Thursday 10 January 2013

I did it... I resigned... Now what?

Ideas please. I am serious. Having never quit a perfectly reasonable, well paid job before with no other plans, I'm open to inspiration from all quarters.

There are no specific reasons for resigning but there are lots of things I am mightily excited about avoiding when I leave the office... 

 Send through your ideas, offers and advice but only if you can assure me that I'll NEVER ever have to utter any of the words listed below:
  1. Syndicate - I'm just a simple engineer. Syndicate will always be a noun for me. i.e. I will form a lotto syndicate. We will win millions and then we'll all buy big yachts and sail away. I know technically, you can use it as a transitive verb (??) but why? It sounds so ridiculous. Why don't we just say, "Go out and sell your ideas Lucy". Rather than, "you need to syndicate this plan..."
  2. Learnings - It's not a word OK! Just don't use it. Ever! This abomination has become so prevalent that there is a whole generation of professionals who need to know that lessons come from what we learn.
  3. Don't boil the ocean - Just say "your scope is too big". Or possibly, as Daryl Kerrigan would say "tell him he's dreaming".
  4. Socialise - Not the fun sort. Where we socialise with colleagues over a few drinks.The 'socialise' I refuse to accept is when it's used like 'syndicate'. eg "Lucy - I think you should socialise this new process". We socialise our pets so they don't rip each others ears off in the park. Is it really necessary in the office?
  5. Take it offline - It simply means that you want to postpone addressing an issue. Unless of course you are referring to actually taking something offline (Facebook, LinkedIn, DoS attack???)
I know this will be painful and offensive reading to some. I can hear the concern: "If I cant socialise my ideas and syndicate them with my peers, I might just end up boiling the ocean, miss out on critical learnings and taking my brilliant plans offline. How could I survive in the office then?"

So adiós my corporate buzzword little friends.


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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous15 January 2013 at 17:17

    Hi Lucy
    to help you with one of your 2013 challenges, another way to say Cheers in Welsh:
    Iechyd da! ( Cheers/ Good Health)

    Not sure if I can help you with any of your other challenges , maybe hiding from the Kids :)
    Peter Lewis

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tanielle16 January 2013 at 12:59

    You have been an inspiration to me - best of luck with your future endevours - will keep on reading your mummy bloggs.

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  3. Lacey Filipich24 January 2013 at 07:18

    Lucy, I really enjoyed your presentation at the WIMWA conference in September last year. I hadn't thought of job sharing as a possibility before, and now that I'm having a baby next month I'm especially interested in organising something similar with one of my colleagues.

    3 years ago I read 'The Four Hour Work Week' by Tim Ferriss, and since then I have worked 6 months on / 6 months off after quitting a Supt role with BHPB. Ferriss advocates the idea of 'mini retirements' - my suggestion is you could consider the next 3 to 6 months a mini retirement and do something you've always wanted to do, e.g.:
    - Live in another country, possibly to learn a language while you're at it (international schools are available for the kids if needed)
    - Learn a skill (whatever takes your fancy - I focused on cooking on one of my mini-retirements)
    - Volunteer
    - Write a book

    I've been lucky enough to coordinate my mini retirements with my husband, and so we've also used the time just to hang out together - something we missed out on when work was a focus.

    Congratulations on taking the plunge! Wishing you all the best.

    Lacey Filipich

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