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Chapter 1
Chapter One: Inbox Uncertain
The subject line said, “Radical Transparency Week,” which is HR for “we’ve discovered morale.” I opened the email, skimmed a photo of our CEO in sneakers, then clicked a big blue button labeled “HOT TAKES (ANONYMOUS).” The form asked what we should “be brave enough to say out loud,” which already felt like putting gasoline next to a fondue fountain.
I didn’t plan to say anything. I planned to keep juggling project timelines and pretending I loved Gantt charts. Then a ping landed in my DMs: “Tasha, did we mean to make this public?” from Claire, my manager, accompanied by a screenshot showing the form slapped onto our help center footer like a lost button. Three responses glowed at the bottom—two from our own employees, and one from a customer named “Carter L.” who wrote, “Your reporting is a PDF graveyard.”
I did the math. Public help center. Anonymous form. Heat daring people to be interesting. I pictured flames in HR’s eyes and the coffee machine igniting itself in solidarity.
I pinged Dennis from IT. “Dennis. Form. Fire.”
“On it,” he wrote. “Also the coffee machine is actually on fire.”
I ran.
