Chapter 2

We’ll Show ’Em

Will you tell?” asked one of the dish room people. I scanned their faces, all looking at me in anticipation of what I would say and do next. Surely, throwing away the silverware was grounds for dismissal. I had absolutely no clue how to solve this problem. The problem, and the fault, was not theirs . . . it was mine.

I had to make it ours.

Looking at waiting eyes, I replied, “No, this stays with us for now, but for goodness sake, stop throwing it out and let’s get to the bottom of this. I need you to help me. We’ll help each other.” It was then that I decided to see firsthand what an evening was like in the steamy dish room. After all, I had only encountered this group at the beginning and end of their shift. So I donned my “blues” (parlance for the light blue uniform, sort of like those you see in an operating room) and worked with them on the shift for the next week. With roaring temperatures, backbreaking work, and the time pressure of the ever-approaching end of the shift, truck after truck of messy cargoes came in, all waiting to be rendered spotless. I was shocked at what these people did in the course of their seven hours, and it became absolutely clear why—in the face of the potential to disappoint management or suffer an unforeseen consequence—they dispatched the blemished cutlery.

My mission: to reframe the task at hand. Over coffee strong enough to walk across, I huddled in the cafeteria with some of the staff. I admitted I’d had no idea what they were up against. I apologized, but told them the issue was clear: if we didn’t solve the problem, I could not predict what the man from Eastern would do. Then, in a calm and measured voice, Mr. Fuentes spoke: “We’ll show him.”

There was a moment of silence, and I knew in an instant that those words were a link between all of us. For me, there was a desire to prove wrong all those who thought I was too soft to lead, and for these wonderful people, there was a wish to show that they had dignity, smarts, and wanted—like me—to go home proud of what they accomplished. This was no longer me and them, it was now us.