When I first started my computer consultancy business in New York back in 1997, it was in the hopes to help people better integrate computers in their working environment. What I ended doing was a far opposite of my noble goal.
I read somewhere how we now spend the time we have gained from using computers… on computers. So in a strange round about way, the time computers have saved us by automating certain tasks, we spend on non-productive moments on the same computers. Result = Zilch!
When I started helping out people, it was fun. It was all about possibilities as we were still stepping away from a Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 and readying for the unknown, Windows 98. You might laugh now but at the time, it felt like a giant leap into the future. Unfortunately, Windows 98 was never as "stable" as 95. Though the words "safe" and "Microsoft" in the same sentences are always subject to jokes. It was just more on top of an already taxed and ill-designed system. Windows 98 was alright for home computers, if you knew what you were doing (shutting down a lot of unused and dangerous systems), but it was laborious for businesses. I should know, I was part of those trying to make the darn things work in a business environment with servers.
I started doing less designing and strategies, as Windows got more and more relevant and brought about a slew of viruses, worms and other ridiculous security threats. I was picking up after the mess the Swiss cheese hole operating system Windows had become. It just wasn't fun and people were getting frustrated with me, instead of demanding Microsoft pickup the quality.
It all culminated with a venture capital client firm I had, all good old boys from Princeton who just didn't get it. They couldn't understand why the shoddy Microsoft quality and even told me: "Microsoft wouldn't put out a product if it didn't work." I knew I was in for a rough time at that point. It got worse, and those lawyers eventually asked me to do more and more, and after a substantial amount paid to one of my consultants, well into the mid-$10,000, I had to pull out. These people weren't going to pay me after installing an entire network because it didn't perform according to what Microsoft had advertised. Well, welcome to the big bad world of false promises our society has indulged in. I warned you!
After being royally ripped off by la creme de la creme of Princeton, I decided to go back and do something more human and worthwhile. After all, all I had done the last few years was to keep businessmen away longer from their families than they needed to. I felt it wasn't worth it helping them keep filth on their computers when their kids were waiting for them at home, or not anymore, at that point, who knows.
I needed to go back to helping people. I am happy I found coaching, which basically is what I was doing but officially and with professional tools. I now am there to help people find what they truly want, excel and can be. And best of it, I don't have to be an expert consultant. Ah, coaching. How did we ever do without do?
