cc: file, Grandma Hafen via Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Claude and Katherine Warner, Lloyd and Luana Warner, and Diane Cluff.
"As I looked over my calendar to come up with a common theme for this week it finally dawned on me I havn't talked about partnerships. It is kind of appropriate to be writing about this topic from Cedar City, because my early experiences in watching my Dad's partnerships and listening to my Mom talk about them has colored my view of the concept. Also, since this week is a vacation for me, and since this is a big topic, you will have another epistle length Thoughtlet. Oh well! So when you have time, read about what I mean.
The first partnership I remember learning about was with Sam Holland. Sam was a Jew who lived in California and purchased hides from Nelson Packing Plant and lard from the By-Products Plant. Prior to World War II lard was an extremely valuable commodity because it was used in munitions as a grease to get bullets to not clog up a gun. I don't know the specifics and it is one of those things I intend to study someday (.../9824.html). I remember Sam because everytime he would come to the house he would give me a dollar or sometimes even a five dollar bill. I liked to see Sam come and visit. It seems to me he was quite a bit older than my parents. Still he was good friends to Mom, and even after he moved to Israel, I remember Mom telling me how he wrote her his neighbors thought he must have a second wife in Utah because of how much he talked about her. I don't remember Dad talking down his partners, and so it was probably Mom who planted memories of this partnership in my mind. I was told that, 'as a good businessman' (I call it a thief), Sam would get copies of blank invoices and provide forged copies to Dad showing he was paid much less for the hides and lard than he actually was. After the price of lard dropped through the floor, and as he was closing down his business he eventually told Dad what he had done. I don't have any idea if it was in a bragging or repentant attitude. Nor do I know how many tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars it involved.
The other of Dad's business partnerships I remember vividly knowing about was with Albert Smith of Beaver. In the early days of Nelson Packing Plant Dad would fly (he had his own plane, which was distroyed when an airplane hanger collapsed on it, I think it was during the big blizzard that happened at the time I was born) or drive to all of the local cattle auctions in order to purchase the cattle to slaughter in Nelson Packing Plant. Like all of my trips to China and Europe it became a big burdon, and he needed to find a way to not be gone so much. So he entered into a partnership with Albert Smith. Albert would buy the cattle, sheep, and pigs and deliver them to Nelson Packing Plant, and Dad would pay him a commission for his services. Albert evidently learned the 'good business practices' of Sam Holland, because he did exactly the same thing. He would 'obtain' blank copies of the auction invoices, and give Dad copies showing he paid more for the animals than he actually did, giving him more profit. This was suppose to show he was also a 'good businessman,' otherwise he would not have bragged about it when the partnership fell apart.
I remember Dad and Albert talking about how they were going to purchase the land across from Hunt's Service Station and build a big modern meat packing plant. There was a lot of excitement, and they seemed to be the best of friends. I remember how Albert's son, I think his name was Wayne, came to work in the Packing Plant after his mission. I remember Mom talking about how they were both thiefs. I remember how Wayne would move the clock ahead an hour on Thursdays so he could get us to move quicker to get the truck loaded for the trip to St. George. I remember the end of that summer being called into Dad's office, and his humble description of how the money he was giving me for working all summer was because the Smith's were giving it to me. It was might have been $200 cash. I knew it was my responsibility to help Dad, and to do whatever my Father told me to. We worked long days, and I was glad to have a place to sleep and food to eat. As I sit here and quantify this paycheck (or bonus) as deriving from 10-14 hours per day, 5-6 days per week, for 3 months of the summer, I come up with the fact I was paid, rounding up, between 20 cents and 34 cents per hour. I was embarrased for Dad to see him forced to grovel in front of his 'partners.' Also, maybe this will help some of you better realize why I have such a strong emotional response to misuse of money and thinking wants are deserved because resources are available.
What I am attempting to say about partnerships might be better put in perspective by pointing out a couple of things that happened after this summer. I have already written about the plant being shut down (.../9721.hmtl). What I havn't mentioned is that shortly after Nelson Packing Plant was shut down, Albert and his son put in a new meat packing plant in Cedar City, close to where the livestock auction was. There were rumors about cattle being rustled and brought into this plant. To my knowledge, nothing came of these rumors, and so I dismissed them as I would talk by disgruntled losers in a poker game. I do know that Wayne became a Bishop. I also know that a few years ago, about 1992, I was changing clothes in the St. George Temple and Wayne was in the stall next to me. I said hello, and I have never in my life seen someone look as guilty, nervous, and anxious to get away from someone as he was to get away from me. He almost ran out of the temple. It was a great lesson for me, namely that we need not judge partners, because we will all stand before God and we will all be judged at sometime during the eternal scheme of things. What we need to do is to be the kind of partners we would like others to be with us.
So what happened this week that got me thinking about partnerships? There were a lot of things, something different every day. It started Monday morning with a call from Craig Limbaugh. Craig is Bob Limbaugh's son. Bob was the first President of Landmark Graphics. To put this partnership in perspective, let me recite my recollection of history.
In April of 1982 Kenvin Kinsella and I had lunch. We had been working on the 'GeoGraphix Corporation' business plan for four months, and had been turned down by a hardware guy, by Terry Smith and David Judson of CogniSeis, by Dik Jones of Gulf Research, and by David ? of Chevron Research. In that lunch Kevin said, 'Roice you do not have enough experience nor enough gray hair to sell to a venture capitalist as the CEO. Who do you know that does, maybe someone who is a good marketer.' My feelings were hurt, and yet I recognized the truth in Kevin's words. Good partners tell the truth. I responded 'Bob Limbaugh is the best marketer in the history of the world,' ('Never in the history of the world' was the vintage Limbaugh phrase). Within a day I met with Bob.
I was working on an article, which became the next to the last chapter of my book: 'New Technologies in Exploration Geophysics.' I got images and support information from Bob, and then closed his door and said, 'Bob, how would you like to quit your job, take a cut in pay, and be my boss.' He said 'Yes. What do we need to do?' I said 'We need the best hardware and the best software guys in the world.' He said 'I know just the two guys, John Mouton and Andy Hildebrand.' He went out and visited them the next day and they said they would join up with Bob. Andy was just leaving for Australia, and I ended up not meeting him until after Bob and I returned from the EAEG (European Association of Exploration Geophysicists) in Cannes, France, and from making our first sales call in London to ICI Petroleum (Imperial Chemical). The five founding partners quickly became four, as Kevin was cut out, and then became three as first I was given employee number 2 by Bob (who needed to be number 1 because he was the CEO and President), and then cut from my rotation on the Board of Directors. This kind of reversed within two years when Bob was asked to leave by the Board because of a lack of inventory control. But that is another story. The bottom line is this partnership was really no more successful than Dad's partnerships. And the reasons were not all that different. Good partnerships measure their success.
As we talked about what Craig is doing, he said, 'Roice, I really need you and Dad to resolve your issues, if not for him, for me.' I told him I would be glad to talk to Bob, and he told me a relative had just been killed in a freak accident in Galveston and he thought his Dad would be more receptive to meeting with me than he has been for years. After all, perspectives do change when we take stock of our mortality. Partners are flexible and willing to change their mind.
At 9:30 Monday morning, Jeff Hume, Dave Monk, and myself went downtown to give a corporate introduction of Continuum Resources to senior officers of Enron Oil and Gas Corporation. It was nice to watch the interaction between the parties. Energy Innovations has obviously been a good partner for Enron, and they definitly want the partnership to continue. A good partnership with a customer is one of the most important that can be developed in business.
Monday evening we had our regular group at Family Home Evening. Rob and Trevor were playing around a lot, and I thought how the 9 of us, who have been meeting for about a year, have become a type of partnership. I gave Mike Smith, Larry Law, and Jane Moreless a copy of my Eulogy Thoughtlet, because I thought they might each find some of the ideas useful. Partners share things they think their partners can benefit from. I had also sent a copy to Rutt, and apologized for plagerism. He responded how hard it was for him to write such personal things, and how it seemed worthwhile based on the reactions he had got back, including mine.
Most of Tuesday was spent with Roger Anderson. Roger and I became best of friends back in the late 1980's when we formed the Global Basin Research Network. We have done some professionally exciting things together in the last decade. Friendship is a key component of a viable partnership. Roger has bought into my philosopy of suficiency, stewardship, and sustainability. We talked about what our individual requirements are in each area, and how we could help each other meet our requirements and continue to have fun professionally through Continuum Resources. Roger is one of the most famous and well know geoscientists in the world, and he has signed on as a consultant with Continuum Resources. It is critical each participant in a partnership provide useful knowledge and experience. It is a lot of fun to work with Roger. Maybe this is because he makes me feel important to him.
Tuesday afternoon Argie Ruhman and his new partner David Brower came to give us a presentation about their combined work in fiber optic stress meters and real-time process monitoring. One of the things we see Continuum doing is providing command and control centers for large oil fields, specifically monitoring fluid movements through pipelines, pipeline integrity, as well as the upstream exploration and production activities. Roice, I think you would be interested in the way they are using fiber optics as strain meters. They eatch the fiber every so often, and then as light travels through the fiber and the fiber put under stress, they can tell where and how much stress. This can be connected to a pipeline or imbedded in a cement bridge or the vertical supports of a building. This allows real-time monitoring of structural integrity, which can be very important to buildings in earthquake prone areas. It opens the door for Continuum to provide real-time command and control centers to monitor all of the bridges in the San Francisco area, or all the buildings in Mexico City, since we know it is only a matter of time until there is another earthquake. David is an active member of the church, and Argie had told him about me. He was quick to tell me about a lady who had just been released as a Relief Society President in his ward, and had been divorced for a decade. I ended up taking her out to a German resturant on Wednesday evening. Partners are quick to discern and attempt to meet each others needs.
Wednesday morning I had a dental checkup at Crabtrees. It is always fun to go there and to watch Christie so involved in the business side of their partnership, and Ron being the perfect professional. They seem to enjoy each other and what they individually contribute. It does make me a bit jealous, especially since I remember when Ron and Christie were dating. It is nice that he is Rob's Home Teaching Senior Companion, because hopefully some of his experience on how a working partnership runs will rub off.
At 11:30 Dave Monk and I met with a geoscientist from Colorado Springs who has captured all production histories in the United States (except for in the Appalacian Mountains) since 1982. He has built a wonderful database of play fairways, fields, and reservoirs, which makes perfect sense for Continuum to provide a mechanism to fly around through. A good partnership starts with mutually beneficial talents, experience, and products. It was interesting to watch Dave make sure we have a detailed plan and the resources to make it become a viable partnership.
I had to leave lunch early to go out to Katy and to get my finger looked at again (.../9842.html). The receptionist sent me right upstairs for another X-ray. I felt much better about his visit than the first one. Maybe it is because my finger is still so swollen up and because it always aches. The Doctor did volunteer that I can not get married for 6 to 12 months. When asked why, he explained it will take at least that long for the swelling to go down enough for me to be able to get a wedding ring on. Partners give good advise.
I got back to the office about 3:30, and went right into a meeting I had set up with Blaine Taylor and Gary Crouse for 2:00. The three of us work very well together, and it is definitly turning into a nice partnership. Blaine understands information and knowledge management. I understand how to present and organize knowledge. Gary understands positioning and how to close the deal. Partnerships need to have a production, technology, and marketing component.
Thursday morning Gary and I continued our planning. Specifically, we we are figuring out how to make the VETL even more successful, how to give it a midlife boost. At 1:00 we met with Blaine and went to the meeting at PGS. PGS is the company that hired Blaine and I to go to Norway in September (.../9838.html) and for Blaine to go back a couple of weeks ago. As we left the meeting a couple of hours later, Gary turned to me and said, 'He just wants us to give him the words so he can internally sell developing and enhancing a partnership with us.' A customer partnership starts by providing a product or service which enhances customer performance by lowering cost or justifying raising price in order to maximize the margin.
Thursday evening I went down to the University of Houston to listen to a talk by Fred Hilterman on AVO (seismic Amplitude Verses Offset, which is a technical geophysical method to study the relationship between chronostratigraphy [when in geologic time layers of rock are deposited] and lithostratigraphy [what types of rock are deposited {sand, shale, muds, carbonates, volcanics, etc.}]). I was late getting to the talk, and Fred said 'Hi Roice,' as I walked in. Then as his talk was progressing he tried to get me to stand up, and proceded to tell a somewhat convoluted story of the founding of Landmark Graphics. He said, 'I met Roice at some conference (actually the first SEG '3-D Seismic Workshop' in Houston), and he asked me if he could come to the lab (Seismic Accoustic Lab) and be the General Manager and take all of the dog work off of me (Fred recruited me after I introduced myself to him, and the title of General Manager was given to me by Dr. Gerry Gardner after Fred left the lab) because he wanted to meet all of the oil company executives and prepare to start a company to provide interactive interpretation workstations.' I have tremendous technical respect for Fred, and it was very flattering for him to compliment me like he did. Good partners build each other up.
Friday we had scheduled to spend the entire day with Boeing, who are interested in Continuum helping them with entry into the oil industry. They have developed several technologies for the military, which have direct application in the oil industry. For instance, they can put devices on inventory (vehicle fleets, drilling rigs, ships, computers, black boxes, etc.) and provide real-time inventory monitoring. They are involved in the Irridium satellites, which can be used to dynamically uplink from a seismic crew and downlink data into a processing shop, or from processing to one of our visualization centers, or from one visualization center to another one allowing real-time collaboration, etc. However, one of them was sick, and the other one had a family emergency, and so we rescheduled the meeting for the 10th of December. Partners are flexible.
Friday evening I left the office about 6:30 and drove to the George Bush Intercontinental airport. On the way I called Grandma Hafen and told her what time I would be getting into Vegas and that it would be too late for her to wait up for me. She did anyway and since I didn't get to her place until 1:30 Utah time (2:30 AM Houston time) she was worried I had an accident on the highway. Good partners care about each other. I also called Andrea and she agreed to meet me at 8:30 Saturday morning Grandma's place to go to a session at the St. George Temple together.
Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day in Southern Utah. Crisp cool air with the vintage light blue perfectly clear skys. Grandma fixed me a breakfast of two sausages, two scrambled eggs, two pieces of toast with homemade strawberry jam, and two glasses of milk. She worries I am not eating right. She had 10 pills and a Diet Pepsi for breakfast. Partners watch out for each other. It was wonderful to go to the temple with a friend. Andrea and I took Grandma to Porter's to see Mom. Then we took Grandma back to her place and I as we were walking back up to her place I asked if Andrea passed the Grandma test. She said 'Yes, she is a very nice lady.' Later she told me I shouldn't pursue it if I am still in love with your Mom. Partners give good advise. Andrea and I took Mom out to a late lunch at The Gable House. It was a really nice time. Mom was tired, didn't really want to go back to Porters, and was thousands of times better than the last time I was here. I hope she is able to go out with us again on Thanksgiving.
I got to Cedar City about 5:00, and Sara's annual Suzuki Concert started at 5:00. I picked up Andrea and we went and tried out my new digital camera. Took some great moving pictures with sound of the concert. I hadn't had time to read the instuctions since I bought the camera on the way back from Fred Hilterman's talk Thursday evening. I took 5 diskettes full of pictures and gave them to Bryan. Partners share things with each other that they know will be of interest. Then Andrea and I went to Albertson's to get some stuff for Priesthood Prieview. We stopped at her house and talked her 11 year old son Matt into going to the Centrum to see BYU Singer's perform. They are soooooo good. They are preparing for a tour in Israel and will have a concert at Carnaige Hall in New York. Paul, it made me jealous of you going to school and being around this kind of talent. Matt liked the digital camera. I expect each of you kids will too.
Sunday I slept in. Started writing this Thoughtlet, and maybe because I did some reading, orgainzing stuff, and unpacking, didn't get all that far before Andrea's 1:00 Sacrament meeting (Cedar City 7th Ward). Nice talks in Sacrament meeting. I took from Sister's Benion (a) talk the following possible stanza for Prime Words:
The Sunday School class was on Ezekiel 34, the differences between a sheep herder and a shephard. Partners are shephards. The Priesthood instructor was ill, and so there was a lesson on The Mormon Battalion. I never knew that the Missouri Militia were set to come in and destroy the Mormon's in Winter Quarters, if they didn't get a volunteer army together for the war with Mexico. I didn't know there were 33 women who started on the trek with them, and that one of the women left in Santa Fae, went and joined the Mississippi saints in Pueblo, and came into the valley 4 days behind Brigham Young, bearing a child on arrivial, this child being the first white child born in the Salt Lake Valley, and the instructor's great-great grandmother. Partners teach you new things.
My roots are deep in Cedar City. After Sunday School a guy that played poker with Dad sometimes came up and told me how wonderful my Dad was. He said Dad played in that same poker club every other Tuesday for over 40 years. The father of one of my highshool classmates came up and caught me up as to what his son has been doing. A sheepman who worked with Dad for years came up and said he was one of Dad's good friends and although he didn't talk a lot I could tell his feelings ran deep. Mr. Olds came up and got caught up. He was my eight grade geometry teacher, and he was in charge of the Iron County Educator's Credit Union which loaned your Mom and I money to get through our last year of school, and also loaned us money when we decided to go to England, France, and Switzerland after graduating 'because it would probably be the only chance we have in our life to travel' (ha ha). Partners develop common roots.
After church we went to Andrea's house. I played the guitar and sang Melanie's song and 'The Wooden Shoe.' Matt and I bowled 9 empty Sprite bottles with tennis balls (he beat three times and I beat once). After a nice dinner at Andrea's with her's and Randy Shirts' Mom, we took Matt to his Priesthood Preview. As the Primary President, Andrea was one of the leaders. Dixie Levitt was also at the Priesthood Prieview. He is the Bishop of one of the three wards that joined together. We had a nice talk, and his interest in me came across as deep and sincere as it did when I was about 10 and Mom worked for him. I had had Sister Grua make a second printing of Prime Words, and I had brought some copies up for meetings later in the week. I gave a copy to Dixie. Partners are concerned for each other. George Halterman, Dad's neighbor to the north and the forever handyman came in and we talked for a little while during the Priesthood Prieview. It was a real pleasent supprise to see George and to shake his hand and remember the B.S. sessions at Nelson Packing Plant. Partners are glad to see each other. Matt turns 12 on 31 July 1998. He was wild as an 11 year old on Ritlin should be. When we got back to the house Andrea and I talked for a while.
When I got back to Sara's I typed out quite a bit more of this Thoughtlet, and the computer locked up before I had saved it. So today I have worked on it off and on so I could get it off to you all this evening. I wasn't sure what I was going to write about when I started, and it has ended up one of the longer Thoughtlets. I hope this stuff is useful and somewhat interesting to you kids. I think it is good for me to have a place to brag and complain and express my disappointments and especially my love. Aunt Sara corrected me about my Eulogy Thoughtlet. I accept that there is no reason it only needs to be read by the oldest boy, and so Melanie (and Sara) I apologize. However, I still feel the same way about a current temple recommend. I hope over time these Thoughtlets will become something you each find of real personal value. Whether you want it or not we are a family, and that is the fundamental type of partnership. To recap what I have been writing and learned this week:
I hope and pray I am a good partner to each of you, and that you each have some inkling of how much I love each of you."