In which we duck the bullet...
Aug. 12th, 2005 07:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jesshartleySometimes, when making major decisions in life, you can't be 100% sure. You can have to weigh your options and judge the wind, but there comes a point when you have to make the decision.
Jump, or stay on the mountain.
And sometimes, once your feet have left the ground, you don't know for absolute certain that you've made the right decision for a while. Sometimes it takes a while to "settle in" or for the "dust to settle", so you can see where you are and what things are like here, rather than on the mountain you've been living on.
Sometimes you find it was a mistake. That the leap wasn't the right thing to do at all.
Some times you are never certain and spend the rest of your life regretting the leap.
This, however, is not one of those times.
Sometimes you get lucky, and you find out that the mountain you just leapt from was actually an active volcano and it blew up in the wake of your leap, killing dozens and destroying everything around it.
Our mountain just blew up.
Well, okay, maybe not /quite/ that severely. But we just heard from a co-worker at Pat's old job in Evergreen. The old superintendent was planning on retiring, and in the time we've been here, they hired a new one. Who, on the maniacal high of some self-help power-management business philosophy, has:
1) Demoted Pat's boss (Made her report to someone who used to be her equal, thereby effectively reducing her (and Pat's old job) by a notch in "authority".
2) Fired several individuals including the old business manager (financial planner).
3) Ordered the removal of the Thin Client technology that Pat was nationally recognized for implementing in an education (k-12) environment.
4) Explained to Pat's boss that her "job" is to get anyone in the district whatever they ask for in terms of technology (effectively undoing 10 years of their work in standardizing technology).
5) Espoused philosophies that basically say "If you're looking at the culture you're moving in to for guidelines, you're reading history books and thinking about the past when you should be thinking about the future. Make changes, tear out the old, and get rid of anyone who doesn't agree" and "You should be losing people on your staff all the time. If you're not, you've got stagnant dead wood on your team. Things should be in movement at all times."
Needless to say, it's a bit like watching the house you built burn to the ground the month /after/ you move out. It's sad to see the hard work get undone, especially in a destructive manner, but by the same token, there's a great sigh of relief that you ducked the bullet yourself. And, with Pat being a) instrumental in the creation of the systems they're now destroying, b) not a "yes-man", and c) physically a notable and (potentially) intimidating symbol of the "Old regime" (how many 6'7" tech managers with long hair and kilts do you see?) chances are he would be at least being made to feel /very/ miserable, and likely fired by now, in the wake of the "new regime".
If I'd had any doubts that we made /exactly/ the right move at /exactly/ the right time, they just went out the window.
We're where we should be.
Jump, or stay on the mountain.
And sometimes, once your feet have left the ground, you don't know for absolute certain that you've made the right decision for a while. Sometimes it takes a while to "settle in" or for the "dust to settle", so you can see where you are and what things are like here, rather than on the mountain you've been living on.
Sometimes you find it was a mistake. That the leap wasn't the right thing to do at all.
Some times you are never certain and spend the rest of your life regretting the leap.
This, however, is not one of those times.
Sometimes you get lucky, and you find out that the mountain you just leapt from was actually an active volcano and it blew up in the wake of your leap, killing dozens and destroying everything around it.
Our mountain just blew up.
Well, okay, maybe not /quite/ that severely. But we just heard from a co-worker at Pat's old job in Evergreen. The old superintendent was planning on retiring, and in the time we've been here, they hired a new one. Who, on the maniacal high of some self-help power-management business philosophy, has:
1) Demoted Pat's boss (Made her report to someone who used to be her equal, thereby effectively reducing her (and Pat's old job) by a notch in "authority".
2) Fired several individuals including the old business manager (financial planner).
3) Ordered the removal of the Thin Client technology that Pat was nationally recognized for implementing in an education (k-12) environment.
4) Explained to Pat's boss that her "job" is to get anyone in the district whatever they ask for in terms of technology (effectively undoing 10 years of their work in standardizing technology).
5) Espoused philosophies that basically say "If you're looking at the culture you're moving in to for guidelines, you're reading history books and thinking about the past when you should be thinking about the future. Make changes, tear out the old, and get rid of anyone who doesn't agree" and "You should be losing people on your staff all the time. If you're not, you've got stagnant dead wood on your team. Things should be in movement at all times."
Needless to say, it's a bit like watching the house you built burn to the ground the month /after/ you move out. It's sad to see the hard work get undone, especially in a destructive manner, but by the same token, there's a great sigh of relief that you ducked the bullet yourself. And, with Pat being a) instrumental in the creation of the systems they're now destroying, b) not a "yes-man", and c) physically a notable and (potentially) intimidating symbol of the "Old regime" (how many 6'7" tech managers with long hair and kilts do you see?) chances are he would be at least being made to feel /very/ miserable, and likely fired by now, in the wake of the "new regime".
If I'd had any doubts that we made /exactly/ the right move at /exactly/ the right time, they just went out the window.
We're where we should be.
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That's awful
Date: 2005-08-12 11:55 am (UTC)Glad you guys escaped.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-12 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-12 04:05 pm (UTC)Nice to have left on your own terms.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-12 04:14 pm (UTC)Congratulations on findng it was the exact right thing to do at the exact right time.
While its sad to see you go, I'm very happy for your family.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-13 12:09 am (UTC)By "funny" I mean "stupid." :(
no subject
Date: 2005-08-14 06:09 pm (UTC)It's going to be hard to watch (from a distance) as the work Pat did so brilliantly for so long gets mangled. But, be comforted that you're well-and-safely away from the demolition.
*hugs*