New Direction, part three

I was going to give my two weeks' notice in about a week for a subtle variety of reasons we need not delve into, as they tend to dull the senses and quelch the desires. So it was that I headed into the office, uncaring, a little free even. What I hadn't realized was that for much of my tenure at L.M., it felt like my wings were broken. (No, I don't literally have wings. I'm not that cool. I'm talking about my metaphorical wings, that lifting sensation keeping my head perpetually cloud-surrounded.) That Friday, I walked with a bounce in my step. It would be sad since E.B.'s final day was that day, but also good, as he was moving on to the always-welcome Bigger and Better.

Then, M.M. came into my office, told me they'd gotten me out of the meetings, and wanted to talk with me later about the new opportunities they had planned for me. He just wanted to get coffee and a bagel first. Understandable, the sun had only risen an hour or two before. Have I mentioned too little, too late any time recently?

I went into his office, and he described that I was loosed from those meetings, and they would start putting me on other projects. This was when I had to stop him and reveal my hand. It felt pretty bad, like when you have a royal flush, and you know for sure the guy across from you has a straight flush, and he's just pushed all his chips in, hands shaking, smile hardly suppressed. You push, show your hand, and leave him trapped in shocked wonderment. You don't mean to hurt, you just gotta do what you gotta do. That's the nature of the game.

M.M. took it very well. I'm not sure he was taken aback entirely. He knew everyone on the project was miserable with their role, their responsibility, etc. From that point, it started to assume the feel of an exit interview, but M.M. was doing his best to try to convince me not to quit. He even told me that if this position wouldn't work out, he would help me find another one. "Why burn a bridge?" was his response. I'll admit, it was shocking, and refreshing, and probably unnecessary, as all that is left for me is the formality of accepting the position at T.S.

I even mentioned the earlier incident of not being assigned to gather requirements. He winced a bit and said "Yeah, that's frustrating." Given that he was there in the meeting, I think he was also kicking himself for not realizing what happened. Wingbreak. I just wanted a chance to try. Over the past six months, I got one opportunity to gather requirements, but was really just there to take notes, and the assignment I was working on was only tangentially related to the project proper (a rider tacked on just before the contract was signed).

In the end, it was about expectations. They set me up for one set of roles, then gave me another. That's what got me in the end. You can do it to people for a while, but they just get frustrated, then they quit on you. Basic expectations. What a waste.