Case of the Missing Magnets (1960)

[Music] my name is Grady this is the plan where I work no I'm no private eye I'm a supervisor but well all those who done it on TV sometimes they get you you know what I mean just let something go wrong and who gets a sign to solve the mystery Grady that's who and on the morning I'm going to tell you about I had a real case to solve I know you've been in the same boat or one like it so maybe you'll get a charge out of seeing how fast you can spot the clues maybe you can solve it faster than I did try it anyway way the case opened with a piece of paper the weekly production chart the trouble was there in cold hard figures man hours of Labor up production down and my job find out why it was the case of the missing magnets right away I started getting my arguments ready absenteeism inexperienced help supplies not delivered on schedule you know the aliis trouble was so did the boss hello talk louder something's wrong with the phone well why don't you have it fixed Mr G guy's supposed to come today um what's up Sally boss want to see me no I just thought you'd like to know Mr G he'll be out of town till tomorrow you've got a whole day to fix up your story what story you know Mr G [Music] bye-bye yes I knew and I had to find out why production was down not just because the boss would be on my neck but because it was my job job the answer was out there somewhere but where then I saw we was still having trouble trying to make a new machine work like it [Music] should and right then and there I spotted the trouble here was the guilty party in the case that machine purely a technical problem like the crackling on the phone you're working kind of late aren't you a little so are you everybody out there's gone home yeah we got trouble with a new machine well this machine won't trouble you anymore oh thanks hey huh don't you use your right hand for phoning nope why don't you put the phone over here it'll be more convenient cord won't reach I can fix that oh don't trouble ah it's not much trouble really all I've got to do is move the block why you doing all that it's my job giving service oh I get it it'll look good when you turn in your report no nobody will know it but me but the way I figure it if I'm going to do a job I'm going to do it right hey you make it sound real important well just how important is the phone to you all right look I was only kidding I know you're just trying to be helpful and I appreciate it this phone's always been a nuisance well it won't trouble you anymore you know I could use a little of that attitude around here that's no big deal we all got a kick out of doing the best job we can so long as we know it's recognized well you get a big vote of thanks from this satisfied customer is that what you mean well that helps but lots of times we don't even see the customer it's just that we we want to know that our boss recognizes a good job when he sees it oh I see your your boss makes you feel important is that it yeah yeah something like that well how does he do it I mean how does he make you want to do your best gee don't ask me he just gets it out of us without always cracking the whip we respect him and he respects us he lets us know he expects us to do a good job and well somehow we can't let him down well so long [Music] on thanks again good night it wasn't long before he was gone but what he had said started me thinking I began to remember I remembered the time when I was out there working on the line I was working right here i' begun to remember Ernie Scott and that other Foreman uh what was his name oh yeah now I remember it was Miles yeah miles listen you you know you're way off your production what have you been doing all day goofing off it's not my fault most of these parts don't fit oh why didn't you tell me we get new ones I only work here who's in here Al Whitley you sick again he's been out 4 days this month talk to him we got to tighten up around here see tighten up tighten up that was his favorite expression but anybody could tell he ran the loosest shop in the plant the signs were all around absenteeism tardiness turnover sloppy housekeeping griping they never told us anything but we had the healthiest grap Vine in the place me I became an expert in spinning my wheels why not I didn't know what was expected of me it was just a job if we ever did good work we never heard about it and the only time we got reprimanded was when the heat was on now look fellas I I don't want to ride you but uh they just had me upstairs and chewed me up now we've got a quota to meet and we've got a tighten up and meet it they want more magnets and we're going to turn them out I don't care how you do it but the next time I go upstairs I want to look good see good so tighten up tighten up tighten up that's all that guy knows why should we break our backs for him all he wants to do is impress his boss well he's not going to get more work out of me no more work out of me that was the sum total of miles's scoldings and threats and his empty slogan he failed to impress his men he failed to impress the men upstairs and it wasn't long before we had a new Foreman the new Foreman was Ernie Scott and what a difference he brought a new outlook a new atmosphere into the department and it wasn't long before well before the whole department had a different attitude I thought you'd like to know Hank you haven't had a single reject all week that's what I call good work yeah thanks don't thank me okay say Ernie this new stuff that's coming through it it doesn't seem to work quite the same what do you think no doubt about it Ernie was on top of his Department helping us when we needed help jacking us up when we needed jacking up Ernie arranged with a company to show us just what happened to the magnets we made and what they did then one of the company salesmen explained how what he sells is the quality of the work we do and how to get orders he has to promise delivery and how if we don't deliver both quality and quantity we'll all be out of work it was a kind of pep talk but on a solid practical basis and I know we all went back to work feeling our jobs were more important and we were more important then there was the time we had a new machine coming in I guess it's just natural for everybody to resist change but before that new machine arrived Ernie had talked it over with each one of us when you add it all up I think the big difference the reason we changed from a gang of gold bricks to a productive team was that we had respect for Ernie because he respected us I was getting pretty close to solving the case now and there was a question on my mind I didn't want to ask it but I had to looking out there in the shop I asked myself which kind of a worker would I be working under me that was the vital clue in the case I knew the answer and it told me who the guilty party [Music] was what did that Telephone Man say if I'm going to do a job I'm going to do it [Music] right so I typed out a little memo to myself things to remember about the connection between attitude and productivity and I boiled a down to three words enthusiasm it's contagious pride in themselves and their jobs standards known and enforced there's more to being a good supervisor and more to meeting production goals you know there is every day you're the detective in your department you won't solve every problem problem the way I solved the case of the missing magnets but if you'll think about the clues we've developed well don't you think some of them might help you crack your next case I hope so anyway that's the end of my story pretty odd isn't it when the guilty party turns out to be the [Music] detective p