This morning I checked a listserve that I haven’t read in several months. I believe it was last December that I read it. The topic is a specialty developer tool, a compiler. It is used by a very loyal group of Mac developers, mostly. The key value to me is in understanding the nature of a niche, the fervor of Macnuts, and lost opportunity. Apparently the users are disturbed that a key developer of the product is leaving the Company. Concern, concern, concern. Some insights from the listies, but mostly hand ringing and dreams of what could be, what could have been.

Of course they missed some things. Any employee provides one of two main values to a company, to his colleagues. Ideas or understanding. During the persons tenure these form the poles of his career. He comes in with ideas, which if developed means they increase company knowledge, experience and skill. As the employee leaves, he does so thinking he can’t introduce any more ideas, while also being less interested in maintaining or extending what he and his cohorts already understand. Time to leave.

This is the tenure tick-tock. To understand it, and to use this understanding makes it easier to manage the only thing you should manage in a company, the employees.

If you can’t manage people, if you aren’t managing people, what the hell do you think you are managing?