1 00:00:03,500 --> 00:00:08,891 At eleven fifty-eight, Vera asked to be paid. This was considered a hostile act at 2 00:00:08,891 --> 00:00:09,549 Town Hall. 3 00:00:09,729 --> 00:00:12,689 Eleven years of overtime. Sign it. 4 00:00:12,869 --> 00:00:15,102 I cannot reward poor time management. 5 00:00:15,282 --> 00:00:18,054 You called me in to alphabetise the fire. 6 00:00:18,234 --> 00:00:20,864 And yet: still under F. 7 00:00:21,490 --> 00:00:25,871 Under the desk sat a complaint box. Nobody had opened it since the department 8 00:00:25,871 --> 00:00:27,463 stopped accepting criticism. 9 00:00:27,643 --> 00:00:30,664 Good evening. What is making your life unbearable? 10 00:00:30,844 --> 00:00:31,921 How long have you got? 11 00:00:32,101 --> 00:00:33,622 Is this equipment approved? 12 00:00:33,802 --> 00:00:35,038 I have a brass bell. 13 00:00:35,218 --> 00:00:36,622 Good. Carry on. 14 00:00:37,248 --> 00:00:40,445 This chair squeaks. There. A manageable concern. 15 00:00:40,625 --> 00:00:42,787 Please identify the offending object. 16 00:00:42,967 --> 00:00:43,621 The chair. 17 00:00:43,801 --> 00:00:46,276 Thank you. Your suffering matters to us. 18 00:00:46,901 --> 00:00:50,106 The box ate the chair. Not metaphorically. It chewed the screws. 19 00:00:50,286 --> 00:00:51,511 What the fuck? 20 00:00:52,091 --> 00:00:55,155 Zero squeaking. That is a measurable improvement. 21 00:00:55,801 --> 00:00:56,981 Can you give it back? 22 00:00:57,161 --> 00:00:59,116 We do not reopen resolved issues. 23 00:00:59,296 --> 00:01:00,411 You ate a chair. 24 00:01:00,591 --> 00:01:02,508 And have you complained about it since? 25 00:01:03,133 --> 00:01:08,843 Len recognised a breakthrough. Specifically, a breakthrough that could be 26 00:01:08,843 --> 00:01:10,720 photographed beside Len. 27 00:01:10,900 --> 00:01:12,843 That desk is an eyesore. 28 00:01:13,023 --> 00:01:14,959 My wages are in that drawer. 29 00:01:15,139 --> 00:01:16,942 Your wages are a separate issue. 30 00:01:17,568 --> 00:01:18,649 Issue resolved. 31 00:01:18,829 --> 00:01:21,034 That was the only copy of my overtime. 32 00:01:21,214 --> 00:01:23,259 Then we have no evidence of a problem. 33 00:01:23,439 --> 00:01:25,739 I am looking directly at the evidence. 34 00:01:25,919 --> 00:01:27,583 Please keep your tone professional. 35 00:01:27,763 --> 00:01:30,209 My professional tone was in the drawer. 36 00:01:30,855 --> 00:01:32,153 Can it handle volume? 37 00:01:32,333 --> 00:01:34,447 Our appetite scales with your ambition. 38 00:01:34,627 --> 00:01:38,937 Len heard his favourite word. Not appetite. Although he did expense lunch quite 39 00:01:38,937 --> 00:01:39,646 aggressively. 40 00:01:40,271 --> 00:01:46,464 Six thousand outstanding complaints. By morning, none. They will have to make me 41 00:01:46,464 --> 00:01:47,160 director. 42 00:01:47,340 --> 00:01:49,519 Half those complaints are about the hospital. 43 00:01:49,699 --> 00:01:51,143 Think of the parking spaces. 44 00:01:51,723 --> 00:01:52,298 No. 45 00:01:52,924 --> 00:01:54,395 You are obstructing innovation. 46 00:01:54,575 --> 00:01:56,591 Yes. Put that in my appraisal. 47 00:01:56,771 --> 00:01:59,104 Would you like to report an obstructive employee? 48 00:01:59,284 --> 00:02:01,309 Do not fucking upsell him. 49 00:02:01,489 --> 00:02:03,653 Perhaps we could start with a small hospital. 50 00:02:03,833 --> 00:02:05,805 Listen to the sentence you just said. 51 00:02:05,985 --> 00:02:07,205 I heard scalable. 52 00:02:08,231 --> 00:02:13,882 Len picked up a form. Vera watched him write her name. He paused over the box 53 00:02:13,882 --> 00:02:15,643 marked: desired outcome. 54 00:02:15,823 --> 00:02:19,264 You need to think very carefully about that next verb. 55 00:02:19,444 --> 00:02:21,181 I was going to write redeploy. 56 00:02:21,807 --> 00:02:25,438 Sign my overtime. I will help you get your photograph. 57 00:02:25,618 --> 00:02:26,737 The records are gone. 58 00:02:26,917 --> 00:02:28,167 Then take my word. 59 00:02:28,347 --> 00:02:29,578 There are procedures. 60 00:02:29,758 --> 00:02:34,408 There is furniture in a digestive tract. We have moved beyond procedures. 61 00:02:35,033 --> 00:02:38,659 Emergency expenditure requires an immediate threat to the building. 62 00:02:38,839 --> 00:02:39,860 An immediate threat. 63 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,562 Structural. Not emotional. 64 00:02:42,742 --> 00:02:45,974 Vera looked at the box. The box rang its own little bell. 65 00:02:46,599 --> 00:02:51,468 This building is damp, unsafe, and full of useless pricks. 66 00:02:51,648 --> 00:02:53,484 That is needlessly personal. 67 00:02:53,664 --> 00:02:54,948 I have not named you. 68 00:02:55,128 --> 00:02:56,612 You looked at me during pricks. 69 00:02:56,792 --> 00:02:58,193 I was checking the spelling. 70 00:02:59,219 --> 00:03:02,777 There. Immediate structural threat. Sign. 71 00:03:02,957 --> 00:03:07,311 For the first time in eleven years, Len approved overtime. Vera folded the paper 72 00:03:07,311 --> 00:03:08,128 very carefully. 73 00:03:08,308 --> 00:03:10,577 Now destroy that complaint. 74 00:03:10,757 --> 00:03:11,618 Certainly. 75 00:03:12,244 --> 00:03:13,539 She fed it into the box. 76 00:03:13,719 --> 00:03:14,947 Not like that! 77 00:03:15,127 --> 00:03:18,648 One building. Would you like to retain the original foundations? 78 00:03:18,828 --> 00:03:19,906 Surprise me. 79 00:03:20,551 --> 00:03:24,612 The box inhaled the reception desk, the stairs, and a commemorative plaque 80 00:03:24,612 --> 00:03:26,203 celebrating fiscal restraint. 81 00:03:26,383 --> 00:03:27,670 This is council property! 82 00:03:27,850 --> 00:03:29,609 Yes. Lovely provenance. 83 00:03:29,789 --> 00:03:32,524 Run, you elongated expense claim! 84 00:03:33,169 --> 00:03:34,150 My award! 85 00:03:34,330 --> 00:03:35,480 It is plastic. 86 00:03:35,660 --> 00:03:37,209 It represents leadership! 87 00:03:37,389 --> 00:03:38,878 Then lead it out yourself. 88 00:03:39,058 --> 00:03:42,653 He left it. Leadership was surprisingly light without the trophy. 89 00:03:43,298 --> 00:03:45,568 A little gristle in the planning department. 90 00:03:45,748 --> 00:03:50,013 At twelve oh three, Town Hall became a hole. A cleaner hole than it had been as a 91 00:03:50,013 --> 00:03:50,487 building. 92 00:03:50,667 --> 00:03:52,284 You have ruined my career. 93 00:03:52,930 --> 00:03:57,595 Nonsense. You are the most senior person left in the department. 94 00:03:57,775 --> 00:03:58,888 I suppose I am. 95 00:03:59,068 --> 00:04:00,384 Director of a hole. 96 00:04:00,964 --> 00:04:03,285 Len straightened his tie. He could work with that. 97 00:04:03,910 --> 00:04:11,063 Thank you. Demolition: eighty thousand. Waste disposal: twelve thousand. Bell: 98 00:04:11,063 --> 00:04:12,346 complimentary. 99 00:04:12,526 --> 00:04:13,597 You charge? 100 00:04:13,777 --> 00:04:15,681 Is there a discount for local government? 101 00:04:15,861 --> 00:04:18,876 That is the discounted rate. We waived the screaming. 102 00:04:19,056 --> 00:04:20,867 Did you think listening was the business? 103 00:04:21,492 --> 00:04:26,302 Emergency expenditure. You initiated it. I merely authorised the overtime. 104 00:04:26,482 --> 00:04:27,908 You absolute shit. 105 00:04:28,088 --> 00:04:33,232 Vera looked at her signed timesheet. Eleven years. And now she owed the council 106 00:04:33,232 --> 00:04:33,622 money. 107 00:04:34,248 --> 00:04:38,236 One last question. Do you accept complaints about people? 108 00:04:38,416 --> 00:04:40,752 Management is our most popular category. 109 00:04:40,932 --> 00:04:43,773 Excellent. Start with whoever ordered the box. 110 00:04:44,398 --> 00:04:49,327 Vera wrote one word. For once, she did not stay late to finish the paperwork. 111 00:04:49,507 --> 00:04:50,637 Smile, Len. 112 00:04:50,817 --> 00:04:52,622 Make sure you get my good side. 113 00:04:52,802 --> 00:04:53,955 We take all sides.