The Big Boss...

Mouse's drawing of The Big Boss

'Dear Mouse, we are pleased to tell you that you have won a free pass to our No. 1 Traveller Lounge at Birmingham Airport.  Please let us know when you will next be travelling.'

This really happened.  This week. And do you know what? despite the Travel Ban I might have to go to Sweden in the next few weeks.  Hoorah!

However, I will have to go because I have been summonsed by the Farmers with the cheese order that went rather awry.  Well, not summonsed exactly, but we are to have a post mortem on the entire process.  Originally there were to be two post mortems, one with the Farmers themselves, and another with the Suppliers who supply the milk for the cheese and the Packaging Suppliers.  However it has now been shortened down to one shorter session with all parties concerned. Because it takes all parties to work together.   Much more sensible.

When you pick it apart, the process with the Suppliers with the Cows and the Packaging Suppliers works though.  It works as it should.  As it was designed to. The contract with the Cheese Suppliers and the Packaging Suppliers is designed to be reactive - the Farmers place their orders, the Suppliers respond.  This is a reasonably priced outsourcing situation.

You can buy a Super Duper Outsourcing Deluxe package where you pay the Suppliers with the Cows and the Packaging Suppliers a lot of money to have cows standing around ready to be milked just in case, and ladies sitting at a long trestle table with rolls of cellophane and tape, and sticky labels, just waiting to package any cheese that might come in.  

The Farmers didn't buy that deal.

However when the latest Cheese order went a bit wrong, because it was complicated and the restaurant wanted fancy ingredients in time for Christmas, and the Farmers had promised this, the Big Bosses got involved.

The Farmer's Big Boss called my boss Edie's boss'e boss.  Do try to keep up.

A lot of screaming and shouting took place.  Some sulking ensued. I had to write a report of everything that had happened so far, and so did The Rare Beast (me and The Rare Beast have long since made friends with each other).  Turns out we had done everything properly and as we should have done (of course! That's what they pay me for!) but do you know what?  The Big Boss then agreed to go to the Big Boss of the Suppliers with the Cows and the Suppliers who do the packaging and miraculously, all the Cheese appeared the next day.

Those of you with small children will, of course, understand that this is like giving screaming children a chocolate bar before dinner, just because the child didn't like the answer 'No'.  

Rewarding bad behaviour.

However, that aside, off I will go to talk about it with the Farmers and I will love being there again.  I really cannot tell you how lovely it is in Sweden and I might even get out to my favourite Cheese Cafe at lunchtime.

I also did have a very good conversation with the Big Boss of the Division of Farmers who supply restaurants.  It is true that fancy cheeses with non-standard ingredients (like maybe chillis or cranberries) ARE needed, of course, and so a standard cheese ordering process might not work for them, but as it is all we have to work with he agreed to order the cheese much earlier on.

I wish I could Fix the World sometimes, but I can't, I'm only a little Mouse.  But I can listen and try to get the Farmers to put in their Cheese Orders earlier, because that is the key.

And - what a lucky little Mouse I am - I get to go in here:-

http://www.no1traveller.com/birmingham-airport-lounge.htm

Be assured - there will be photos.

Tiny hugs,
Mouse xx