In: Root » Self improvement » Life experience
While everyone talks about being "proactive" as a good strategy, whether you're solving a problem or planning for the future, sometimes the best strategy is to do nothing and wait, even when you are eager to do something, anything. That's because taking no action can seem so powerless; yet at times the power comes in your ability to wait and let someone else make his or her move first. That's what happened to Joe, when his company hired a local software designer, Aaron. The plan was to create a dedicated Web site to market some specialty educational toys that Joe's company had been selling locally through department stores and trade shows. Joe had been thinking of going online for some time but didn't have the knowledge to set up a commercial site himself, despite a few introductory classes on creating Web pages. Thus, he was delighted when he ran into Aaron at a local business networking meeting, and Aaron described his skills. Definitely, he sounded like the "can do everything person" Joe needed, from setting up the site to processing and sending out the orders. Joe would just have to supply the products, photos to use on the site, promotional copy, and some leads for potential buyers. "And I'll do the rest," Aaron assured him. "Besides, I'm an expert in Internet marketing." But since Joe didn't have the revenue to pay Aaron a decent salary, Aaron agreed to work on a commission basis such that they would share proceeds 50–50 after expenses. Though it was understood that Aaron was still doing his own work for other clients, he would spend a substantial amount of time working for Joe. For the first month or two, things seemed to be going well, or at least Joe thought they were. He submitted a few ideas for the Web site layout and design to Aaron, who fine-tuned them and set up the site, using Joe's copy and photos. He also began taking some lists of organizations of educators and parents that Joe had gathered to put them into databases, though he complained they weren't in the right format, so it was taking him longer than expected. Meanwhile, as Aaron spent more time, as he claimed, working on these databases, Joe began to do more on creating the pages for the Web site than he had expected, using the first few pages as a template. After a few weeks, some online orders began to dribble in, mainly from people who saw the flyers that Joe used when he showed off the product line at events and from their friends. Then, as agreed, Aaron mailed out the orders, and Joe kept track of the sales, which showed that the partnership was slowly approaching the breakeven point. But soon, signs of problems developed. First, when profits were slow to come in, Aaron said he had to place his first priority on other paying work, though he agreed to spend about 15 hours a week on the project. A few weeks after that, Aaron said he was sick and wasn't able to spend more than a few hours a week on the project, mostly to send out the few orders that Joe brought in. At first, Joe was very sympathetic, wishing Aaron the best for a speedy recovery, and he agreeably took on more of the Web design tasks. When Aaron expressed some guilt that he wasn't pulling his own weight on the project, Joe simply reassured him that he enjoyed doing the work on the Web site and not to worry. "Just get well." Over the next few weeks, as Aaron's illness dragged on, Joe began to do some of the work on the databases, and that's when he discovered that Aaron had made all kinds of mistakes in setting up the data fields and entering data. Also, some of the special pages that Aaron had set up for processing and tracking orders didn't work right. In short, not only was Aaron not doing much of the work because of his illness, but Joe also realized that Aaron didn't know as much as he claimed about some things. Now, Joe felt, with a little additional work the online site seemed to be on the verge of breaking even and taking off. So all he needed was someone else to do this work. Yet, could he, should he, do this? What Should Joe Do?Here are some possibilities. In Joe's place, what would you have done and why? What do you think the outcomes of these different options would be?
Unfortunately, this is one of those times when the answer was not straightforward, because even if Joe had discovered the employee he hired wasn't pulling his weight, his employee could potentially have a copyright claim on what he had contributed. He hadn't been paid in cash, as in a usual work for hire arrangement, but instead there was a percentage agreement. The problem could become especially sticky if the sales and profits at the Web site took off. So what Joe really needed first was a way to get Aaron to agree he had no copyright claims on what he had contributed. But how? The best way was literally to stop doing anything to make the Web site successful in order to show Aaron that the business was doomed to fail. Maybe he should do enough to handle the occasional sale that came in himself, but otherwise do nothing to promote it. This way, when Aaron was ready to return to work on the project, he might think it was a lost cause and agree to drop any further claims in exchange for a small payment, leaving Joe free to find another employee without worrying about potential claims from a previous one. Or maybe from what he learned in the interim while Aaron was ill he might not even need to hire someone else. Maybe he could run the business himself and hire some assistants when needed as the business took off. To use the phrase of one of my associates, this was the time to "Put the dog on the porch." It was an expression he had learned from his grandfather in Texas, and it meant that sometimes when your dog misbehaved, it was time to put it out on the porch and feed it from time to time. But otherwise, "Leave the dog out there until you are ready to let him back in." Likewise, here, Joe should put his business on the porch for awhile to keep it alive, but not pay much attention to it, so that his former employee would lose interest and move on without making a copyright or other claim for anything he might have contributed, even if minimal. That's what Joe did. At the same time, instead of sending Aaron updates on what he had been doing to keep the business going and calling Aaron every few days to wish him well, he simply stopped calling. Let Aaron be the one to show an interest in what was happening in the business, and the longer it took for Aaron to do anything, the better it was. It indicated that Aaron was abandoning his interest in the business, and after a month or two, if Aaron didn't state so himself, Joe could take some steps to clarify the end of their working arrangement and any claims Aaron might have. For example, he might send a letter describing how the business had not been successful, and offering Aaron a small payment for what he did contribute in return for a note from Aaron indicating that he no longer had any interest in or claims on the business. By the same token, if you are in a situation where you want to end a work relationship and want to make sure the other party has no unjustified claims on it, you are in a better position if you let him or her make the move to end the relationship, rather than proactively seeking to end it yourself. Certainly, if you have a short time frame for resolving the situation, you may not be able to do this. But if you can, wait it out by "putting the dog on the porch." Do what you need to keep the dog alive; but otherwise, don't invite the dog back in. Rather, let the dog show it's ready to behave before you open the door to let it come inside. That way you stay in better control of the situation; your power comes from waiting and doing nothing. For then, a dog that isn't ready to behave will simply go away, much as Joe hoped Aaron would do, and Aaron eventually did. By contrast, if you try to confront or discipline the dog too soon, he may bite and fight back. Better to let him leave on his own if you decide you don't want him back in the house Conclusion
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