A fellow had just been hired as the new ceo of a large corporation the current ceo was stepping down and met with the new hire privately in his office where he handed him three numbered envelopes. The story of three envelopes is a business classic for dysfunctional organizations it starts with an incoming manager replacing a recently fired outgoing manager on his way out the outgoing manager hands the new manager three envelopes and remarks when things get tough open these one at a time. Three envelopes a thriller agent 10483 book 1 and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle learn more enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Three months passed and the company was still short on sales and profits the ceo would have to figure out how to get through another tough earnings call the ceo went to his office closed the door and opened the third envelope the message said prepare three envelopes kevin kevin kruse is a ny times bestselling author . Three envelopes april 20 2009 posted by chuck musciano in leadership tags best of 2009 denial leadership management skills responsibility trackback according to the apocryphal story a person is hired to replace someone who was fired for poor performance