s. Coming on the heels of Mandl's resignation, the change in earnings guidance underlined the importance of identifying and installing ef- fective operating management. For the first time, Allen had even said that he would step aside if that was what it would take to find the right person for the job. So whom had we chosen? "I don't think you'll know his name, but you know his company," Marilyn said. "What is it?" I asked, not really understanding why we were suddenly playing Twenty Questions. "R. R. Donnelly," she said in the flattest tone I had ever heard from "The Yellow Pages advertising people?" "You're thinking of R. H. Donnelly," she said. "This is R. R." As if that cleared everything up. Seeing that I was still drawing a blank, she helped me out: "The Chicago-based printing company. I think R. H. and R. R. were brothers or something." I gave up. "So who is it?" "John R. Walter. He's the president of R. R. Donnelly. He just led them through a major transformation from paper and ink to digital media. Bob's betting he can do the same kind of thing here." She then told me that the board members had met individually with Walter two nights before, followed by a group dinner at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. She, Rick Miller (AT&T's CFO), and Zeglis had met individually with Walter the next morning. Her meeting, she said, had been the longest, and she had come away impressed with his energy, self-confidence, and engaging personality. However, he was the darkest of dark horses. And Marilyn was smart enough to know Complete the CEO that his appointment would not be received enthusiastically by the media, investors, or even employees, all of whom were expecting someone with more marquee value. Furthermore, his appointment could still fall through. He had been offered the job informally, but he hadn't accepted yet. He and Allen were still dancing around the issue of when he would take over as CEO. Allen wanted to leave it open; Walter wanted a specified date. Of course, neither of them would broach the subject with 