In article <62p0lhF24r975U1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Pete Dashwood <dashwood@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>
><docdwarf@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:fq7bn2$eo9$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Ahhhhhh, the 'Professional Day' routine, or something close to it. I
>> think I posted about that a while back... let me see... ahhhhh, a
decade
>> or so back, from
>>
><http://groups.google.com/group/comp.software.year-2000/msg/a30a874ee923d7e1?dmode=source>
>>
>> --begin quoted text:
>>
>> 60 miles from Wall St... my wager is that this is the Summit, NJ office
>> where I had an interview... it went sorta like this:
>>
>> PHM: 'We expect a Professional Day out of you... if you have to put in
a
>> little extra time to get the job done then you do it.'
>>
>> Me: 'That sounds reasonable... and if I get the job done in less time
the
>> I get to go home early?'
>>
>> PHM: (odd sound of surprise... kinda like a *snoouurk*) 'No, you see it
>> Just Doesn't Work That Way, there's *always* something more to do.'
>>
>> Me: 'I understand... well, sir, given that situation I cannot, in Good
>> Professional Conscience, work with you on this contract; it is not my
>> habit to allow my time to be stolen and thereby turn my clients into
>> thieves.'
>>
>> PHM: 'Hunh?'
>>
>> Me: 'Simple... if I were to bill you for hours which I did not work
then I
>> would be a thief; monetary matters aside this is not honorable. If I,
>> being an hourly employee, fulfill your demands that I work hours for
which
>> I do not bill then I allow you to steal time from me; this turns *you*
>> into thieves and I refuse to put you in such a position.'
>>
>> --end quoted text
>>
>> DD
>
>I disagreed then and I disagree now, Doc. :-)
As the Germans say, 'Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.'
>
>BUT, I disagree less vehemently now... :-) I see your point and given
that
>that is your position, then you are right that daily billing probably
won't
>work for you.
It might... but one very important condition must be met.
>
>For me it works. I don't mind them "stealing" some of my time; in fact,
I'm
>happy to "donate" it, as long as it works both ways. If the minimum daily
>time was 8 hours, then it wouldn't be working both ways and I would move
>much closer to your position.
Bingo. It has to be mutual, it has to be multilateral, it has to work
both ways. If I put in an 18-hour day in order to meet a deadline nobody
should blink an eye; I do what is needed of me. If the Muse descends upon
me and I am granted a Vision of the Beyond which allows me to get three
days closer to my milestone in four hours... then, in exact and like wise,
I take a day or two off and there's an equal lack of eye-blinking.
Note the very specific condition of '...there's *always* something more to
do'. It sets me up for a 'heads I win, tails you lose' situation... and I
approach such games by not playing.
DD
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