Diagenx

Kim D. Blickenstaff, President and CEO of Diagenx, a developer of a next generation technology for continuous insulin infusion therapy, headed into the office one morning in August 2008. As he drove through the San Diego streets, he thought about a challenge that he knew he had to face later that day. Parker Turner, Diagenx’s VP of engineering and Chris Klausen, the new CFO, were at each other’s throats. Klausen had recently given Blickenstaff an ultimatum that he would leave the company unless the current dynamic with Turner changed dramatically. Blickenstaff considered how to repair the professional relationship between his two direct reports in the short term and also whether he should take any actions designed to have longer-term impact on relations between the engineering team and the rest of the company.