Month One
It’s been a month now since my job status changed to Resource Unassigned. I was fortunate enough to have 2 sabbaticals while at Nike, so I’ve had long breaks from work in the past, but obviously this hits a little differently. A few things jump out at me.
- I’m less wound up by the frenetic nature of AI evolution. Obviously I’m using the tools a little less as I’ve focused on real-world projects more than tech, but I don’t get the urge to upgrade everything every time Claude shoves out a new version. I’m less interested in the tools, and more interested in watching the industry convulse into whatever new form it will take.
- It’s reassuring to see others come to conclusions in public that align with what I see happening both inside and outside of a technology role. What stands out is the focus on expertise, whether it’s in the eye of a PM or in the keystrokes of a dev, and the continued questioning of value vs. output.
- When it comes to being Resource Assigned, it’s clear that it’s not going to be easy, partly because of the chaos roiling the job market, and partly because it’s tougher to project out where I want to be in 20 years. Retired, sure, but not completely. I’m someone who enjoys working too much to fully stop, so how do I craft a runway that lets me continue to build?
Photo: Jud McCranie / CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.
Most importantly, though, I have had time to reflect on just how lucky I’ve been. Not just personally, but professionally. The quality of the people I’ve encountered, both as base humans and as producers of great things, has been staggering. I tend towards optimism. Partly because I engineer my life with interleaved flumes, letting hard things flow past, and surely because I’ve been privy to so much resilience and drive.
I can’t yet say which way I’ll stumble when this Gravitron stops, but I’m betting there will still be plenty of reasons to keep looking up.