Vendeholt Reacts ((exclusive)) Access

The email chain below was a disaster. Thirty-seven replies deep, CC’s bleeding into BCC’s, attachments named FINAL_v3_REALFINAL.doc and a poll that someone had started at 2 AM about whether the quarterly report should be blue or gray. Vendeholt had voted for gray. He was the only one.

Subject: Thoughts on the current trajectory

So here he was. vendeholt reacts.

For a long moment, nothing happened. The silence in the office felt enormous. Then, one by one, the dots appeared. Three people typing. Then five. Then twelve.

Vendeholt smiled. It was a small smile, the kind that barely moved his mustache. He took a sip of his cold coffee, grimaced, and poured it out. vendeholt reacts

1. The blue vs. gray poll is a symptom, not the problem. The problem is that we are spending committee hours on a color decision when the actual data in Section 4 hasn’t been verified since before the merger. I know because I checked. It’s wrong.

Vendeholt had been staring at the screen for eleven minutes. The coffee in his mug had gone cold, and the cursor blinked at the end of the subject line like a judgmental metronome. The email chain below was a disaster

Too passive. Too cheap. His two cents wouldn’t even buy a gumball in this economy.