John Reid: Veteran of the old "three envelopes" technique?

A manager moved into a new job but didn't have time to do a handover briefing with their predecessor. So they had no idea what to do in the new job. Fortunately, while searching their new desk they found three envelopes marked "1 - open now if things are dire", "2 open later if there are still problems", "3 open later than that if things really get bad".

So, with things indeed looking dire, the manager opened envelope 1, eager for advice. It said:

"BLAME YOUR PREDECESSOR"

The manager followed this advice. It worked exceedingly well.

However, after a few weeks the problems continued and the "blame the predecessor" routine was wearing a little thin.

No worries. The manager opened envelope 2 which said:

"SAY YOU HAVE A PLAN TO FIX THINGS"

So the manager took that advice and went around saying he had a plan to fix things and, indeed, detailing what that plan was.

A few months passed. The problems continued unabated. People were getting a little cynical of the "I HAVE A PLAN" routine, so the manager resorted to envelope 3 and opened that.

It said:

"PREPARE THREE ENVELOPES FOR YOUR SUCCESSOR"

It does seem that John Reid is a dab hand at this old "three envelopes" routine.