Recently, one of the architects on my team (let’s call him “Dan”) put in his two-week notice. “Dan” is one of my favorite people to work with. Since the day I met him, he’s been a source of inspiration, brilliant programming wisdom, and solid dad jokes. And he’s made a huge difference on the team – far beyond just writing good code, he’s built a philosophy of excitement and passion for doing things the right way that spans all the mobile teams at the company.
It would be easy to see this as a setback for all of us. Over the years, I’ve seen a number of high-profile departures, and the first reaction is often, “Oh no! We’re sunk! What are we going to do?” But I’ve also seen how the ensuing weeks and months play out, and wanted to share a few things I’ve noticed:
The world is NOT ending
The most important thing to remember is that no single person is responsible for the continued existence of a project or company. There is no “Atlas” holding the world on his shoulders. Yes, people can make a huge difference, and plans may change when they leave, but you still have customers. You still have a mission. And you still have a team of people who can get things done. This applies to everyone from the CEO to the most junior developer.
Many years ago my wife was in a corporate job, and was miserable. She stayed far too long out of loyalty, because she didn’t want to force her manager to hire and train a replacement. She worried that something might get missed in the process. Luckily, she found the courage to put in her notice – and that company is still standing!
Turnover is a mirror
When key people leave, it forces a team or company to look at themselves in the mirror and ask, “Are we doing the right things, in the right way?” Sometimes the answer is yes – the person found their dream opportunity, or their family was moving, or they were simply looking for a change. Other times, the answer is, “Let’s start talking”. Have we gotten into a rut? Have we drifted from the way things were when that person joined? Can we learn something from this? Companies should be asking these questions periodically anyway, but turnover is one of the best opportunities to raise them.
Change brings opportunity
When someone leaves big shoes to fill, it’s time for everyone to look at their own feet and see if they fit. If no one ever leaves, there are fewer opportunities for challenge and growth.
I was serving as tech lead on a project a while ago. Our team was responsible for two products. Thanks to attrition, budget constraints, and shifting corporate priorities, we kept losing people and couldn’t backfill them. I ended up being the “last man standing” – serving as iOS dev, service dev, QA lead, product owner, DevOps engineer, and more. This was obviously not ideal, but it was a GREAT opportunity for me to learn new things. In this case, I got to fire up Visual Studio for the first time in a while, learn more about API development and deployment scripts, and work on the entire end-to-end cycle of mobile software development. I interacted with all kinds of teams within the company and learned more than I ever would have before.
It was an opportunity for the company as well. It forced us to hold up that mirror and ask, “What the heck is going on?”. We realized that one of the products needed to be retired because it no longer had business value – hence the lack of funding and general interest. And the other was put in maintenance mode until the product teams regrouped and decided what they actually wanted. Eventually, they made the plans and found the funding, and a new team with a solid mission was created.
How this helps us
It can be hard on a personal level when someone you like and respect leaves the team. But in today’s age of constant communication, you have plenty of ways to stay in touch. No one is truly “gone”; they’re just on a new adventure, learning new things, and growing their network.
This is the entire foundation of internal referrals. How many times has someone gotten hired because a former co-worker recommended them? Think of all the people you used to work with who now work at different companies. If you’ve ever been laid off, how quickly did you look at your network and get in touch with former teammates? Have you been able to help a friend get a job at your company? That’s one of the best feelings in the world – everybody wins!
Of course, I’ll miss working with “Dan” and learning from him on a daily basis. And I suspect things will change a bit after his last day. But he’s excited about his new adventures, and I’m excited for him too. He’s set a lot of great things in motion over the past few years, and as I look around at the other excellent people I get to work with, I’m confident that the team is headed in the right direction. So the world is not ending, and the book is not finished – everyone’s just turning the page and diving into a new chapter!
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Jeff Nordquist is a software developer, leader, mentor, and entrepreneur. He loves thinking and writing about this stuff! You can reach him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffnordquist), on Twitter (@jeffnordquist), or via email at jeff@jeffnordquist.com.
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