Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I only want to pay for what I use. Caution. While that sounds fine at first, there are implications. Technology has enabled us to go in that perilous direction.

I only want to pay for what I use. I have this cable TV package (Yes, I am one of those old folks who has not “cut the cord.”) that has several hundred channels. I don’t watch most of them—ever. Why must I pay for those channels I don’t watch? Just charge me for the channels I watch!

Life might be grand if my wish was true. Right? Maybe not.

Car makers are now offering use of features in their vehicles on a subscription basis. “Subscription” is a way of saying “Only pay for what you use.” Want that rear window defroster to work? $10 a month, please. Want that radio to receive AM and FM? $10 a month, please. Want satellite radio? $20 a month, please. Want electric locks on the doors to work? Same answer.

Buy a full-featured call, but the car maker remotely turns on and off just the things I want and am willing to purchase on a subscription basis. That sure will be complicated for the car maker, right? Wrong. Technology has enabled it all. The maker is connected to my car. The maker has computers that track my wants and purchases.

Television at home? Same thing. All the streaming services have computers. They can track what I want to watch and sell or rent me just about anything at just about any time.

There are days when I want hundreds of things at my disposal and I can use what I wish without having to pay yet another bill. Some theme parks charge one price to enter and ride any ride you want without other charges. I guess we call the “all inclusive.” That is nice—sometimes.

But I just want to pay for what I use.

Fine. I can. I may not, however, like the size of my bill. There is no free lunch.

And as managers of work and leaders of people (yes, we come to that) “other duties as assigned” is not covered by piece purchase. We have lived for generations with hiring a person to come to work, do their primary duties, and then do everything else that comes up. If we truly go to piece purchase, that will mean that we hire persons to do one thing and be paid for that one thing. Something else unforeseen arrives? Well, we have to negotiate the salary for doing that because we want to only pay for what we want.