Original fictional satire. The people, workplace, and events in this story are invented.
At 08:47, Alex received an invitation titled “Quick Alignment.” It was scheduled for an hour, included eleven people, and offered no further information. Alex replied with a short question: “What decision are we making?”
The question was forwarded to someone who owned the deck. The deck was owned by someone waiting on input. The input was waiting for the alignment meeting. By 09:12, the question had become an agenda item.
“We appreciate the clarity,” the organizer wrote. “Let’s discuss live.”
The first slide establishes the problem
At the meeting, the first slide read Why We’re Here. Beneath it was a photograph of a mountain. Alex briefly considered whether the group was being asked to climb it. The next slide clarified that they were here to agree on the approach to the future discussion of the possible plan.
Someone asked whether this was the same plan from last week. The organizer said it had evolved. The mountain was now blue.
Alex opened a notebook and drew three boxes: decision, owner, next step. By minute forty, the only writing was the date and a very detailed drawing of a coffee cup.
A breakthrough is recorded
With six minutes remaining, the group agreed that a smaller group should meet. The smaller group included all eleven people, plus a person described as “helpful context.”
Alex asked whether an email might work. There was a pause long enough for the video-call software to ask if anyone was still there.
“Great thought,” said the organizer. “Can you put together a proposal?”
At 10:03, a new invitation arrived: Agenda Planning Working Session. Alex accepted, attached the three empty boxes, and went to refill the coffee.
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