I only managed one project for Caterpillar. I had been working in St. Louis on a project for Verizon when the Caterpillar job was sold so I took a day off and drove up to Peoria to meet their project team and give them a chance to vet me and review our strategy and timeline.
After years working on both coasts it's fair to say, I was not used to working with true mid-westerners. When we set a project start date I said, "See you early Monday morning". Their project lead shot back, "Come in Tuesday so you can spend Sunday with your families. One day won't make a difference". That had never happened before, or after.
So I was there having a cup of coffee early Tuesday morning, prepping for the kick-off meeting, September 11, 2001. We were laying out agendas, project plans, etc. when the first plane crashed. No video, just a report of a plane crashing into one of the World Trade Center towers. By the time the second plane crashed, there were 35-40 of us sitting in a large conference room just beginning introductions.
Let's take a break. Everyone called home. Then a half hour later a plane crashed into the Pentagon. Caterpillar closed their offices and told us "you should go home to your families". That was my introduction to Caterpillar, Peoria and mid-west culture. We resumed the project a few weeks later.
That evening I called Hertz to let them know I was in Kansas City and would drop their car off at the Albuquerque airport the next day. Their response? "You can't do that, we're still working on a plan to manage this problem". That's the corporate America I was used to working with. Thousands of Americans dead but the company comes first. I don't want to single out Hertz, I still use them and like those bankrupt car hustlers. All, (almost all), American companies were like that 20 years ago. I like to think they're a bit better today.
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