Transitions
Well, today was a pretty strange day. After more than four years, most on the same team, I’ve moved on to a new employer. Now, this isn’t quite the same as moving to Brazil, but for me, this was no small decision. Frankly, I first started thinking about this when I read Steve Jobs’ Commencement address at Stanford this past year. Of course it’s really easy to do what you love when you’ve got Steve’s bank account, but still, it’s good advice. I was especially touched by his thoughts on connecting the dots but I also liked this quote:
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
As much as I’ve enjoyed my time at my now former employer, I have to admit, I’ve been saying “No” for too many days so when my friend Jen dropped me a line about an opening on her team, I was all too ready to see where it went. While it is very hard to say goodbye to so many good friends, having been preceded by others makes it easier. Still, it was hard to close this chapter in my life.
Besides being one in a line of people that have left, the “blogsphere” has certainly helped me come to terms with this transition. Chad Fowler wrote a great piece entitled Love it or Leave it. He has a follow on piece that lead me to another great read by Kathy Sierra entitled You 2.0 (seriously, if you’re not tracking Creating Passionate Users, you should be.) Now, I’m not moving to Denver (though I hear its beautiful) and I’ll still be working in Java (though I would love to work on Ruby and Rails!) but for me this really is a shift. You see for years, I’ve worked on “business apps.” Most of what I’ve done revolves around building some custom software for a specific business function of a company. Though I’ve consulted, I’ve always been a hired hand (in some cases viewed as little more than an expensive typist.)
But that all changes next week. Next week I write a new chapter in my life - I see what its like to work at a software shop. No, its not Google or Microsoft (or even Sun) but it is a real live software company here in the Twin Cities! I actually know a surprising number of people where I’m going so I think I know what I’m getting into - obviously I’ll keep you posted here. I’m nervous, I’m a little scared, but I’m also really excited to see what this new opportunity brings. To all of you that have offered me your thoughts in the last couple of months I extend my gratitude - you really helped!
I’m going to throw out one more quote (apologies to my qotd readers.)
Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.
Dr. Seuss