Everything was going just fine then Adam called. He asked his mother if we could go to Ottawa for a little while to help him out with some of the projects that he was having problems with. She told Adam that Dad cannot leave here in the middle of the semester, and he may have to wait until he is done. Lynda spoke to me the next day and said you promised him that if he needed help, you would be there for him. I remember saying to Lynda that it wasn’t a bad idea for us to go back to Ottawa for a little while once I am done with my classes.
Lynda was totally against the idea of staying in our home where Adam and Jenifer were living. Lynda was concerned that they may not have liked to make changes in the way they were living only because we were going to be there only for a short period of time. Adam came up with the idea that he would rent a furnished apartment where we could stay and do our own things.
Adam called back and told his mother that he found a fully furnished condo in Tunney’s Pasture close to where Statistics Canada was located. He said we don’t have to sign any lease. It’s rented on a month-to-month basis, which also means that we can either continue to live there for another month or we can move out. He also told his mother that she would like the area as well as the furniture in the condo.
To make a long story short, we decided to drive and ended up in Ottawa. I started going to the office every day to help Adam with the projects.
Lynda was very happy as some of the sorority sisters had come to Las Vegas and stayed with us for a little while. But this provided Lynda with a better opportunity to meet with the other sorority sisters. She was invited to go to the meetings which she loved it.
One of the things Adam had me doing was to write a proposal to respond to a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the department of Environment Canada. They were looking for a team of management consultants with extensive experience in developing and implementing Activity Based Costing (ABC) Models for their organization with the objective to improve the performance of resources by finding and implementing better ways and technologies to maximize overall performances of the organization. I had published dozens of articles on the subject and had done extensive work in the Department of Defence. As a matter of fact, Adam was still doing some projects in town directly related to ABC.
Just to summarize, ABC is a costing methodology that assigns an organization’s indirect costs (overheads) to products or services based on the activities required to produce them. Unlike traditional costing—which typically allocates overhead using a single measure like labor hours or machine hours—ABC provides a more accurate view by tracing costs to the specific activities that drive them.
I managed complicated ABC projects in the federal government and produced impressive results. Adam also knew that I loved to show off by writing proposals to give references to my articles.
The first thing that I wanted Environment Canada to understand the basic concept of ABC:
- Activities are performed to produce services; and
- Activities consumes resources (Direct and indirect).
To minimize the consumption of resources, activities must be re-aligned and reorganized in a meaningful manner to maximize the performance of each activity by utilizing the right information, proper skills, and appropriate technologies.
It took only a week for me to put together a core proposal. To complete the proposal, I had to come up with a work schedule, highlighting resources requirements, and justification for each proposed resource supported with their resumes. Before I started writing the other part of the proposal, I asked Adam to take a look if it made any sense as I assumed that he was going to manage the project. It didn’t take too long for Adam to get back to me saying that he liked the proposal, but he said we were not going to win the proposal if I did not propose myself as a project manager. I tried to explain to Adam that I need to get back to Las Vegas as being away from Las Vegas for a long period of time would not help me to establish myself in the Las Vegas business community. People have short memories, and I need to get some business there. Adam said why don’t you just go ahead and propose yourself as project manager and if we win the project, we could make necessary changes. I reluctantly accepted Adam’s approach partly because it takes time for departments to evaluate proposals, and I thought I may not be here to worry about it. I completed the proposal, and we submitted it right away.
Meanwhile, I was also looking into some other things to help Adam. Jenifer and Adam were working in the office as a team. She was taking care of all administrative activities, which was a great help for us. We also had a receptionist in the office to keep track of consultants and answer telephones to make sure that we don’t miss any calls. Most of our consultants were working at the client sites, which was a great help but from time to time they will use the office to draft reports or meet with potential clients. Lynda and I were meeting her sorority sisters and their husbands to go out and have lunches and suppers. We were quite happy with the condo that Adam had rented for us. It also had a parking spot which was indeed very convenient for us.
On the weekends we went to see Mom a couple of times in Brampton. We told her that she can come to Las Vegas anytime she feels like which made her happy. We also went to see her sister. She had also come to Las Vegas and Lynda had spent some time with her. It has been almost 6 weeks since we left Las Vegas. Lynda started missing her friends in Las Vegas. I asked Adam if he had anything else for me to do as we were thinking of going back to Vegas. He thanked me and said there are things that need to be done, but there is no need to delay your return to Vegas. I was pleased that Adam was reasonably happy with my work, and I had to start thinking about what I would be doing as soon as we get back to Vegas. Lynda was pleased that I had told Adam that we would be going back home. She said one more week and we will be gone. We had a nice weekend. We went to Merrickville on Sunday for supper with some friends who had come to Vegas and stayed with us for a little while. We told them that we are going back, and they may come to Vegas whenever they feel like and stay with us.
On Monday as soon as I entered the office, the girl at the front desk said there was somebody on the phone looking to talk to you. I went to a small office in the corner where I used to hang my jacket and work. As soon as I picked up the phone, somebody said – Can I talk to Dr. Ali, please. I said – How can I help. He said I am calling from Environment Canada about the proposal that you had submitted to do Activity Based Costing for us and I wanted to tell you that you won the contract, sir.
I said WOW! It’s indeed a wonderful news.
He said you have every right to be happy as you won it against some big companies. I said thanks for your kind words. Perhaps the question is where can we go from here?
He said perhaps we can start the process with a meeting in a couple of days to go over the details of the contract but what I am really interested in having you explain to us is your methodology and approach to make things happen. He continued – I am the one who checked your references, and they all said you have a way of getting things done on time and within budget. I said they are too kind to me. I just learned how to work with the folks to seek their cooperation, which is always instrumental in meeting project deadlines. I continued – I am prepared to meet with you folks tomorrow to talk about the contract. Then we will schedule a presentation to talk about our approach and spell out where and how you can help us to make things happen. I continued to say that we know how to make things happen, but what we don’t know is your business. We don’t pretend to know anything about your business, and we will be totally dependent upon the participation and contribution of your folks who have organizational wisdom and are knowledgeable with the functionality of your organization. He said I totally understood from your proposal that you need knowledgeable resources to be assigned to your team and while they help you with their functional knowledge, you will train and empower them with your tools and techniques so that they become responsible for supporting the organization when you are finished with the project and gone.
I said “WOW”. It shows that you not only have read the proposal carefully but also understand the spirit of the proposal clearly. I am totally encouraged by your statement and look forward to working with you.
