The Three Envelopes
I heard this years ago while I did contract work at MCI. We had a project that didn't make a lot of sense and where partner teams joined in case it was successful without any commitment that would risk their other work if it failed. One of the senior people said that our project would never be a failure. The company would reprioritize and put the software on the shelf for later use. That use would never come. 6 months later that happened. They did the right thing by ignoring the tyranny of sunk cost but did the wrong thing with the face-saving action plan that wasn't necessary.
The Joke ran as follows.
A new executive takes over.
On their desk is a box with a note on top.
Inside the box are three envelopes.
The note says
In case of trouble - Open This
Some Amount of Time Later
They start to understand the scope of the challenge
They open the First Envelope
The note says
Blame your predecessor
They do this
That buys some time
Some Amount of Time Later
They see the issues and need to change
They open the Second Envelope
The note says
Reogranize
They do this
That buys some time
Some Amount of Time Later
The problems and challenges continue
They open the Third Envelope
The note says
Make Three Envelopes
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