ten billion butterfly sneezes

My resignation “letters” throughout my career¹ have been more precisely resignation sentences, following this template:

I resign my position with insert company name here effective COB insert independence day date here.

In a dead tree version, I print it, sign it and hand it in. I vastly prefer to send resignations via email: no muss, no fuss. Nonetheless, some folks are comforted by the feel of paper, so I’m occasionally asked to print the email, sign it, and turn that in. And so it was this time; no matter.

I’ve never felt particularly compelled to write paragraphs detailing why I’m leaving; I figure the ones who understand and care already know, and are powerless to do anything about the situation, while those who don’t understand and/or care wouldn’t get it if I wrote a book.

Nevertheless, I’m impressed by this resignation email, from a NASA employee. It’s longish, contains references that only NASA insiders would grok, but made a few points applicable to my current situation, namely:

At the highest levels, there seems to be a belief that you can mandate reality, followed by a refusal to accept any information that runs counter to that mandate.

and

Then between us workers and the highest levels of management another problem exists. As one person put it: “Where does the bad news stop going up?” Again, I’m sure you all know of situations where people are trying to raise red flags, but somehow they never get addressed.

Finally, this, which is truly an observation for the ages:

“Sufficiently advanced cluelessness is indistinguishable from malice”

The higher-ups at my place wouldn’t get those either; maybe I’ll recite a poem from Bob Knight instead.

-k-