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July 13, 2005
Moving On
Recently, my company has had the misfortune to lose two highly respected and experienced consultants. Both resigned within a month of each other, for largely different and perfectly understandable reasons. Given that (the local office of) our company has had a extremely low attrition rate until this point, these losses have been sorely felt by everyone within the company. And just as having someone close to you die often moves you to question your own mortality, so too does having collegues move on send a wave of uncertainty and introspection throughout the remaining employees... or at least it does with me.
During this time of relative flux in an otherwise highly stable employee base, it seems natural to question the motives of the dearly departed and ask hypothetical "is the grass greener?" type questions. Common during these times are feelings of joy for them, mixed with concern that their departure reflects upon the company itself, or that you might have done something/not done something that impacted their decision to leave.
Certainly the life of a software consultant is not suited to everyone; the inevitable travel, intractable clients and often dreary projects can all culminate to make other options seem infinitely better. Perhaps this facet of the IT world is one best suited to brief periods of exposure, rather than extended immersion? I often wonder at the people who have made their name in this industry for decades and how they've handled the pressures for so long...
So the best of luck to my two fallen former collegues - may your new paths bring you more satisfaction than your previous ones.
Posted by Andy Marks at July 13, 2005 09:34 AM
Comments
humm ..
I thought I was the only person who felt like this when people left the company that you are working for.
Posted by: ROhan Kini at July 13, 2005 06:18 PM
There's always refuge from the consulting life available over here ;-)
Posted by: Steve Hayes at July 14, 2005 10:14 AM
The corollary is that you also have new people joining who are also (going to be) highly respected and experienced. Their joining reflects on the company, and you've done things to impact their decision to join.
Posted by: Josh at July 14, 2005 02:56 PM
Great post. I like the funereal theme. One minor, pedantic and annoying comment: you used the word "loose" when you meant "lose". No big deal, but it sticks out like a sore thumb in a nicely worded entry.
Posted by: dustin at July 14, 2005 10:39 PM
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