2024-09-14
A while back I used to work with someone called Otto. For a short while it was a great place to work, there was great team work and it all felt really good. Except every time someone I liked left the team, I would say to Otto that it's sad that X is leaving. And then Otto would say "but change is good".
I always think about this statement when someone dear to me and whom I'm in close collaboration with is leaving. The statement feels both wrong and right to me at the same time and for the longest time I had my problems with it. When I like collaborating with someone and they are leaving for whatever reason I feel sad that the collaboration is ending. On the other hand I immediately recognize what Otto was trying to say: that someone might be moving on to a better position. And that the shift in dynamics might create positive change.
Looking back at the last few instances of colleagues I liked leaving it's been exactly like this: sweet and sour at the same time. I survived, sure. The team might have hired someone nice and we got along. Or the team got restructured and the direction changed anyway. But I still grieve for those special relationships.
As I'm writing this I'm mentally preparing for another one of these. I'm ok with it. Experience tells me there's a good chance things will be better for everyone. At the same time I hate it, because I would like to hold on to things working the way they are. I met Otto the other day, we're still friends and hang out. I don't even have to ask him what he thinks of person X leaving my team. I know it and I agree.
