“Then there’s no point in having you do that, is there? What do you enjoy doing?”

 Most of what he enjoyed doing, Logan figured, would be of little use to a company. But within his field of study, he found one topic especially interesting. “I really like OD—that’s organizational development.” He hesitated. “I suppose you know that. Anyway, I like to examine how a group or an organization works and figure out ways it can work better.”

 “Then let’s have you be an organizational analyst. We’ve needed someone to do that kind of assessment here for some time. You sound like just the man.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t have any real background in that. I just liked it best in
school.”

“That’s good enough. You’ll learn more on the job.”

“Do you want to see my résumé?”

“No,” the Director replied. “You strike me as a bright, capable young man. I’m sure the quality of your work is fine.”

“Should I bring it for my second interview?”

“There is no second interview. You’re hired.”

 “Just like that?”

“Just like that. I always trust my first instinct.”

Logan stared at him, dumbfounded. The Director leaned forward in his chair. “Do you wish
to accept the job or not?”

“Yes. Absolutely. I mean…I just can’t believe…” He shut up while he was ahead.

“So,” the Director continued, “let me further explain your job to you.”

Logan was to start on the first floor. An HR person named Kyle would set him up. He was to assess operations on that level—talk to employees, attend meetings, observe processes. Kyle would arrange access to everything he needed. He was to determine the biggest problem on the floor and report back to the Director.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to assess the organization as a whole rather than level by level?” Logan asked.

“In most organizations that would be the case, but in this one the various levels operate independently. Each division of the company occupies a separate floor. They don’t have much interaction.”

“Maybe that’s a problem.”

The Director smiled. “Yes, I’ve considered that.”

He wrote something on a Post-it note and handed it to Logan. “You can simply e-mail me. Nothing long and complicated. Just your basic observations. You don’t have to impress me with your report-writing ability.”

It all sounded simple. His job was to hang out, see how things worked, and determine what the problems were. Nothing could be easier. If he had written a dream job description himself, it wouldn’t have been this good.

“Do you have any questions?”