No doubt, many are already scampering around gathering their facts and fiction for the past year, bribing their stakeholders and threatening their staff.
I on the other hand, sat quietly with a glazed look and a memory of our last team meeting conversation: "We will all be getting a "token" of appreciation at the end of the year. It will be a small "token", but it is a "token", so I wouldn't start spending it just yet".
My eyes glazed over even more, as the forms blurred into a round blue hinged token that starts chasing me down the street and then, as Monique excitedly pointed out that it could be a whole $50 voucher to spend in store, I started preparing my letter:
"Dearest Monique! Here's a token of my appreciation for the past year of your super hard work and mind numbing chasing and endless meetings about the same thing over and over again. And just to express my full gratitude of your deliverables that would save me millions of dollars in return and in no doubt make hundreds of thousands of customers breathe a sigh of relief at finally receiving an email they want, I wish to give you 5% off the full price of Samsung Galaxy 7S Gold, provided you are still enslaved by me by 2017 and have continued hitting your head against a brick wall and expecting a different result.
And since you have expressed a genuine desire to improve even further and receive an extra token, here's a Pink pen with a former company logo on it. Use it wisely."
Now as this is read in our far away Hamilton Office, I imagine, there will be endless cheer for Monique, jealous looks shot across 2 metres of windowless office, women trying to line up into a single female bathroom to shed a tear about the unfairness of it all and injustice, as no doubt they are also deserving of a pink retail pen. And Monique, graciously waving to older Connect generation and posting the letter on the Wall of Fame.
As I return to reality and feel the ground below my feet I think of my own special token, hopefully purple with a hint of yellow, just like the veins on my face, as I approach the form on a Monday. That token better be worth it!
