24 Week-ersons Without Geakerson.

A smile bright enough to last six months.

Friday marked the last day for a while for eBoost Consultant Garret Akerson who is taking a six-month leave of absence to travel Ecuador with his lovely wife Deanne.  There is no overstating how much we will miss Geakerson (this is his more preferred moniker.  We never asked him but he didn’t seem to mind).  Sure we will have him back better than ever come January 2010 but his absence leaves a gaping hole in the culture of eBoost Consulting.  Geakerson is more than just a man.  Geakerson is a way of life.  Periodically,  we will be posting photos of Garret to tide the readership over.  

There are undoubtedly many moments that built his legend.  Like the time that CEO of that company (who was a super-alienating figure to his employees) threw his assistant through the conference room wall in a meeting and directed to Garret “I hired you to find the true business problem.  So what’s the problem?!?!”  Garret took a sip of his water, placed it down and calmly said, “You want to know the problem?  You, sir, are the problem.  Action Item to Follow-Up On: Stop being the problem.”  That CEO cited that moment as the turning point of his career and the company has ruled its business category ever since.  The amazing thing is that the CEO wasn’t even the problem.  Garret just read about Marvin Bower doing the same thing and always wanted to try it out. 

Garret is a trailblazer.   

There’s also that time that Garret took one of his interns on a camping trip to build their relationship.  Garret and the intern ventured deep into a foreboding forest when a grizzly bear made a beeline to the intern.  Garret took a sip of his water, placed it down and calmly killed the bear so that it would not inflict any damage to his intern.  That wasn’t even the amazing part.  What’s amazing is that Garret felt so much compassion for the bear (Garret is a vegetarian and an animal-lover), that he brought the bear back to life and nursed it back to health.  The bear now adopts a raw-vegan diet.  

Garret is a miracle worker. 

There’s also that time that Garret was on an uncanny roll in predicting fashion trends.  I distinctly remember (or vaguely remember, I can’t remember) Garret was at The Pod and everyone was discussing the client-value of a new software, and when we asked him what his assessment was, Garret took a sip of his water, placed it down, and said, “Flannel is coming back.”  The next day, flannel became all the rage in street fashion and Abercrombie released a press issue noting flannel would be the central point of its upcoming spring line.  A week later, Garret foresaw a similar retro comeback with denim-on-denim…one day before Kanye West debuted his denim-on-denim look on the fashion streets of Paris.  As you can see, the guy was on a roll.  So it was to no one’s surprise, if consternation, that Garret portended the comeback of the mullet in one of his Client Services meetings with Micha.  Micha walked in next day with a new mullet haircut.  Garret took a sip of his  water, placed it down, and smiled. 

Garret is a jokester.  

Yes, we will sorely miss Garret in the next six months.  Please take a moment to drop him good luck in the comments section and to post your own favorite Garret moments (true or not). 

Best in your travels Geaks and Deanne!!! 

-johnny

Comments

[Micha]

Nice Job JC, haven't cracked up at a blog post that much in quite a while. Cheers to Geaks, may your journey be full of fun, insight, and adventure!

[Brett]

Have fun Mr. Geakerson!

<3 Brett

[Garret]

I miss you guys. I love the post Johnny. On our flight down the left wing fell off the plane, fortunately I used the duck tape I brought to firmly tape it back on and everyone was saved. A bird flew in though. The flight attendants thought it looked funny (I knew it to be a Yariguíes Brush-Finch, which are indeed very rare). It was for this reason they made us all wear masks when we excited the plane, not H1N1.

[Robin]

Buena Suerte con todo Garret! Great post Johnny, very entertaining. Almost makes me question that other 'most interesting man in the world' from Dos Equis. I think Garret is hot on his tail to take that crown. Garret, try to make it to Peru if you have the time and I wish you a trip full of mischief, fun, challenge, learning and lasting revelations. Enjoy!

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