"Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?" - Thomas J. Watson

On reasons why companies prohibit telecommuting:

"- They’ve been burned in the past. They hired someone on who misrepresented himself, his abilities, his capacity, or all of the above. They feel that they gave it a try and it isn’t for them…

- They don’t have their heads screwed on right. They live in a “constantly evolving and fast-paced” environment (as seen on other job postings) which translates roughly into we can’t control our product team, our CEO, or worst, what our sales team promises, so you’re going to have to sit by and wait for the hour-by-hour priorities…

- A slight variation of the previous option is that they lack the confidence in their abilities. They have the vision, the product specs are nailed down, but they don’t know if they can convey them without “reading” the other person.

- Finally, the last possible option is that they’re so out of touch with reality that they believe the only way for work to be done is with “asses in seats.”

"The Good Ship Vasa" is used in the YAGNI section of "The Productive Programmer" as an example of a failed communication game.

"And here is the interesting question: whose fault was the sinking of the Vasa? The king, for asking for more and more features? Or the builders, who built what he wanted without vocalizing their concerns loudly enough? Look around at the project on which you are currently working: are you creating another Vasa?"

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