Nantucket Journal

August 4, 2007

Saturday, August 4

I’m writing this on the 9 p.m. ferry and will post it using the WiFi capability on board. This ferry, late on a Saturday, has no trucks on it, so the loading master allowed me to drive the car to the front, middle. We should be first off, use the GPS in the dark of Hyannis, and get home by about 1 a.m.

We spent the day on the lawn at the Wauwinet, since you have access to all the facilities and changing areas even after you check out. I couldn’t resist still another Kobe burger. Late afternoon took us into town for some shopping and a rare, non-memorable dinner, at The Boardinghouse. As I gassed up the car I remarked to Maria that I was getting superb mileage, and she contended that I could not count the five hours round-trip of ocean travel in the mileage totals. I find this a technicality.

This is our third week of vacation this summer, and we’ve enjoyed incredibly good weather. Cape Cod is charming and Cape May is nostalgic for us, but Nantucket is simply a brief sojourn from reality. I feel no guilt. As long as we cope with reality most of the time, brief escapes are legal.

I also made quite a bit of money this week, shepherded by a few cell phone conversations and morning and evening email checks. This is a part of the wonderful world in which we live.

Consulting and coaching must be scalable. That is, the profession should not be based on time, materials, and numbers of people. I began writing about this in 1992 with “Million Dollar Consulting” and have never stopped. (Wiley just asked me to revise “Value Based Fees” because it’s selling so well.)

I remember beginning my career, post-undergrad school, at Prudential Insurance, and realizing that I couldn’t leave the building in mid-morning without taking a sick day or vacation day. I decided there and then that I would never commit to any career involving such indentured work.

And, guess what….

The Wauwinet