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Revised: 03/14/2004
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Thoughts From Phil? When working with clients I have often sent out emails or memos that I thought others might find useful or humorous. Sometimes I might be responding to a question or inquiry, while at other times I might want to pass on the latest tidbit of information gleaned from a news source or a journal. These missives were usually titled: "Thoughts From Phil." Since most seem to like the idea, I thought I'd use it here. Some topics might take a more serious note, like an upcoming piece that I plan to do called: "Why Do Employees Go Postal?" I thought about this topic because these days the Human Resources departments of many large organizations seem more like fortified bunkers than a place where warm and friendly people do business. A BBC reporter once slipped and said: "They have lots of crazy people in the U.S." Realizing his slip, he tried to correct by saying: "Of course, every country has lots of crazy people."! There will always be the errant employee who does the odd thing. But I still wonder: if employees were treated better to begin with, isn't it less likely that we would need bulletproof HR departments? Author Michael Crichton touches on another topic of great interest to me in his latest technology thriller: "Prey." He skillfully weaves into the storyline the message that we continue to do a poor job of learning from past mistakes, and that we often seem to get ahead of ourselves in implementing new technologies without fully understanding the potential consequences (Rule #10 of my Thirteen Principles!). Of course, he held to a similar theme in Jurassic Park, but it's just that somehow the computer technology gone rampant in Prey seems much closer to something that could actually happen. Many suggestions have come from clients, which brings me to the more lighthearted issues that I've decided to make my first topics below: a client suggesting that I increase my rates, and others suggesting that I change my title (See: "What's In A Name?" below). Not long after I'd first started consulting in the early to mid 1980s one of my first clients in the fleet rental business made a suggestion that I still feel privileged to think about. They were well pleased with my services and suggested that my rate was too low and that I should raise it! Not being new to computer technology but still being a neophyte to consulting I was hesitant to tamper with my then humble rate of $25/hr. However, as newfound friends and, as they put it, from one businessperson to another, they became quite insistent and explained that it was something that I really needed to do to remain profitable and competitive. After talking with my good friend and mentor Larry Summers, an automotive industry consultant who was the person who gave me my start in consulting, I raised my rate to $35/hr. Many years later my rate is now considerably higher, but it was and still is one of my most cherished moments to know that a client placed enough value on the services that I provided to insist that I wasn't charging them enough! The standard by which I judge the job I do for clients has been for many years and will continue to be that each and every client is entirely convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs, and, even better, that they got a better job than what they paid for!
When You Can't Win For Losing!
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