Rodent Regatta

Every career involves the addition of tools to a toolbox. Sometimes the tools are techniques for dealing with people. Sometimes the tools are experiences that allow you to navigate through the rough spots businesses face. Sometimes the tools are more literal and physical if you happen to be in that type of trade or business.

Dan Bricklin is refocusing on Software Garden. He’s assessing where the market sits and which tools he wants to use for future work. All you Mac lovers will be pleased to know that he’s added a Powerbook to the toolbox. The tools of the software developer get some coverage as he evaluates the possibilities.

I worked all night.

My phone has been ringing off the wall, but I stayed head down and focused until the last of this latest batch of information was entered. Never again.

It’s 4:15p.m.

I’m going to sleep.

I’m still buried neck deep in a client’s failed attempts to use a computer to manage his business. It’s an absolute nightmare and it’s hard to imagine that someone with a master’s degree could create such a mess.

There are things I can’t say about it right now, but they will get said in the next week or so.

Hang in there and keep reading! We’ll be back on to something more enjoyable very soon!

>From Dan Miller’s latest (free) newsletter:

DISCOURAGED WORKERS

This is another government term that always intrigues me. They actually categorize people as ”discouraged workers” who are not looking for work because they don’t believe any jobs are available for them. At least that’s what the government uses as an explanation.

For January, the government lists 1.7 million people as ”marginally attached” to the labor force. That includes the 432,000 ”discouraged workers” and another 1.2 million unemployed who have looked for work sometime in the last 12 months but not in the last 4 weeks.

Now what do you think those people are really doing? Are they just sitting on the sidewalk in despair? Have they really given up hope? Or could that very process be the stimulant to cause a person to see new possibilities. We’ve all heard that the ”good” is the enemy of the ”best,” meaning it’s difficult to be motivated for something better when things are working pretty well.

But it seems that out of such gloomy statistics comes a new breed of self-starter, the ”accidental entrepreneur” – someone who never imagined having their own business until there seemed to be no other option. In the past few months I have seen airline pilots, physicians, human resource directors, CEOs, pastors and attorneys who have lost their jobs. A music industry executive has lost his job 4 times in the last 3 years. What are the chances of replacing that $130,000/yr position with another similar one? It’s still possible but the odds are not great. And the odds for ”security” and ”predictability” have essentially disappeared.

Yes, out of chaos and uncertainty, creativity is frequently born. A CEO is now a web site writer, a pastor is now an artist, an attorney is developing an executive training seminar, and an airline pilot now has his own cruise agency. All describe the increased sense of control and freedom. Maybe your disaster is actually God helping you find your wings.

The new CD, Turning Passions Into Profits contains 74 minutes of stories about these and others who were ”discouraged” and now are more than ”encouraged.”

Check it out here

Planning Your Future is an article written by Erin Malone. Erin is Editor in Chief of Boxes and Arrows. This morning Digital Web Magazine linked to her article. It’s an excellent piece. Have you got a five-year plan?