Mind Your Own Business
May 3, 2007
Begin Unrelated Story: I was talking with an employee who works for Mind Your Own Business–a company that makes small business accounting software. She was relating a time she had been pulled over by a policeman who asked her the standard questions, "where are you going?", "where do you work?". When asked where she worked, she replied "Mind Your Own Business". The cop was kind of surprised and started to explain that it would probably be better to cooperate. She had to pull out her business card to prove that she indeed worked at Mind Your Own Business. End Unrelated Story
Ok back on track. When you do work, you are providing value to someone. Actually you are providing value to several people. You are providing value to yourself (assuming you get paid for your work). You are providing value to the end customer and you are providing value to your employer. If you work for the same employer for years, you will have built a great deal of value that goes beyond just the work you were paid for. Your work is contributing to making the business itself more valuable. Eventually the owners of the business can cash out. They can take the value that has accumulated and sell the business to someone else.
Bureaucracy in Action
May 2, 2007
One of my clients is a Fortune 500 company. They need some help setting up some software for their developer teams. According to their contractor policy, no consultant can come on the premises unless they have a signed PO. That seems to make sense, but here is the problem: They recently upgraded their PO system and it didn’t quite go according to plan. No one in the entire company can create a PO. So I can’t come on their property until the system is fixed.
What would be really ironic is if I was the person they needed to fix their purchase order system. I wouldn’t be able to fix it until it was working. 
TIP: Two Desks
May 1, 2007
When my wife and I first got married she moved into my apartment with me. I had a large L shaped work area made from joining two desks that we shared. When we bought our house and she started on a Master’s degree, I separated them in our office so she had her own and I had mine. I also went out and bought her a good leather office chair.
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