The Audition Nobody Knows They're In

Here’s how it works at some companies: they announce a new initiative. They ask for volunteers. Someone raises their hand. They’re given the lead.

What they don’t know: the decision about their future is already made. The initiative is real but the role isn’t. They’re being given work to occupy the gap between the decision and the announcement.

They build the deck. Present it to leadership. Get praised. “Great work. Let’s implement this.”

A few weeks later: “Your position has been eliminated.”

The initiative is implemented by someone else. The person who built it is gone. The timeline tells the story: the praise and the termination were both planned. The praise just came first because it looked better in the file.