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Early equipment management (EEM) :

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Early Equipment
Management (EEM)
Continuous Improvement for Projects
Early Equipment
Management (EEM)
Continuous Improvement for Projects

By
Dennis McCarthy
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

© 2017 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC


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Library of Congress Cataloging‑ in‑ Publication Data

Names: McCarthy, Dennis, author.


Title: Early equipment management (EEM) : continuous improvement for projects
/ Dennis McCarthy.
Description: Boca Raton : CRC Press, [2017]
Identifiers: LCCN 2016050903| ISBN 9781138217898 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781138400160 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: Project management.
Classification: LCC HD69.P75 M334 2017 | DDC 658.4/04--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050903

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Contents
Preface.................................................................................................. xiii

Chapter 1 Early Equipment Management: Delivering Capital


Projects Faster, Cheaper, Better......................................... 1
1.1 What Goes Wrong?....................................................................................2
1.1.1 Steps 1 and 2 before EEM.............................................................3
1.1.1.1 Change Curve..................................................................3
1.1.1.2 Cost Curve........................................................................3
1.1.2 Steps 3 and 4 before EEM.............................................................5
1.1.2.1 Change Curve..................................................................5
1.1.2.2 Cost Curve........................................................................5
1.1.3 Steps 5 and 6 before EEM.............................................................5
1.1.3.1 Change Curve..................................................................5
1.1.3.2 Cost Curve........................................................................5
1.1.4 What Is Really Happening............................................................5
1.1.5 Voyage of Discovery......................................................................6
1.2 EEM in Action............................................................................................6
1.2.1 Steps 1 and 2 with EEM................................................................6
1.2.1.1 Change Curve..................................................................6
1.2.1.2 Cost Curve........................................................................9
1.2.2 Steps 3 and 4 with EEM................................................................9
1.2.2.1 Change Curve..................................................................9
1.2.2.2 Cost Curve........................................................................9
1.2.3 Steps 5 and 6 with EEM................................................................9
1.2.3.1 Change Curve..................................................................9
1.2.3.2 Cost Curve......................................................................10
1.2.4 The Gains......................................................................................10
1.3 Why We Need EEM.................................................................................11
1.3.1 Avoiding Project Delivery Pitfalls.............................................11
1.3.2 Making Better Decisions.............................................................11
1.3.3 Improving Project Governance  .................................................13
1.3.4 Improving Knowledge Management........................................15
1.3.5 Delivering Better Management Processes................................16

v
vi • Contents

1.4 Book Structure.........................................................................................16


1.4.1 Overview.......................................................................................16
1.4.2 Chapter Summaries.....................................................................17

Chapter 2 The EEM Road Map.......................................................... 23


2.1 EEM Road Map Overview......................................................................23
2.1.1 Define: Getting the Right Design..............................................25
2.1.2 Design: Getting the Design Right..............................................26
2.1.3 Refine: Getting the Design Gains..............................................27
2.1.4 Improve........................................................................................ 28
2.2 EEM Project Workstreams RACI..........................................................29
2.2.1 RACI: Responsible...................................................................... 30
2.3 RACI Accountable Column: Define Phase ..........................................31
2.3.1 Concept Development.................................................................31
2.3.2 High-Level Design.......................................................................33
2.4 RACI Accountable Column: Design Phase......................................... 34
2.4.1 Detailed Design............................................................................36
2.4.2 Prefab Procurement.....................................................................37
2.5 RACI Accountable Column: Refine Phase...........................................38
2.5.1 Step 5: Installation.......................................................................38
2.5.2 Step 6: Commissioning.............................................................. 40
2.6 RACI Accountable Column: Improve Phase...................................... 40
2.6.1 Step 7: Stabilize............................................................................ 40
2.6.2 Step 8: Optimize.......................................................................... 42
2.7 Summary.................................................................................................. 42

Chapter 3 Design and Performance Management........................... 45


3.1 In Search of Better Design..................................................................... 46
3.1.1 Innovation.................................................................................... 46
3.1.2 Systematic Design Development................................................47
3.2 In Search of Better Performance............................................................50
3.2.1 Criticality Assessment.................................................................53
3.2.2 Hidden Loss Analysis/Trouble Map .........................................58
3.2.3 Condition Appraisal................................................................... 60
3.2.4 DILO Reviews.............................................................................. 60
3.3 Avoiding Design Pitfalls........................................................................ 64
3.3.1 Creating Design Modules.......................................................... 64
3.3.2 Incorporating PP Data into Design...........................................65
Contents • vii

3.3.3 Recognizing Vendor Skill Sets...................................................65


3.3.4 Understanding Behavioral Bias.................................................69
3.3.5 Guiding Design Decisions..........................................................70
3.3.6 Design Goals ................................................................................72
3.3.7 Design Guidelines........................................................................72
3.3.8 Technical Standards....................................................................74
3.3.9 Objective Testing..........................................................................78
3.3.9.1 Objective Testing Case Study......................................78
3.3.10 Integrating Stakeholder Workstreams..................................... 80
3.4 Systematic Design Development: Define Phase...................................87
3.4.1 Define Phase Audit Questions.................................................. 88
3.5 Systematic Design Development: Design Phase..................................89
3.5.1 Vendor Induction.........................................................................89
3.5.2 Detailed Design Workshops...................................................... 90
3.5.3 Problem Prevention.................................................................... 90
3.5.4 Detailed Activity Planning.........................................................92
3.5.5 Design Step Audit Questions.....................................................92
3.6 Systematic Design Development: Refine and Improve.......................92
3.7 Chapter Summary .................................................................................. 96

Chapter 4 Specification and LCC Management............................... 99


4.1 Having The Right Conversations.......................................................... 99
4.1.1 Equipment Master Plans...........................................................101
4.1.2 Specification Formats................................................................101
4.1.3 Keep the Conversation Flowing...............................................105
4.1.4 Setting the Design Agenda.......................................................106
4.1.5 Checklist Management.............................................................107
4.2 Creating Powerful Specifications.........................................................108
4.2.1 Floor Layout Drawings..............................................................108
4.2.2 Module Review...........................................................................110
4.2.3 Module Review Step 1...............................................................111
4.2.3.1 Value Engineering Review.........................................112
4.2.3.2 Preparation...................................................................112
4.2.3.3 Approach......................................................................115
4.2.4 Module Review Step 2...............................................................115
4.2.5 Resource Management/Systems Specification.......................115
4.2.5.1 Draft Specification.......................................................118
4.2.5.2 Systems High-Level Design.......................................119
viii • Contents

4.2.5.3 Systems Detailed Design and Forward Program..... 120


4.2.5.4 User Training, Systems Validation, and Go-Live..... 120
4.2.6 Setting Design Targets .............................................................121
4.2.6.1 Process Milestones..................................................... 123
4.2.7 Basic LCC Model Example...................................................... 124
4.2.8 Estimating Costs .......................................................................125
4.2.8.1 Operating Cost Estimates..........................................125
4.2.8.2 Capital Cost Estimates............................................... 126
4.2.9 ITT Design ................................................................................ 128
4.2.9.1 Developing Design Guidelines................................. 128
4.2.9.2 Process Milestones......................................................131
4.3 Detailed Design .....................................................................................131
4.3.1 Module Review Update............................................................ 134
4.3.2 Dealing with Risk .................................................................... 134
4.3.2.1 Specify Low-Risk Solutions....................................... 134
4.3.2.2 Specify Problems to Be Prevented............................136
4.3.2.3 Use Charts and Graphs to Raise Awareness............137
4.3.2.4 Specify Learning Plans That Reduce Error Risks..... 139
4.3.3 Detailed Activity Planning.......................................................139
4.3.4 Change Control..........................................................................141
4.3.5 Witnessed Inspection................................................................141
4.4 Define.......................................................................................................144
4.5 Design .....................................................................................................144
4.6 Refine and Improve...............................................................................146
4.6.1 Day-One Production and Site Acceptance Testing...............146
4.7 Summary ................................................................................................148

Chapter 5 Project and Risk Management....................................... 149


5.1 Developing Project Plans......................................................................150
5.1.1 Milestone Planning....................................................................152
5.1.2 Understanding the Critical Path..............................................155
5.1.3 Communicating Project Time Lines.......................................158
5.1.4 Work Scheduling........................................................................158
5.1.4.1 Visual Management of Work Packet Schedules......158
5.2 Managing People and Teams...............................................................164
5.2.1 Creating the Collective Team Vision......................................167
5.2.1.1 Team Induction...........................................................168
5.2.1.2 Team Dynamics...........................................................168
Contents • ix

5.2.1.3 Collaborating with Vendors......................................169


5.2.2 Managing Communication Processes....................................170
5.2.3 Project Administration.............................................................174
5.2.3.1 Personal Systems and Procedures.............................175
5.3 Managing Risk.......................................................................................176
5.3.1 The Purpose of Risk Management...........................................176
5.3.2 Surfacing Hazards......................................................................176
5.3.3 Registering Risks........................................................................177
5.3.3.1 Highly Regulated Industries......................................178
5.3.4 Implementing Risk Mitigation.................................................178
5.4 Define.......................................................................................................184
5.4.1 Project Leader Facilitation Guide: Concept...........................184
5.4.2 Project Leader Facilitation Guide: High-Level Design.........185
5.5 Design......................................................................................................185
5.5.1 Project Leader Facilitation Guide: Detailed Design..............186
5.5.2 Project Leader Facilitation Guide: Prefab Procurement......187
5.6 Refine and Improve...............................................................................188
5.6.1 Project Leader Facilitation Guide: Installation......................188
5.6.2 Project Leader Facilitation Guide: Commissioning..............188
5.6.3 Project Leader Facilitation Guide: Stabilizing.......................189
5.7 Chapter Summary..................................................................................189

Chapter 6 Project Governance......................................................... 191


6.1  Impact of Internal Processes ........................................191
6.2 Project Governance: Mind Set and Skill Set..............193
6.2.1 Direction Setting..............................................198
6.2.2 Capability Building..........................................198
6.2.3 Performance Management..............................201
6.2.4 Results Delivery............................................... 204
6.3 Organizational Development: Leadership
Challenge......................................................................208
6.3.1 Setting EEM Policies........................................211
6.3.1.1 EEM Policy Example........................211
6.3.1.2 Policy and Direction.........................211
6.3.1.3 Project Delivery.................................212
6.3.1.4 EEM Support.....................................214
6.3.1.5 Best-Practice Design Book...............214
x • Contents

6.4 Organizational Development: Measuring Progress....214


6.4.1 Setting Targets..................................................214
6.4.2 Beyond the Stage Gate Review........................216
6.4.2.1 Stage Gate Team Coaching Role.....219
6.4.3 Coaching Parallel Workstreams.................... 220
6.4.4 EEM Audit Process..........................................221
6.4.4.1 Approach........................................... 222
6.4.4.2 Audit Roles and Timetable............. 223
6.5 Locking in EEM Gains................................................ 224
6.5.1 Origins of EEM................................................ 224
6.5.2 Best-Practice Design Books........................... 226
6.5.3 Compatibility of EEM with Other
Design Tools..................................................... 227
6.6 Define............................................................................. 227
6.6.1 Concept Stage Gate......................................... 227
6.6.2 High-Level Design Stage Gate....................... 228
6.7 Design............................................................................. 229
6.7.1 Detailed Design............................................... 230
6.7.2 Prefab Procurement.........................................231
6.8 Refine and Improve.......................................................232
6.8.1 Installation........................................................232
6.8.2 Commissioning................................................233
6.8.3 Post Day One: Stabilizing............................... 234
6.9 Chapter Summary........................................................ 234

Chapter 7 Implementing EEM......................................................... 237


7.1 Define..............................................................................239
7.1.1 Planning and Preparation...............................239
7.1.2 Management Awareness................................. 242
7.1.3 Mobilization..................................................... 242
7.2 Design............................................................................. 243
7.2.1 Pilot................................................................... 243
7.2.2 Policy Development........................................ 247
7.3 Refine.............................................................................. 249
7.4 Improve...........................................................................251
7.4.1 EEM Subject Matter Expert Learning
Pathways............................................................251
7.5 Speeding Up Time To Market......................................251
Contents • xi

7.5.1 Design and Performance Management.........257


7.5.2 Specification and LCC Management.............257
7.5.3 Project and Risk Management Processes..... 258
7.5.4 Project Governance......................................... 258
7.5.5 Best-Practice Design Book Processes............259
7.6 Chapter Summary........................................................ 260

Chapter 8 Early Product Management............................................ 263


8.1 Why Do We Need EPM?............................................. 263
8.1.1 What Is EPM?.................................................. 264
8.1.2 EPM Road Map................................................ 264
8.2 EPM Step 1: Shell.......................................................... 265
8.2.1 Design and Performance Management........ 265
8.2.2 Specification and Life Cycle Cost
Management..................................................... 266
8.2.3 Project and Risk Management....................... 266
8.3 EPM Step 2: Shape........................................................ 266
8.3.1 Design and Performance Management
Issues................................................................. 266
8.3.2 Specification and LCC Management
Processes........................................................... 267
8.3.3 Project and Risk Management Processes..... 268
8.4 EPM Step 3: Scope........................................................ 268
8.4.1 Design and Performance Management........ 268
8.4.2 Specification and LCC Management............ 269
8.4.3 Project and Risk Management....................... 269
8.5 Links with EEM.............................................................270
8.5.1 Project Governance..........................................270
8.5.2 Design and Performance Management.........270
8.5.3 Specification and LCC Management.............270
8.5.4 Project and Risk Management........................273
8.6 Implementing EPM.......................................................273
8.7 Chapter Summary.........................................................274

Appendix.............................................................................................. 275

Index..................................................................................................... 277
Preface
As a young industrial engineer, I was lucky enough to join a company that
had been acquired by new owners who were keen to grow the business. I
learned lots about projects, made a few mistakes on the way, but mostly
did OK. I eventually progressed to a role as project manager in Europe for
a U.S. multinational, and I worked alongside many fantastic managers on
Europe-wide projects to help them cope with a combination of explosive
growth and economic downturns.
After a break from the world of projects, I was lucky enough to partner
Peter Wilmot in his quest to bring Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
to the Western world in a way that suited Western cultures. During that
time, I visited and worked with some of the best organizations in the world
and was fascinated by the way they approached their business challenges.
Because of my background in projects I was drawn to the way in which
the best in the world approached capital investment projects and change
management.
The best companies (Western and Japanese) applied a collaborative cul-
ture with robust communication between functions and levels. Their pref-
erence for teamwork and collaboration was in stark contrast to many less
successful organizations where working relationships were kept at arm’ s
length and individual agendas were more typical.
In the process I also found that some of the theoretical models devel-
oped to guide decisions about equipment were flawed and as a result led to
mistakes and missed opportunities. Unfortunately, some of these models
are so deeply rooted in our psyche that they are accepted as unquestion-
able truths even when they fail to deliver results. This means that at the
early steps of a project, when judgment is needed most, the accepted wis-
dom can result in a poor decision.
For example, the model of quality improvement I learned as an indus-
trial engineer was that each per cent of improvement in quality cost more
than the last. The logical conclusion from this model is that there is some
optimum point at which the pursuit of lower defect levels is not worth
the effort. Successful organizations now accept the idea of right-first-time
quality and strive for zero defects. These organizations have found that at
every level of improvement, they learn more about how to improve process

xiii
xiv • Preface

control and, with it, material yield. The pursuit of zero defects also holds
the key to being able to make smaller batches economically, which has a
major impact on cash flow items such as stock control. One of the major
gains is the increase in mean time between interventions, which for some
organizations has completely transformed their working practices. These
are organizations that can flex production to meet peaks in demand with-
out additional labor. As a result, their equipment has a smaller footprint,
takes up less room, and costs less to buy and run.
Early equipment management (EEM) challenges a number of other
accepted but false models/rules of thumb that are traditionally applied to
the world of capital projects.
This book is a distillation of project work with successful organizations
including 3M, BP, General Motors, Ford, GE, Ikea, Rolls Royce, Johnson
Matthey, Heineken, and more recently, Princes Foods, part of Mitsubishi.
I owe a debt of gratitude to many people from those organizations for the
case studies and insights gained working alongside them. As part repay-
ment of that debt I set out to provide a guidebook for others on the same
journey.
For that reason, the content of the book explains why some of the
accepted rules of thumb don’ t apply, as well as how to apply the hugely
successful principles and techniques of EEM. Both of these perspectives
are necessary to be able to identify weaknesses and enhance current prac-
tices to deliver the EEM goals of flawless operation from day one and
ongoing low life cycle costs.
The rigor of EEM and its approach to codifying tacit knowledge is what
helps to tip the balance in favor of a project’ s success at the start. Its range
of tools and techniques for design, specification, and project manage-
ment throughout the journey provide the basis for a project governance
approach to increasing value added and return on investment through to
day-one production and beyond.
1
Early Equipment Management:
Delivering Capital Projects
Faster, Cheaper, Better

Most managers and engineers have had firsthand experience of capital


projects that failed to live up to expectation when introduced and which
needed significant attention during routine operation. The excess costs of
these troublesome assets can be huge, and not just in terms of capital costs.
One study of capital projects estimated that the additional attention needed
to deal with troublesome assets and subsequent loss in performance can
require around three years before asset performance is sufficient to begin
the planned investment payback. This is a fairly widespread problem that
has been with us for some time.
Based on publicly available data, Ross Henderson (1971)* calculated the
respective returns on invested capital of the Fortune 500 industrials. From
the analysis, he concluded that there was “ a massive failure among capital
expenditure plans in North American industrial companies to provide the
returns on investment which have been forecast or budgeted.” Studies by
Pruitt and Gitman (1987)† of Fortune 500 industrials showed that 80%
of the respondents (121) admitted to having achieved lower returns than
forecast, the worst results being investments in advanced technologies and
new processes. This is not just a problem in larger organizations. More
recent investigations in Cyprus by Lazaridis (2004)‡ focused on small- and

* Ross Henderson, Improving the performance of capital project planning, Cost & Management ,
Volume 45, 1971, September–October, p. 34.
† Cf. Stephen W. Pruitt and Lawrence J. Gitman, Capital budgeting forecast biases: Evidence from

the Fortune 500, Financial Management , Volume 16, 1987, Spring, p. 47.
‡ Ioannis T. Lazaridis, Capital budgeting practices: A survey in the firms in Cyprus, Journal of Small

Business Management, Volume 42, Issue 4, 2004, pp. 427–33.

1
2 • EEM: Continuous Improvement for Projects

medium-sized companies. Of the 100 studied, only a third achieved the


expected return on investment.
Get it right and the gains can be significant. An oil and gas extraction
company investing in a floating platform to extract oil and gas from under
the Atlantic estimated that the additional output produced by achieving
the early equipment management (EEM) goal of “ flawless operation from
day one” was enough to recoup the total capital investment costs in the
first year of operation.
This chapter summarizes the main themes of the book and how the rec-
ipe for capital project success combines hard/technical and soft/collabora-
tive skills. It also highlights the role of project governance as a vehicle for
improving internal management systems and for developing the opera-
tional capabilities needed for best-in-class business performance.

1.1 WHAT GOES WRONG?


Research into the causes of underachieving returns on investment indi-
cates that systematic front-end engineering design (FEED) processes
improve capital cost, timescale, and operational performance.*
However, this is not the full picture. Although FEED weaknesses are signif-
icant, they do not account for the following frequently occurring problems:

• Conflicting views of what is needed


• Difficulties in releasing resources
• Lost opportunities to challenge and optimize design choices
• Critical decisions delayed or not taken
• Communication between project stakeholders interrupted or lost

These project governance issues frequently surface during projects, creat-


ing barriers to the delivery of results. In spite of this, they are specifically

* Gibson, G. and Hamilton, M. (1994) Analysis of pre-project planning and success variables for
capital facility projects. A report to the Construction Industry Institute, University of Texas at
Austin, source document 105; Gibson, G. et al. (1994) Perceptions of project representatives con-
cerning project success and pre-project planning effort. A report to the Construction Industry
Institute, the University of Texas at Austin, source document 102; Gibson, G. and Griffith, A.
(1998) Team alignment during pre-project planning of capital. A report to the Construction
Industry Institute, University of Texas at Austin, research report 113–12.
EEM: Delivering Capital Projects Faster, Cheaper, Better • 3

TABLE 1.1  
Capital Project Steps
Title Content
1 Concept Development of the project idea
2 High-level Approval of funding
design
3 Detailed design Selection of vendors and detailed planning
4 Prefabrication Preparation of site and manufacture/procurement of
procurement equipment
5 Installation Position and connect equipment
6 Commissioning Set up and run equipment and validate process capability

excluded from the scope of project management methodologies such as


PRINCE 2* (Projects in Controlled Environments, version 2).
Table 1.1 describes the EEM project steps. Figure 1.1 explains how com-
mon pitfalls at each step contribute to poor project results.
In this diagram, the lower curve illustrates the steps at which changes occur.
Changes during steps 4 through 6 are in response to issues identified after the
design is frozen in step 3. The upper curve shows the impact of those changes
on total project costs. The shape of each curve is based on actual data captured
by a machine tool manufacturer as a measure of project performance before
the adoption of EEM principles and techniques.

1.1.1 Steps 1 and 2 before EEM


1.1.1.1 Change Curve
At the beginning of the project, attempts are made to obtain information
to create a specification in detail.

1.1.1.2 Cost Curve


A cost estimate is made, including a contingency sum to cover unexpected
costs.

* Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 , Section 2.2, “ Scope of PRINCE2” excludes people
management, generic planning techniques, corporate management QA systems, budgetary con-
trol, and earned value analysis.
Total cost forecast

Budget squeeze

Budget

High-level Detailed Pre fab Commissioning Flawless


Concept Installation
design design procurement operation
3 3
2 2
1 1

No time to optimize
No. of
Not involving/ Vendor disputes/ plant
changes
releasing the right specification errors
Unforeseen,
people at the right
reliability/safety issues
4 • EEM: Continuous Improvement for Projects

time
Incomplete design
guidance

Traditional approach

FIGURE 1.1
Traditional capital project delivery.
EEM: Delivering Capital Projects Faster, Cheaper, Better • 5

1.1.2 Steps 3 and 4 before EEM


1.1.2.1 Change Curve
The focus of attention during procurement is on reducing cost (vendor
margins) and ring-fencing risks. Changes after the award of contracts are
resisted to avoid budget creep.

1.1.2.2 Cost Curve


Unexpected (though predictable) issues arise at factory acceptance test-
ing (FAT) prior to the dispatch of the equipment from the manufacturer,
which results in additional costs and potential budget overspend.

1.1.3 Steps 5 and 6 before EEM


1.1.3.1 Change Curve
Additional modifications are needed to deal with the issues identified
at FAT. This includes compromises to operational performance, which
reduces the expected performance gains.

1.1.3.2 Cost Curve


Budgets are squeezed to achieve savings in discretionary areas such as
spare parts and training.

1.1.4 What Is Really Happening


As the project passes through each step, each decision has an impact
on those made at later steps. At the earlier steps, detailed information is
not generally available, so some decisions are better made later. Taking
detailed decisions too soon increases the risk of error. That means that
the design process is iterative rather than linear. Past decisions are revis-
ited once details become clearer. Naturally, some decisions—for example,
those that define the project scope—remain fixed. Others can be taken
later without risk to project performance.
For example, at the early steps of a personal project, such as a move to
a new property at the concept step, choices will be made against broad
criteria, such as the need to be close to work locations or family, the avail-
ability of schools for children, and so on. This choice will guide the eval-
uation of options. Assume that our concept scope leads us to conclude
that we need a town location, the next step will involve a review of the
6 • EEM: Continuous Improvement for Projects

available town-based housing stock. We need to have some idea of what


can be afforded, but this will be revisited once we know more about what
is available. We may also want to research the suitability of areas. In defin-
ing a town location and exploring options, we are discounting properties
in the country, those away from good transport links, and so on. If we had
chosen a country location, the type of housing stock would be different,
and our choices would be made using different criteria.
In this example, early choices are guided by a concept of what we want
to achieve at the end of the project. Defining this clearly helps to unify the
decision stakeholders, so that when the best option is found, it is easier to
reach a decision. This definition then guides the high-level design deci-
sions about where to look and what we can afford. This in turn will set the
frame of reference when detailing what to buy and when/how to move in.

1.1.5 Voyage of Discovery


The real world of projects does not fit the logical (but false) linear model
of project management.
The detail of the final project shape is revealed a step at a time as choices
are made based on experience and learning. It is a process characterized
by increasing granularity of decisions at each step, a voyage of discovery
(Figure 1.2).
During the early steps, when less quantifiable data is available, decisions
have to be based on strategic criteria and judgments. It can take time and
a number of learning cycles to develop the insight to be able to make those
judgments.

1.2 EEM IN ACTION


Figure 1.3 shows how the same company approached similar projects after
adopting EEM principles and techniques.

1.2.1 Steps 1 and 2 with EEM


1.2.1.1 Change Curve
An operational review at the start of the project helps to set and refine the
project brief. This highlights internal knowledge gaps and the resource
skill profiles needed to support the first steps toward the desired outcome.
Logical but false
sequential
project

Install
governance

Procure
models

Identify need
Beneficial use

Develop design

Co
rge
Dive

nv
rge
e
Iterative social Increasing
network project granularity of
Design Refine the Optimize decision-making
reality Define (Get the
(Get the installation performance
right design) by step
design right)

Potential to add
value at each step

FIGURE 1.2
Iterative project reality.
EEM: Delivering Capital Projects Faster, Cheaper, Better • 7
Total cost forecast

Budget

High-level Detailed Pre fab Commissioning Flawless


Concept Installation
design design procurement operation
3 3
2 2
1 1

No. of
changes
8 • EEM: Continuous Improvement for Projects

Collaboration with vendor Actions to enhance Actions to optimize


to enhance specification project value operations

Collation of
operational knowledge

Early Equipment Management

FIGURE 1.3
The EEM project delivery process.
EEM: Delivering Capital Projects Faster, Cheaper, Better • 9

On some occasions, this could mean collaborating with strategic custom-


ers, suppliers, and/or equipment vendors. With the right mix of skills
and experience, design module reviews are used to firm up design goals,
guidelines, costs, and time lines.

1.2.1.2 Cost Curve


The cost curve estimate is based on life cycle cost (LCC; i.e., capital costs
plus ongoing operational costs). Budgets are set with the expectation that
continuous improvement tools will be applied during the project to iden-
tify ways to reduce LCCs and increase project value in target areas. These
goals are included as part of the funding approval process.

1.2.2 Steps 3 and 4 with EEM


1.2.2.1 Change Curve
Vendors are selected to complement internal skill sets. Contract terms
include expectations of collaboration and the sharing of added value
gains. Design guidelines are used to refine ideas and firm up the value-
adding specification.
The design process includes detailed forward planning and agreements
on witnessed inspection /project quality plans to ensure the glide path to
day-one production.
In parallel with vendor manufacturing of the asset, work commences on
operational change management and the engagement of those who will be
involved in the new operation. This includes methods development, skill
development cascades, and the completion of witnessed inspection test-
ing. Lessons learned during the process are transferred to current equip-
ment where possible. These gains are also credited to the project.

1.2.2.2 Cost Curve


Project cost tracking includes details of project added value and the results
of witnessed inspection as a measure of the probability of cost achievement.

1.2.3 Steps 5 and 6 with EEM


1.2.3.1 Change Curve
Witnessed inspection tests confirm the glide path to flawless operation.
Working methods are refined as part of the installation and commissioning
10 • EEM: Continuous Improvement for Projects

process. As equipment is installed, the detailed workplace layout, setup


routines, and operational visual aids are refined. Training cascades are
used to develop the core competencies of operational personnel prior to
day-one production. Skill development plans are updated to support the
development of intermediate and specialist skills during the post-day-one
stabilization step. The project team focuses on developing the road map to
optimized operations.

1.2.3.2 Cost Curve


Project cost tracking includes details of the project’ s added value and
the results of witnessed inspection as a measure of the probability of cost
achievement.

1.2.4 The Gains


Financial gains reported as a result of using EEM principles and tech-
niques include:
• Investment avoidance
• A successful national commodity operator improved existing
assets to achieve £ 500,000 investment avoidance.
• A leading aero engine manufacturer resolved nine current equip-
ment design weaknesses to increase capacity at a bottleneck pro-
cess by 25% for less than 5% of the option to achieve that capacity
through a capital investment of £ 17 million.
• Improved project added value
• A waste disposal company designed equipment with a 30% reduc-
tion in minor stops and a 30% increase in mean time between
failures (MTBF).
• Faster speed to market
• A multinational innovation leader increased the capacity of a
new product line by 25% and improved material yield to reduce
LCC by 10%.

In addition to these financial gains, EEM benefits include:


• Improved collaboration across functional/company boundaries
• Better, slicker, simpler processes for project design, specification, and
management
• The unlocking of tacit operational knowledge
EEM: Delivering Capital Projects Faster, Cheaper, Better • 11

• Clear investment priorities


• Increased innovation
• The proactive ownership of strategic goals

1.3 WHY WE NEED EEM


It would be easy to assume that the word early in the term early equip-
ment management refers only to the front-end design/early project steps.
On the contrary, the term refers to the principle of trapping problems as
early as possible in the project process, when they are cheapest to resolve.
Although it is true that the early steps of the project have a major impact
on capital value, there are pitfalls to avoid and value to be added at each
step of the project delivery process.

1.3.1 Avoiding Project Delivery Pitfalls


Capital project delivery involves the use of three interlinked subsystems.
These are
• Design and performance management
• Specification and LCC management
• Project and risk management

Table 1.2 illustrates the nature of weaknesses or common pitfalls for


each process under a traditional capital project delivery approach.
A study of these weaknesses and how to avoid their impact on project
delivery is what led to the development of EEM principles and techniques.
Chapter 2 explains how these three processes are combined into a single
integrated project delivery game plan. The individual processes are cov-
ered in more detail in Chapters 3 through 5.

1.3.2 Making Better Decisions


The EEM project delivery process works best in organizations where the
internal management processes are characterized by
• Effective working relationships
• Interaction and networking (across departments and levels)
• Clear strategic intent and control
• Collaborative learning and the sharing of ideas
12 • EEM: Continuous Improvement for Projects

TABLE 1.2  
Common Project Weaknesses
Weakness Symptom Why Is It Bad?
Specification (a) Investment Incomplete or flawed This contributes to late
weakness definition project briefs changes to specifications,
unrealistic requirements
for the funds/resources
available, or project
underdelivery.
(b) Resource Lack of skilled There is an increased
allocation resources or probability of
knowledge gaps opportunities/issues
going unrecognized or
increased time and cost
to deliver results.
Design (c) Design New equipment that This will divert resources
weakness process fails to prevent from other parts of the
weakness known problems or business, resulting in
reduces performance higher operating costs
in the first six months and a loss of competitive
capability.
(d) Collaboration Equipment arriving This is a symptom of poor
weakness on site without working relationships/
adequate planning collaboration. This can
mean that weak ideas are
untested until it is too
late, resulting in
unforeseen (but
predictable) installation
and commissioning
problems.
Project (e) Equipment Difficult to operate/ Project management
management complexity maintain assets, processes that don’ t
weakness complex processes incorporate activities to
with residual safety challenge design
and environmental weaknesses and refine
weaknesses specifications overlook
opportunities to achieve
higher project added
value and return on
investment.
(f) Project Time taken Late debugging is costly
handover debugging after the and indicates weaknesses
introduction of new in earlier project stages.
equipment
EEM: Delivering Capital Projects Faster, Cheaper, Better • 13

These attributes impact on the effectiveness of two further EEM subsys-


tems that create an environment in which achieve the project’ s full poten-
tial. These are

• Project governance
• Knowledge management

1.3.3 Improving Project Governance  


Project governance is used to convert unfocused discussions about oppor-
tunities into winning ideas, practical investment propositions, and ulti-
mately, improved sources of income (Figure 1.4).
In this environment, although data is important, the use of judgment
and experience is also essential. This may seem to fly in the face of accepted
wisdom, but even the complex mathematical models used to mine big data
and provide insight into its hidden treasure involve the use of judgment
to decide which data to use and which not to use. Deming, who is quoted
as saying, “ In god we trust but all others bring data,” advocated the use of

Option
visualization

Generate/refine Mix of Explore and gain


idea collective knowledge, insight
discipline, creativity

Measure of option
design effectiveness

Iteration
Evaluate
OK

FIGURE 1.4
The social nature of projects.
14 • EEM: Continuous Improvement for Projects

judgment and learning through iterative practical application to gain the


insight to make better decisions.*
Project governance provides the guidance to navigate three different
types of decision landscapes on the journey from investment decision to
day-one production and beyond.
These three landscape are as follows:

• Gist-level decision landscapes : Where decisions are based on experi-


ence, insight, and instinct. This is often characterized by language
such as “ That feels right” or “ I am not happy about that.”
• This type of thinking is used during steps to define the project
scope and deliverables.
• Qualitative decision landscapes : Where judgments are characterized
by language such as better or worse . For example, x is quite good but
not as good as y .
• This type of thinking is used during steps to design the solution
to deliver the benefits sought.
• Quantitative decision landscapes : Where decisions can be made on a
numerical basis. For example, the output of A is four and B is three,
so option A has a greater output than B.
• This type of thinking is used to manage the delivery and refine
the way the solution is applied to deliver the best possible value.

It is true that gist-level thinking can be subject to unhelpful biases and


false memory, which if uncontrolled could contribute to project failure.
This is less of a problem in the house example, where there will typically
be only one or two main decision makers whose instincts and gut feelings
are reinforced with an understanding of the day-to-day detail. Discussing
options together means that they can take into account multiple factors
and reach a compromise on, for example, the size of the garden or trans-
port routes because they understand the strategic implications of the
choices they make.
In a typical business unit of 50–200 personnel, the insight needed to
weigh up such compromises will be spread out among many people. This
can be likened to completing a jigsaw puzzle when each person has only
a couple of jigsaw pieces and no one has seen the picture on the outside

* Deming makes use of “ plan, do, check, and act” (PDCA) action plans to test ideas and improve
them.
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“You mean a goof?” I queried, wondering how she could have
penetrated the unhappy man’s secret.
“No, a goop. A goop is a man who’s in love with a girl and won’t
tell her so. I am as certain as I am of anything that Ferdinand is fond
of me.”
“Your instinct is unerring. He has just been confiding in me on that
very point.”
“Well, why doesn’t he confide in me, the poor fish?” cried the high-
spirited girl, petulantly flicking a pebble at a passing grasshopper. “I
can’t be expected to fling myself into his arms unless he gives some
sort of a hint that he’s ready to catch me.”
“Would it help if I were to repeat to him the substance of this
conversation of ours?”
“If you breathe a word of it, I’ll never speak to you again,” she
cried. “I’d rather die an awful death than have any man think I
wanted him so badly that I had to send relays of messengers
begging him to marry me.”
I saw her point.
“Then I fear,” I said, gravely, “that there is nothing to be done. One
can only wait and hope. It may be that in the years to come
Ferdinand Dibble will acquire a nice lissom, wristy swing, with the
head kept rigid and the right leg firmly braced and—”
“What are you talking about?”
“I was toying with the hope that some sunny day Ferdinand Dibble
would cease to be a goof.”
“You mean a goop?”
“No, a goof. A goof is a man who—” And I went on to explain the
peculiar psychological difficulties which lay in the way of any
declaration of affection on Ferdinand’s part.
“But I never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life,” she
ejaculated. “Do you mean to say that he is waiting till he is good at
golf before he asks me to marry him?”
“It is not quite so simple as that,” I said sadly. “Many bad golfers
marry, feeling that a wife’s loving solicitude may improve their game.
But they are rugged, thick-skinned men, not sensitive and
introspective, like Ferdinand. Ferdinand has allowed himself to
become morbid. It is one of the chief merits of golf that non-success
at the game induces a certain amount of decent humility, which
keeps a man from pluming himself too much on any petty triumphs
he may achieve in other walks of life; but in all things there is a
happy mean, and with Ferdinand this humility has gone too far. It has
taken all the spirit out of him. He feels crushed and worthless. He is
grateful to caddies when they accept a tip instead of drawing
themselves up to their full height and flinging the money in his face.”
“Then do you mean that things have got to go on like this for
ever?”
I thought for a moment.
“It is a pity,” I said, “that you could not have induced Ferdinand to
go to Marvis Bay for a month or two.”
“Why?”
“Because it seems to me, thinking the thing over, that it is just
possible that Marvis Bay might cure him. At the hotel there he would
find collected a mob of golfers—I used the term in its broadest
sense, to embrace the paralytics and the men who play left-handed
—whom even he would be able to beat. When I was last at Marvis
Bay, the hotel links were a sort of Sargasso Sea into which had
drifted all the pitiful flotsam and jetsam of golf. I have seen things
done on that course at which I shuddered and averted my eyes—
and I am not a weak man. If Ferdinand can polish up his game so as
to go round in a fairly steady hundred and five, I fancy there is hope.
But I understand he is not going to Marvis Bay.”
“Oh yes, he is,” said the girl.
“Indeed! He did not tell me that when we were talking just now.”
“He didn’t know it then. He will when I have had a few words with
him.”
And she walked with firm steps back into the club-house.

It has been well said that there are many kinds of golf, beginning
at the top with the golf of professionals and the best amateurs and
working down through the golf of ossified men to that of Scotch
University professors. Until recently this last was looked upon as the
lowest possible depth; but nowadays, with the growing popularity of
summer hotels, we are able to add a brand still lower, the golf you
find at places like Marvis Bay.
To Ferdinand Dibble, coming from a club where the standard of
play was rather unusually high, Marvis Bay was a revelation, and for
some days after his arrival there he went about dazed, like a man
who cannot believe it is really true. To go out on the links at this
summer resort was like entering a new world. The hotel was full of
stout, middle-aged men, who, after a misspent youth devoted to
making money, had taken to a game at which real proficiency can
only be acquired by those who start playing in their cradles and keep
their weight down. Out on the course each morning you could see
representatives of every nightmare style that was ever invented.
There was the man who seemed to be attempting to deceive his ball
and lull it into a false security by looking away from it and then
making a lightning slash in the apparent hope of catching it off its
guard. There was the man who wielded his mid-iron like one killing
snakes. There was the man who addressed his ball as if he were
stroking a cat, the man who drove as if he were cracking a whip, the
man who brooded over each shot like one whose heart is bowed
down by bad news from home, and the man who scooped with his
mashie as if he were ladling soup. By the end of the first week
Ferdinand Dibble was the acknowledged champion of the place. He
had gone through the entire menagerie like a bullet through a cream
puff.
First, scarcely daring to consider the possibility of success, he had
taken on the man who tried to catch his ball off its guard and had
beaten him five up and four to play. Then, with gradually growing
confidence, he tackled in turn the Cat-Stroker, the Whip-Cracker, the
Heart Bowed Down, and the Soup-Scooper, and walked all over their
faces with spiked shoes. And as these were the leading local
amateurs, whose prowess the octogenarians and the men who went
round in bath-chairs vainly strove to emulate, Ferdinand Dibble was
faced on the eighth morning of his visit by the startling fact that he
had no more worlds to conquer. He was monarch of all he surveyed,
and, what is more, had won his first trophy, the prize in the great
medal-play handicap tournament, in which he had nosed in ahead of
the field by two strokes, edging out his nearest rival, a venerable old
gentleman, by means of a brilliant and unexpected four on the last
hole. The prize was a handsome pewter mug, about the size of the
old oaken bucket, and Ferdinand used to go to his room immediately
after dinner to croon over it like a mother over her child.
You are wondering, no doubt, why, in these circumstances, he did
not take advantage of the new spirit of exhilarated pride which had
replaced his old humility and instantly propose to Barbara Medway. I
will tell you. He did not propose to Barbara because Barbara was not
there. At the last moment she had been detained at home to nurse a
sick parent and had been compelled to postpone her visit for a
couple of weeks. He could, no doubt, have proposed in one of the
daily letters which he wrote to her, but somehow, once he started
writing, he found that he used up so much space describing his best
shots on the links that day that it was difficult to squeeze in a
declaration of undying passion. After all, you can hardly cram that
sort of thing into a postscript.
He decided, therefore, to wait till she arrived, and meanwhile
pursued his conquering course. The longer he waited the better, in
one way, for every morning and afternoon that passed was adding
new layers to his self-esteem. Day by day in every way he grew
chestier and chestier.

Meanwhile, however, dark clouds were gathering. Sullen


mutterings were to be heard in corners of the hotel lounge, and the
spirit of revolt was abroad. For Ferdinand’s chestiness had not
escaped the notice of his defeated rivals. There is nobody so chesty
as a normally unchesty man who suddenly becomes chesty, and I
am sorry to say that the chestiness which had come to Ferdinand
was the aggressive type of chestiness which breeds enemies. He
had developed a habit of holding the game up in order to give his
opponent advice. The Whip-Cracker had not forgiven, and never
would forgive, his well-meant but galling criticism of his back-swing.
The Scooper, who had always scooped since the day when, at the
age of sixty-four, he subscribed to the Correspondence Course
which was to teach him golf in twelve lessons by mail, resented
being told by a snip of a boy that the mashie-stroke should be a
smooth, unhurried swing. The Snake-Killer—But I need not weary
you with a detailed recital of these men’s grievances; it is enough to
say that they all had it in for Ferdinand, and one night, after dinner,
they met in the lounge to decide what was to be done about it.
A nasty spirit was displayed by all.
“A mere lad telling me how to use my mashie!” growled the
Scooper. “Smooth and unhurried my left eyeball! I get it up, don’t I?
Well, what more do you want?”
“I keep telling him that mine is the old, full St. Andrew swing,”
muttered the Whip-Cracker, between set teeth, “but he won’t listen to
me.”
“He ought to be taken down a peg or two,” hissed the Snake-Killer.
It is not easy to hiss a sentence without a single “s” in it, and the fact
that he succeeded in doing so shows to what a pitch of emotion the
man had been goaded by Ferdinand’s maddening air of superiority.
“Yes, but what can we do?” queried an octogenarian, when this
last remark had been passed on to him down his ear-trumpet.
“That’s the trouble,” sighed the Scooper. “What can we do?” And
there was a sorrowful shaking of heads.
“I know!” exclaimed the Cat-Stroker, who had not hitherto spoken.
He was a lawyer, and a man of subtle and sinister mind. “I have it!
There’s a boy in my office—young Parsloe—who could beat this man
Dibble hollow. I’ll wire him to come down here and we’ll spring him
on this fellow and knock some of the conceit out of him.”
There was a chorus of approval.
“But are you sure he can beat him?” asked the Snake-Killer,
anxiously. “It would never do to make a mistake.”
“Of course I’m sure,” said the Cat-Stroker. “George Parsloe once
went round in ninety-four.”
“Many changes there have been since ninety-four,” said the
octogenarian, nodding sagely. “Ah, many, many changes. None of
these motor-cars then, tearing about and killing—”
Kindly hands led him off to have an egg-and-milk, and the
remaining conspirators returned to the point at issue with bent
brows.
“Ninety-four?” said the Scooper, incredulously. “Do you mean
counting every stroke?”
“Counting every stroke.”
“Not conceding himself any putts?”
“Not one.”
“Wire him to come at once,” said the meeting with one voice.
That night the Cat-Stroker approached Ferdinand, smooth, subtle,
lawyer-like.
“Oh, Dibble,” he said, “just the man I wanted to see. Dibble, there’s
a young friend of mine coming down here who goes in for golf a little.
George Parsloe is his name. I was wondering if you could spare time
to give him a game. He is just a novice, you know.”
“I shall be delighted to play a round with him,” said Ferdinand,
kindly.
“He might pick up a pointer or two from watching you,” said the
Cat-Stroker.
“True, true,” said Ferdinand.
“Then I’ll introduce you when he shows up.”
“Delighted,” said Ferdinand.
He was in excellent humour that night, for he had had a letter from
Barbara saying that she was arriving on the next day but one.

It was Ferdinand’s healthy custom of a morning to get up in good


time and take a dip in the sea before breakfast. On the morning of
the day of Barbara’s arrival, he arose, as usual, donned his flannels,
took a good look at the cup, and started out. It was a fine, fresh
morning, and he glowed both externally and internally. As he crossed
the links, for the nearest route to the water was through the fairway
of the seventh, he was whistling happily and rehearsing in his mind
the opening sentences of his proposal. For it was his firm resolve
that night after dinner to ask Barbara to marry him. He was
proceeding over the smooth turf without a care in the world, when
there was a sudden cry of “Fore!” and the next moment a golf ball,
missing him by inches, sailed up the fairway and came to a rest fifty
yards from where he stood. He looked round and observed a figure
coming towards him from the tee.
The distance from the tee was fully a hundred and thirty yards.
Add fifty to that, and you have a hundred and eighty yards. No such
drive had been made on the Marvis Bay links since their foundation,
and such is the generous spirit of the true golfer that Ferdinand’s first
emotion, after the not inexcusable spasm of panic caused by the
hum of the ball past his ear, was one of cordial admiration. By some
kindly miracle, he supposed, one of his hotel acquaintances had
been permitted for once in his life to time a drive right. It was only
when the other man came up that there began to steal over him a
sickening apprehension. The faces of all those who hewed divots on
the hotel course were familiar to him, and the fact that this fellow was
a stranger seemed to point with dreadful certainty to his being the
man he had agreed to play.
“Sorry,” said the man. He was a tall, strikingly handsome youth,
with brown eyes and a dark moustache.
“Oh, that’s all right,” said Ferdinand. “Er—do you always drive like
that?”
“Well, I generally get a bit longer ball, but I’m off my drive this
morning. It’s lucky I came out and got this practice. I’m playing a
match to-morrow with a fellow named Dibble, who’s a local
champion, or something.”
“Me,” said Ferdinand, humbly.
“Eh? Oh, you?” Mr. Parsloe eyed him appraisingly. “Well, may the
best man win.”
As this was precisely what Ferdinand was afraid was going to
happen, he nodded in a sickly manner and tottered off to his bathe.
The magic had gone out of the morning. The sun still shone, but in a
silly, feeble way; and a cold and depressing wind had sprung up. For
Ferdinand’s inferiority complex, which had seemed cured for ever,
was back again, doing business at the old stand.

How sad it is in this life that the moment to which we have looked
forward with the most glowing anticipation so often turns out on
arrival, flat, cold, and disappointing. For ten days Barbara Medway
had been living for that meeting with Ferdinand, when, getting out of
the train, she would see him popping about on the horizon with the
love-light sparkling in his eyes and words of devotion trembling on
his lips. The poor girl never doubted for an instant that he would
unleash his pent-up emotions inside the first five minutes, and her
only worry was lest he should give an embarrassing publicity to the
sacred scene by falling on his knees on the station platform.
“Well, here I am at last,” she cried gaily.
“Hullo!” said Ferdinand, with a twisted smile.
The girl looked at him, chilled. How could she know that his
peculiar manner was due entirely to the severe attack of cold feet
resultant upon his meeting with George Parsloe that morning? The
interpretation which she placed upon it was that he was not glad to
see her. If he had behaved like this before, she would, of course,
have put it down to ingrowing goofery, but now she had his written
statements to prove that for the last ten days his golf had been one
long series of triumphs.
“I got your letters,” she said, persevering bravely.
“I thought you would,” said Ferdinand, absently.
“You seem to have been doing wonders.”
“Yes.”
There was a silence.
“Have a nice journey?” said Ferdinand.
“Very,” said Barbara.
She spoke coldly, for she was madder than a wet hen. She saw it
all now. In the ten days since they had parted, his love, she realised,
had waned. Some other girl, met in the romantic surroundings of this
picturesque resort, had supplanted her in his affections. She knew
how quickly Cupid gets off the mark at a summer hotel, and for an
instant she blamed herself for ever having been so ivory-skulled as
to let him come to this place alone. Then regret was swallowed up in
wrath, and she became so glacial that Ferdinand, who had been on
the point of telling her the secret of his gloom, retired into his shell
and conversation during the drive to the hotel never soared above a
certain level. Ferdinand said the sunshine was nice and Barbara said
yes, it was nice, and Ferdinand said it looked pretty on the water,
and Barbara said yes, it did look pretty on the water, and Ferdinand
said he hoped it was not going to rain, and Barbara said yes, it would
be a pity if it rained. And then there was another lengthy silence.
“How is my uncle?” asked Barbara at last.
I omitted to mention that the individual to whom I have referred as
the Cat-Stroker was Barbara’s mother’s brother, and her host at
Marvis Bay.
“Your uncle?”
“His name is Tuttle. Have you met him?”
“Oh yes. I’ve seen a good deal of him. He has got a friend staying
with him,” said Ferdinand, his mind returning to the matter nearest
his heart. “A fellow named Parsloe.”
“Oh, is George Parsloe here? How jolly!”
“Do you know him?” barked Ferdinand, hollowly. He would not
have supposed that anything could have added to his existing
depression, but he was conscious now of having slipped a few rungs
farther down the ladder of gloom. There had been a horribly joyful
ring in her voice. Ah, well, he reflected morosely, how like life it all
was! We never know what the morrow may bring forth. We strike a
good patch and are beginning to think pretty well of ourselves, and
along comes a George Parsloe.
“Of course I do,” said Barbara. “Why, there he is.”
The cab had drawn up at the door of the hotel, and on the porch
George Parsloe was airing his graceful person. To Ferdinand’s
fevered eye he looked like a Greek god, and his inferiority complex
began to exhibit symptoms of elephantiasis. How could he compete
at love or golf with a fellow who looked as if he had stepped out of
the movies and considered himself off his drive when he did a
hundred and eighty yards?
“Geor-gee!” cried Barbara, blithely. “Hullo, George!”
“Why, hullo, Barbara!”
They fell into pleasant conversation, while Ferdinand hung
miserably about in the offing. And presently, feeling that his society
was not essential to their happiness, he slunk away.
George Parsloe dined at the Cat-Stroker’s table that night, and it
was with George Parsloe that Barbara roamed in the moonlight after
dinner. Ferdinand, after a profitless hour at the billiard-table, went
early to his room. But not even the rays of the moon, glinting on his
cup, could soothe the fever in his soul. He practised putting sombrely
into his tooth-glass for a while; then, going to bed, fell at last into a
troubled sleep.

Barbara slept late the next morning and breakfasted in her room.
Coming down towards noon, she found a strange emptiness in the
hotel. It was her experience of summer hotels that a really fine day
like this one was the cue for half the inhabitants to collect in the
lounge, shut all the windows, and talk about conditions in the jute
industry. To her surprise, though the sun was streaming down from a
cloudless sky, the only occupant of the lounge was the octogenarian
with the ear-trumpet. She observed that he was chuckling to himself
in a senile manner.
“Good morning,” she said, politely, for she had made his
acquaintance on the previous evening.
“Hey?” said the octogenarian, suspending his chuckling and
getting his trumpet into position.
“I said ‘Good morning!’” roared Barbara into the receiver.
“Hey?”
“Good morning!”
“Ah! Yes, it’s a very fine morning, a very fine morning. If it wasn’t
for missing my bun and glass of milk at twelve sharp,” said the
octogenarian, “I’d be down on the links. That’s where I’d be, down on
the links. If it wasn’t for missing my bun and glass of milk.”
This refreshment arriving at this moment he dismantled the radio
outfit and began to restore his tissues.
“Watching the match,” he explained, pausing for a moment in his
bun-mangling.
“What match?”
The octogenarian sipped his milk.
“What match?” repeated Barbara.
“Hey?”
“What match?”
The octogenarian began to chuckle again and nearly swallowed a
crumb the wrong way.
“Take some of the conceit out of him,” he gurgled.
“Out of who?” asked Barbara, knowing perfectly well that she
should have said “whom.”
“Yes,” said the octogenarian.
“Who is conceited?”
“Ah! This young fellow, Dibble. Very conceited. I saw it in his eye
from the first, but nobody would listen to me. Mark my words, I said,
that boy needs taking down a peg or two. Well, he’s going to be this
morning. Your uncle wired to young Parsloe to come down, and he’s
arranged a match between them. Dibble—” Here the octogenarian
choked again and had to rinse himself out with milk, “Dibble doesn’t
know that Parsloe once went round in ninety-four!”
“What?”
Everything seemed to go black to Barbara. Through a murky mist
she appeared to be looking at a negro octogenarian, sipping ink.
Then her eyes cleared, and she found herself clutching for support at
the back of the chair. She understood now. She realised why
Ferdinand had been so distrait, and her whole heart went out to him
in a spasm of maternal pity. How she had wronged him!
“Take some of the conceit out of him,” the octogenarian was
mumbling, and Barbara felt a sudden sharp loathing for the old man.
For two pins she could have dropped a beetle in his milk. Then the
need for action roused her. What action? She did not know. All she
knew was that she must act.
“Oh!” she cried.
“Hey?” said the octogenarian, bringing his trumpet to the ready.
But Barbara had gone.
It was not far to the links, and Barbara covered the distance on
flying feet. She reached the club-house, but the course was empty
except for the Scooper, who was preparing to drive off the first tee. In
spite of the fact that something seemed to tell her subconsciously
that this was one of the sights she ought not to miss, the girl did not
wait to watch. Assuming that the match had started soon after
breakfast, it must by now have reached one of the holes on the
second nine. She ran down the hill, looking to left and right, and was
presently aware of a group of spectators clustered about a green in
the distance. As she hurried towards them they moved away, and
now she could see Ferdinand advancing to the next tee. With a thrill
that shook her whole body she realised that he had the honour. So
he must have won one hole, at any rate. Then she saw her uncle.
“How are they?” she gasped.
Mr. Tuttle seemed moody. It was apparent that things were not
going altogether to his liking.
“All square at the fifteenth,” he replied, gloomily.
“All square!”
“Yes. Young Parsloe,” said Mr. Tuttle with a sour look in the
direction of that lissom athlete, “doesn’t seem to be able to do a thing
right on the greens. He has been putting like a sheep with the botts.”
From the foregoing remark of Mr. Tuttle you will, no doubt, have
gleaned at least a clue to the mystery of how Ferdinand Dibble had
managed to hold his long-driving adversary up to the fifteenth green,
but for all that you will probably consider that some further
explanation of this amazing state of affairs is required. Mere bad
putting on the part of George Parsloe is not, you feel, sufficient to
cover the matter entirely. You are right. There was another very
important factor in the situation—to wit, that by some extraordinary
chance Ferdinand Dibble had started right off from the first tee,
playing the game of a lifetime. Never had he made such drives,
never chipped his chip so shrewdly.
About Ferdinand’s driving there was as a general thing a fatal
stiffness and over-caution which prevented success. And with his
chip-shots he rarely achieved accuracy owing to his habit of rearing
his head like the lion of the jungle just before the club struck the ball.
But to-day he had been swinging with a careless freedom, and his
chips had been true and clean. The thing had puzzled him all the
way round. It had not elated him, for, owing to Barbara’s aloofness
and the way in which she had gambolled about George Parsloe like
a young lamb in the springtime, he was in too deep a state of
dejection to be elated by anything. And now, suddenly, in a flash of
clear vision, he perceived the reason why he had been playing so
well to-day. It was just because he was not elated. It was simply
because he was so profoundly miserable.
That was what Ferdinand told himself as he stepped off the
sixteenth, after hitting a screamer down the centre of the fairway,
and I am convinced that he was right. Like so many indifferent
golfers, Ferdinand Dibble had always made the game hard for
himself by thinking too much. He was a deep student of the works of
the masters, and whenever he prepared to play a stroke he had a
complete mental list of all the mistakes which it was possible to
make. He would remember how Taylor had warned against dipping
the right shoulder, how Vardon had inveighed against any movement
of the head; he would recall how Ray had mentioned the tendency to
snatch back the club, how Braid had spoken sadly of those who sin
against their better selves by stiffening the muscles and heaving.
The consequence was that when, after waggling in a frozen
manner till mere shame urged him to take some definite course of
action, he eventually swung, he invariably proceeded to dip his right
shoulder, stiffen his muscles, heave, and snatch back the club, at the
same time raising his head sharply as in the illustrated plate (“Some
Frequent Faults of Beginners—No. 3—Lifting the Bean”) facing page
thirty-four of James Braid’s Golf Without Tears. To-day he had been
so preoccupied with his broken heart that he had made his shots
absently, almost carelessly, with the result that at least one in every
three had been a lallapaloosa.
Meanwhile, George Parsloe had driven off and the match was
progressing. George was feeling a little flustered by now. He had
been given to understand that this bird Dibble was a hundred-at-his-
best man, and all the way round the fellow had been reeling off fives
in great profusion, and had once actually got a four. True, there had
been an occasional six, and even a seven, but that did not alter the
main fact that the man was making the dickens of a game of it. With
the haughty spirit of one who had once done a ninety-four, George
Parsloe had anticipated being at least three up at the turn. Instead of
which he had been two down, and had to fight strenuously to draw
level.
Nevertheless, he drove steadily and well, and would certainly have
won the hole had it not been for his weak and sinful putting. The
same defect caused him to halve the seventeenth, after being on in
two, with Ferdinand wandering in the desert and only reaching the
green with his fourth. Then, however, Ferdinand holed out from a
distance of seven yards, getting a five; which George’s three putts
just enabled him to equal.
Barbara had watched the proceedings with a beating heart. At first
she had looked on from afar; but now, drawn as by a magnet, she
approached the tee. Ferdinand was driving off. She held her breath.
Ferdinand held his breath. And all around one could see their
respective breaths being held by George Parsloe, Mr. Tuttle, and the
enthralled crowd of spectators. It was a moment of the acutest
tension, and it was broken by the crack of Ferdinand’s driver as it
met the ball and sent it hopping along the ground for a mere thirty
yards. At this supreme crisis in the match Ferdinand Dibble had
topped.
George Parsloe teed up his ball. There was a smile of quiet
satisfaction on his face. He snuggled the driver in his hands, and
gave it a preliminary swish. This, felt George Parsloe, was where the
happy ending came. He could drive as he had never driven before.
He would so drive that it would take his opponent at least three shots
to catch up with him. He drew back his club with infinite caution,
poised it at the top of the swing—
“I always wonder—” said a clear, girlish voice, ripping the silence
like the explosion of a bomb.
George Parsloe started. His club wobbled. It descended. The ball
trickled into the long grass in front of the tee. There was a grim
pause.
“You were saying, Miss Medway—” said George Parsloe, in a
small, flat voice.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Barbara. “I’m afraid I put you off.”
“A little, perhaps. Possibly the merest trifle. But you were saying
you wondered about something. Can I be of any assistance?”
“I was only saying,” said Barbara, “that I always wonder why tees
are called tees.”
George Parsloe swallowed once or twice. He also blinked a little
feverishly. His eyes had a dazed, staring expression.
“I’m afraid I cannot tell you off-hand,” he said, “but I will make a
point of consulting some good encyclopædia at the earliest
opportunity.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Not at all. It will be a pleasure. In case you were thinking of
inquiring at the moment when I am putting why greens are called
greens, may I venture the suggestion now that it is because they are
green?”
And, so saying, George Parsloe stalked to his ball and found it
nestling in the heart of some shrub of which, not being a botanist, I
cannot give you the name. It was a close-knit, adhesive shrub, and it
twined its tentacles so loving around George Parsloe’s niblick that he
missed his first shot altogether. His second made the ball rock, and
his third dislodged it. Playing a full swing with his brassie and being
by now a mere cauldron of seething emotions he missed his fourth.
His fifth came to within a few inches of Ferdinand’s drive, and he
picked it up and hurled it from him into the rough as if it had been
something venomous.
“Your hole and match,” said George Parsloe, thinly.

Ferdinand Dibble sat beside the glittering ocean. He had hurried


off the course with swift strides the moment George Parsloe had
spoken those bitter words. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts.
They were mixed thoughts. For a moment joy at the reflection that
he had won a tough match came irresistibly to the surface, only to
sink again as he remembered that life, whatever its triumphs, could
hold nothing for him now that Barbara Medway loved another.
“Mr. Dibble!”
He looked up. She was standing at his side. He gulped and rose to
his feet.
“Yes?”
There was a silence.
“Doesn’t the sun look pretty on the water?” said Barbara.
Ferdinand groaned. This was too much.
“Leave me,” he said, hollowly. “Go back to your Parsloe, the man
with whom you walked in the moonlight beside this same water.”
“Well, why shouldn’t I walk with Mr. Parsloe in the moonlight
beside this same water?” demanded Barbara, with spirit.
“I never said,” replied Ferdinand, for he was a fair man at heart,
“that you shouldn’t walk with Mr. Parsloe beside this same water. I
simply said you did walk with Mr. Parsloe beside this same water.”
“I’ve a perfect right to walk with Mr. Parsloe beside this same
water,” persisted Barbara. “He and I are old friends.”
Ferdinand groaned again.
“Exactly! There you are! As I suspected. Old friends. Played
together as children, and what not, I shouldn’t wonder.”
“No, we didn’t. I’ve only known him five years. But he is engaged
to be married to my greatest chum, so that draws us together.”
Ferdinand uttered a strangled cry.
“Parsloe engaged to be married!”
“Yes. The wedding takes place next month.”
“But look here.” Ferdinand’s forehead was wrinkled. He was
thinking tensely. “Look here,” said Ferdinand, a close reasoner. “If
Parsloe’s engaged to your greatest chum, he can’t be in love with
you.”
“No.”
“And you aren’t in love with him?”
“No.”
“Then, by gad,” said Ferdinand, “how about it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Will you marry me?” bellowed Ferdinand.
“Yes.”
“You will?”
“Of course I will.”
“Darling!” cried Ferdinand.

“There is only one thing that bothers me a bit,” said Ferdinand,


thoughtfully, as they strolled together over the scented meadows,
while in the trees above them a thousand birds trilled Mendelssohn’s
Wedding March.
“What is that?”
“Well, I’ll tell you,” said Ferdinand. “The fact is, I’ve just discovered
the great secret of golf. You can’t play a really hot game unless
you’re so miserable that you don’t worry over your shots. Take the
case of a chip-shot, for instance. If you’re really wretched, you don’t
care where the ball is going and so you don’t raise your head to see.
Grief automatically prevents pressing and over-swinging. Look at the
top-notchers. Have you ever seen a happy pro?”
“No. I don’t think I have.”
“Well, then!”
“But pros are all Scotchmen,” argued Barbara.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m sure I’m right. And the darned thing is that
I’m going to be so infernally happy all the rest of my life that I
suppose my handicap will go up to thirty or something.”
Barbara squeezed his hand lovingly.
“Don’t worry, precious,” she said, soothingly. “It will be all right. I
am a woman, and, once we are married, I shall be able to think of at
least a hundred ways of snootering you to such an extent that you’ll
be fit to win the Amateur Championship.”
“You will?” said Ferdinand, anxiously. “You’re sure?”
“Quite, quite sure, dearest,” said Barbara.
“My angel!” said Ferdinand.
He folded her in his arms, using the interlocking grip.
CHAPTER II
HIGH STAKES

The summer day was drawing to a close. Over the terrace outside
the club-house the chestnut trees threw long shadows, and such
bees as still lingered in the flower-beds had the air of tired business
men who are about ready to shut up the office and go off to dinner
and a musical comedy. The Oldest Member, stirring in his favourite
chair, glanced at his watch and yawned.
As he did so, from the neighbourhood of the eighteenth green,
hidden from his view by the slope of the ground, there came
suddenly a medley of shrill animal cries, and he deduced that some
belated match must just have reached a finish. His surmise was
correct. The babble of voices drew nearer, and over the brow of the
hill came a little group of men. Two, who appeared to be the
ringleaders in the affair, were short and stout. One was cheerful and
the other dejected. The rest of the company consisted of friends and
adherents; and one of these, a young man who seemed to be
amused, strolled to where the Oldest Member sat.
“What,” inquired the Sage, “was all the shouting for?”
The young man sank into a chair and lighted a cigarette.
“Perkins and Broster,” he said, “were all square at the
seventeenth, and they raised the stakes to fifty pounds. They were
both on the green in seven, and Perkins had a two-foot putt to halve
the match. He missed it by six inches. They play pretty high, those
two.”
“It is a curious thing,” said the Oldest Member, “that men whose
golf is of a kind that makes hardened caddies wince always do. The
more competent a player, the smaller the stake that contents him. It
is only when you get down into the submerged tenth of the golfing
world that you find the big gambling. However, I would not call fifty

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