And so we're slowly taking over the world! Finally the US Government is setting up an almost reasonable program. See the article in the Washington Post here.

What I find really interesting is that they currently let lawyers work out of their homes so long as they're close by. This is the first time the government is going to let people be completely remote and live wherever they like. I'm sure that the requirement of being onsite at your own expense one day a week will get phased out when they see how successful the program is.

Happy October. Did you see the edition of Parade Magazine two weeks ago? I was trying to get the link but unfortunately, they're just an online advert for their magazine and not at all useful for seeing the articles. Oh well. It was a Back to the Land article that talked about a couple where the wife was able to keep her high tech job and work remotely. I thought "hooray."

Isn't this what we were promised? That technology would allow us to work anywhere? It's being held back by old management techniques. We need to work at the root instead of at the leaves to change the culture. We need to do more management by objective and have win-win agreements for success (thank you, Dr. Covey, for putting this so clearly in your
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

I remember in 2001 talking with a high tech internet company about contracting for them, and I said I am only available remotely. They said that they don't have any remote workers. I pointed out that they'd just offshored 1200 jobs to India, and they said that it was different. Obviously, I didn't get their work. Somehow it was better to ship it completely offshore rather then to hire someone locally. And I'm not going to get into the debate about offshoring. What I do wish to make clear is that there is no difference where it is remotely done and companies need to be more accepting. It will increase worker satisfaction, reduce dependence upon foreign oil, and dramatically reduce overhead costs.