I Should Have Quit Long Ago
Posting from: Tucson, AZ
Listening to: Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind
A couple of weeks ago, I told my immediate boss that I'd be leaving. He suggested that we not tell the folks on the program I am assigned to of this right away. I think he thought I would change my mind. So I kept it quiet for a little while.
Yesterday and today have been the days where I go around telling everyone what is going on. I tell them who will be likely be taking on some of my duties and then direct them that any new tasks should go to my boss to be assigned to someone as he sees fit. I am also off-loading responsibility for ongoing tasks that have been problems for me and which I will not be able to complete. I am also deleting vast quantities of e-mail that I just don't care to bother with, and I'm ignoring my phone and messages 90% of the time. Paper is going into the recycle bin by the stack. My mind and my desk have become a Low Tolerance of Bull Shit Zone. I have gotten A HUGE AMOUNT of work done in the last couple of days simply because people are no longer pestering me for stupid things or making new demands on my time.
There is a certain feeling of satisfaction I get from viewing a project as COMPLETE which has been missing for a long time. Now suddenly I am able to wrap up a lot of these loose ends and move on to the next instead of floundering in a sea of half-done projects, little details that should not be neglected but are, and the confusion of hopping from one task and train of thought to the next to satisfy the demands of a bunch of different people who view my raison d'etre as working for THEM. If work was like this even half the time, it'd be a pretty nice workplace.
Another nice thing about quitting is that when I tell people, I find out what they really think of me. Sure, sure I was getting feedback in various forms before, but that was all tainted by other people's knowledge that they still have to work with me so everything that was said directly to my face erred to the side of nice and sunny. Negative feedback only came in anonymous form through my boss as hearsay which I personally go out of my way to avoid subsidizing with compliance because I think people should come to me directly first if they have a problem with me. I do not like to contribute to a passive-agressive workplace. But when I tell people I'm leaving, I can tell from their comments and body language what they really think of me. I was a little surprised and very gratified by the reaction of a couple of managers who were obviously not happy that I was leaving, and outright shocked by the reaction of one of my customers. She was on site today, and I decided to tell her in person instead of by phone after she left. After practically every sentence out of my mouth she'd say something like, "Oh, this is terrible," or "This is going to be such a disaster." On top of the good feeling of being missed, it was extra sweet that she was horrified when my officemate (who I have trained and mentored) and I explained that someone else rather than my officemate would be taking over most of my duties. Not only did she think I was doing a good job, but she liked what the person I trained and mentored was doing!
I had a really bad last quarter last year dealing with a particularly ugly personnel issue. It was extremely hard on me and my officemate who also had to deal with the situation. Every day we would come in wondering what disastrous new development would unfold that day, and we'd usually find out before about 2 pm. I checked my blood pressure one day during that fiasco and it was something like 162 over 109 which is not only very bad but also entirely uncharacteristic for me. She and I got the royal shaft from that situation as did our immediate boss and our department manager. We all tried to handle the situation precisely by the book at all times, and someone higher than our department manager fucked us all over. That situation was what gave me that final push from wanting to do things a certain, proper way to me just deciding to get out at any cost. In addition to that reward, I am also getting a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that the company who chose to keep the problem employee is ALSO losing a very good employee.
Quitting is such a great experience in many ways. Right now, I wish I could quit my job over and over again!
Listening to: Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind
A couple of weeks ago, I told my immediate boss that I'd be leaving. He suggested that we not tell the folks on the program I am assigned to of this right away. I think he thought I would change my mind. So I kept it quiet for a little while.
Yesterday and today have been the days where I go around telling everyone what is going on. I tell them who will be likely be taking on some of my duties and then direct them that any new tasks should go to my boss to be assigned to someone as he sees fit. I am also off-loading responsibility for ongoing tasks that have been problems for me and which I will not be able to complete. I am also deleting vast quantities of e-mail that I just don't care to bother with, and I'm ignoring my phone and messages 90% of the time. Paper is going into the recycle bin by the stack. My mind and my desk have become a Low Tolerance of Bull Shit Zone. I have gotten A HUGE AMOUNT of work done in the last couple of days simply because people are no longer pestering me for stupid things or making new demands on my time.
There is a certain feeling of satisfaction I get from viewing a project as COMPLETE which has been missing for a long time. Now suddenly I am able to wrap up a lot of these loose ends and move on to the next instead of floundering in a sea of half-done projects, little details that should not be neglected but are, and the confusion of hopping from one task and train of thought to the next to satisfy the demands of a bunch of different people who view my raison d'etre as working for THEM. If work was like this even half the time, it'd be a pretty nice workplace.
Another nice thing about quitting is that when I tell people, I find out what they really think of me. Sure, sure I was getting feedback in various forms before, but that was all tainted by other people's knowledge that they still have to work with me so everything that was said directly to my face erred to the side of nice and sunny. Negative feedback only came in anonymous form through my boss as hearsay which I personally go out of my way to avoid subsidizing with compliance because I think people should come to me directly first if they have a problem with me. I do not like to contribute to a passive-agressive workplace. But when I tell people I'm leaving, I can tell from their comments and body language what they really think of me. I was a little surprised and very gratified by the reaction of a couple of managers who were obviously not happy that I was leaving, and outright shocked by the reaction of one of my customers. She was on site today, and I decided to tell her in person instead of by phone after she left. After practically every sentence out of my mouth she'd say something like, "Oh, this is terrible," or "This is going to be such a disaster." On top of the good feeling of being missed, it was extra sweet that she was horrified when my officemate (who I have trained and mentored) and I explained that someone else rather than my officemate would be taking over most of my duties. Not only did she think I was doing a good job, but she liked what the person I trained and mentored was doing!
I had a really bad last quarter last year dealing with a particularly ugly personnel issue. It was extremely hard on me and my officemate who also had to deal with the situation. Every day we would come in wondering what disastrous new development would unfold that day, and we'd usually find out before about 2 pm. I checked my blood pressure one day during that fiasco and it was something like 162 over 109 which is not only very bad but also entirely uncharacteristic for me. She and I got the royal shaft from that situation as did our immediate boss and our department manager. We all tried to handle the situation precisely by the book at all times, and someone higher than our department manager fucked us all over. That situation was what gave me that final push from wanting to do things a certain, proper way to me just deciding to get out at any cost. In addition to that reward, I am also getting a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that the company who chose to keep the problem employee is ALSO losing a very good employee.
Quitting is such a great experience in many ways. Right now, I wish I could quit my job over and over again!
posted by Kirsten | 3/04/2008 05:37:00 PM
2 Comments:
Funny how that works, isn't it?
Suddenly, honesty is allowed into the equations people work out to decide how they'll interact with you.
It IS nice to hear you'll be missed. Sometimes I wonder why these folks don't crawl out of the woodwork sooner to give us an indication that we're appreciated and valued BEFORE we quit. But you're right, it does make you want to quit all over again, just so you can actually hear some honest feedback (especially the praise).
It's an interesting theme. As a closet football fan, I've been following Brett Favre's decision to move on, and both you and he sound like you've discovered some important things about life. Much to ponder here.
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