Not Indian Market Related (sorry)
Thought I would throw this out for discussion.
TipWorld - tipworld.com
The Internet's #1 Source for Computer Tips, News, and Gossip
Proudly presents:
Don Crabb:
Crustacean-at-Large
[The Crusty One's opinions are his own, and do not necessarily reflect
those of TipWorld's Editors, IDG Newsletter Corporation, PC World
Communications, Inc., or IDG Communications, Inc.]
THE HUMAN FACTOR
Day in and day out, the computer industry never ceases to amaze your
Crustaceous Reporter. New technologies introduced at the speed of
light; new products rolling out faster than you can say, "what, didn't
I just buy the latest and greatest?"; new companies born and laid to
rest even before their first product ships.
But one factor that's easy to forget is the human one: What is the
cost in human potential? Crusty set out to get the pulse of this issue
recently, and what he founded surprised even this gnarled old carapace.
In a crabbshell, he found industry workers not worried about finding a
new job each time their current company reorgs, leaves town, or folds.
Instead, they worry about not being able to do the right thing.
"I've worked for six companies in the last eight years," one software
specialist told Crusty, "I hope that I've found a home here at Microsoft.
A home where my project won't get sacrificed simply for the greater glory
of the bottom line."
"I got into this business to make a difference," a hardware person at
Dell told your Carapacious Reporter, "not just to bounce from one cancelled
product to the next in search of the corporate cash cow. As far as I am
concerned, it's not just about the money."
No place do these kind of sentiments get expressed more often than in
computer companies under the gun, like Digital and Apple.
"I've been bounced around this company like a tennis ball," one Digital
engineer told Crusty, "Don't these big shots running the company understand
that we're here to build computers that make a difference, not just make a
buck?"
"What everyone seems to miss is what goes on behind the scenes, outside of
the executive suites," says one of Crusty's Apple correspondents. "Life as
an Apple employee has not been 'cush' for quite some time. Most of us are
constantly being badgered by headhunters. Many of us wonder if it's a wise
career move to stay at Apple through all of this [reorg madness]. We're all
tired of being sucked into the 'Will Apple survive?" discussions, as well as
taking the worried phone calls from concerned family and friends. By most
folks' standards, being an Apple employee sucks. So why do so many of us
stay? While some of the execs may be in it for the money, the rest of us
are in it because we want to make a difference, to make things better than
they are, to give the world an alternative to the Wintel tyranny. Many
would call us fools, but most of us still believe passionately in what
the company stands for--to make incredible technology accessible to everyday
people."
Crusty can think of no better reason for staying in the crazy computer biz.
And as his new friend at Apple told him, "I don't know if my project will
get nuked in the upcoming cutbacks or not, but if it is and we get dumped,
it'll hurt. Not because it will be particularly hard to find another job,
but because it will be hard to find another company that has in the past
or will in the future make such a huge difference in so many peoples' lives,
whether they know it or not. But I think you're going to find that many of
the employees that are laid off will feel as I do--if it allows Apple to
survive, then it'll still be worth it. Somebody has to make a difference."
Somebody indeed. Let's hope all these Dell, Microsoft, Digital, and Apple
employees get to make the difference they want to make. We can only afford
to waste so much human potential before the consequences are dire.
Dirk |
