Everyone on the Thread

The Broadcaster copies everyone. The director who has to act, the analyst who might find it interesting, the peer 2 floors up who asked about it once in March. Every thread has 14 names on it, and every message starts with FYI.

He thinks he is keeping people in the loop. What he is doing is handing the sorting job to 14 people, each of whom has to guess whether this one is theirs. Most guess no. The one person who needed to act guesses no too.

A copy line is not a courtesy. It is an assignment. The move: before you hit send, name the 1 person who has to do something with it, and write to them.

Tomorrow: the Broadcaster from another angle.

The Right Altitude. Available now. www.therightaltitudebook.com