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Prepare Three Envelopes
It’s a story, but it often seems close to the truth
The new CEO of a company worked for a week with the previous CEO to understand the company’s affairs before taking office. When the new manager got acquainted with all the matters, the old manager gave his successor three numbered sealed envelopes before leaving and told him to open the envelopes in order when he got into trouble.
A few months pass because the company directors considered the mistakes of the new CEO as the result of inexperience and kept giving the CEO a chance to show their skills. But four months later, the directors called on the CEO to respond to the company’s repeated losses and his stupid decisions.
The CEO remembered his predecessor’s advice and pulled out envelope number one from the drawer. In this envelope wrote just one sentence, “Put all the blame on the previous management.”
That’s what the CEO did, and his job was spared.
But it wasn’t long before the company was heading for a big loss, and two months later the manager received another letter from the directors.
He opened the drawer again and opened envelope number two. It read, “Initiate management reforms in the company.”
The CEO didn’t even understand how to make the reforms, but he had to do something. He started…
