Communication Breakdown

Communication Breakdown I need this building permit picked up today.   It expires today and we dont have a GC [general contractor] assigned who can get it.   Can you take care of it? That was the exercise that landed in my email box on Friday. Now first off know that Fridays suck as a day for visiting jurisdictions.   Many arent even open on Fridays.   The good news was this one was open. The second problem is people have a habit of disappearing on Fridays.   Taking vacations or just disappearing.   You knowthey just arent reachable for some reason. So here I am trying to round up a way to pull this permit so it doesnt expire. So I email my go-to guy who has a guy (doesnt everyone have a guy?) who drives all over Northern California to pick up permits.   Thats his job.   And he does it well. Im feeling pretty good that this thing can happen. So I get an email back.   Yes.   Can probably make it happen.   Just need the permit information.   I realize when I forwarded the email the building permit PDF wasnt attached.   No problem.   Resent with the attachment.   All good. And then it wasnt.   “Communication BreakdownIts Always The Same” Led Zeppelin This jurisdiction doesnt take credit cards.   Need a check.   Now in the old days that would have been a deal killer.   Because ordering a check means a week-long process (the corporate guys had a funny issue with local markets spending and not accounting for their petty cash fund very well and having to spend a boatload of time following up to get the receipts). But it this case were better.   We have check writing ability in our market.   Yeah ?? So all I need is aOracle number.   That beautiful, wonderful 7-digit accounting number that lets me charge stuff to a project. One problem Ive never had to give anyone an Oracle number for this project.   It is a new project.   And my boss is the one who does the finances for the program.   And given that it is a program management project where were not doing the day to day site acquisition and construction work directly, we dont cut many (at this point any) checks.   And the other expenses are all automatically coded to the right 7-digit Oracle number automatically behind the scenes.   I dont see them. Thus my quandary. Now normally Id ask my boss right?   Logical question since he does the the POs and invoicing.   He, or his accounting staff, would have that right at their fingertips.   Easy, peasy. Another problem.   Hes in the hospital. Not good. How about my bosss boss.   He should know it too. Hes in the hospital too. I hope this isnt something I can catch.   Maybe wireless isnt a good line of work Not a big deal.   This is a big company with lots of people.   Just ask, right? So I start with my local project controls person from my last project.   Shell know, right?   I call her. No answer.   Voicemail. Who else? I try the guy who codes our expense checks.   But he does what hes always done.   And it is automatically coded so he doesnt have the number either. So I email a guy on the same program but in another region (found him on an email my boss sent). No answer to my phone call but after I email him he doesnt know but forwards to someone he thinks might know. So I call my friend in the Seattle market who I worked with up there and asked her.   She did all the data stuff so thought she might have a hack to find the info.   Nope.   She only does the data side and doesnt know how to track that bugger down.   But she gives me her accounting guru and says she probably has a way to find out. So I call her.   Voicemail.   Nothing. So I call another friend at the company who works in the Seattle market.   I reach him.   Perfect.   Only problem.   Hes in Cabo on vacation.   Hes got a drink in his hand on the beachhes got the right ideabut he doesnt know either.   Darn. So I think.   There was a guy who set things up nationally initially.   He was a data guy.   Lets call him. Get him on the phone.   Awesome.   Only problem.   He was laid off two weeks prior due to the site count reduction on the program.   And he doesnt know anyway.   But if I know of a job opening, hes open to referrals. Okay.   Starting to run out of go-to people to run this down. Then it happens. Ding, ding, ding. I get an email back from one of my guys guys.   The winning golden ticket.   The 7-digit Oracle number. It has only taken half a day to track down.   But Ive got it.   I send it to the guy who will have the permit picked up. Hes off and running. But He calls the jurisdiction and finds out It has already been picked up. WHAT??? (or insert appropriate expletive) When this whole thing started there was a GC who wed been talking to about picking up this permit.   They said since the project hadnt been bid out yet they werent willing to pick up our BP without having the award of work. So wed moved on to other options. But in the meantime they thought, We cant let this expire and have to have the permit started from scratch.   That would suck.   Were a good company who cares.   We should just pick it up anyway and see where things head with this project.   We should help them out. Good thought process. Only problem. They didnt tell anyone they were doing it. Communication breakdown. and as all those in wireless telecom know.   We suck at communicating.