Rob #10 - Reinvent Your World

[Rob1231]

Oh my, can it really be almost A YEAR since my last post to my own thread??? That's pretty amazing! Well, I guess it's time for an update then!

The biggest thing that brought me here was a recent experience in my job that I want to share. I came back from my vacation in July, and one of the things on my plate was to get my performance review from my boss. Now, I expected the usual - lots of praise for the many good things I had done, some criticism for a few problems, and a discussion about how my boss has (AGAIN) given me more work than any one person could handle, and what priorities should we juggle around this year? I should mention, my job for the past three years or so has been as the manager of a department of 20 technical staff.

WELL. Things did not go as planned, to say the least. My boss made a quick acknowledgement of the very large number of accomplishments, then honed in on three failings from the year. Two of these were legit - but no big surprise and the dirct result of the ongoing "too much to do" workload. The third (and biggest problem in his eyes) was really utter BS. Not BS enough to stand up in court - but, yes, really truly BS.

The upshot of all of this? He told me I was fired. I could stick around for three months to aid in transition to my replacement, then take severance. Or, I could "try to find another position in the company". I'll tell you, I was in complete shock.

OK, so here's where it gets interesting, sports fans. I DB'ED MY BOSS. I spent about three days reeling and wondering ""WTF?" - and then it occurred to me, I have been "bombed" a heck of a lot worse than this, and I made it through that mess, so I can do the same thing here.

It was several weeks until the word of the "reorg" broke to my staff - many of whom are among my best friends, having worked together at this company for almost 20 years. During that time, I kept a mostly-cheerful attitude, tried hard to prepare my replacement to step into my job (a nice enough guy who had nothing to do with what happened to me), and considered my options. I pretty much boggled my boss, my replacement, AND my wife - who all commented on the amazing grace and attitude that I demonstrated.

As I pondered my future, I have looked at the short term and the long term. Short term, this is a truly crappy time to be unemployed, so I found another (much smaller) spot in our company, applied for it, and got it. On my more generous days, I can even acknowledge that there are some interesting challenges and opportunites with this move. I can do this for a couple years and be pretty happy with it. I am positive that my conduct post-bomb was a huge factor in my getting thus position.

Long term, it's time for a Major Career Change. The new job gives me the time to dig in and do it right, and that is exactly what I am doing. In the end, these lemons are gonna be some mighty fine lemonade. (Hint for anyone considering a career change - I highly recommend the book "Is Your Genius At Work?").

Whew!

OK, how about some less Drama Filled news?

W and I are doing well. I confess, still not the flaming hotbed of passion that I would prefer - but I know perfectly well that I need to keep working on that, and what approach helps. We'll keep moving in the right direction.

I am continuing to GAL - still loving my pottery hobby. Friends in The Alternate Universe can check out some pictures of my masterpieces there.

D17 still struggles with school, to the extent that I am pushing the idea that she should take a "gap year" before college, to grow up a bit and become more responsible for herself. She started her senior year of HS today - should be interesting....