A Different Perspective

How To Know if the Grass is Actually Greener

For someone who used to hate writing papers, I realize I tend to be somewhat wordy when it comes to writing articles. I’ll do my best to keep this one shorter.

I’m now two weeks into my new job, and I thought it might be worthwhile to do some quick reflection. Generally speaking, I actually enjoy change (at least when it’s under my control) as I like new things. I get enamored with “the new thing” which is clearly better than whatever I have/am doing now. The prospect of a new job is no different for me, though after being at my last company for 10 years (which is half my professional career!), I’ll admit there was also some nervousness into leaving my comfort zone.

After a few days off in between, I can say now that the first 10 days have been great for me mentally. This feels like one of the first times in awhile I’ve actually enjoyed some of the things at work and am excited to work on it. I admit I even logged on during the weekend to finish some debugging/troubleshooting of an issue we were working through because I wanted to find the answer! Aside from just a new business space, I’ve been diving more into the technical aspect of things again as well as taking control of other parts of the role.

I’ve spent some time learning C#, committing some bug fixes and code clean-up while getting an understanding of the business and our applications. I have also dived into recruiting (I need to build out my team) and even volunteered to organize some events across the company to help build the culture and something close to my heart: wellness/exercise.

I know at this point, I’m probably just enjoying change for the sake of change and drinking some of the new Kool-Aid, but I must say it’s been refreshing thus far, and I’m looking forward to what comes next. While I’d certainly love to spend more days sipping some whiskey on the beach, I’m also waking up with renewed energy to make a difference and realizing that sometimes you just need to take the leap to see where you land.

I’m still ramping up, in the role, so I know things will change and added responsibility will come, but I look forward to it. I’ll follow up in a couple of months and see if the shine is still there!