Message in a Bottle
Whether in journalism, business, or other assignments, Michael wants my participation always to be writing.
So here I am, beginning to plan out my Post-Reval activities, starting, as he advised, with the hiring of an executive assistant. How else will I do that but in writing?
I suppose I’m talking with you in the future. That’s OK with me. I hope it is with you as well.
We’re in a pandemic pause right now. What better time to organize my thoughts.
Let me start by saying that my purpose in seeking your services is to buy me time. There’s so many even personal things that need doing that I have to hand off some of it to others if I’m to stay afloat.
Our relationship is designed such that you take work away from me. When I hand it off to you, I need to be sure that, short of an unexpected delay, you’ll see the matter through to conclusion.
The conclusion may be different than it was starting out and that’s to be expected.
I don’t expect you to do the actual work. I expect you to have a large rolodex (a wheel of business cards) and to coordinate a number of service providers who do the actual work.
You can pay your service providers by job, on contract, or by any other arrangement you see fit, as long as the arrangement is honest and transparent.
We’re working on remuneration arrangements for contracts at the moment, but for now extend them the same benefits package that partners get and accept whatever reasonable payment request they make. Their individual contracts will stipulate the other conditions.
It has to reasonable however so that the arrangement is not seen as so generous as to be beyond the reach of most others. Everything we do should be done within parameters reachable by others. We should ask ourselves whether the way we’re doing it can serve as a template.
If we’re too generous, others may dismiss the matter out of hand and never consider the principle underneath it.
The principle of course is fairness. What is justice but fairness? What is equitability but fairness? I think people have a gut feeling for what’s fair.
(Concluded tomorrow in Part 2.)