Apparently, I have spawned a management style. I thought my name was a byword for overly involved, intense, but inconsistently applied control-freakery. I was wrong. The following comes from The New York Times:

"The old thinking says 'the longer it takes, the harder you're working,' " says Lynn Lancaster, a founder of Bridge Works, a business consulting firm. "The new thinking is 'if I know the job inside and out and I'm done faster than everyone else then why can't I go home early?' "

A few companies are taking the concept of "watch what I produce, not how I produce it" even further. At the headquarters of Best Buy in Minneapolis, for instance, the hot policy of the moment is called ROWE, short for Results Only Work Environment.

There workers can come in at four or leave at noon, or head for the movies in the middle of the day, or not even show up at all. And, not incidentally, both output and job satisfaction have jumped wherever ROWE is tried.

All I can say is, Amen to that and see you at nine o'clock. And don't be late.