Daily Joke: New CEO Received Three Letters of Advice from His Predecessor

Richard had been hired as the new CEO of a large water distilling company. The CEO, who had chosen to step down, set up a private meeting with him to discuss the handover.

During the meeting, the previous CEO handed Richard three brown envelopes that were numbered 1, 2, and 3 and said, "Listen, Richard, open these if you find yourself in a situation that you can't solve yourself."

Under Richard's instruction, the company was doing well, but after a year, sales decreased. Richard was catching a lot of heat from his staff, and when he was at his wit's end, he remembered the envelopes.

He went to his desk in his office, opened the top drawer, and took out the first envelope. The message read, "Blame your predecessor." So Richard came up with a presentation and called a press conference.

He presented his findings and tactfully laid the blame on the previous CEO saying, "Through my research, I discovered that the decrease in sales is a direct correlation to work produced by the previous CEO."

Everyone was satisfied and responded positively to his comments, including his big team of employees, the press, and Wall Street. So the sales began to pick up, and the stressful situation was quickly behind him.

About two years later, the company was again experiencing a serious dip in sales and a problem with the water bottling factory. So having learned from his previous problem, he quickly opened the second envelope.

The message read, "Reorganize." So Richard did. He planned an elaborate shift of his staff and had multiple people move in and out of departments he felt they could improve. As a result, the company quickly rebounded.

After seven successful and very profitable years, the water company again fell on difficult times. Richard became very stressed, but as he was clearing up his desk, he found the third envelope.

Remembering the successes that followed the previous two envelopes, he eagerly opened the third and last envelope. The message read, "Prepare three envelopes."

Well, at least Richard had several successful years at the company. For more laughs, check out our large collection of jokes, starting with this joke about a CEO who noticed a lazy employee.

Sources: Upjoke.