Slow down. There's a prologue for this video extravaganza. Before you start the movie clip, imagine that the woman in this story works at your organization. And imagine that the man in this story works at a competing organization. Okay, now you can start.

Now that you’ve watched the clip, let’s assume the guy in this scenario isn’t a complete nut case and that the situation he’s describing is mostly real. Certainly, his friend will spread his alarming work scenario to all of her connections. And they will share this story with their friends. So the obvious takeaway is that, especially in the worst of times, employers need to communicate with employees, providing context and vision.

But what about the woman in this story? Notice how she didn’t take the opportunity to evangelize about her organization? (Yes, I know she's not real, but we're pretending, remember?) Imagine the impact that she could have had, not just with her friend on the train, but also with his coworkers back at the office when he let them know there was something better out there.

So the lesson here (other than be careful what conversations you start up with someone on a train) is that while we need to counter negative messaging being spread by a minority of employees, the larger opportunity is to galvanize that silent majority.

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