Just when we thought things were going so well, the latest news about HP job cuts comes out:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cn/20010228/tc/fiorina_defends_hp_job_cuts_to_shareholders_1.html

"The challenges have caused HP to delay raises, cut 1,700 jobs and curtail discretionary spending since late last year."

and:

"One employee at the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company said he was among those who either must increase his performance or lose his job.
 
"I've been with HP 14 years. Something is broken: performance management, headcount management," he said, quoting Hewlett's belief that HP's "greatest assets are our employees."

This is especially trying for me because I am just now finishing up my book, "Assertive Incompetence, An Introduction to Management Malpractice". I do cover this sort of thing in the book, but it's pretty skimpy.

The statement that "employees are our greatest asset" brings up the question of the life of the asset. Usually, the IRS allows a maximum of 7 years for the depreciation of an asset, but perhaps, in this case, employees are depreciated over a greater period of time. If not, perhaps, getting rid of your employee after the life of 7 years of depreciation is overdue!

We're certain that over all morale is an issue, and the floggings will continue until it improves.

I just love the statement:

"Employee surveys show that 70 percent of HP employees believe managers need to deal with low performance, she said. "Either we coach them to higher levels of performance or we help them depart the company in dignity," she [Fiorina] said."

How did the employees get to be in such a state of disarray? Didn't management have something to do with it in the first place? How about starting with the managers first?

None of this surprises us who have watched corporations over the past two decades. My cubicle is next to a man who worked several years for HP and he has stories beyond just the "dirty word database". I have been privileged to carpool with a man I consider to be the unrecognized great persons of the 20th Century who was once an SE manager and left because of disincentives to provide excellent customer service.

My hope that there aren't any layoffs in CSY. The people there are top flight and really know their business. I doubt the productivity is an issue, because most of them seem awfully busy.

The honeymoon is over, I guess. We're seeing the curlers in the hair and no makeup.

Fortunately, there is room in the book and I changed the title from "Assertive Incompetence--A Comprehensive Guide to Management Malpractice": "Introduction" leaves so much more latitude. 
Still, this news could involve another chapter and lead to delays in production. 
Will have to think about the phrase "depart the company in dignity".

R.R. Donnelly will be charging around $11,000 for 416 pages with a 4 color cover and submission can be in a PDF. 

The amount isn't so far out of line for 5,000 copies from the 250 page documents Wirt was quoted on 8 years ago at $4,500.

PDF isn't so bad and skips over the problems of re-entering text in MS Publisher and / or Adobe PageMaker.
I certainly apologize for "Adobe Mysticism", since I can't really tell Publisher from PageMaker without the logo.
One wonders who stole what from whom.
Thankfully, Adobe gave me a discount for having Publisher, so I got both for less than getting PageMaker 6.5 Plus by itself.

If most of you aren't rolling on the floor laughing by now, I have failed and cover my head with shame. 

But then again, it might be too painful.