It Begins Again

15 years was a long time.

I knew something was going on that day. There were rumors and whispers. The rumors became reality when I was pulled into a quick private meeting. The words were indirect: “For business reasons we are separating from your employment”. The shock was direct: I was just laid off.

I went home, had lunch, and zoned out with the TV. Sometime during my second episode of House of Cards it donned on me:

I need to figure out what’s next

That’s a very scary realization, yet very liberating. For the first time since I graduated university, I get to choose where I go next. Now I realize that choice has always been available. But with a family, decent income, and challenging projects to work on, there was never anything pushing me to take that leap.

And then I got pushed

In the month I’ve had off I’ve had a lot of time to reflect. My dog has gotten a lot of exercise and I’m averaging 13,000 steps a day. During that time this is what I’ve realized. I enjoy solving problems. Coding problems. People problems. Business problems. Doesn’t really matter. This realization directly lines up with my career path thus far. Unfortunately (something else I realized), I wasn’t self-aware as I walked my career path. Luckily my unconscious had my back and took me where I should have gone.

But it’s time to be a little more deliberate

Deliberate in where I’m going means knowing where I want to go. And therein lies the problem. Where do I want to go? That’s a good question, and one that I hope to answer soon. Since I consider myself a pragmatic agile practitioner, I’m going to rephrase the problem:

As an adult, I need to provide for my family.

A user story. A bit of an epic. Add in a few constraints:

• I need to enjoy what I’m doing
• I need to spend the time with my family that I want
• I need to afford the quality of life that my family wants

And I’ve got a starting point. Perfect. Time to get started.