My first formal job after my first formal degree came with a formal title and an office.

But on the first day of my first formal job my first formal boss resigned. The man who picked me as being worthy, who promised me riches in exchange for my productive loyalty, walked out the day I walked in.

Unlike most corporate ladders, the one I stood on had only two rungs. And the rung above me was suddenly empty.

No, this wasn’t an opportunity. It was a calamity. Back then I knew the minimum about management and even less about leadership, but I did know that I needed a boss to tell me what to do how by when.

From that day onwards I treated organizational life with a great deal of suspicion, expecting nonsense in every cubicle, corner office and boardroom.

I have inhabited them all and nonsense has not disappointed.

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.