Re: Pulling it slightly OT: TW Salaries--Is it me, or are people greedier (Mild Vent)

[Sandy Harris <sandy -at- storm -dot- ca>]

Joy Brady wrote:
> 
> ... Those who haven't figured out
> how to maximize their potential earnings, but aren't
> killing themselves physically or mentally to make the
> money they do, shouldn't complain. They should figure
> out how to make that money, or just philosophical

> about it and figure out what they are gaining in
> exchange for a little less money.

I have friend who's a fairly senior contractor/consultant, been at it a
long time, both in strictly technical areas and recently more in project
management, business planning, ... He has theory about contracting.

There are three things we all want out of work:

	payoffs: money, options, perqs, respect, authority, ...

	self-respect: feeling you're doing good work, it's an important
	   project, a useful product, socially responsible, ...

	reasonable load: not always 70-hour weeks, you won't die of
	   stress-related illnesses, ...

If you're really good at this, you can have any two of the above.
No-one ever gets all three. 

I often find thinking of this provides a useful perspective in looking
at various tech writing projects.

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