We are getting close to the end of the book. There is one more chapter to go. I will tell you a secret, not only have I read this book before but I also finished this weeks ago. The book is so short that you can probably read it in a long evening. But that is OK, I am taking it slow to dissect and enjoy it. I have to clear the cobwebs a bit. Now that I have scanned through the chapter again, I am ready. So, let’s go.

Boxer worked himself to death. After the windmill was blown up and they had to start over, it was Boxer that did the heavy work. In the process he got old, injured and used up. Boxer’s last appearance in the book had him taken away to the glue factory while the pigs were saying he was going to the hospital.

I have been Boxer in my life. I have ignored problems thinking that I can solve them by working harder. This was a huge lesson in my life. In some ways, this is the inspiration for this AltF4.co endeavor. It came across in a different time and a different manor, but I now know what it means.

I was in my twenties and I was running the laboratory. Every plant task that failed to work properly, I would assume as my own. Pretty soon, I was running formulating, wastewater, quality, IT and automation. I had a mentor and he told me as I was leaving that the company would always let me take more work. It was up to me to stop it.

I think more than I was trying to do it all, I was not getting anywhere other than convincing myself that I could do it better. What I was ignoring was the system of accountability for the people not doing a proper job and the consequences for not doing so. I was so vested in the outcome that I couldn’t see my effort was self-harmful as as much as helpful. I didn’t leave as a result of that (story for another day), but I left wiser as a result.

I won’t say that I completely got this lesson, it probably took another 15 years but now I have it. If you work for someone else, you do not own the output. It doesn’t matter if there is profit sharing or employee ownership, you still do not own the output. I think of it this way, any form of revenue sharing is actually a trap to provide the illusion of effort equals results.

The ones that set the rules are limiting the distribution pool. Then there are others that do not deserve to be rewarded. Decisions are made with no input and rules are made to prevent risk or innovation. For all of these reasons, I have realized that for me to be happy with my career and output, I need to be in control of it. Ultimately, this is what drove me to leave my job and it is a strong driving factor in Altf4.co.

Those concepts are the reason that socialism will ultimately have it’s detractors. I didn’t work like a madman because I wanted to get rewarded. I did it because I believed it needed to be done. That being said, when it comes to compensation, I saw that I did all this and this is all there is. Oh and to top it off, things aren’t really better.

Getting back to the book, this chapter is the perfect illustration of the iron law of bureaucracy. There are those committed to the mission (Boxer) and those committed to the organization (pigs). I think that it goes without saying that whichever side you pick, you are all in. How would it look if your star performer actually worked himself to death. That was a situation that had to be dealt with for PR purposes.

It seems completely logical that the pigs would lie about Boxer’s disposition to make everything seem normal. After all, a revolution would be pretty dangerous to the organization. That is really the moral of the story. You can trust the when a choice between the organization and the constituents has to be made, those that are on the other side of the iron law are going to make the choice for the organization.

End Your Programming Routine: Of course, charity is a tenant of Christianity. That being said, charity is not collectivism. And speaking of morality, thou shall not steal. If you are not doing your fair share, then that is stealing which is a sin. Collectivism actually fosters inequality. Reading this is a warning, if you work yourself to death then you have to know that it is your choice, not because there is personal profit.