The Day I Emailed the Whole Company

Let me tell you about the worst Monday of my working life.

我来讲讲我职业生涯里最糟糕的一个星期一。

It was nine fifteen, and I'd just come out of a two-hour meeting.

那时九点一刻，我刚开完一个两小时的会。

A meeting that, honestly, could have been an email.

说实话，那个会发封邮件就够了。

So I wrote a quick message to my friend Priya in marketing.

于是我给市场部的朋友Priya写了条简短的消息。

I said the meeting was so boring, I nearly fell asleep in my coffee.

我说那个会无聊到我差点在咖啡杯上睡着。

I said the slides looked like they were made in nineteen ninety-five.

我说那些幻灯片看起来像是1995年做的。

And then, well... I'm not proud of this,

然后，嗯……这事我可不觉得光彩，

but I described the presenter's voice as a sleepy foghorn.

但我把主讲人的声音形容成一只犯困的雾笛。

I pressed send, feeling very pleased with myself.

我按下发送，还挺得意的。

Two minutes later, my inbox started filling up with replies!

两分钟后，我的收件箱开始塞满回复。

Dozens of them. From people I'd never even met!

几十封。都是我从没见过的人发来的！

My stomach dropped. I checked the address line.

我心里一沉，赶紧去看收件人那一栏。

It wasn't Priya. It was All Staff. Six hundred people.

不是Priya，是“全体员工”。六百个人。

I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me.

我恨不得找个地缝钻进去。

Of course, I tried to recall it. Far too late.

我当然想撤回，可是太迟了。

And worst of all? The presenter was our head of finance!

最糟的是什么？那个主讲人是我们的财务总监！

Then, at ten o'clock, an email arrived from the CEO.

接着，十点钟，CEO发来了一封邮件。

I honestly thought I was about to be fired.

说实话，我以为自己要被炒了。

But instead, she wrote, "Thank you for your honesty!"

可她却写道：“谢谢你的坦诚。”

She said our meetings had become far too long,

她说我们的会议变得太长了，

and asked every manager to cut them in half.

并要求每位经理把会议时间砍掉一半。

That afternoon... the head of finance came to my desk.

那天下午……财务总监走到了我的工位。

I started apologising before he'd even opened his mouth.

他还没开口，我就开始道歉了。

But he just laughed and said, "A sleepy foghorn? That's fair."

可他只是笑着说：“犯困的雾笛？说得没错。”

Then he asked me to help him redesign his slides!

然后他请我帮他重新设计幻灯片！

Now we run a training course on short, clear meetings.

现在我们一起开了一门关于简短清晰会议的培训课。

People actually look forward to it, believe it or not.

信不信由你，大家居然还挺期待的。

So yes, it was the most embarrassing day of my career.

所以没错，那是我职业生涯里最丢脸的一天。

But it was also the best mistake I've ever made.

但那也是我犯过的最好的错误。

Still, these days, I check the address line three times.

不过，现在我都会把收件人栏检查三遍。