What's Up, Double Thumbs? Bad Stuff Happens When You Don't Pay Attention To Your Blackberry Screen....

If you haven't been there, then you aren't the email machine I expect you to be.  You known what I'm looking for... Email skills so mad that every once in awhile, you go so fast that you screw up and you guessed it - send an email to someone you didn't mean to.

There are many ways this manifests itself in the world of work.  Sometimes you send a simple email to someone who doesn't have a clue why you're sending them the email, and they certainly don't know why you're calling them "Shirley".  Their name isn't Shirley.

YOU ARE WORKING TOO FAST. Stop with the volume play.  We're impressed.  You work fast.  Slow down and enjoy your food email.

Because if you don't, you're going to make a mind-numbing, career-impacting mistake.  Like Chris Albrecht.  From the Los Angeles Times:

"Here's a cautionary tale about writing e-mail on a BlackBerry courtesy of Starz President Chris Albrecht.

On July 1, Albrecht touched down in Majorca, Spain, for a vacation. Like any good executive, he checked his BlackBerry. He read an e-mail from two senior Starz executives concerning the future of Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett, the chief executive and chief operating officer, respectively, of Overture Films, a unit of Starz. The fate of Overture has been in question for months as Starz and parent Liberty Media are assessing its viability.

Albrecht tapped out his response to the two executives, suggesting that upon his return July 12 they should discuss removing McGurk and Rosett. However, instead of responding to the e-mail that he'd received from the two executives, he mistakenly replied to a different e-mail about letting Starz employees work half a day on Friday, July 2.

As a result, his note went to approximately 400 Starz employees and senior executives -- including McGurk and Rosett."

Dude... That's a bad one.  He should thank the lord that he's running the show, because if the roles were reversed (with McGurk and Rosett sending the email about Albrecht), they would be on the street pretty quick.

Email - it's a great tool, but it's humbling to think that you're only one "send" away from being toast. 

Another good reason to send less email, especially if it holds very sensitive information.  You're always one "FW:" away from the scrap heap as well.

Comments

[Interviewer]

There's the famous story of the lawyer who leaked Eli Lilly's settlement negotiations to a reporter, rather than the attorney of the same last name that he meant to email.

[Jim aka Evil Skippy at Work]

I was once investigating a harassment charge and the accused employee sent an email to me rather than to one of his friends with a name similar to mine. It said, "I think the investigator believed every word I said. Since it is her word against mine, I should be fine. Remember the moral: never be yourself in front of witnesses!" I showed him the message the next morning and he turned pale.

[HR Whiz]

I'm a first-time visitor and an HR Professional. That was a great post and an even better example of a blackberry mishap.

The same thing can happen on your desk top too. I know of a guy who was fired after mistakenly replying to "all" on a company-wide eBlast that went out - he meant to only forward it to a few people. He's a moron, but that stuff happens all the time.

The Starz example is a classic one too. People need to be more careful, especially in this social media age.

I read that Zuffa CEO Dana White (they own the UFC) accidentally tweeted his personal cell number to over 1,000,000 followers just the other day. But he was gracious about it and took phone calls from people and talked to them for more than an hour.