My Biggest Mistake

Fons Trompenaars is managing director of the Centre for International Business Studies, a Netherlands-based consultancy and training organisation for international management. At 39, he holds a master's degree in business economics from the Free University, Amsterdam, and a PhD in social systems sciences from the Wharton School of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He spent seven years with Shell in human resources, where he began to assemble his database on cultural differences. Now his clients include BP, ICI, Philips, Eastman Kodak and Heineken.

MY BIGGEST mistake was in the summer of 1992, when I was invited to give the closing speech for a group of top managers at a workshop in Chicago. The speech was to be made in late afternoon, so I would have to wait until the next morning to fly back - which made it a long way to travel just for an hour's work.

I decided I would combine the Chicago trip with a visit to another client - a division of the same company - based in Arizona. We agreed I would run a workshop on 3 September, the day before I had to be in Chicago. I calculated that I could work until 5pm and take the 6pm flight. Even if something went wrong, I could fly the following morning because my speech was not until 4pm.

With the arrangements made, I continued with my schedule in Europe. All was fine until I arrived at my hotel in Paris at midnight and found there was a message from Chicago.

I wanted to go to bed, because I had a workshop at 8am, but the client was calling back at 12.30am.

When she did, it was to query my travel arrangements. She couldn't understand why I was arriving late on the 3rd. I explained that I had a workshop with their sister division, but she referred me to my contract.

The contract stated that I had to be in Chicago by 9pm. I said 'What's the problem? I don't have to speak until 4pm the next day.'

'You don't understand,' she said. 'You have signed a contract that says you have to be here at 9pm on the 3rd.'

I had forgotten how important contracts are to Americans. The chief executive was going to be there, and everyone was extremely nervous. There was no way out of it but to call Arizona and explain that I needed to take an earlier flight.

When Arizona found out why, they refused, saying it was in my contract that I had to stay until 5pm. I called Chicago back again. This carried on until 3am.

Neither division would budge; each was using me to show which had more power. I felt like a ball being hit from court to court. They just weren't interested in solving the problem. I couldn't win.

In the end, I had to make a choice and, naturally, I went with the first contract I had signed, which meant giving up the workshop on the 3rd.

Arizona was not pleased. 'Fons, this might have serious consequences,' they warned. Can you imagine being threatened by two divisions of the same company about something you are doing for the benefit of both?

The attitude in an organisation that is well-run would be: 'Hey, this is interesting. We can split the costs and it will be good for both of us.' Unfortunately, the problem of getting divisions to work together is all too common in the world today. There is no sense of unity.

That's why you see companies close to bankruptcy even though they are brilliant at research and design, production and marketing.

As a result of my mistake, I lost the Arizona client, although I continue to work for Chicago and in fact they recommended me to a whole new range of clients. But I would never put myself in that position again. The next time I was asked to speak for two divisions of the same company, I told them to sort it out themselves.

(Photograph omitted)