Dave, You've been spending too much time reading Dilbert!!!!
<snip> YOU: I'd like permission to buy a new software tool that upgrades the ISPF/PDF interface. BOSS: How much does it cost? YOU: $5,000. BOSS: What's wrong with the interface we have now? YOU: It's slow, cumbersome, difficult to learn and use, and very unproductive. BOSS: But it works though, right? I'm sorry, but if what we've got works then we don't need to spend money to buy something extra. YOU: But with 100 developers using it, it would save our company more than a million dollars a year. Isn't it worth spending $5,000 to save a million? BOSS: Maybe so, but the budget is tight right now. Where would we get $5,000 from? YOU: We're planning to hire 500 new people for the call center, and each of them will have a PC on their desk. If we don't buy them a mouse, it will save more than $5,000. BOSS: But a mouse is critical; you can't use a PC without a mouse! YOU: Actually, you can. It's hard, and it takes some training, but it can be done. BOSS: But wouldn't productivity go down? YOU: Yes, I'm afraid it would. BOSS: Well that's no good. If each call takes longer to deal with than it needs to, it will end up costing us money, not saving money. YOU: Wow, you're smart. You're saying that spending a little bit of extra money to improve productivity saves even more money in the long run! BOSS: Yes, exactly. That's why I'm the boss. YOU: Wow, I see what you mean. So, would it make sense to spend $5,000 to upgrade the ISPF interface and save the company a million dollars a year? BOSS: Of course it would. And $5,000 is so low I can spend it without even having to go further up the chain to get approval. YOU: Wow boss, thanks. You're the best! </snip> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
