People Person

So I’m here filling in for my client’s controller, who’s suffering from a persistent case of getting fired.  A note on the wall beside her desk is the following interrogatory:



  1. Why are you in my office?  What is the topic?
  2. Who or what is mandating this?
  3. What is the financial impact?
  4. What are the options?

I find this mildly puzzling.  I can’t imagine asking these questions to a visitor in my office;  I can’t even envision running through these consecutively as a one-size-fits-all checklist.  I’m sure this is lifted from some magazine for those seeking to be effective managers, or to be able to bluff your way there.  I’ve always been the kind of screw-off who welcomed any visitor to my office who wasn’t going to ask me to work.