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I am a fan of anything that brings people together and few communities are as strong as the open source community. These people work hard to bring quality, earth-changing products to you and me.

I am also a big fan of increased security, greater user control, system flexibility and fantastic prices.

My latest open source infatuation is Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a flavor of Linux that is incredibly user friendly.

I used to dabble in Linux though it has been several years since I actually did any installs myself. Putting Ubuntu on my new laptop took less than an hour including downloading the free software, reading the directions, moving my Windows partition to make room and getting it all installed and running.

On this laptop I’m trying an experiment to see just how far open source has come. I do have a Windows XP partition just in case but even that only uses the commercial software for the operating system. The rest is all open source including OpenOffice, Thunderbird (for Win) and Evolution (for Ubuntu).

For the record, OpenOffice works even better than expected, especially Calc (their version of Excel) and Presentation (PowerPoint) looks amazing! I’m also particularly impressed with the robust features of Evolution.

Like you, I am an incredibly busy person. This transition has been easy and even… fun! In fact, I’m already thinking about setting up a server so I can get even more functionality from Evolution like an online calendar.

Total cost so far: $0

Total time: 2 hours (1 hour to install and a second hour to configure various programs)

If you are a small to medium sized business looking for ways to make life easier and reduce expenses (like the one where you have to track all your licenses!), there is probably a flavor of Linux out there waiting for you. Or, if you are unsure about the process go ahead and contact me. I’ll be happy to discuss my experience and offer suggestions for your situation.

I used to work for an international chain of stores and by far the best experience was working under Melissa Fish. Melissa was a world-class manager who broke all company records moving from $0 - $100,000 per month in revenue in less than 6 months!

How did Melissa do it?

• Trust
• Clear job positions
• Clear chain of command
• Training!
• High expectations
• Transparency!
• Honest, open dialogue with every employee (even - especially? - the front line)
• Extra helpings of care

Melissa’s trust created an atmosphere of employee ownership. Nobody wanted to disappoint Melissa. Not because she was the boss. Because she was honest, strait-forward and opened the whole operation to every employee. We all felt like we made a difference. And we all learned how the business operated.

In those days I was surprised by the level of transparency at this one branch. I had worked at other locations and none of them had the same spirit of employee entrepreneurship that this one did.

In fact, when I left that job to return to school, my Introduction to Business course was a breeze because I already knew the topics, I only had to apply labels to them! My whole business career was jump-started by Melissa.

Melissa, if you are reading this, thanks!

PS. On the topics of “big picture” I’m taking this weekend off from posting in celebration of my wedding anniversary. See you next week!

“If you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of your customers, and profits will take care of themselves.”

J. Willard Marriott

My Business Professor loved this quote. He would bring it up often as an example of leadership that sees through the clutter.

When you are trying (fighting!) to reach a goal, it is tempting to “control the situation” instead of trust your people.

Tip: If you can’t trust your people, what is it about your leadership that needs work?

(Follow-up Tip: Get started on it right now!)