The Three Envelopes: Blame, Reorganize, Repeat

Podcast: IT Horror Stories with Jack Smith · Jack Smith

Opublikowano: 2026-09-07

The Three Envelopes: Blame, Reorganize, Repeat There is an old management joke about an outgoing manager leaving three numbered envelopes for their successor. When the first crisis arrives: blame your predecessor. The second: reorganize. And when the third arrives... prepare three envelopes. We look at why this joke has survived for decades, and why anyone who has worked in corporate IT will recognise far too much of it. From inherited problems and reorganisations to management changes that somehow leave the underlying problems untouched, they explore what the Three Envelopes tells us about blame, accountability, and...