by Tony Ortiz
No, that's it right now. Thanks again, I responded as he walked away and toward Laura’s station.
Hey Laura, what’s going on?
Hi Jake. Got some pretty good content to send your way later today.
Good, good. Listen, I’ve been monitoring Hector's audit assessments, and he’s peaking in relation to parts of your sector.
Really? Wow, I wouldn’t have expected that.
Yea, me either. How do you feel about letting him shadow you for a while? You know, until he has his own assignments.
C’mon Jake, I think you know the answer to that already.
I know, you prefer working alone but I get the sense that he does too. So it won’t be a permanent thing by any stretch of the imagination. More like an apprenticeship that would benefit you both. Sometimes you learn more about what you already know when you teach it. You gain a deeper understanding that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Give it a shot and if the vibe is off for whatever reason, we’ll shuffle him around sooner than later. Deal?
Yea, okay that’s fine. But no promises. When is he finishing up with the assessments?
Shouldn’t be more than another day or two at the pace he’s been keeping.
Ok, sounds good. Let me get back to it then. Hey Jake -
Yea?
What’s his average?
94.5 so far.
I couldn’t sleep that night. I wanted to feel like I belonged here but couldn’t mentally commit until I got a better understanding of all this. I just wanted to be done with all the testing and busy work as soon as possible. The sooner I got this stuff out of the way the sooner I could really start learning more about going back. Miguel was up and by his sector. He heard me in the kitchen making some coffee, and came over.
Hey Hector, good morning. Can’t sleep?
Good morning Miguel. Nah, too eager to get my audits done. How about you?
I’m usually up and at it this early. I need to keep an eye on the European and Asian sectors, as well as review Jake’s cliff notes from the day before. See if anything needs my attention. I hear you’re doing really good by the way. That's really encouraging to hear. Especially this early on.
Thanks, I appreciate that. Can I pour you a cup? I asked him.
No I already had, thanks.
No problem. Wow Europe and Asia. This is really a global operation you have going on here, huh?
Well, it’s not where we need it to be, but that’s the long term idea. The more eyes we have, the more we can cover. The more we can cover, the stronger our positive impact can be.
Do you ever worry about having too much of an impact? I asked.
No, not at all. The way I see it, we all have the ability to change the world right? Some more than others and most never tap into a hundredth of that ability. A thousandth even. People for the most part are too busy living their lives to think about the rest of the world. I do know however, that there are nefarious influencers out there. People acting with malicious intent, along with others that compound that negativity by merely being bystanders and without ever noticing the impact that their greed or self serving goals are having on society. The way I see it, we’re in a unique position with our skip-ability, to make compounding positive changes.
I listened intently as he continued.
I'll give you an example, pharmaceutical companies knowingly selling bad drugs that aren’t approvable here, or are expired by FDA imposed standards, to the third world. What is that? What motivates that? Pure profit and nothing more. That particular facet of their business is not in it to help anyone. Helping is an aside to them. A plus when and if it happens. Anyways, enough of that boring stuff. Let me let you get to it. I could use someone like you watching over this sector by the way, so hurry up and finish your training so I can take a break around here, he said half jokily.
I took the next couple hours before the rest of the team got up, to finish up with my audit assessments. Afterwards, I had some spare time and decided to dig around and see if there were records of everyone else’s assessments. You know, to see where I stood amongst the pack. It wasn’t too hard to find because it’s a closed system and all users have root access to the database. Miguel’s file wasn’t showing any scores. - Perks of being the creator I guess. At the top of the heap though, was Jake with a 95 overall, followed by Laura with a 91.25. Charlie was at an 88 and Brooke was at an 86.5. I submitted my completed assessment to Jake when I got to the end, and eagerly waited for him to get up and review it. I remember being so excited to move on to the next phase that I barely let him have his coffee before I went over to ask him to review it. I sat down with him as he went through it, and waited for a response.
You did really well Hector. Really Well. Specifically within education and its related sectors.
Nice. That's good news. Thanks Jake.
After the assessments are completed, we like to pair people up. Have you shadow someone that can show you the day-to-day ropes and give you some tasks to work on independently that they’ll check thereafter. You’ll do half-days that way.
The other half of the day you’ll be with me. I’ll be giving you a more global view of things and show you how it all comes together. You’ll learn how what you do has a ripple effect impact on other people and things around you. In my opinion, that's one of the most important things to be aware of. Often times, especially in the beginning, we’re eager and gung-ho about getting things done. So much so that we completely miss out on noticing related impacts to what we’ve changed, which could ultimately be negative. Sometimes even more negative than what we initially went back to correct. The sooner you can wrap your head around that, the better off you'll be.
How can we know if something will eventually turn out negative though? I asked.
Remember to think bigger. Time is no longer a constant. It's malleable. We use that to our advantage and in real time can monitor the outcome of what we've changed in the past. We can't skip into the future, so results for recent changes are reliant solely on our research and predictions. Beyond that we just have to wait for things to play out. If something didn't turn out as expected or an unanticipated event arises, wash, rinse & repeat until you have the best possible outcome. Most of what we do however, has to do with us skipping far back enough that we can see the progression of that change and all its impacts. In all those cases we run simulations beforehand as well. Any other questions?
Yea, I responded, in that type of scenario, how many times can you go back and make changes to the same thing?
It's literally infinite in terms of attempts we can make. You will have some changes that are one and done, albeit rare but they do happen. Then you have others that will be years long works in progress. It's like maintenance work. We’ve been working on our longest project on a bi-weekly or monthly basis for over 3 years. Those scenarios are just as rare as the one and done ones, but you do get them as well.
Most others fall somewhere in between. Lastly you have what we call an impenetrable. That's when the team votes on shelving a project indefinitely because a particular scenario has proven not to be as influenceable as we initially thought. Or also if we realize that it works itself out over time when left as is. Another reason could be that the value just isn't there anymore and that could be for a myriad of reasons.
Got it. Wow, you guys do a lot here.
It sounds like a lot, and it is, but don't let it overwhelm you. In time it becomes as normal as any other gig. After you go through a couple weeks of all this, depending on how it goes, you’ll get your own region assigned and it's off to the races from there.
Ok cool, sounds good. Thanks for explaining all that Jake. This is making a lot more sense to me now. I really appreciate it.
Don't mention it, and if you ever have more questions, don't hesitate. Now, back to brass tax, based on your scores and the inclinations from some of the answers you gave, I’m going to pair you up with Laura first.
Oh, really? I said with what was apparently
an ear to ear grin on my face.
Yea. I figured you wouldn't mind that. Judging by your tone I'd say I was right. But I can also pair you up with Charlie if you’d prefer?
No, no. Laura is more than fine. - I mean, getting paired up with her is. I just wasn’t expecting that I guess.
Ok, good. She has a lot to offer. You’ll learn a lot from her, no bullshit. And just a word to the wise ... don’t slack off while working with her.
Charlie was up by now, and at his sector. I walked over to say what’s up.
Big C, what’s up man?
Hey, what’s going on Hector? Are you with me today?
Nah, Laura.
Laura? Really?
Yea, why do you say it like that? Is that a bad thing?
Haha, no man. Just, good luck dealing.
She seems so cool though, I don’t get why everyone keeps saying things like that.
Oh don’t get me wrong, we all love her. She’s the best. Just kind of a hard-ass to work with.
Gotcha. Question, what’s the difference with this feed here and that one on monitor 4?
They’re the same, responded Charlie. Except that this one is the one I work with, edit, make my observations on, my notes, etc. It’s what I submit to Jake for review at the end of each day. The other one is more of like a master feed. Original. The uncut version. That one goes directly to Miguel. It’s pretty much his way of double checking us and making sure we don’t miss anything.
Do you?
Do I what?
Do you guys miss stuff?
You kidding me? All the damn time. Even Laura does sometimes. - That’s what the monthly meetings are setup for. To go over potential skips and missed opportunities.
When’s the next one?
Next Thursday. Look man, it’s a valiant effort and all, but even if all the Skippers came together to form one organized group ... we couldn’t monitor and keep tabs on every single thing all the time. The world is to big of a place, especially when time is arbitrary. Who the hell would want that anyways? My advice - treat this like any other gig. It’s great what we’re able to do, and I’m all for thinking big and saving the world and what not, but with a dose of reality mixed into it. Peoples lives need saving. Their individual outlooks on the world could use some positive reinforcement. That’s the level I tend to work with. There will never be a shortage of people, which means there’s always something to do. No matter how much or how little you do in a given day. So just punch in, do what you got to do and punch out.
Yea man, I hear you on that. Has anyone ever miss something big? Like some 9/11 type of thing?
No, nothing catastrophic like that. And to be honest things like that are probably impenetrable and going to happen regardless. We can’t stop all the negative shit in the world. No-one can. We can just curb some of it. Take it day by day and do what you can. The stuff we do miss, that he seems to be concerned about, is usually just potential new skippers to bring onboard, that we missed.
What happens if we miss out on someone that can skip?
Not much really. I mean, if by the time we reach out to recruit them, they've joined up with someone else, so be it.
So there's lots of other groups like this?
Yea, tons. Big ones, small ones, solo ones. There's even skippers that switch from team to team every once in a while.
Really? That's allowed?
Allowed? This isn't slavery bro. It's a job. If someone finds a better fit for themselves elsewhere, they bounce. No hard feelings. Different teams focus on different things, so it's more of a preference thing. Besides, it's a pretty tight knit community. Active skippers know or know of each other. You'll meet a lot of them at the next gala that's coming up.
What's that? I asked.
Think of it as a Corporate Holiday Party. It's an open invitation event where most skippers come together to mingle, eat, drink and shoot the shit. We listen to speeches, and mostly watch to see how people we don't normally interact with, act when they're drunk or high.
Miguel stopped by while on his way back to his sector.
Hey guys, what’s up?
Not much, just here shooting the shit with Charlie before he gets setup for the day.
Did you guys finish watching all of the fights last night?
No, I wound up falling asleep man.
Hell yea I did, said Charlie. How sick was the Robbie Lawler & Rory MacDonald fight?3
Best fight I’ve ever seen hands down, responded Miguel. Did you see Lawler’s lip?!
Yea, and how about Rory’s nose, responded Charlie.
Damn, that good huh? I chimed in. I have to check it out.
Dude, said Miguel, Lawler literally had a cleft lip after that match. Definitely check it out when you have a chance.
Damn, will do.
Also, do you have a minute Hector?
Yea, of course.
Alright, come on over when you’re done here, said Miguel as he walked away.
I turned to Charlie and asked; Does he report to anyone?
Himself I guess.
Isn’t that a little odd? I mean, if everything revolves around surveillance, checks and balances.
C’mon man, he’s the reason we’re all here. He’s the reason you have a warm bed to sleep in and food in your belly.
No, no I get that. I was just curious that’s all. Just getting to know more about how this works. I’ll check you later man.
Later.
I walked over to Miguel’s station.
Have a seat Hector.
Thanks.
How are things going? Everyone treating you ok? Beginning to get the flow of things?
Yea, everyone is great. Everyone’s been very helpful and willing to show me the ropes. I just finished my audit assessments actually.
I hear those went well. Jake tells me you achieved all-time highs in some categories. That’s great news Hector. I’m excited about you keeping that level up and integrating with the team.
Really? Wow. He hadn’t told me that part yet. Imagine if I really would’ve been trying, I said sarcastically. He didn’t seem to get or care for the joke. He was all business.
Always keep this in mind Hector; there’s always a way to think bigger, and that’s the mantra that sustains us. That’s how we make a positive impact with what we’re doing here. With tweaking the world for the better. Any guidance, questions or advice that you need while you’re with us ... my door’s always open.
Thanks Miguel, I really appreciate that and I’m looking forward to helping the team out however I can.
Jake’s going to sit with you if he hasn’t already and go over the different sectors, who monitors what and why, who you’ll be shadowing, the available sectors that need someone overseeing them, which we have a lot of by the way. All that good stuff. Any input that you have, let us know at any time.
Yea, he also told me I’d be working with Laura for a while today. I was heading over to her station now.