Nick, Programmerman
Day 45 (411) - Looking Back Again
I did this last year, where I reflected upon the year past and really thought about what has changed.
2007 was a year of improvement, 2008 was the opposite. As 2007 went by, things got better, accelerating toward the end of the year. I was happy. Things were good. Things were moving in the right direction. 2008 may have peaked on January 10th.
That's not to say the rest of the year was a drag. Most of it was fine. But there was always something looming. Something I knew was coming. Back when it was just time-eating work that loomed, there was still a sense of accomplishment, still a sense of purpose. But this last month has drained all the enthusiasm out of me. It culminated today with a significant cut in our workforce. So now, not only does the work loom, we'll have to do it with fewer of us. The next three to six months are going to suck. But there is light at the end of that.
But 2008 was also a year of personal improvement. Part of that is the "Guess what? I'm a photographer now!" thing that grew mostly out of 365. Part is keeping my first real new year's resolution (two remain, by the way; I only had 50). Part of that is the confidence I now carry myself with, personally and professionally. So at least I have those things going for me.
But here I sit, devastated. We've done this before, but it wasn't the same. One time was people who really needed to go, either for performance reasons or just being "a bad fit." One time was people whose jobs truly stopped existing when we tightened our company's focus. This time was all due to failed promises: people told us things would happen, to act as though they already had; those things didn't happen. Which leaves you wondering, did things just fall through, or were you deceived? How sincere was the person who promised the world?
But the one thing we do know is that we won't allow ourselves to be put into this position again. It's unfortunate that things got to where they did, but we can go still go out and salvage it for the rest of us. We'll know if we've succeeded this year.
Now you know why I didn't want to talk about it.
Happy new year, everyone.
Day 45 (411) - Looking Back Again
I did this last year, where I reflected upon the year past and really thought about what has changed.
2007 was a year of improvement, 2008 was the opposite. As 2007 went by, things got better, accelerating toward the end of the year. I was happy. Things were good. Things were moving in the right direction. 2008 may have peaked on January 10th.
That's not to say the rest of the year was a drag. Most of it was fine. But there was always something looming. Something I knew was coming. Back when it was just time-eating work that loomed, there was still a sense of accomplishment, still a sense of purpose. But this last month has drained all the enthusiasm out of me. It culminated today with a significant cut in our workforce. So now, not only does the work loom, we'll have to do it with fewer of us. The next three to six months are going to suck. But there is light at the end of that.
But 2008 was also a year of personal improvement. Part of that is the "Guess what? I'm a photographer now!" thing that grew mostly out of 365. Part is keeping my first real new year's resolution (two remain, by the way; I only had 50). Part of that is the confidence I now carry myself with, personally and professionally. So at least I have those things going for me.
But here I sit, devastated. We've done this before, but it wasn't the same. One time was people who really needed to go, either for performance reasons or just being "a bad fit." One time was people whose jobs truly stopped existing when we tightened our company's focus. This time was all due to failed promises: people told us things would happen, to act as though they already had; those things didn't happen. Which leaves you wondering, did things just fall through, or were you deceived? How sincere was the person who promised the world?
But the one thing we do know is that we won't allow ourselves to be put into this position again. It's unfortunate that things got to where they did, but we can go still go out and salvage it for the rest of us. We'll know if we've succeeded this year.
Now you know why I didn't want to talk about it.
Happy new year, everyone.