I spent ninety minutes of my day today in a team meeting. We have this once a month. Last week was so dull that someone actually fell asleep. This month, we were promised, would be different.
So what did we have on our fun-packed agenda? We had project updates! We had a short presentation from a member of the team who has started cycling to work and wanted to show us the GPS data of their commute! We had a general update from my boss where he told everyone that the supermarkets were now providing us with stiff competition and stunned us with the news that, when our competitors discounted their stuff over Christmas to make it significantly cheaper than we sell it, our customers buy it there instead of with us.
Amazing insights, I'm sure you'll agree, but he wasn't done yet.
my boss: "Has anyone noticed anything different about our new TV adverts?"
**general silence**
my boss: "Well, the company tagline has changed"
**total lack of interest**
my boss: "It used to be 'Feel Good', but now they've changed it so that it's 'Let's Feel Good Together'"
**deafening silence**
my boss: "Well, it's much more inclusive you see and invites our customers to interact with us"
**tumbleweed**
my boss: "The Marketing Department are apparently very excited about it. IT clearly less so."
**a lonely church bell rings in the distance**
my boss: "We've also decided to change the name of our big internal change initiative".
**complete lack of interest and, if anything, the air of ennui in the room deepens**
my boss: "Since it was launched within the department a couple of years back, it's been called 'Breakthrough'. Well we've decided to rebrand and relaunch it as 'Breakout'."
**total silence.... until.....**
me: "....shouldn't that be Let's Breakout Together?"
**Cue general laughter and the stink eye from my boss**
Stick with me kid: I'm going to the very top.
The Limboland Hotel revisited
19 hours ago
(I actually had to do a ten minute presentation today. My bit was AMAZING, obviously...)
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