The Day I Emailed the Whole Company

Let me tell you about the worst Monday of my working life. It was nine fifteen, and I'd just come out of a two-hour meeting. A meeting that, honestly, could have been an email. So I wrote a quick message to my friend Priya in marketing. I said the meeting was so boring, I nearly fell asleep in my coffee. I said the slides looked like they were made in nineteen ninety-five. And then, well... I'm not proud of this, but I described the presenter's voice as a sleepy foghorn. I pressed send, feeling very pleased with myself. Two minutes later, my inbox started filling up with replies! Dozens of them. From people I'd never even met! My stomach dropped. I checked the address line. It wasn't Priya. It was All Staff. Six hundred people. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. Of course, I tried to recall it. Far too late. And worst of all? The presenter was our head of finance! Then, at ten o'clock, an email arrived from the CEO. I honestly thought I was about to be fired. But instead, she wrote, "Thank you for your honesty!" She said our meetings had become far too long, and asked every manager to cut them in half. That afternoon... the head of finance came to my desk. I started apologising before he'd even opened his mouth. But he just laughed and said, "A sleepy foghorn? That's fair." Then he asked me to help him redesign his slides! Now we run a training course on short, clear meetings. People actually look forward to it, believe it or not. So yes, it was the most embarrassing day of my career. But it was also the best mistake I've ever made. Still, these days, I check the address line three times.