Chapter 25

During the month after the privacy legislation had been passed by Parliament, Frank, Jim, I, and our wives met to discuss our plans for the future. Some months back, we had decided that a few of our older children were mature enough to be informed of the Mission. We briefed them on the four tasks and our desire for them to help support the Mission. We made very sure to make it clear that the decision to support the Mission was theirs to make. When they agreed, we strongly suggested that they initially participate in minor supporting roles, until they reached the age of eighteen and became legal adults. They agreed with our suggestion, so we had invited them to participate in the meeting while their younger siblings swam and played games in the rec room.

It was really funny watching their expressions during the meeting. They wanted to be in the rec room with the other kids, but they also felt that they had to remain with us due to their new ‘adult’ roles.

After Barbara was elected as the leader of Task 2’s Task Cell, my wives and I decided that Paul, Sally, Kirk, and the members of Frank and Jim’s families should also be the members of the Mission Control Cell. We felt that five people was too small of a group for adequate input, and many more than that would be too large of a group to be manageable.

To most people our meeting style would seem highly unusual. I owned Conrad Research and Development, Limited, and Frank and Jim owned Ward’s Products, Limited. The three of us also owned other companies that we had set up since coming to New Zealand.

When we had first setup our partnership, we agree to run the two corporations as if we owned them as a group. I was also in charge of the Mission that the Guidance Council had given me. Yet when we discussed our two companies’ business activities and the Mission activities, we ran the meeting as if everyone in the Mission Control Cell were equal owners of everything. When we voted on an activity, everyone’s vote carried the same weight, and to be passed, every vote required a two-thirds majority, although most votes were unanimous. Cathy had suggested this format, and so far, it worked very well for making decisions.

As the leader of the Mission Control Cell, I called our meeting to order. Sam was taking notes as I said, “The first order of business today is to congratulate our Task 2 Cell Leader and her cell members on a job well done.”

After the applause and words of praise had died down, I said, “During our last meeting, we focused on the status of our Mission tasks, current finances, and each cell’s near term activities. The status of our tasks and Mission finances has not changed appreciably from that reported at our last meeting and we are on target according to our projected financial planning. I would like to focus on future business activities in today’s meeting.”

The nodding heads told me to continue. “Now as to future business, we have several things to discuss. Once I finish introducing the new business activity that I am ready to turn over to Ward’s Products for production, Jim will make a presentation regarding expansion of our current businesses.

“My new product is a super computer. I have discussed this matter with Frank and Jim. We believe that New Zealand is not a suitable place to produce this product. The three of us decided that the best option is to create a new division of Ward’s Products, and have that division handle the manufacture and sale of the Super Computer. The division will be headquartered here in Pukekohe, but the production facility will be located overseas.

“The Guidance Council has decided that Australia and a few smaller countries should be Task 2’s next target. They suggested that we open the manufacturing facility in Brisbane, Australia.

“Last month, Frank, Jim, and I took a trip to Canberra and Brisbane to do a preliminary assessment of whether either is a viable location for our new facility. We decided that Canberra would be good for political reasons, but it would be a poor commercial location. Brisbane exceeded the minimum levels of acceptability that we had established, so we are recommending it as the site for our production facility.

“Before we vote on creating a new division of Ward’s Products and where we should locate the production facility, are there any questions?”

Yes, there were questions. Quite a few questions, to be truthful. The main thing everyone wanted to understand was why New Zealand was a poor site for manufacturing the computer. We decided to defer the vote, until everyone had had time to do some research and reach an informed opinion. We would discuss the matter between now and our next meeting and vote on it at that time.

“That is the only item of new business that I have to introduce. Does anyone have any question or anything to say before Jim gives his presentation?

Barbara raised her hand, and when Ward nodded to her, she said, “To start with, I and my team thank all of you for your comments.

“What I want to know is, will there be any interaction between my team’s efforts in Australia, and the new subdivision in Brisbane assuming that we decide to expand in that direction?”

Ward looked at Barbara for a while, and said, “I will pass that question on to Cathy and the Guidance Council for their opinions, but off the top of my head, I can see no conflict or negative impact between your task cell and the new subdivision.”

“I had two things in mind, Ward. The first was where should we setup our operational headquarters? If the new division is to be openly in support of our effort, Brisbane might be a good location. If not, should we distance ourselves from Brisbane by setting up in Canberra or some other location?

“The second item was, when my group merges with the local Australian group and we begin to lobby for the legislation, I suspect that the news media will come out in force against us. Will their stories and public reaction create a problem for us in starting a new business in Australia?

“Ah, now I see your concerns. As far as the first issue goes, I do not foresee the new branch actively supporting your efforts, but many of the employees may want to join your effort. If you need support, then those of us in New Zealand will provide you with the support you need. In the end, I don’t think it will matter where you setup your headquarters. The media will eventually try to link Ward’s Products with both you and the production facility. As to the second issue, the media will undoubtedly resist your efforts, and they could create a problem for the new division when we begin to market the computer. However, any problems should be minor and a short-term issue, so I don’t see that as an insurmountable problem.”

Sam said, “Starting our Task 2 effort in Australia and opening a new business venture there presents us with a Public Relations problem. We all know that Barbara is associated with Ward’s Products, since the company supported her Task Cell’s efforts in New Zealand. Before the Task Cell begins its efforts in Australia, we need to create a public relations campaign. The sleeper groups in Australia need to band together and get the word out to the public that (1) they are a grassroots organization of concerned Australian citizens, and (2) they are inviting the New Zealand group responsible for getting similar legislation passed in New Zealand to consult with them as advisors.

“To minimize the problem, we need to do one of three things. We can avoid publicly linking the new company with Ward’s Products, or we can delay opening the new business or delay the start of Task 2 in Australia.

“My personal preference would be to have one of the shell companies my sister wives and I own to create a shell company in Australia and to use the Australian shell company as the registered owner of the new company. There will be no requirement for us to publicly acknowledge the new shell company as associated with Ward’s Products. Therefore, there will be minimal risk of the Australian media linking Barbara’s Task 2 efforts to the new company.

“Of course, we will have to decide if we want to make that link public knowledge when it is time for the company to announce the introduction of its first line of computers. We will also have to work out how we will communicate with the President of our new company without the Australian media learning we own the company.

Barbara said, “My second question, Ward, is about our strategy here in New Zealand. Here, we included the use of a newspaper to create support for the legislation. Are we to use the same strategy in other countries, and if so, do you have or will you be buying another newspaper?”

After thinking on the question for several moments, I said, “Yes, I think that our overall strategy worked well here and it should work well in Australia. I would like to find an existing newspaper that supports our goals and methods of achieving those goals; but, if necessary, I will buy a newspaper for us to use in Australia. I don’t think it will be necessary in the small countries. But if we need to implement the tactic in those countries, then we will.

“Is there anything else before we move on to Jim’s presentation?”

Mary interjected an interesting question, “Sam suggested that we create an Australian shell company. I am wondering if we should base it in New Zealand.”

“Good question, Mary. Let’s put that decision off until we decide if we even need a shell company. If we do need one, my instincts say base it in Australia, but I can also see advantages to basing it in New Zealand. Anything further?

“All right, since no one has anything to add, it appears that we are ready to move on.”

Before turning the meeting over to Jim, I said, “According to the financial plan presented at our last meeting, we were due to start evaluating the throughput of our current production line. In other words, is it producing an adequate volume of cars for the North Island market? Can production be increased to meet the needs of the South Island market? The final item we were going to consider was, if we are going to build another production line, should we produce right-hand drive vehicles for the Australian-Asian market, or left-hand drive vehicles for the American-European market, and where should we locate the new production lines. I asked Jim to look into these questions and to be ready to give us a recommendation.”

I nodded to Jim, so he stood and began to speak, “Since the introduction of our solar-powered car to the North Island market fifteen months ago, sales have increased exponentially. I predict that the North Island sales will continue to increase but at a reduced rate of change. At this point we need to expand our sales to the South Island.

“We are currently running two production shifts a day, six days a week, and we are building up our workforce to begin three shifts a day. When we shift to three shifts a day, we should be able to meet the long-term sales needs of the North and South Islands. That will be especially true if we produce additional models, as I will address later in the presentation.

“That brings us to the short term needs of the South Island. To meet our expansion plan, we will need a production output comparable to that of our current facility to meet the South Island’s needs, and to begin to enter the Australian marketplace. The question becomes, will we manufacture the cars here in New Zealand and export them to Australia, or should we build a separate production facility in Australia, and if so, where?

“There is also the question of when do we want to begin manufacture of left-hand drive vehicles and where do we want to build those production plants? Most of the World’s countries drive on the right side of the road, and that means left-hand drive vehicles represent a much larger marketplace than the right-hand drive vehicles we now produce.

“Having said all of that, my recommendation is to build a new facility on the South Island to manufacture right-hand drive cars for the South Island. Build a new four or five-line production facility near Darwin in Northern Territory to manufacture right-hand drive cars for the needs of the Australian and Southeast Asian regions. Our current facility and these two new locations should be adequate for supplying vehicles to the majority of the countries that drive on the right side of the road. Once our three plants are in full production, build facilities for manufacturing left-hand drive cars in Canada, South America, Europe, and China.

“Are there any questions?”

Barbara said, “When you say China, do you mean Communist or Nationalist China?”

“I am recommending Communist China for political reasons that I discussed with Ward and Sam. However, that intent is based on our receiving certain concessions from the mainland Chinese Government. I have zero faith in the Communist Chinese Government complying with any agreement they enter into, and believe that at some point they will nationalize our company. So to prevent that from happening, or at least minimize the impact of such an action, we will not provide them with the capability of creating the proprietary components of the vehicle. We will assemble those here in New Zealand and ship them to China. I may be paranoid, but we may want to consider doing that for all of our overseas plants.”

Sam raised her hand and said, “Do you have a time line for this expansion, Jim?”

“I put together a very rough estimate, based on our plant here on the North Island. I estimate that we may require more than twenty years before we finish building the last left-hand drive production facility. I expect to build our first left-hand drive car production facility within five years, and we will probably require an additional twenty five years to complete the remaining left-hand drive facilities. The main limiting factor for building these facilities will be availability of finances for expansion. The right-hand drive automotive business should result in a return of at least one billion dollars a year within the next ten years. I expect a similar return on investment from the left-hand drive facilities over the same period of time.

“I don’t have a good feeling for the profitability of the super computer venture, but if I understand Ward’s plan, it may easily become a three billion dollar a year industry within fifteen years. If those two estimates are true, then we may be able to reduce the timeline for building all of our automotive facilities to between ten and twenty years. We also have the production and sale of our spinoff products to consider, but for the purpose of this analysis, I have ignored that aspect of our business empire.

“My main concern, as far as our automotive venture goes, is we need to introduce and manufacture additional models of our car. Right now, we have a single model, and many buyers will want an economy model, while others will want a luxury version. What they mean by economy model is a smaller seating capacity and fewer luxury items to reduce the price of the car. There is also a group that would like us to build a two-seater sports car.

“I know we don’t have an answer right now, but do we have any plans for meeting those customer needs? If not, I recommend that we consider building the South Island production facility as a three-production line facility, one line for each of the three models. We should also consider increasing the size of our other overseas production lines to produce all three models in those countries.

Barbara asked, “Are you sure about your numbers, Jim. They don’t feel right to me.”

“No, I am not, Barbara. I have nothing more than a ‘best guess,’ based on current financial data and our past effort in bringing the North Island facility on-line. The South Island facility will probably be a three-line facility, while the Darwin facility should have at least six lines. Thus, I would expect the Darwin facility to take at least twice as long to build, but there may be some time savings in building six lines at one location.

“Then there is always the need to finance the Mission activities, which may consume capital that I am thinking of using for expansion. I just don’t know how we should prioritize expansion financing versus Mission financing, since both are important. I guess Ward and the Guidance Council will have to determine the relative importance of the two items at the time that financing is needed for the next step in our business expansion.”

Ward stood and said, “Thanks, Jim. Your recommendations and analysis of our rate of expansion, mission needs, and financial situation is very informative. Cathy was monitoring this meeting through me, so she is aware of what you said and will pass it on to the Guidance Council. My opinion is to place development of financing for the Mission over Mission activities, at least for the duration of our lifetimes.

However, I may change that position if we have an opportunity to make major strides in the Mission in a very limited period of time. But as Karen reminded me earlier, we need to take our time and do it right the first time. To me that means having the financing necessary to support the Mission’s activities in place, which of course means we need to expand our financial empire first.

“Does anyone have anything to add before we end this meeting or any questions?”

Looking around the room, I could see no hands raised, but then I noticed Melisa’s hand was raised shoulder high and held near her body.

“Do you have a something to say, Melisa?”

In a timid and somewhat fearful voice, she shocked all of us when she asked, “What is the Guidance Council, and who is Cathy?”

Looking around the room, I could see surprise on all of the adult faces.

Then Cathy said, “Shame on us, Ward. We explained the mission to our new Inner Council Members and forgot to explain our organizational structure.”

“I know. That was a major oversight. We are going to have to stop thinking of them as children, if we want them to take on adult responsibilities.”

“Melisa, I am sorry. We are so accustomed to our organization that we completely forgot that we have never talked with you and the rest of our young recruits about our Mission’s organizational structure. I will make a special effort to brief all of our new members as soon as I can make time, which should be tomorrow.”

The following day, I met with Tim Schneider, Melisa Tolliver, and my kids Eric and Melody Conrad in the family room. To make up for my oversight, I apologized again and gave them a full briefing and explained the history of what had been done, up to the present time. They had many questions about Cathy, the Guidance Council, and our mission, and I answered them all with an occasional assist by Cathy. Their reaction to Cathy linking with them was very enlightening. Their willingness to accept the dimensions and the progression of our spirits through the dimensions was surprising. Overall, I was very happy with the way the four of them handled this new knowledge.

Eric and Tim were interested in politics, and like many young people, they had an idealized view of how the political process worked. They had often heard us and other adults badmouthing politicians, but no one had explained why we adults were so upset by the politicians’ actions. At least, no one had explained it in a way that they could understand.

“In order to explain why Task 1 was necessary, I had to educate them so they understood that there is a big difference between the way a political system is said to work and the way it actually works. Once reality started intruding into their awareness, they wanted me to let them work on Task 1. I told them that Task 1 was Sam’s responsibility and if they wanted to work on her task, then they needed to talk with her.”

Melisa had been caught in the middle of the privacy issue. She had been old enough at the time to recognize that the man who approached her was doing something bad, but she didn’t really understand the seriousness of the man’s crimes. She was very angry at the media for disrupting her life, so she wanted to help her mom with Task 2. As I did with the boys, I told Melisa that she needed to talk with Barbara.

That left my daughter, Melody. My conversation with her was very different than I had anticipated.

“Well, Melody, is there a task that you would like to support?”

“No, Dad, none of them really interest me. They just aren’t enough of a challenge.”

“Oh, you want a challenge. Then I guess you want my job as the leader of the Mission Control Cell.”

“No way, Dad. I want something that is a real challenge.”

“I see. Do you have any idea what would challenge you in the way you want to be challenged?”

“Yeah, I want to be an entrepreneur like Uncle Frank and Uncle Jim.

“Getting an idea of doing something, and then making that something a reality is exciting. You approached them about going into business, Dad. However, they saw the business as an opportunity to help the people of this world to improve our environment, and they did something about it.

“They foresaw the difficulty their employees would have in finding housing at a reasonable price. They bought up the available properties and built new homes, and then rented or sold them to their employees at reasonable rates. In doing so, they helped many people in addition to making a lot of money. We all know how much they like pizza. They couldn’t find a pizza parlor that made pizza the way they liked it. Instead of settling for what was available, they went out and started their own pizza parlor, and now they have a chain of pizza parlors.

“They are the type of people that I want to model myself after. Someone who helps others and does something that needs to be done when they recognize the need for change.”

“I wasn’t expecting that from you, Melody. Have you given any thought to how you should proceed?”

“Yes, but I don’t know how to begin. I’m different from Uncle Frank and Uncle Jim. I don’t get ideas all the time like they do, and when I do get an idea, I don’t know how to make it a reality.”

“I see. I think the first thing you need to do is learn how to create a plan. Good planning is the key to success in everything that you do. When we finish here, you and I can meet in my office and we can talk about your future.”

Eric said, “Dad, I think that Tim, Melisa, and I would find a lesson in planning worthwhile also. Can we join you?”

That request was seconded by Tim and Melisa, and it was essentially the end of our meeting, so we adjourned to my office. I might need my white board and computer to demonstrate some of the aspects of planning and scheduling.

“Okay, let’s use your desire to become an entrepreneur as a practical example of how to create a plan for reaching a goal.

“Now, Melody, what do you think should be your first step in reaching your goal?”

“That’s my main problem, Dad. I can think of many things that I will need to do, but can’t decide what needs to be done first.”

“That is where planning comes in, Melody. With a good plan, it will be very evident what needs to be done first.

“Now the answer I was looking for is this. The first step in preparing any plan is to define the goal. If you don’t know what you want to do, or where you want to go, you will never be able to attain your goal.

“You also need to keep in mind that we sometimes start out to reach one goal, and on the way, we realize we actually want to attain a different goal. That is okay and normal, especially at your ages. So, how would you express your goal, Melody? What does being an entrepreneur mean to you?”

“I’m not sure, Dad.”

“Okay, here is a pad and a pen. I will list the major steps for making this type of plan, and I want you to write them down. When we finish, I want you to work on creating a plan. I will help you with this anytime you feel you need help. Okay?”

“All right.”

“Okay, Step 1 is to define your goal.

“Step 2 is to identify the major steps to reach that goal.

“Step 3 is to break the major steps into smaller steps that are easy to do, and can be accomplished in a relatively short time. There should be a definitive start and end to each step.

“Step 4 is to identify what tools, materials, and assistance you will need to perform each of the steps.

“Step 5 is to begin the first step.

“Step 6 is to review and revise the plan when you encounter a problem with completing one of the steps.

“What you will usually find in carrying out your plan is that you have overlooked a step, or you failed to identify something that was necessary to complete a step. Remember, when that happens it is because the plan was flawed, not you. All you need to do is fix the plan, and then continue the effort.”

“Do you have any questions?”

Melody said, “Dad, this is just a small plan. How do you go about planning a big task?”

“You do it the same way, Melody. The process is the same. The only difference is the resulting plan is much bigger, more complex, and usually takes longer to create and longer yet, to complete.

“Just remember that your mothers and I took more than ten years planning the mission before we implemented Task 2’s portion of the plan, and we still had to modify that part of the plan as we went. No complex or long-term plan is accurate and complete from Day 1. They all need to be tweaked due to changing circumstances, seeing a better way to reach the goal, the realization that the goal has changed, or you finally realized that you actually wanted something slightly different than what you defined.”

Our conversation was over. The two boys went to Eric’s bedroom and the two girls went to Melody’s bedroom. I wasn’t sure what they did there but I assumed that they talked about what they had learned and what they wanted to do in the future. I left the house and went to my office at Conrad Research and Development for I had a meeting in forty five minutes with Jeff and my automotive design crew.

When I had purchased the land for my new company, I had bought a very large lot. I didn’t know what I would use the extra land for, but I suspected that in time, I would need to expand the facility. When I started to make plans for Jeff and his crew to join me in New Zealand, I decided to build them a separate workshop.

They created the prototypes of the farm tractor and pickup truck at their new facility, Frank and Jim were making plans to produce and sell the new products. Now Jeff and his crew were ready to begin building the prototype of a solar-powered, eighteen-wheeler. My meeting with them today was for the final review of their design plans for the eighteen-wheeler prototype.

Jeff and his crew came up with their concept for a solar-powered, long haul, tractor-trailer combination. The trailer was similar to what was already on the road, but the tractor was very different in appearance from most tractors.

To picture their design, start with a Peterbilt 388 tractor. Remove the engine, fuel tanks, exhaust system and other parts associated with the diesel engine. Add a larger, more powerful motor-generator and mounting plate to connect the motor-generator to the existing transmission. Over that, install a redesigned Battery Box suitable for eighteen batteries, a ventilation system, insulation, and a heating assembly. Above that include a watertight storage area. An enlarged driver’s compartment-living area is centered between the front and rear wheels. However, the driver’s compartment and living area is also isolated from the wheels by a shock absorption system that minimizes the vibration and shocks caused by the road.

Once again, we had faced the left-hand / right-hand drive vehicle question. Long haul trucking seemed more common in North America and Europe than other parts of the world, so this time we went with left-hand drive. A much larger version of the Solar Cell Tray was mounted on top of the trailer, but its low profile made it difficult to see from the ground. The batteries, transmission, and motor-generator were enclosed in an insulated and heated compartment. Yes, the tractor needed a transmission, for the motor-generator couldn’t supply both high speed and high torque using a direct drive interface.

The tractor had two very comfortable seats for the on-duty driving team. Behind the seats was a larger, but very compact, living area that included a sleeping area, bathroom, mini-refrigerator, stovetop, microwave, chairs, and storage for supplies and personal belongings. Personally, I could live in such an area for several days, if I had to, but I would hate to spend several weeks or months confined to such a small area. I think I may have a touch of claustrophobia. The increased living space increased the overall length of the tractor.

Currently, an eighteen-wheeler is operated by one or two drivers. Jeff said time is money in the trucking industry and a truck sitting idle because the drivers had maxed out their allowable behind-the-wheel time cost them money. Since our eighteen-wheeler could be driven non-stop, their idea was a tractor that would be operated by two, two-person driving teams. Ideally, two couples.