Timesheets and Wendell

They hung there, a Damoclean presence: those damnable timesheets. It was the law, we were told: what the lawyers and business consultants call “billable hours.” So that the Company could bill its clients, each of us had to sign a weekly document attesting that we had divided 40 hours among various contracted projects and other activities of a company-overhead character. And our status, longevity, and compensation would clearly benefit from a high ratio of billable to non-billable hours.

We worked more than 40 hours, of course, and the extra time was expected to go for the good of the Company. But if an auditor were to ask, we were supposed to say with a straight face that the distribution on the timesheet truly represented the proportions of time Abt Associates and its clients were getting from us. Always bothered me.

Another good friend at AAI was Wendell Knox. We came at about the same time; by 1983, when I left, he had become a successful area manager, directing projects in the area we called “ECO”—economics, ecology, branching out from the Company’s traditional governmental clientele into some early efforts for private (corporate) clients. Wendell recently retired at the end of an impressive term as the Company’s third President and CEO: he made it a billion-dollar corporation.

Wendell Knox

Yes, Wendell’s as big and strong as he looks in this picture. When we played volleyball in the parking lot, he customarily, reliably, and cheerfully stuffed that white sphere down my throat: my enthusiasm exceeded my strength and skill. I still cherish the memory of the one time I actually beat him to the ball and spiked it at his feet. One time. A fluke. But it was fun. And the expression on his face!

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