One of Mr. Michaux's top priorities involves creating Internet access to timely data about AvalonBay's many properties. It is a classic big-company software project, in which every step is fastidiously planned and risks are minimized. We've hired lots of consultants. On the other side of the country, Rick Michaux is breaking all of his father's rules, and having a blast. He is running a seven-person company, Corrigo Inc., full of former Motorola managers like himself.
People constantly interrupt one another.
The company's research chief, a bearded Ukrainian immigrant, sits on a beanbag chair and fiddles with children's blocks. If we can't think of anything, we worry, because it means we aren't learning fast enough. An elaborate home office lets Rick Michaux start as early as 5 a.m. Laptop computers and cell phones mean that even vacation resorts can be turned into far-flung offices. That irks his father, whose generation maintained a sharp divide between the office and the sanctuary of home.