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Andrew HeiskellAndrew Heiskell
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Session:         Page of 824

been spun off--Temple Inland--is doing very well indeed.

Q:

Okay. Let's get back to the board. Do any board meetings stand out in your memory?

Heiskell:

No, it's a funny thing about board meetings. You rather dread them, because there are people who have very strong views, and then there are people who haven't even read their board book, and who will ask the stupidest question to which they should have known the answer anyhow, and then they'll get off on a tangent. But I don't have a memory of a crisis board meeting at any point. We prepared very--we worked very hard to be well prepared for the board meetings. The important thing is to be able to give a quick and satisfactory answer to any question so it doesn't become a great, big issue.

Q:

Do you remember something becoming an issue that surprised you? Something brought to the board, and it wasn't so rapidly agreed upon?

Heiskell:

Well, on big issues--you don't “bring” them just to the board. On big issues--like buying Inland, for instance--you mention the possible advantages of it in January. You bring up the progress of Inland in March. You present a proposition for the board to think about in July. And in September, you say, “Okay, now let's vote.” I mean, that's how we did it, that's how you should do it, and that's also--it sounds time consuming, but, in fact, it avoids an awful lot of wasteful argumentation.





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