Intellectual Property and Derivative Works

Ok, I just signed a new Intellectural Property document because I'm beginning a new job. What I was told, but have not gotten a copy of what I signed, was that any information that I saw and if I were to leave the company and used that information to create a new product that this company owns my idea.

It reminds me of license agreement I read about some Excel macros that were sold to others and the license agreement stated that if I added to his work that he owned all derivative, i.e. added, changed, or otherwise improved, works to his program.

One of my skills is a "connect the dots" skill, that when I see certain pieces of information I can "connect the dots" to arrive at conclusions that most people may not see. So it would seem that the only to be legally bound by any IP agreement is that someone would have to find public information via Google and "connect the dots" in order not to loose out on any future income to get out of their economic doldrums.

But what I find so interesting is the "legal" approach to this issue rather than a "let's build it together" approach. Rather than a, forgive this poor analogy, of a "slave and owner" viewpoint that is taken it now bomes a "partnership" like Jim Collins expresses in his "Good to Great" book. It would seem that the out of the gate while sets the stage, there is very little "Let's build it together" in making things better. It reminds me of the story of the goose that laid the golden egg. Greed got to those that wanted it faster and better and killed the goose rather than letting things mature at the rate at which they would grow and be more inclusive. Imagine what a company could do if they were to say "Hey, you've got a great idea, let's work together to build it." When you read that 70% of the people working are not happy with where they are working, is it really the work or the organization that is making things the way they are?

For me, it's making the world a better place, not that I want to own the world.