7. The more living patterns there are in a place—a room, a building or a town—the more it comes to life as an entirety, the more it glows, the more it has that self-maintaining fire which is the quality without a name.

8. And when a building has this fire, then it becomes a part of nature. Like ocean waves, or blades of grass, its parts are governed by the endless play of repetition and variety created in the presence of the fact that all things pass. This is the quality itself.

Coworking is any long-term arrangement in which independent professionals can work in the same space, whether full- or part-time. You may have seen mention on CNN.com, in the New York Times, or local media.

We’re trying to gauge interest in developing a permanent dedicated coworking space in downtown Ann Arbor. This might include shared office space, meeting and training space, a private cafe, a “makers’ den” for electronic and other fabrication projects. Any or all of those. The space might be run by a private concern, a nonprofit organization, or an ad hoc collaboration. It might be a membership organization, a business of its own, or a cooperative. Or something else.

Let’s explore what it might be, and why you might want to participate.

Where: Ann Arbor District Library Freespace, 3rd floor, Downtown Ann Arbor library building

When: Monday, May 19, 7-8:30pm

The meeting space is reserved from 5pm through 8:30pm, but we will officially begin proceedings at 7pm. If enough interest is generated, we may run two 90-minute rounds of discussion. Please let us know if you’re coming.

Who: Organized by Not An Employee, LLC

Space in the Library conference room is limited to 32 people. If more want to attend and discuss the prospects for coworking, we will try to arrange a second session, and extend discussion after the meeting at one of the other local meeting venues.

Please let us know if you’d like to attend. You may want to use the free service at Upcoming.org to coordinate.

So now that you’re out of the employment womb (um, maybe that’s not the best visual), do you have trouble working because you miss the sounds of the office? Well, worry no more: the fine folks at Thriving Office have the perfect solution for you.¹ They are offering a ‘Sounds of Success’ cd that should make you feel right at home. It even has busy and very busy tracks so you can vary your experience appropriately. If you’re having trouble making the transition from employee to not an employee, this cd is sure to help you stay productive!

1. Via John Oxton and Hicks Design

The awesome² Cosma Shalizi sent me a link to an article which describes a Wharton professor’s work on accounting and managerial bias. Two reports are profiled: one showing that budgeting and internal reporting can help improve forecasting (provided the management believes it), and the other showing that entrepreneurs have a tendency to be overoptimistic — they start to believe the story they’re telling to their own detriment.³

You might be asking why I’m bringing this up. After all, as “Not Employees” we don’t need no stinking accounting. If you believe that you’re not ready to work for yourself. You may not need fancy cost accounting, but you better be sure to have a decent (and reasonable!) forecast. Want to get a loan to advance your business? How about one to fix up your home office? You’ll need to show the bank that you know where your income is coming from and how under control your expenses are. Reasonably-priced credit belongs to the well-accounted. Don’t get caught with stars in your eyes.

1. Forgive me, I’m sure I’m out of date. Pick your favorite rules/story metaphor.
2. He’s too modern for “learnéd” and too young for “venerable”.
3. This reminds me of the entrepreneur’s cliché, “If I only get 1% of that market I’ll be rich!”

Just over the past few months, Not An Employee has raised more questions than it’s answered: Is this serendipity normal? How do we work with others in a way that is more fulfilling than just getting paid? (Pay is awesomely useful, but if that is all that mattered we wouldn’t be doing this.) How do we become “collaborators” where others see “contractors”? Is it possible to contract collaboration?

I certainly don’t have any answers. Together we may be able to generate some ideas, though. You know, through collaboration.

Watching employees get transformed into founders makes it clear that the difference between the two is due mostly to environment—and in particular that the environment in big companies is toxic to programmers. In the first couple weeks of working on their own startup they seem to come to life, because finally they’re working the way people are meant to.

The full essay is well worth reading and supports our feeling that we’re better without bosses.