Obviously, the central problem in the situation involving the "Big Four" is Cy Gittinger, who as a man with a keen interest in croquet and shuffleboard, must be at least 85 years old rather than the 35 years old that he claims, and the heyday of the popularity of those games ended in the 1920s. Further, as a man who abstains from alcohol, Gittinger simply must be subversive who is intent on undermining North American culture generally and the corporate culture of the Kingston more specifically. As he does not drink beer after work, does not appear to be interested in the CFL, and shuns hockey, Gittinger simply cannot be a Canadian and really should not be working for a firm in Ontario.
Putting aside the case drivel upon which the above assessment was based, however, there is a serious problem involved in the functioning of the "Big Four" group of troubleshooters. The symptoms of this problem are as follows:
1. Norton, Thorne, and Knight formed a clique within which they shared information and ideas among themselves, as well as drawing conclusions about the functioning of the troubleshooters organization without either including Gittinger in these deliberations or informing of him of their thinking on the issue of how the troubleshooters organization was functioning.
2. Gittinger, in the process of his "indirect" approach in eliciting information from Mr. Kingston, went well beyond the "small talk" stage to discuss the future structure and functioning of the troubleshooter organization. Gittinger, as was true of the Norton-Thorne-Knight clique, failed to either include the other three members of the organization in these deliberations or to inform them of what policies were being discussed and apparently formulated.
The clear-cut problem involved in the situation involving the troubleshooting organization is the absence of (1) a set of guidelines within which the troubleshooting organization would function and (2) a se...