For the past few weeks I have had a very good idea to create profit at my job. At first I wasn’t sure whether or not to give the idea away because I knew immediately that it was a great idea. You might even know how I felt about this idea. These ideas do not come to you very often. They are far and few between the many thoughts that whiz through your mind during the day or week. When one pops into my head, I immediately document it in my notebook or on my computer.

The day I pondered the initial thought, I came home and thought it out completely in Microsoft Word. I typed out a quick outline. After which I went back over it and described in detail each section. At this point the entire idea was on paper, but I had only tackled half of the process.

From the beginning something had been troubling me. When I first started working for the company, I had signed something. I remember it had something to do with work created while working for the company. The actual document referred to, “work for hire.” Which basically means that the company holds the rights to anything you create (in the scope of your employment) while working for them. Since this idea directly applied to the job and was very specific to the type of work, it was theirs.

My second concern was a moral battle. Should I literally give my idea away? What if I never see any reward by giving it? These questions relate to an indefinite reality. Asking these questions really didn’t help me at all. So after the past week of thinking about it, I asked something a little different. What if I don’t give this idea? There would be no penalty. It is no as though the employer is waiting for it. The idea is not of any use to me or my own financial status. My conclusion at the end of my mental discussion was that I have nothing to lose by giving it away. In fact, if I hear back from my boss’s boss (since that is where I sent it) it could only be a good thing. But if I don’t hear back, it is the company that loses out.

So for the sake of losing nothing, and also to write this article, I gave my idea away.