Crying Wolf

An executive rallied the troops
for an ’emergency.’
He told us
this situation was top priority.
We were to drop everything
and focus on it.

So we did.
Then we needed his approval
for one of the actions.

He was told of that need.
He was in the office.
He had time.

He didn’t respond.

We felt like idiots
because we made his top priority
our top priority
only to discover
that it wasn’t his top priority.

We’re smart people.
We aren’t going to drop everything
the next time
he calls an emergency.

When you call an emergency,
ensure that you have the same immediate response time
as you’re expecting from your staff.