Well the phrase above could refer to many things. History does learn us that it was a quote from Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon river with his army. Due to the legislation he wasn't allowed to do so. So a decision was more or less made, which would be irreversible.
In my case it does refer to the decision about my career path. From having some leads to a new assignments, discussion with the ex-employer, the final conclusion or decision has been made. Some decisions are just made for you, while others are made by yourself. Only time will tell, if I did made the right decision. But I have to comfort myself with the fact that with the knowledge I do have at the moment, I do stand by my decision. It wasn't taken with a gun pointed at me.
Like I wrote, some decisions are made for you. Had my chat this morning with Nike. But I did notice that there was a gap between what they do expect and what I can offer. While it was a good interview, the GAP was obvious. No problem with that and I am thankful that the responded pretty quickly. Just like my ex-employer didn't want to start contract negotiations because they didn't want to insult me and keep a potential work relation intact.
I can debate if both decision were the correct ones, but I do have to respect them. And I can understand them fully.
So, the only decision I had to take if I was willing to commute twice a week to the capital. I had some thoughts about it and I am willing to do so. In return I can work 3 days per week from home, which is considered a plus.
Yesterday my employer informed my customer that I decided to take on a new challenge. While they weren't fully surprised, or at least shouldn't have been, it still came as a shock to them. When I did enter the office this morning I did cross the path of my manager at the customer. An awkward moment, for sure when she tried to ignore me and kept on looking at the wall when passing me. When she was 2 meters further I did ask if she wanted a meeting about it, she snapped at me that she had a strategic planning meeting all day. Which did confirm my decision. I can understand that she isn't happy with my decision but this was just disrespect towards me (or at least that's my opinion about it).
It is the same like a situation in Football where a team is allowed to sack a coach, but is in disbelieve when the coach decided to move on. Both parties do have the power and freedom to do so. Some decisions are made for you by others but when it is the other way around, sometimes people just can't cope with the fact that they can't control everything and do sometimes feel the consequences of decisions made for them.
Apparently she planned an emergency meeting with here Product Owner team before I came in. Resulting into cancellations of meeting I had planned. No problems with that. While I was in the phase in which I would grant here the honor to tell the team(s), she didn't. But because the gossip circuit does sometimes has the speed of light, I did wrote an email just after lunch to inform the team member of both teams I was working for. Probably she will find this an insult because an other decision was made for her, while she had the opportunity do it herself.
My cancellation period is normally a month, but it is up to the customer to see how they want to organize this. I do expect to be working there until the 7th of July when I do have 2 weeks of holiday. After this the customer has still a week a collective holiday. In normal circumstances I would be allowed to work from home that week, but I can imagine that this will not be necessary. But with here reaction of this morning in mind, it could always be the case in which my contract will end on the first of July, which is also fine for me.
During the process, besides the contacts with the old employer, I did always feel backup by the current employer. They just did the right things and never did put pressure on me. Which I do appreciate a lot. Also told that to my manager this morning.
So I am curious how the situation will evolve here in the coming days. Will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Peter
