Re: FW: Creativity

[Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU>]

The type of ethical problem inherent in the anecdote Paul Race shares
below is certainly not limited to him.  Out of curiosity, has anyone found
a good way to handle such situations?  Is there a solution?  Or a way to
protect your ideas against such abuses other than keeping them to
yourself?  Does it help to offer them with witnesses around?

On Wed, 16 Nov 1994, Race, Paul wrote:

> One little example.  Seven or eight years ago, I went to the head of a
> department that was spending in excess of $250,000 a year in typesetting
> charges.  I explained to the manager that I could save him five times my
> salary and benefits if he would put me on the project, and put about ten
> grand into DTP software and hardware.  To prove my case, I even did up a
> version of one of the pages of his manual, laid it side-by-side with the
> original and begged him to tell me which was which.  He couldn't, but he
> told me earnestly that he had it on the "best" authority that typesetting
> was infinitely better than desktop publishing for getting that "professional
> appearance."   He was apparently embarrassed by my foolish claims to the
> contrary, and by no means was he going to hire somebody who could hold such
> ridiculous opinions.

> Of course, several years later, I found that his department was running
> exactly the solution I suggested, and he has bragged to his boss that he's
> saved the company $200,000 a year in typesetting charges.  Gee, I wonder
> where he thought of that!




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                RoMay Sitze                 rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu

                Practice makes perfect--or perfectly awful.
                It depends on what you practice.

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