WIth examples from Andrew Mason, Chris Poole, Nick Denton, Joel Johnson, and Rick Berke.

1. THE CANDID,
COMMENDABLE WAY
TO TELL PEOPLE YOU
WERE JUST FIRED (OR
JUST FIRED SOMEONE)
JONATHAN RICK
THE JONATHAN RICK GROUP

2. Not This Way

3. “Today, the success of
Android, combined with
the strength of our
management team, gives
me the confidence to
step away from Android
and hand over the reins.”
—Andy Rubin, Google

4. This Way

5. “I’ve decided that I’d like to
spend more time with my
family. Just kidding—I was
fired today.”
—Andrew Mason, Groupon

6. “No soft landing, no happy
ending—we simply failed.”
—Chris Poole, DrawQuest

7. “While our overarching
goals are similar, Jim,
John and I have agreed to
disagree over the strategy
for achieving those goals.
There is no acrimony and
no drama—simply an
acceptance by the three of
us that the dynamics were
just not there for us to
function seamlessly.”
—Rick Berke, Politico

8. “Our sites are allergic to
corporate boilerplate, so I’m
going to be explicit. Chris
and I diverge seriously over
strategy.”
—Nick Denton, Gawker Media

9. “Geoff is a real talent
and one of the smartest
thinkers in our editorial
group, but unfortunately
did not integrate well
with the structure both
within his team and the
company as a whole.”
—Joel Johnson, Gawker Media

10. “For reasons which I’m not too
clear on … I am being replaced
as editor-in-chief of Gawker.
Honesty is Gawker’s only virtue,
so it seems inappropriate to
engage in the usual corporate
euphemisms … so I’ll put this as
plainly as we’d report any other
masthead ouster: I am being
canned.”
—Gabriel Snyder, Gawker Media

11. What’d I Miss?
Let me know at @jrick!