Every so often our fearless leader, Matt, takes a day off. He makes a lot of announcements, sends out his calendar notifications, and then drives away with his family—presumably to relax and recharge.
(Of course, he’s really working. He still emails, calls, organizes and advises while his boys make a racket in the background…but that is a story for another day.)
What I’d like to share with the world today is what goes on while Matt is not here.
It’s Resch Strategies, unsupervised.
7:45 AM
Steph arrives with her 52-oz bucket of Diet Coke from Speedway. Starts checking email, trying to figure out what the heck she’s doing all day. Is sorry nobody else is here to see/appreciate what a dedicated team member she is at this hour.
9:00 AM
Nick, Nikki and Joe roll in. Steph pauses for about 10 seconds to bask in a feeling of slight superiority.
9:40 AM
Nick and Joe begin sparring over issues within the Trump administration. Nick is so very sincere, patriotic and good; he points at our jokey Putin calendar on the wall with an indignation nourished by copious amounts of baseball and apple pie. Joe, on the other hand, is wry and pragmatic—a modern (and sort of dark) Will Rogers, whose refusal to be outraged makes Nick even more so. Steph admires them both and is rattled by the open conflict. She tries to appease everyone by taking both sides (rarely helpful). Nikki wisely stays out of it. A client calls and interrupts the argument, much to the team’s relief.
10:00 AM
CUTENESS ALERT: Colleague Deb has her small dog, Henry, in the office (he’s dehydrated and needs a vet visit today). Henry finds a wide patch of sunshine next to Joe’s desk and collapses into it for a quick snooze. Awwww.
11:27 AM
Matt’s first call of the day. He sounds pretty grumpy for a guy on vacation. We make it quick.
12:00 PM
Nobody moves from their desks. It’s so quiet—all you can hear is soft typing and the occasional chair squeak.
1:15 PM
Nikki emerges from her office. She is wrapped in the biggest blanket/sweater anyone has ever seen. “I’m really cold today,” she says, her breath emerging as a frozen cloud of white vapor. Steph, whose space heater has been on and off all morning, commiserates. Either this place is haunted or we need to crack open the thermostat.
2:00 PM
Joe is swearing about something—the first noise in 45 minutes. Steph, working on this blog, thinks about the earlier reference to apple pie. Why doesn’t anyone bring me pie, she wonders. Then she remembers she is supposed to be cutting out sugar and thinks about throwing some chairs.
2:10 PM
Matt calls Nikki. Not as grumpy. Day must be getting better…or else he likes Nikki more than the rest of us. That could be too…she is very nice and she doesn’t mix it up during the political debates.
3:00 PM
Conference call. Team energized! Matt calls in too—from a parking lot at a mini golf place. We hear his son Cooper in the background, asking when dad will get off the phone and have fun already.
4:00 PM
Here’s where it happens, you think. Those losers are going to leave early! I just know it!
Oh, but you are so wrong. Dedicated to our clients and careers, our appetites for work unslaked and our loyalty to the firm undiminished, we remain at our desks. We send press releases, think huge thoughts. We take calls, deliver results, and give really, really good advice.
Even though it’s forty below at our desks and there’s probably a ghost. Oh, and divisive figures in U.S. politics who are very disruptive to our team-building efforts.
5:10 PM
Steph waits for everyone else to leave so she can go home. This time, she indulges in a full 90 seconds of smugness while she walks out to the car. Some employees are just so dedicated, she thinks.
So, that’s the day. Don’t you admire our dedication? Our strong work ethic and ability to get really good work done, each and every minute of the day?
Of course you do. Now, go tell Matt.