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 CxO takes over.
On their desk is a box with a note on top.Inside the box are three envelopes.
A handwritten note on top of the three envelope says
In case of trouble - Open the top envelope
This buys some time
They open the First Envelope
Some Amount of Time Later
They start to understand the scope of the challenge and fall behind.They open the First Envelope
The note from the first envelope says
Blame your predecessor
And they do blame their predecessor
That buys some time
They open the Second Envelope
The note from the second envelope says
Reogranize
And they do reorganize
That buys some time
They open the Third Envelope
The note from the third envelope says
Make Three Envelopes
Blame your predecessor
And they do blame their predecessor
That buys some time
Some Amount of Time Later
The issues pile up. They fall behind againThey open the Second Envelope
The note from the second envelope says
Reogranize
And they do reorganize
That buys some time
Some Amount of Time Later
The problems and challenges continue and are insurmountableThey open the Third Envelope
The note from the third envelope says
Make Three Envelopes
Reformatted 2026 07
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