Riley the black cat sits at a table on Secret Santa exchange day, writing his own name on multiple gift tags. A pile of wrapped gifts with other names already on them sits nearby. Dash the penguin rushes in holding a wrapped gift and shouts, “Wait! Wait! Don’t start without me!” The sloth sits at his desk behind him, looking at his computer. Dash shouts, “I’m coming!” as he moves toward the gift table. Riley stands among gifts on the floor, cutting nametags off presents. Dash collides with Riley, sending gifts, unattached tags, and scissors flying through the air. Donna catches the airborne scissors as Dash says, “Nice reflexes, boss!” Riley lounges on the table while gifts and tags are scattered across the floor. Leslie the owl scolds Donna, saying scissor toss is not an approved office party game. Milo the raccoon happily volunteers to get the eggnog. Donna looks perplexed while Riley and Dash remain where they landed.    

CHOOSE YOUR STARTING POINT

CHAPTERS

Tag You’re It
Posted on December 10, 2025 by donnalake

From Donna’s Desk:

Cartoon portrait of Donna Lake with short hair, purple glasses, and a lavender sprig beside her name deskplate

Leadership happens before the fact. Or, if you show up right in the middle of it, leadership at least means you keep the fallout from becoming a medical claim.

So today I caught the scissors.

Dash gave me a “nice reflexes, boss,” which I will accept and absolutely add to my next performance review.

Leslie, predictably, appeared out of nowhere with a rebuke. I did not argue. If someone is going to catalogue my near disasters, I am grateful it is the person who also writes the rules that keep us mostly intact.

Milo, on the other hand, heard the words “party game” and took this as confirmation that the festivities had officially begun. He volunteered to get the eggnog before I could clarify that I would like to reduce, not increase, the number of airborne objects in the room.

What I keep thinking about is how visible everyone’s needs were in that one small explosion of wrapping paper.

Riley needs an angle. He wants to beat the system, even if the prize is an eight dollar novelty mug.
 Dash needs to feel included, so he rushes in at full speed.
 Leslie needs a policy to point to.
 Milo needs eggnog and the idea that this is all going to be fun.

And the department? The department needs to get through the day with its holiday spirit and its fingers intact.

My job is not to erase the chaos entirely. A perfectly controlled Secret Santa would be very efficient and deeply unmemorable. My job is to stand where the scissors are most likely to land, catch what I can, and then turn the mess into a story we can laugh about instead of a story we have to report.

So I am curious today:

  • In your workplace, what are the “scissors in the air” moments around the holidays that you have learned to anticipate?

  • Are you more of a Riley, quietly trying to improve your odds, or a Dash, sprinting in with good intentions and poor brakes?

  • And if you are in charge, what does it look like for you to catch the sharp things while still letting people enjoy the glitter?

I will be here, taking stock of the gift pile, and holding on to the scissors until the eggnog is safely back in the fridge.

Donna

 

#IamDonnaLake
 #MiddleManagementMagic
 #OfficeChaosSurvivor
 #HolidayAtTheOffice
 #SecretSantaShenanigans
 #LeadershipInRealTime

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.