I happened to have read The Verge’s coverage on Away’s CEO Steph Korey and the “toxic culture” she brought, right after it was published last Thursday.

Then came Monday, she got replaced by Stuart Haselden, the COO at Lululemon.

The timeline checks out — the company has been looking for replacement, the company found it, the CEO is under fire, the company fast forwarded on the succession plan. But John Gruber at Daring Fireball offered a different opinion: what if The Verge got inadvertently played in the first place?

Consider this alternative timeline: the company has been looking for replacement, the company found it, the company waits for the CEO to get under fire (and perhaps tipped the media off), and the company defines the narrative to be, to quote Gruber, “Away fires CEO who created ‘toxic culture’, brings in fresh leadership.”

Not only did Gruber offer this original point of view, he was able to articulate the suspicions and back them up with his take on business, media and public relations. It’s worth a thorough read.

This article right here is reason why we need professionals doing professional job.