Reorganizations
Hello!
Hope you had a great weekend! In the US, we have a long weekend due to Labor Day. For all you know, I might be having brunch somewhere instead of sitting in front of my computer.
This is a short issue, as I'm still processing my thoughts, but better to release now than wait for perfect.
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This topic has been top of mind for me after the last one we had recently, which felt different in some ways. I've been part of a few reorgs in the previous few years, especially during the recession and COVID stay-at-home era.
Rollercoaster
I've always thought that going through a change, you'll go through the 5 stages of grief.
I've certainly experienced denial or anger even. I've learned to process these corporate changes better as I've grown.
We all process these changes differently, and it is valid to experience any feeling. It also affects us differently if you primarily work independently or need to speak with multiple stakeholders and if your team is split vs. taken entirely out of an organization.
Fear
One of the first times I was part of a reorg was when a leader left, and we got moved to be part of a larger organization after years of being "independent."
I recall hearing conversations about being deprioritized or the eventual closure of our unit. It resulted in a good move. We aligned with larger enterprise goals and leveraged other teams that had developed tools we could use.
We never know what could be on the other side.
Opportunities
I've been trying to provide a more positive framing of changes regarding opportunities for the teams on both sides of the change.
A role opens up for people to grab, or a new scope opens up for a team to take on; a leader gets more people to chase larger goals.
Ultimately, it is a personal choice of how you see the change before you.
Your Turn!
Have you been part of Reorgs? How do you deal with the change? Were you in the know before it happened? Or did you have a say in what would happen? Let me know by replying to this email!
Happy coding!
Things I discovered in the past week
- The Acrobatics of Switching Between Management and Engineering is a blog post about the Engineer/Manager pendulum that's been talked about for a few years now.
- Today, I was chatting with a colleague about what sets coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship apart from each other. is a Twitter (X?) thread about what distinguishes coaching, mentoring, sponsorship. Lately, I've been focusing on getting better at sponsoring other people.
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