This was in my drafts for years, a story from a past life …
Next time I am sitting in one of these meetings, I will jump out of the window. I promise.
“What can we do to save Bob?”
What are we, some kind of divine authority? Is Bob a soul that needs to be raptured? I am doodling a hot female demon from “Ugly Americans” on Bob’s last year’s revue. The revue looks finer than ever! Back to Bob - he’s an amazing developer. He’s paid well. He gets to do whatever he wants, mostly. But we got little new to offer – the business is “business as usual”, so he has been procrastinating for a while and finally got bored. And bored people quit. After many months of the same, he finally made a decision and told his manager yesterday.
Bob could use fifty grand. Or a hundred. In a single check. I bet that would close the deal and he would stay for another year or two. But I am not going to say it – for starters, this kind of proposals strangely never gather enough support around a big executive table. Ten individuals who all think one thing and say another will hang in this room and debate what else can we do to save Bob.
My position is not uncomfortable though: I am placed in a black cushy armchair of a corporately furnished 60s office with excessive use of browns. I can catch a reflection in the floor-to-ceiling window and count little yellow cabs buzzing forty stories below. The kitchen outside this conference room is shining with polished Formica, so clean you can see yourself.
Why can’t we just let Bob go? Hasn’t he given us enough? Why does one need to work at the same place for a decade? Let him work on something challenging again and make some space for the young kids! Throw him a party instead without any bitterness or regrets.
Me? I’ll quietly shake Bob’s hand and tell him he’s finally doing the right thing.