Jump forward some thirty or so years. You’re plugged in, wired, constantly in touch. Working harder than ever before.

The fact of the matter is that far from providing you a leisure lifestyle, technology has come to rob you of much of your free time. The concept of the two day work week remains but a quaint myth, a relic of an over-enthusiastic reception to computers.

It is supremely ironic that the very technology that was supposed to free us has enslaved us instead. E-mail, fax machines, telephones, cell phones, laptop computers – all of these devices conspire to ensnare us in a global web of constant communication. We’ve managed to put ourselves in a situation in which people can get a hold of us at any time, anywhere. This wired life of ours is hurried and rushed.

Clearly the early promoters of the computer revolution had it wrong. Even Donald Michael’s prediction has failed to come about. The fact is, many wives have followed their husbands out into the workforce in order to support the ubiquitous two income family. Far from forcing a husband and wife to spend too much time together at home, the real impact has been that family time can be for many, but a fleeting and precious moment.

Maybe computers are taking revenge on us for our dirty deeds in mutilating a punch card.

Tomorrow:

But is the concept of the “leisure age” but a myth? Maybe not. And perhaps Donald Michael was right in at least predicting that the computer would allow for more family time, although not in as negative way as he supposed.

As the world has become wired, the opportunity has come about by which people can work from anywhere at any time. One likelihood is that an increasing number of professionals will take advantage of this fact. They’ll make career decisions based upon the lifestyle afforded by being plugged in. They will choose to become nomadic workers, offering their skills and capabilities to the corporate world from wherever they might choose. The “electronic cottage” will have become a reality.

Yes, they will still be working, but will come to enjoy their own unique version of the “leisure age.” They’ll be able to spend more time with their children, and more time with each other, as a result of working at home.

As for the punch card? No doubt we will discover some very astute people in the future. They will have known that it is inevitable that a very healthy market was bound to emerge. They’ll be making a killing once these paper relics from the dawn of the computer age achieve an exalted antique status.

The rest of us will have come to regret each and every punch card that we might have ever spindled.

If you are like many business travelers, you will have it jammed full with the accoutrements of the digital age. Your laptop computer, cell phone, and electronic organizer. You are in touch, in tune, and a true citizen of the wired world.

You are also a great disappointment to the early believers of the computer revolution. You see, you probably work too hard.

Yesterday
How wonderful it was all supposed to be!
In the early fifties, citizens of the world were told of the magic of the forthcoming computer revolution.

Gosh, computers were to be so great that leading futurists of the time literally gushed about the forthcoming “leisure age,” a fascinating new period of time in which people would work no more than 2 hours a day, 3 days a week. Indeed, many people wouldn’t have to work at all – computers would do it on their behalf. We were even told that computer driven robots would vacuum the floors, wash the windows, and clean the toilets.

We believed, and celebrated our new technology religion by tuning into the Jetsons, a popular cartoon about the modern space age family of the 21st century.

Enter Donald N. Michael, a social psychologist, to burst our bubble. On February 12, 1962, Newsweek picked up his warnings of the dark side of the computer age. Far from seeing any good, he predicted that computers would begin a slow but inevitable takeover of everything that man did, providing for massive unemployment, loss of human values, and deep social unrest. Yes, there would be a leisure age, he said, but it would not be a pleasant one.

He even foresaw that this new era would lead us to significant marital stress. The reason? From his perspective, the man in the family (who, in the politically incorrect 50’s was the breadwinner) would suddenly find himself at home a great deal, a casualty of the leisure age. He would be far too involved in his wife’s space. (Remember, back then, the housewife stayed at home.) Stress and marital breakdown would ensue.

What a time it was! All too soon, the gilded computer age was offering a mixed and confusing message. We weren’t reassured when our first experience with the technology involved the punch card, a piece of cardboard which threatened us: “Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate.”

Secretly, a few of us expressed our distrust of this new era by folding one in half.

Talk about a sexy stock. The 8.4 million shares (symbol: USE) released raised roughly $64 million, and those investors who beat the masses to a piece of the action at the initial $7.50 price saw their investment triple within the first few days. “The share [was] over-subscribed more than 60 times after three days,” says Brain Fais, investor relations representative for Beate Uhse. “The books had to be closed after four days.”

Is this merely foreplay preceding a parade of other erotic dealers to follow Beate Uhse’s stiletto-clad footsteps into the public arena? Hennig attests there was no moral backlash from investors, the press, or the public. But is the U.S. market really ready for publicly held online porn?

Maybe, although the company has gotten no calls for advice from American or other foreign erotic shops, online or off. However, a month after Beate Uhse’s IPO, a publicly traded company listed on Australia’s ASX, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and the Berlin Stock Exchange, decided its investors could handle a corporate sex change.

Australia-based Western Minerals NL traded its nearly inactive mining business for a rendezvous into online sex toy sales, changed its name(symbol: ASC), and announced plans to open its online shop in early 2000. Within the first five months following the announcement, the stock price rocketed 1,500 percent, bringing the company’s market cap to roughly $58 million, according to Malcolm Day, managing director. “As a public company, we gain a hell of a lot of credibility,” Day says, “something the adult industry often lacks.”

If Beate Uhse’s stock performance is any indication, investors (at least German ones) might be ready for XXX securities. The stock originally appeared on the SMAX index for small-cap funds, but the Frankfurt Stock Exchange upgraded it to the MDAX mid-cap index in December.

Background:
This game is a great fun way for your child and a friend to learn the Braille alphabet. Once they master the letters, they can then use the game cards to construct and read words.

What to do:
1. Use the Braille alphabet chart to determine the placement of dots at the top of each card.
2. Punch out the dots with the hole punch.
3. Print the letter on the back of each card.

Rules of play:
1. Two players sit facing each other. Between them is the deck of cards, front side up.
2. One player draws a card and shows the front of it to the other player. The second player must identify the letter. If correct, the second player keeps that card. If incorrect, the card goes to the bottom of the deck to be played again.
3. Players take turns showing and identifying letters. The winner names the most letters correctly.

Other uses
1. Players follow basic rules above, but put on a blindfold and identify letters by touch, rather than by sight.
2. Make 36 cards, one of each consonant and three of each vowel. Deal out all cards to two players. Players take turns laying down cards to make words until one player runs out of cards. Award one point for three- or four-letter words, two points for five-letter words, three points for words with six or more letters.

1. Knowing the Rules: When people set their own targets, they usually hit them. Through high involvement planning and business financial literacy training, employees are taught the fundamentals of profitability and are shown that they too can impact the success of the business. At the start of the year a “plan” is developed which outlines the financial objectives for the company. This plan is signed off on by every department and contains a commitment to budgets for everyone. A critical number for the year is also defined (this could be profit, cash flow, utilization rates for example) and finally – - The “game” begins.
2. Follow the Action and Keep Score: What gets measured gets done! Once employees know the expected annual plan for the business , they can focus their attention on what’s most important – driving toward the common goal. Many businesses utilize a weekly gathering (referred to as a Huddle) to update everyone on the progress to date and to educate employees on what the near future and distant may look like. Other companies actually post results in a common area on a “scoreboard.” By following the action and keeping score everyone will know the current progress of the company. Also, by following the action folks will know enough in advance that things might not be going well and will be able to make changes that ensure a more prosperous outcome.

3. Stake in the Outcome: You get what you give. The rewards don’t have to be large and they don’t have to be expensive. Recognition, career growth and even self funding cash incentives can be used as motivators. However, many companies choose to have an incentive program that involves either cash or equity. In every case, employees “win” when the company wins. What better opportunity is there than that?

Although it’s called a “game,” this total management system offers something that no other can deliver. The idea that winning in business is a serious matter – enough so that owners/managers are willing to equip employees with the basic knowledge to succeed. Putting financial information in the hands of your staff doesn’t open up new vulnerabilities, it reinforces a position of strength. Remember, as Jack Stack President of SRC and the Great Game of Business “pioneer” would say, “You can stop one person, but you can’t stop 100.” Gain consensus and focus in your business today. Get your employees concerned about the very issues that keep you up at night….

Currently the Great Game of Business/Great Game Coaching offer services, products and tools to help you implement the Great Game of Business in your company. In addition, value added enhancements have been made to help any business with sales forecasting, budgeting, market analysis and strategic plan maintenance.

The employees! Many companies have realized that to flourish in this competitive economy, the concept of involving the employees in the very basics of managing the finances of the business might have just a little more basis than it looks to have at first glance. Smart business owners know, that by teaching employees how to “make money” and “generate cash” – everyone wins!

The concept of involving employees in the very success of the business has been referred to as Open Book Management. This approach not only gets employees to think differently, but it gets them to think and act like owners. In an effort to focus everyone’s full attention on whatever issues are mission critical to the economic success of a business; teamwork, productivity and profitability are all intertwined. The Great Game of Business has taken all of the intricacies of OBM and combined them into a succinct, easy to apply methodology.

The Great Game of Business was developed in the early 1980′s by Springfield ReManufacturing Corp. (SRC) as a way to manage the newly acquired, highly leveraged employee owned company. Through the years the application of this philosophy has impacted the stock value from 10 cents/share to over $38 per share/pre split value. The company has also grown from a single entity to a holding company with over 22 subsidiaries.

The principles used by SRC have since been applied in hundreds of organizations from almost every industry: service companies, manufacturing companies, hotel chains, systems integrators etc. CompuWorks a 4 year Inc. 500 company located in Pittsfield- MA, Gasper Corporation, Kinko’s/K-Graphics, IKON, and many others are seasoned veterans of The Great Game of Business /Great Game Coaching .

Issues and solutions
Designed in five sections, this helpful book addresses the issues a new manager immediately faces and provides case studies and exercises you can do on your own. All the case studies have suggested “best practice” solutions that have been found to be successful in trial after trial in the real world of work. Sections deal with defining your new role as a supervisor, developing a positive image as a leader, building winning teams, delegating work to others, and creating an action plan to practice your new skills.

Avoiding traps
My favorite discussion is found in the section on building teams and growing “human skills.” Moglia calls this exercise “Six Unforgivable Mistakes,” and it captures many of the traps an inexperienced supervisor can fall into.

Here is a synopsis of Moglia’s key tips:
Make certain you treat individuals equally, regardless of age, culture, sex, or educational background.
Never break trust with your employees, and don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Be consistent. Changing your mind, attitude, or approach without reason confuses your employees and erodes respect.
Follow company policies and procedures consistently in your relationships with employees. Everyone must be treated fairly and within legal guidelines.
Keep your cool in front of others. Blowing up can destroy relationships.
Avoid a personal relationship with someone you supervise. It’s poor policy to be in charge of someone during the day and be personally involved after work hours.

Following these simple “rules of the supervisory road” will help make you a confident and well-respected leader.

Managing upward
Moglia also provides hints for keeping the boss happy. Sometimes referred to as managing upward, learning to provide your own manager with the information he or she needs in a timely way and demonstrating your ability to grow a strong team makes everyone look good. Your boss can take successes to senior leaders and your image as a real leader in the organization will grow — usually along with more tangible rewards!

Sheri’s new boyfriend, for example, told her a sad story. He had lost his wife, a former New York University professor, to a hit-and-run driver. On a whim, Sheri went to a gynecologist the boyfriend had mentioned his wife had used and found out the professor was far from dead. In fact, she was nine months’ pregnant. That’s when Sheri got on the phone to a private detective, who produced marriage certificates — and no divorce papers — for two wives.

Sheri then fulfilled the fantasy of every wronged woman — and took an action legal authorities wouldn’t recommend. She took her boyfriend’s credit card and charged $40,000 on it during a three-day shopping spree.

PIs say the reason they get called is that nobody marries the girl-next-door anymore. People meet through personal ads or at singles bars, gyms and coffeehouses, where it’s not possible to check on someone discreetly. PIs get a bonanza of business in the summer, when people meet at, say, the beach. If marriage is in the cards or if the two are considering moving in together, they’re likely to get edgy about pooling bank accounts and real estate with a person they don’t know all that well. “A premat should be as common as a blood test,” says Badler.

For most PIs, the work doesn’t take much shoe leather. They first get the subject’s drivers license and license plate numbers. A detective can run it through the state department of motor vehicles to see whether that red BMW is really his. With a name and a date of birth, the detective can then get a Social Security number. With an SS number, the PI goes to a so-called information broker, who has contacts with access to credit data. According to Computerworld reporter Mitch Betz, an investigator can find out how much anyone makes and where the person has worked for the past 10 years — all for only $152. Privacy laws are routinely violated.

Occasionally, the trail leads to a happy ending. One of the lucky ones was Jean. After Parco gave Richard a clean bill of social health, Richard and Jean married.

But what happens when Mr. Gold checks out wrong? When one of Frank’s clients found out about her boyfriend’s wife and children, she waited until midway through their dinner at Four Seasons before asking, “How’s your daughter Betty?” “The guy nearly had a heart attack,” says Frank.

Jean got suspicious and called Vinnie Parco, a Manhattan private investigator who looks the part: He’s bald as Kojak and built like a beer keg. Parco checked the big spender’s phone number and found it was registered to a different name.

Prince Charming was married.

Then came Richard. He said he was a widower with two children. Maybe. Jean called Parco again just to be sure.

Private detectives such as Parco once made careers out of chasing errant husbands. Now in the ’90s, they have a new specialty: checking out the boyfriend. The practice is so common there’s a shorthand for it — premat, or prematrimonial investigations.

For some gumshoes, the specialty brings in 25% of their business — up from zero only five years ago — and is listed prominently in their ads in the Yellow Pages. One private investigator (PI) in Baltimore specializes in premats and calls himself the “love detective.”

Women make up 90-95% of premat clients — mostly middle-class or wealthy women in their late 20s to mid-50s who are ready to settle down — but not with just anyone. “Women are not taking anything on faith,” says Tony DeLorenzo, head of All State Investigative Services in Marlboro, N.J. They have a lot more to lose these days.

U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that women’s wages have grown 20% faster than men’s in recent years. Women own one-third of all U.S. companies and employ 11 million people — more than all the Fortune 500 companies combined. “Today’s working woman owns a condo and a car. She doesn’t want to support the chump”.

Of course, she also wants to know whether he’s married or “has some sweet young thing on a string,” says Frank Alessi, a PI in Baltimore. Often it’s a question of confirming what she already suspects. Doubts begin to nag: Does he claim he lives in Manhattan one time and Short Hills, N.J., another? Does he pick up his own phone or use an answering machine instead? Is his credit card ever rejected? Is he unavailable on weekends?

From where I sit, women at work in the ’90s seem to dress more the way we want to than the way someone else wants us to. Let me explain:

In the ’50s and ’60s (what I would arguably reference as the entrance of women into the workplace in large numbers), women’s jobs were, for the most part, secretarial and educational in nature. Therefore, we wore skirts and sweater sets or fitted suits — things that were feminine and reflected our roles in the workplace.

By the ’70s, women had started to wear their own versions of the suit to work, and fashion being what it was, we began to wear pants — and pants suits and, quel horreur, jumpsuits.

The ’80s are best known as the decade of the power suit and for good reason. We wanted to play with the big boys in the executive boardroom. So we dressed like them. (Unfortunately, someone added to the mix that most hideous of accessories — the bow scarf. We never looked so bad.)

As I’m sure you can infer, there are tons of subliminal and overt reasons why what we wear to work is different in the ’90s. And I don’t have a license to drive a postmodern feminist theory around the block. So suffice it to say that, for the first time, we’re more comfortable with who we are as a gender, so we’re feeling a little cocky. And we’re dressing the part.