The first phase of retirement

Retirement Life

I attended a seminar put on by my financial planner that featured the author of a booklet named "The Four Phases of Retirement". I won't go into detail, but the four phases were listed as:

1. Vacation Time
2. Plunge into the Abyss of Insignificance
3. Trial & Error
4. Reinvent & Repurpose

My last post addressed the potential way to avoid #2, so I managed to stay firmly entrenched in Phase 1. Mere weeks after my announced retirement, one of my university chums suggested that I join him and some other mates on a ski weekend in the Swiss Alps. What better way to enter Vacation Time, than to go on a ski trip to Saas-Fee!

After a very boozy, four days in Switzerland, I was back in Vancouver, with loads of time on my hands. What to do now? That's where the "honey do" list came into play. You all know what I'm talking about. All of those little jobs that you kept putting off, saying that, "I don't have the time to get that done". But now, you don't have that excuse anymore.

So the jobs on the list slowly got ticked off. Some were just little 1-2 hour tasks that should really have been done ages ago. Some were monumental, multi-day, or week-long projects that took planning and some level of skill to finish. But slowly, the task list got whittled down, until there were none left. Back to vacation time? No, since the wifey didn't have the vacation time (she's still working), no new travel plans were on the horizon.

Enter the woodworking hobby. Since I'd accumulated the tools and some skills during the renovations of our house and above-mentioned tasks, I thought I'd putter around the garage doing woodworking as a hobby. And so, RC Board Works was created.

Retired. Now what?

Retirement Life

It's funny. You work all those years trying to achieve financial independence so that you can retire, but most people don't have the faintest idea what they will do once they do retire. Given that I had started thinking about it a few years prior to my exit from Company A, I had been doing some reading about how to retire.

I'm going to get the quote incorrect, but I read an article that suggested that one needs to "master the art of being irrelevant". Huh? What most people struggle most with retirement is the sudden transition to... nothingness. For most of us, the latter part of our careers represented the most value, highest status that we can or could achieve. To go from that to being no one, is too hard for many to adjust to, and quite often many end up going back to work, simply to fill that need for being... needed. So this article I read, talked about transitioning, during your working career, to a less relevant individual. I can't say that everyone can do this the same way, but I started doing everything I could, to no longer being "the man".

You see, I was often the man you would go to in order to solve the problem. The guy to bring to the presentation to make the executive pitch. The presenter that the marketing team wanted to take on the roadshow to talk about the new products. The problem solver that got us out of that issue with the customer, and secured the next purchase order. The leader to bring the team together, even though things were going to hell in a handbasket (what does that even mean?).

So instead of being "the man", I started teaching others to be... well, me. Rather than just give the presentation, I'd say, "I'll give the pitch this time, but I expect you to watch me, and then be able to do the same the next time.". Even if I knew that resolving the current challenge would take less time, I'd push the individual(s) to learn how to work it out, so that the next time, it could be done without me. It's a hard thing to do - we've built our professional careers around self-importance and promotion; indeed, how else would one get ahead, if you're not going to boast about your accomplishments? But as one co-worker once told me, when you're leaving a company, it's not about you anymore.

Did it work? I would say that without a doubt, yes. Sure, there is a transition period where you feel a bit abandoned... from hero to zero, as we used to say. And as much as you'd like to think that you will stay in touch with "the old work gang", it doesn't happen. Sure, you go for a few lunches here and a few beers there, but they don't really want you around anymore - you're the free-wheeling retired guy, and they resent you for it. Similarly, they still have the drudgery of the day-to-day work, and let's face it, you don't want to be dragged down by that anymore. So after a few months, you're on your own... get used to it.

Next: The first phase of retirement

A new saga begins (began)!

Retirement Life

Ok, it began a few years ago, but I've forgotten about blogging, what with all of the other social media methods out there. But since it has cooled off a bit, I ended up down in the scotch lounge again tonight, and decided to put in a bit of an update.

So back in 2015, for a number of reasons that I won't spend too much time expanding upon, I decided to retire from my 30-year career in IT. It had actually been part of my plan to retire at 50, but I was having fun in my last business development position, and I told the boss (wife) that if I'm still going to enjoy work, I might as well have a few extra bucks in my pocket. But in 2014, the BD group was about to fold up, and rather than end up in limbo, I decided to take a sales management position back in the "field" (I've always found that term kinda funny - like I'm out bailng hay or something).

It was actually not a bad new gig, as I had an aptitude for team management, and from what my guys told me, they had never had a better manager. But along came a new regional sales manager, that was less than perfect. Okay, I'm being very polite here... he was an asshole. I knew him from a previous life, and nothing had changed; things were worse, in fact. So instead of being able to manage just my team and my work life, I had his team coming to me to complain about the asshat manager that was ruining their life. I tried to work it out for a bit, thinking, "why would I quit, when it's this guy that is the problem?". But suffice it to say, things got untenable, very quickly.

Then along came an opportunity. Using my very adept political skills, I managed to orchestrate my own exit package. Yep, that's two packages in the space of less than 10 years. It was brilliant, if I do say so myself. In a very brief nutshell, I managed to place a capable person into my position, and take his package.  I sold it to management on the premise that he had more seniority, so my buyout would cost the company less. He was an individual that wanted to stay at the company, and I was not. So win-win-win all around. This all happened around the holiday season, 2015, right before my 51st birthday.

So in the end, although I technically didn't retire until I was 51, when all of the papers were signed etc., I pulled the plug on my ~30 year high tech career when I was 50. Not a bad milestone.

A new adventure is closer than you think

Corporate Life

Well it seems that one should listen to one's own advice. It was only a couple of posts ago, where I said that it was important to "keep moving" in order to survive in the corporate jungle. But it's easy to become complacent in what we do everyday - while the tasks at hand may be difficult, they are known entities. You already know what you need to do; it's just muscle-memory to get the job done. But it's not just doing the job, is it?

Ok, I've known for months that I was just going through the motions. Don't get me wrong - I was more than just getting the job done - but nothing was new, and aside from a rewarding working relationship with a few key people, friends really, I wasn't interested in continuing with what I was doing. Sure, I was fielding offers from head hunters, some for substantial amounts more than I was currently making, but they were all roles similar to what I was already doing. i.e. Schlepping someone else's widget to the same customers who care more about improving their CV qualifications than solving real business problems.

Enter the intra-web. Internal job postings... why not have a look? I typed in "virtual office" as the location, and got a single hit - Business Development. Huh. As I read the job description, I started thinking, "this is me!". A quick email to a friend, and bingo - the hiring manager has my résumé and an endorsement from another confidant (recommendation: constantly keep in touch with your personal network, and ensure they are up-to-date with your status). Three short weeks later, and I'm the new Business Development Manager for North America.

Sure, it took me a while to divorce myself from the past position - in my new role I'll never be completely removed from the local activities - but every day is a new adventure. I'm working 100% at home now, so that's a bit of an adjustment, as are the early morning concall and video meetings. But what I've given up w.r.t. local personal interaction, I'm more than making up with working with high-calibre marketing, channel and other business unit individuals. As a field sales individual (for the last 22 years), its easy to forget that there's a nexus of smart people somewhere that makes shit happen.

What's the moral of this post? I'm not really sure there is one. Perhaps its that there comes defining moments in everyone's careers - turning points where you realize and take advantage of new opportunities that change your life. I've had four of these - the first came when I left Big Blue to work for a relatively small Silicon Valley telecom firm. The second, when I joined Sun Microsystems, and became part of what I considered a religious corporate culture... at times, it truly felt like you were engaged in a holy war. My third epiphany was when I took my package, and embarked on my new "individual" journey. Now, this feels like a whole new chapter in my career - one in which I look forward to each day's adventure.

Surviving the zombie apocalypse

Corporate Life

I thought this topic would be timely given today's date. With the recent success of AMC's "The Walking Dead" and all the current zombie hubub (got hooked recently on Zombie Gunship for iPad), I began to realize that there's a lot of parallel strategies to surviving in the corporate world and staying ahead of the zombie horde. Here's my list of suggested strategies for your continued well-being when the flesh-eaters propagate (or when the next staff reduction comes around).

1. Be prepared. It goes without saying that a little bit of preparation may save your ass in the end. It's the simple things like having an earthquake survival kit that might arm you with enough supplies to get out of town before the eating gets good. Learning how to use a gun would be a good one too - you don't want to make "forgot to take off the safety" your last, colossal mistake on this mortal earth. It's like the corporate world - there's a bunch of little things that you can do to make sure you're not at the bottom of the food chain. Stay educated. Know your products and offers. Understand the processes. Those that don't are usually the first to go.
2. Keep moving. Staying put means it's just easier for that roving band of zombies to find you. You'll need to use your days seeking out food, drinkable water and a safe refuge for the evening. Unless you can find an impenetrable bunker with enough supplies to survive the Armageddon, you'll always be on the move. Of course, in the real world, staying put is usually equated with stagnation, which puts you at the bottom of the list mentioned in #7. That doesn't mean changing jobs every few years, but perhaps you change how you approach things, or re-invent the role to adapt to the environment.
3. Surround yourself with smart people. You want to be closest to the guy who knows the most about surviving in the wilderness or can McGyver his way out of any situation when the apocalypse comes. Pretty girls and "red shirts" are only good for zombie fodder. Same goes at work. Seriously. Oh and BTW, just in case you were thinking it, there is always someone smarter than you.
4. Share your unique value. Just as you'll want smart people around you to help you survive, they'll want something in return. What can you contribute in the world's darkest hours? Maybe it's being able to make an edible meal out of squirrel and some gathered berries. In the real world, you're more likely to get help from those who have bigger brains than yours, by making sure you bring something to the table for them. Perhaps it's "feedback from the field" or simply making their lives less difficult.
5. Learn how to blend in with the surroundings. Why does the damsel always create distress by making noise or starting up the ferris wheel with all the blinking lights? Zombies are attracted to light and sound, of course. Your job is to not get noticed by them as they are on the way to the buffet. It's like that guy at work who makes a lot of noise and stands out in the crowd - it's not necessarily a good thing to demonstrate how unprepared or stupid you really are.
6. Be a leader. Even smart people sometimes need to be told what to do. In fact in my experience, it seems that the smarter they are, the more they need a leader. We're not talking all the time - just when the screaming starts and everyone panics, make sure that someone capable is controlling your destiny... that could be you. This doesn't mean that at the office you should be superseding your bosses authority, but as a previous manager of people, it was nice to have guys on the team that would step up once in a while.
7. Make sure you can outrun the guy next to you. There's a lot of debate as to whether zombies can run fast, or if they lack the motor skills to put up a really good chase. But you may never have to find out, as long as you aren't the first one on they catch. Same goes for the rest of the employees at the office - when the inevitable "stack-ranking" comes around each year, make sure you're not at the bottom.

In the end, the last recommendation is probably the most important - reinforcing the Zombieland Rule #1: Cardio.

Musings from the Scotch Lounge

Corporate Life

(Originally posted on my last day of work at Sun, I did not post this to my public version, but now that the years have passed, and Sun is gone, I thought it would be ok to re-post this now. Names changed or removed to protect the innocent.)

There's been enough of you that have been down here, that you know what I mean when I say, "I'm sitting in Rico's Scotch Lounge". So here I am, engulfed in my leather club chair, sipping on a 28-year-old Convalmore (thanks guys!), pondering my last day at Sun and my 9-year legacy.

As you saw from the note I sent to the masses, it's been tremendous fun working here with you guys. Some have not been around long enough to bear witness to the now legendary events (e.g. Spondivits, various Sunrise shenanigans, kickoffs in San Diego and Montreal), and not all were at the beer tasting fiasco down in Yaletown (which we never received the bill for, BTW). But I know that there will be many new stories, and a raft of events that will become your new, cherished legends. So that's what this blog note (blote?) is all about - not looking backward, but forward. As I said to our sales director in an e-mail a few weeks ago, this isn't about me, but rather about you (i.e. Sun Canada, or in this case, the TELUS team), and keeping everyone moving forward toward your common goal.

You guys all know I am a geek at heart - I watched every episode of Star Trek as a kid, and yes, I have a downloaded copy of the entire original 3-year series. It's actually the concept of the Borg that springs to mind here - the "Collective" and the power that they had together, instead of the sum of the individual contributors. I, as an individual, am not what has made Sun successful at TELUS; it's you - all of you, working together as a team that have been the winning combination. Truly, I have you to thank for my success at Sun - and some who are no longer here too. But the point is, that taking out a single Borg has minimal impact, as the combined entity of the Collective is virtually unstoppable. Our results this year proved that when the past leader left, we were still more than capable of winning as a team; my departure will be no different.

There's a scene near the beginning of the movie Enemy at the Gate, where Jude Law, as a young Vasily Zaytsev, is amongst the thousands of Red Army soldiers tasked with repelling the Nazis from Stalingrad. They are lined up to get their guns, but since weapons are limited, only every other infantryman gets a rifle. A sergeant shouts over a megaphone, "When the man with the rifle goes down, the man behind him picks up the rifle and shoots!". Ok, so I don't want you to pick up the wrong metaphor here - I did not get "shot"; you all know that. No, the relevant analogy is that the next guy picks up where the other guy left off, without hesitation. You can't stop to check on how he is, take him back to the command post for triage, or re-group to change your attack plan. No, you keep moving forward, utilizing the same strategy. I've used other military comparisons in past blogs; in this situation, it's even more apropos.

Your enemy (the competition) is going to look for weaknesses during times of leadership change, and try to exploit those areas. Your job is to fill the gaps, stay on the offensive, and keep them on their heels. When I last checked, we are at over 105% of plan - now is the time to start lobbing grenades into Nazi territory and attacking with all your vigour! Take no prisoners! For those of you not up on your history, the Russians defeated the Germans in Stalingrad, and their victory was a key turning point in the war.

Keep up the fight.

Rich

Why wait for the deluge?

Corporate Life

Being in Vancouver, you really have to expect a good, solid, three months or so of rain. Not that "wrath-of-god" rain for 40 days and 40 nights stuff, but some serious, never-dry-out, mushroom-growing, chill-you-to-the-bone kind of rain. It happens every year, and despite some short reprieves (like last year during the Olympics), you pretty much have to hunker down and get through it. That's why it always amazes me when every year, I see a number of houses in the neighborhood with the big blue tarp on the roof.

I know, it's not exactly cheap to re-roof - trust me, I've done it. But these are $1.7m+ (update: now closer to $3m) properties, and I find it shocking that folks won't spend the small fraction of their investment on a new roof to protect the integrity of their home. What are they hoping for? That the leak will repair itself? Or that maybe, just maybe, it won't rain this winter? If you end up waiting too long, the water gets in, and it goes everywhere - into the walls, joists, floors etc. Rotting wood compromises the entire structure of the house, and of course, causes mold growth and all sorts of health issues that come along with it. By waiting, these homeowners are simply forced into doing the work when the deluge does inevitably come, and the roofing company is charging a premium for their services.

It's like the classic issue I see at companies all the time. Everyone whispers about "that" employee that "is waiting for a retirement package", or "isn't able to adapt to change easily". "he used to be really good at it", or "he just needs a little more direction". But... but what? He's not cutting the mustard anymore. Why is everyone making excuses for him? Because he was great during the heyday? Bobby Orr was a hockey god, but I think he's past his prime now (ok, even if he had good knees). Everyone will experience this. I am just hoping that I figure it out on my own, before I get the tap on the shoulder, "Hey man, I think you're done here". But no, I see it all the time... everyone knows there's a problem, but for some reason, management is waiting for something to fix itself. And then finally, some financial or business crisis occurs, and push comes to shove, and the person in question is finally sent home. Would it have been better if this was actioned on a sunny day perhaps, when there were other resources available, or the organisation wasn't under intense scrutiny to deliver?

And therein lies the message from tonight's scotch lounge blog - fix the problem when you identify it, not when it becomes critical, and ultimately more costly to fix.