’t like, but not how to change it to something that they could like.

So, the story isn’t exactly accurate, but it is pretty darn close. In the end, they didn’t really want the new business, and this was a way of shutting it down, while making it look like it wasn’t their fault.

While this is only one example, and apologies to anyone I may offend, and yes generalizations are bad, but on the other hand, we have to base decisions on our own experiences, and I still believe a can kick to prepare for an “orderly” default (whatever that is) is the most likely outcome of current deliberations, but the likelihood that the can kicking is over, is increasing by the day.

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BN 02/14 17:22 *EURO AIDES SAID TO HAVE NOT FINISHED WORK ON GREEK PACKAGE

BN 02/14 17:21 *EURO FINANCE CHIEFS SAID TO SHELVE PLANS FOR BRUSSELS MEETING

BN 02/14 17:21 *EURO FINANCE MINISTERS SAID TO PLAN PHONE CONFERENCE TOM0RROW

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Euro Finance Chiefs Said to Plan Phone Conference on Greek Aid

2012-02-14 17:24:47.783 GMT

By James Hertling

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — European finance ministers plan to

hold a conference call tomorrow, shelving a planned meeting in

Brussels, as they struggle to complete work on a rescue for

Greece, said a European official with knowledge of the talks. He

declined to be identified because the deliberations remain

confidential.

Link to Company News:{2539Z GR <Equity> CN <GO>}

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