Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, Third Edition

20. Human Capital

Somewhere not too far from you as you read these words, there is probably a heating or air-conditioning unit in operation. Electricity and possibly some combustible fuel are working to alter the local atmosphere to keep you comfortable. These things cost money. You, or your company, pay the bill each month, annotating the charge as Utilities, or some such. Let’s say that the bill for the month of September is $100, that it’s paid by the company, and that the company has no other financial transaction all month: no income, no salaries, no nothing. Just one utility bill. At the end of the month, the organization’s profit-and-loss statement looks like Figure 20–1.

The statement shows a list of rows that read Ordinary Income/Expense ...