Margaret didn’t bring any materials to the meeting, but she didn’t need to. Jason had already read enough to understand this wasn’t just theoretical and that it wasn’t about tweaking language or adding another program to the firm’s inventory. When she closed the door, he was already standing.
“I went through it,” he said. “Not everything, but enough.”
Jason gestured for her to take a seat.
They didn’t see the mid-level years as a stage. They focused on the path through them. How judgment was formed but not named. How leadership emerged before it was recognized. How business development started informally, without words or guidance, long before anyone acknowledged its importance.
“This firm has always relied on people figuring it out by watching,” Jason said. “By paying attention. By inferring.”
Margaret didn’t argue. “That worked when proximity did the teaching,” she said. “It doesn’t work when the path is no longer clear.”
Jason exhaled slowly. “So we’ve been relying on assumptions,” he said. “Not by choice, but because we never designed anything to replace them.”
“Yes,” Margaret said.
Jason felt the weight of what it meant, not as a critique of the firm but as a recalibration of his own instincts. He had built his career by reading rooms, not by asking for maps. He could now see that expecting people to figure it out without access or visibility wasn’t neutral. It was a quiet advantage for some and a silent barrier for others.
“This isn’t just a hallway chat,” he finally said.
“No,” Margaret agreed. “It isn’t.”
“And it’s not an HR issue,” Jason added.
Margaret smiled slightly. “No.”
Jason walked to the window, paused for a moment, and realized that calling the meeting meant something. It meant naming the issue in a room where naming things had consequences. It meant shifting from instinct to structure. It meant recognizing that what once worked quietly now needed to be intentionally designed. He turned back.
He said, “I am going to call an executive committee meeting to discuss this.”
Jason picked up his phone to call his executive assistant.
She wasn’t sure what the executive committee meeting would be like, but she knew she’d be part of it.
The MSL Saga™, MLARD™, and the 85/15 Model™ are trademarks of Susan B. Silverman Consulting. The MSL Saga and all episodes © 2026 Susan B. Silverman Consulting. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is prohibited.
