Force Majeure
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Sometimes, just when we think we have it all buttoned down, we get a timely reminder from God that we're not actually in charge of the universe. Or, as the poet would have it, our best laid plans "gang aft agley". So no sooner did I book a one-tonne van in order to go back to Bracknell and collect the first load of my furniture for the new house in Norwich than my boss called me in and told me that, as a result of the restructure and downsizing of the HR Department, my services were no longer required. Actually it was just two days before the planned trip that the poor dear had the lousy task of handing me my pink slip.
Hmmmm. The second time in the UK this has happened - the last being my only other job here when in November 2003 I had the dubious distinction of becoming redundant and divorced in the same month. Ah well - I always favour getting all the stressors out of the way in one lump, rather than stringing them out into an annus horribilis...
Can't say I am entirely broken hearted though. I will be sad to leave this pretty little (albeit only one-employer) town, and there are undoubtedly some people I will miss a whole lot - the aforementioned boss being one of them, and the members of the "Secret Circle" (you all know who you are) as well - but, on reflection, I guess it is a good time to find out if I am better suited to a different kind of place, and maybe even a different line of work entirely. I think it's time for me to be me - as eccentric, loud, chirpy and irreverent as that may be - and so either I work for myself or I find a like-minded bunch to work with. Also, in almost two decades of doing this kind of HR programme stuff, I feel I may be in danger of getting stale. Perhaps I can focus on another of my qualifications instead of the well-worn psychology and HR ones. No, not microbiology - but business strategy I think.... I am after all the only salaried wonk in the family for many generations (the white sheep of the family actually) and sooner or later the entrepreneurial genes must be expressed.
So - "Davey's on the Road Again" is my theme song for sure. I am here a few months longer to see out my contractual obligations and after that will hopefully have enough saved cash to relocate myself back closer to London. Or even further afield, as it transpires. I have one or two somewhat more Southerly options - indeed, one might call them Antipodean. Of course, my own circumstances have changed a little and now I also need to persuade a lady friend of the virtues of such distant climes - and for obvious reasons (having got this persuading lark all horribly wrong the first time I tried it) I am taking things slowly here. I've long been in the habit of curing problems with a judicious dose of geography and I need to be certain that the next move is a sensible one and not a knee-jerk reaction. My usual habit of shotgunning my cv. around has resulted in (alliteratively speaking) a nibble from New York, a jolt from Johannesburg, a tickle from Tasmania and a couple of solid lumps from London. Oh, and a jiggle from Jordan although I ruled that one out pretty quickly. I miss the hoummus and moutabel but not that much..
So I'm taking it gently through the summer - leaving here and rejoining the world of commerce around October. I've planned some interesting divertissements as well - more on those much later. The big decisions are around whether I dare return to corporate life, or whether I should rather opt for private or boutique consultancy.
Time for bed - a long trip in to London today to see a technology company and a nostalgia-fueled overdose on Nando's chicken have combined to render me somewhat somnolent. And I better get this place a bit more into shape before the arrival of a guest tomorrow evening. G'night...
Sometimes, just when we think we have it all buttoned down, we get a timely reminder from God that we're not actually in charge of the universe. Or, as the poet would have it, our best laid plans "gang aft agley". So no sooner did I book a one-tonne van in order to go back to Bracknell and collect the first load of my furniture for the new house in Norwich than my boss called me in and told me that, as a result of the restructure and downsizing of the HR Department, my services were no longer required. Actually it was just two days before the planned trip that the poor dear had the lousy task of handing me my pink slip.
Hmmmm. The second time in the UK this has happened - the last being my only other job here when in November 2003 I had the dubious distinction of becoming redundant and divorced in the same month. Ah well - I always favour getting all the stressors out of the way in one lump, rather than stringing them out into an annus horribilis...
Can't say I am entirely broken hearted though. I will be sad to leave this pretty little (albeit only one-employer) town, and there are undoubtedly some people I will miss a whole lot - the aforementioned boss being one of them, and the members of the "Secret Circle" (you all know who you are) as well - but, on reflection, I guess it is a good time to find out if I am better suited to a different kind of place, and maybe even a different line of work entirely. I think it's time for me to be me - as eccentric, loud, chirpy and irreverent as that may be - and so either I work for myself or I find a like-minded bunch to work with. Also, in almost two decades of doing this kind of HR programme stuff, I feel I may be in danger of getting stale. Perhaps I can focus on another of my qualifications instead of the well-worn psychology and HR ones. No, not microbiology - but business strategy I think.... I am after all the only salaried wonk in the family for many generations (the white sheep of the family actually) and sooner or later the entrepreneurial genes must be expressed.
So - "Davey's on the Road Again" is my theme song for sure. I am here a few months longer to see out my contractual obligations and after that will hopefully have enough saved cash to relocate myself back closer to London. Or even further afield, as it transpires. I have one or two somewhat more Southerly options - indeed, one might call them Antipodean. Of course, my own circumstances have changed a little and now I also need to persuade a lady friend of the virtues of such distant climes - and for obvious reasons (having got this persuading lark all horribly wrong the first time I tried it) I am taking things slowly here. I've long been in the habit of curing problems with a judicious dose of geography and I need to be certain that the next move is a sensible one and not a knee-jerk reaction. My usual habit of shotgunning my cv. around has resulted in (alliteratively speaking) a nibble from New York, a jolt from Johannesburg, a tickle from Tasmania and a couple of solid lumps from London. Oh, and a jiggle from Jordan although I ruled that one out pretty quickly. I miss the hoummus and moutabel but not that much..
So I'm taking it gently through the summer - leaving here and rejoining the world of commerce around October. I've planned some interesting divertissements as well - more on those much later. The big decisions are around whether I dare return to corporate life, or whether I should rather opt for private or boutique consultancy.
Time for bed - a long trip in to London today to see a technology company and a nostalgia-fueled overdose on Nando's chicken have combined to render me somewhat somnolent. And I better get this place a bit more into shape before the arrival of a guest tomorrow evening. G'night...
posted by Shane Hodgson at 9:42 pm
1 Comments:
Nice picture. Looks like Agent Orange (my cat) when he was a kitten.
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