Just heard that my old boss at PG&E, Jack Page, died a few days ago, just 6 weeks short of his 100th birthday. If you’re lucky, you will get at least one person like Jack who will pass through your life and influence it. He started out life in PG&E’s Land Department, right out of school at age 16, working as a rodman/chainman in the survey section. Jack expected to get on and move up a little, but, as he told us, he never expected to make it to the elevated position as one of the most influential managers of a critical department within the company. Jack was a complete straight-shooter, who never played politics, never trod on anyone on his way up the corporate ladder, yet was shrewd, always asked tough & insightful questions, and made a lot of company important policy (which wasn’t in his remit). He kept a tight rein on department expenditures while many other managers were spending money like it was going out of style. This actually came back to bite the department during tough times and a downturn in the economy when the company required all departments to take a 10% budget haircut (always a stupid idea to cut budgets across the board, rather than weed out unneeded departments or cut some much more than others). We were already operating at rock bottom and a 10% cut was drastic for us, causing the loss of some new and good employees, while other departments were still living a life of Riley after the 10% cut. While other managers complained, Jack just got on with the job and worked with what he had, gaining the respect of everyone within the entire company. He was already well respected within the survey and utility industry, and within the regulatory agencies where he appeared regularly as an expert witness on where gas and electric lines should be routed. Jack may well have been the oldest living Californian Licensed Land Surveyor when he died. Jack, rightfully, did not like whingers who just complained and did nothing to improve the system. If you found or had a problem, Jack expected you to let him know (his office door really was always open), but offer at least one, and preferably two solutions. He was a stickler when reading reports that were verbose, used too many acronyms without explaining what they meant, and were pompous and pretentious. You couldn’t get away with waffle, and facts had to be substantiated. Brevity and clarity were the order of the day, and “say what you mean, and mean what you say.” In an effort to fast-track me within the department and company, I was very fortunate to be plucked out of my role as a surveyor to be Jack’s administrative analyst for about 18 months. This entailed handling the department’s $27million annual budget, and introducing and overseeing project management within the department and company. On occasion, I even got to step in as the entire Building & Land Services Department vice-president’s assistant and oversee a budget of about $450 million, plus introduce the concept of zero-based budgeting---no simple across-the-board 10% cuts and no sacred cows--every cent had to be accounted for and justified within every programme and project. With similar values, Jack and I got on well and he was a great mentor. As part of the job of project management, I actually got the first desktop PC (an IBM) computer in PG&E, so got a head start on using such programmes as Visischedule and Visicalc (Excel today), plus a word processor, for which I am ever grateful. Jack was also responsible for loaning me out to Pacific Gas Transmission (a PG&E out-of-state subsidiary) to head up the Rocky Mountain Pipeline in the dual role as contract inspector and route selection engineer. That required working in Wyoming, Utah & Nevada, and being the company spokesman at agency and town hall meetings. Such chances don’t come along that often to many people, and you have to grab opportunities while you can, and do the best job you possibly can. Jack, as an excellent role model, taught me and others the importance of thorough research, presentation of at least two and preferably three options when proposing projects to the public, challenging the status quo, and standing up to those in more authority if you felt they were wrong or being untruthful (in truth, that’s always been my modus operandi). I later went on, some years after Jack retired to be PG&E’s Expert Witness for utility projects working closely with the Law Department’s attorneys, a great experience in itself. Being an expert witness does not mean testifying on behalf of a client, but being totally objective, which could mean going against the company that’s paying your salary and taking sides with the public if necessary. Jack and I, plus several other friends and colleagues, have kept up over the years until his death, meeting two or three times a year at various venues for lunch. He was lucid til the end. We all have a lot to thank Jack for, and we should all be so lucky to have a boss like him. Give me honesty, common sense, willingness to share knowledge, and intellectual rigour any day over small talk. Jack was not big on that, or beating around the bush, or initial pleasantries such as asking how the wife and kids were, or where you were going on vacation. Definitely the end of an era. (Sept 27, 2014)
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 01:20:17 +0000
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