After reading Malcomb Gladwell’s article in the New Yorker, about innovation and the winning full court press basketball strategy, I think about being a David. How can I avoid playing by Goliath’s rules? Is Goliath the established mode of thinking where I have to trade my time for money, in equal proportion?

I have never been happy working for corporate jerks. Even though working for myself might seem unstable to outsiders, to me, the trade off is worth it, because the freedom and integrity are more valuable than just knowing what day I get paid. Working at Office Max, I learned a little bit, but it is depressing to me, to just nod and smile, worshiping the CEO, bending over to make the upper crust happy. Working my butt off as hard as I can and not getting back anything extra in return. It’s the classic Office Space debate; if you don’t give people something to motivate them, if you only pay them JUST ENOUGH so that they don’t quit, they will only work JUST hard enough so that they don’t get fired.

The things I was forced to do, working for other people, was embarrassing.

For example: Office Max sells a ton of extended warranties, and they make a lot of money doing this. Most of the people who buy them don’t need a warranty. They just buy it because the employees are pushing it so hard. And the employees are not doing it because it’s of any value, they are doing it because if they don’t, they wil be reprimanded by management. I think I am going to copy this rant to an article and publish it, because people should read this: NEVER BUY A WARRANTY. THEY ARE RIPOFFS, AND YOU DON’T NEED ONE.

However, as a manager at this chain, I actually found myself reprimanding my underlings, when they “forgot” to offer the warranty. Did I truly care? No. But I had to go through the motions, to avoid my own reprimand from a manager higher up the ladder. There was a small incentive to get employees to sell the warranties, in that they might get a commission of a dollar. But it is interesting that no ACTUAL PRODUCTS sold would get you a commission. Only the warranties (Max Assurance), because they are like pure profit. Most of the time the products would come with a better plan from the manufacturer, and the MaxAssurance wouldn’t always cover the breakable parts (like how ridiculous is it that on glass tables, the glass was not covered under MaxAssurance?!).

This is the type of crap I hate about working for other people (You may remember my previous blog articles, the 7 Words That Changed My Life…) You sell out your ethics, and you don’t even get your money’s worth. You work your fingers to the bone to make them extra money, and when finished, you are lucky to get a pat on the back. You know what? A pat on the back doesn’t buy groceries or diapers.

So MAYBE Goliath can represent all the people who are trying to force me to work for some greedy corporation, who doesn’t care about me, or whether I live or die, because I am not a person, I am a job title. I can be replaced at the drop of a hat, because so many people are looking for work. They are doing me a FAVOR, just allowing me to put on their uniform and use clever tactics to get unwitting customers to purchase things that no one ever needed.

David says no to this, yes to self-empowerment. I want to work smarter, not longer and harder. Will I work for another corporation? Sure, probably many, but only because it is absolutely necessary to help me reach my other goals. When the design business is good, I will enjoy it. When it slows, I will find backup plans, like working at an office store or data entry cubicle. But I will keep working on the #30DC ideas, and taking one step at a time towards MY DEFINITION of success.