with the worst.
And it's a company that we call "Karpenter
Corporation."
It's one of the best-known consumer products
brands in the world.
Imagine that you're standing with your co-workers
in the parking lot of the building where you
work.
And you're watching silently as the contents
of that building are being auctioned off--your
computers, CADs, work stations, your desks,
your telephones.
Your chairs are being auctioned off.
You used to be proud to work for this particular
company because it was known for its really
cool innovative products.
But the last few years, innovation began to
fizzle, profitability tanked.
The company was acquired by a smaller rival
and now it's being completely closed down.
And it's breaking your heart.
That's the story of Karpenter Corporation.
And it's the story of the demise of one of
the great consumer products companies of the
20th Century.
Now, let me tell you about the bestnumber of interesting things in
this diary of Tom's that I just read.
First of all, Tom tells us about the causal
link.
He doesn't just say that he made progress,
he defeated this bug and he felt good.
He tells us that he felt good because he made
progress.
And we saw this over and over again when people
reported making progress in their work.
They said that they reacted very positively
to it.
The other thing to notice is that this was
just a bug.
In the grand scheme of Tom's work on this
project and the grand scheme of his professional
life, it was no big deal.
But it was.
It was a big deal to him on the day that it
happened.
Unfortunately, it operates in the negative
direction, too.
So, small losses can have a pretty significant
negative impact on inner work life.
And unfortunately, setbacks in