For all of you who are charging by the hour - STOP IT!

It pisses off your customers, it makes you inefficient, it makes innovation virtually impossible and it creates a culture of entitlement. These are a sure path to failure in the new economy.

It is so attractive to set a price for your time. You get to figure out precisely how much your valuable hours are worth! Some purchasers, even require it - but do they like it?. Consider, what really is the value of each hour of your time? Is it what others are earning? Is it what customers will pay? Is it the value of family time vs. work time? Is it your salary divided by the number of hours you work? The truth is that the value of an hour of your time is only what the people that pay you feel is the results of your efforts. The fact is, most people (and these are the people within the companies who hire you) are highly annoyed at the quarter hour accounting practices of 'by the hour' service providers, no matter how 'high-end' they are.