Readers: this blog is set in the future (sometime after the year 2020).  Each entry assumes there has been a 5th revolution in the US — the Revenge Revolution.  More about the Revenge Revolution and author, Entry #1.  List and general description of entries to date.

Note: most entries are formatted as conversations.  Characters appear in a number of entries, with many entries building on previous conversations.  Profile of characters (see link at top of page).  You’ll catch on quickly.  Thanks for your time and interest…and comments.

Scene: Jordan’s office in Washington, DC.

Gelly:  “Jordan, I was cleaning out some files.  Found an article you wrote at the end of Trump’s first year in office.”

Jordan:  “Was that the article about Trump at the Board of Directors’ meeting?”

Gelly:  “Yes.  Here’s a copy.  You might want to read again.”

——————  Article ——————-

Scene: Board of Directors’ meeting of Fortune 100 company.  Trump has been CEO for a year and the Board is conducting an annual appraisal.

Trump:  “Welcome everyone.  This meeting will be short since I know all of you think I’ve done a fantastic job this past year…really fantastic.  Company’s in great shape.  No one could have done it better.  Now let’s adjourn and play some golf.”

Board Member:  “Well, Mr. Trump, the Board thinks there needs to be some discussion about your performance this past year.”

Trump:  “Why?  I told you my performance was fantastic.  Let’s go play golf.”

Board Member:  “Not all Board members agree your performance was, as you say, fantastic…and certainly not all shareholders, employees and customers agree.”

Trump:  “Whoever disagrees is wrong.  Look I’m the smartest person in the room and in the company…smartest by far.  I’m a genius.  I went to an Ivy League school and was top in my class.”

Board Member:  “Excuse me but you are not the smartest person in the room.  Besides a number of us went to Ivy League schools…and I’ll disregard the claim you were top in your class.  We know better.”

Trump:  “But this Board elected me CEO.  And elected me by a huge margin…huge.  The biggest margin in decades.”

Board Member:  “Just to be clear, the majority of the Board did not support you to be CEO.  Only because we have an odd way of counting votes that were you elected.”

Trump:  “That can’t be.  What you’re saying is fake news.  Look I have my own set of facts…and I’m always right.”

Board Member:  “Mr. Trump, we want to talk to you about your performance since becoming CEO.  Just what do you think was your greatest accomplishment this past year?”

Trump:  “There’s so many I don’t know where to begin.  No other CEO has ever accomplished so much in such little time.”

Board Member:  “Your modest opinion aside, what could you have done differently in your first year to be more effective?”

Trump:  “The only thing I need to be more effective is total loyalty from everyone in the organization.”

Board Member:  “Might I remind you the position of CEO is not like being king.  You might not understand but people don’t bow down to you.  The CEO actually works for the people in the company.  That includes lower-level workers.”

Trump:  “You mean I’m supposed to work for the lower-level losers?  I don’t work for losers.   Those people work for me.  They do what I say…or they’re fired.  Got that, I tell them, ‘You’re fired!’”

Board Member:  “Mr. Trump, have you ever tried to manage a large organization?”

Trump:  “Before this job I was the head of the Trump Corporation.  That’s a huge organization…huge.”

Board Member:  “With all due respect, in terms of very large organizations, the Trump Corporation is a rounding error.  Most of us would use such an organization to send early-career managers for training.  That way if they made a major mistake, nothing material would happen to the larger company.”

Trump:  “That’s your perspective.  What’s wrong is this Board and this company are being managed all wrong.  Everything is wrong and needs to change.  I need to blow up the entire organization.”

Board Member:  “So what I’m hearing you say is you’ve never run a large organization.  If fact, never worked in a large company.  Is that right?”

Trump:  “Experience running large companies doesn’t matter.  I don’t need to know…in fact, I pride myself not knowing about lots of things you consider important.  Remember, I’m a genius.  Why waste my time learning anything new?  I’d rather watch TV and play golf.  What’s knowledge worth anyway?  I go with my gut…and I’m always right.”

Board Member:  “Let’s talk about your effectiveness in making the organization operate more effectively.”

Trump:  “Why?  I’m not the problem.  Some of those managers out there are the problem.  They don’t do what I tell them.  They’re the problem.”

Board Member:  “But you’ve always claimed to be a great deal maker.  Isn’t part of the art of the deal being willing to work with the other party…and compromise?”

Trump:  “In my way of thinking, all deals are zero-sum games.  And I have to win.  The other party in the deal needs to cave in to my demands.”

Board Member:  “Some of the key executives in this organization claim that you change your mind frequently.  They think there’s a deal to proceed then you change your mind…and the deal falls apart and no progress is made.  Some of the key execs describe dealing with you is like dealing with a bowl of Jell-O.”

Trump:  “That’s their problem.  Those managers need to do what I want.  They should be loyal to me…or else.”

Board Member:  “Could you explain to the Board why you let operations of this company basically shut down?  The company is not functioning.  Why?”

Trump:  “I told you not my fault.  It’s those managers fault who aren’t loyal to me.”

Board Member:  “Mr. Trump, I think it’s time you put on your big-boy pants and quit acting like a whiny 8-year old brat.  You realize that you don’t own those managers.  Those managers are responsible to the company, the customers and the shareholders.  The managers are not your servants.  You do realize that don’t you?”

Trump:  “It’s still their fault.”

Board Member:  “You also realize that as CEO it is your job to make sure the company continues to run.  Do you understand the concerns of these managers?  What is so unreasonable about their concerns that you were willing to let the company stop operating?  Mr. Trump, why don’t you think real hard about your performance while the Board takes a break?”

(Continued)