NORMAL LIFE: How Planning To Make A Plan Backfired

Our boss at the firm resigned just after the summer holidays. Whilst we were disappointed by the news, we were not overly surprised. He had shown the usual signs of waning enthusiasm; less hours on the job, reactive rather than proactive decision-making, visibly reduced motivation to bring about the changes he was employed to implement. Most disappointing was that he had only stayed in the firm for a mere seven months, which included one month's summer holiday. On hearing the news of his new, much better-sounding opportunity, I shook his hand and congratulated him; I asked no questions for I just wasn't interested.

There is history. When my boss started working in January, it wasn't until March that we engaged in regular dialogue. In all honestly, he was surplus to my own requirements. My former bos had left already the previous May (see here), it had taken seven months to replace him and, in that time, I had learnt to be independent, wading my own way through the chaos of the firm. My boss requested a meeting and in my honesty, I told him my real thoughts which went somewhere along the lines of "I am confused by your purpose here". He was a bit stunned, and I dread to think that this may have started the process that would eventually cause him to move on.

Fear not for when we went to lunch last Friday, his last day, he told of his reasons to leave. Yes, he had been offered an opportunity that he simply could not refuse (alright, give it a rest!), but one thing he mentioned made me smile. The firm's slowness was a big turn off for him and he cited something one of the engineers had said during a meeting after he had asked how long it would take to bring a certain project to fruition. Apparently, any engineer respond: "We have a plan to make a plan!" Used to working in a much more dynamic industry, our boss highlight one of the firms key weaknesses: inefficiency.

Later, it emerged that the boss liked 'free things'. Working in Marketing, he was used to free tickets to the theatre and football games, travelling all over the world and dining in fine restaurants. If only he had told of this earlier, he wouldn't have even been recruited for an American firm is certainly a tightfisted one with cost-savings high on the agenda. I actually enjoy working for the firm - it's challenging on an almost basis and this has more value for me than free tickets and fine dining. I actually felt sorry for the departing boss because, potentially, he had quit before even settling in, getting down to the work and seeing the fruits of his labour. Oh, well!