Locality of action

Back in 1976, I wanted to send Diane some flowers for her birthday. She was still living in Valley Stream, NY, at the time, and I was already in Boca Raton, FL. Most people would have used FTD, but I was worried that the order wouldn’t get there in time (since it was New Year’s Eve), so I went to the library, which had a huge collection of Yellow Pages, found a florist in Valley Stream, and splurged on a long distance call so I could order directly from them. And they came through.

Last week, I wanted to thank a colleague for help above and beyond the call of duty by sending her some wine. She lives just outside Des Moines, Iowa; fortunately, Iowa is a reasonable state as far as wine shipping laws go, but I thought I could do better than picking a big Internet wine merchant. I Googled and found Ingersoll Wine and Spirits, (who had a better selection of California and Oregon Pinot Gris on their Web site than either BevMo or Wine.com!). And they delivered in one day, far faster than I could have gotten delivery from a Web giant.

I’m glad that the Internet hasn’t quite managed to kill local merchants.

Date Certain

The news, once more, came in a phone call.

Even though I’d decided not to look for a new full-time position in IBM, there was one project that had recently heated up where I would be able to make a significant dent in a short time. So I asked my management to investigate extending my departure date for a month or two so I could attack that problem.

They investigated, but the answer was, as I expected, “no.” My manager gave me the word during our regular call today.

Even though I’d been expecting the news, hearing the final answer was still daunting.

So now I have a date certain for my retirement from IBM – March 31, 2010. My retirement celebration (my word, not IBM’s) will be a bit later. And I can turn my full attention to figuring out what comes next.

Weekend update

There haven’t been any significant developments on the job front since I last posted:

  • I’m still happy with my decision not to pursue a new full-time position inside IBM
  • I’m willing to take a look if a new full-time position (inside or outside IBM) pursues me
  • I’m not sure when my last day at IBM will be
  • I expect to be looking for real work once that last day is nailed down

I had a great weekend doing other things, instead of worrying about work.

Friday night, Diane and I went to ComedySportz to see the regular show (very good) and their special Shakespearian Midnight Show, Much Improv about Nothing (excellent). I wish the Midnight Show were earlier, though!

Saturday, we went to Torah Study (and finished studying the book of Ezra-Nehemiah) and then to services (where we finished Exodus). And then we enjoyed the nice weather for the rest of the day; I went looking for a kit to make a raised bed for my soon-to-happen garden but didn’t buy one (I’m thinking of the MiniFarmBox, since the local Ace Hardware store has it available — any comments are welcome!), and tried to order business cards at the local OfficeDepot but no one was at their service desk, so I gave up and ordered them online instead.

Sunday, I went to Prayerbook Hebrew class, then we both went to Talmud class to study the ethics of whistleblowing. Then we went to Savannah-Chanelle Winery with the Shir Hadash Sisterhood for a tour and tasting; they were selling the 2006 Pinot Noir and the 2007 Syrah at a very nice price in full cases, so we participated in an impromptu group buy of both. And then I went back to ComedySportz to support the other half of my Rec League class by watching their (very funny) final show of this series; we start classes again next week, so I suspect we’ll have a show in late April, which I’ll pimp incessantly on Twitter and Facebook.

Today, it was back to the office; I finally managed to watch the introductory video from Right Management (it requires Windows Live Player on Windows as far as I can tell; oh, well). I also did a good amount of cleanup of files I don’t need any more (and, for the most part, haven’t needed for several years), especially on servers. And I talked with several colleagues (not all of whom had heard my news yet, somewhat to my surprise).

Tomorrow…well, tomorrow is another day.

Clarity

There are times when it would help to have someone else read this blog before I post. Last night was one of those times.

I was so intent on using the exact wording of my second-line manager’s question as an excuse to insert a reference to IBM’s Career Derailment Factors into the post that I didn’t realize that what I’d written would be confusing for anyone who wasn’t living in my head (or at least in the same house).

Today, though, two friends at work pinged me within a few minutes to ask whether I was OK and if I could explain what I’d written.

So I’ll try again (there were no other reportable developments today, so this gives me an excuse to post).

I’ve chosen not to look for a new full-time position at IBM; if a truly wonderful position came looking for me, I would certainly consider it, but it’d have to be right on target. Unless that happens, I’ll be retiring from IBM in the near future.

Note that I said “retiring from IBM”. I’m not ready to really retire, but I am sure that the grass is differently-colored on the other side of the firewall, and this gives me a great opportunity to find out what that color is.

Off the rails

IBMers who have spent time looking at IBM’s Leadership Competencies may be familiar with the eight career Derailment Factors that IBM Learning has identified (hint: avoid them!).

I found a new one today.

After reaching out to my network in the wake of last week’s surprise, several people had identified one particular opportunity that was a plausible fit for me, and I’d asked my second-line manager to help connect me. I’d even sent her something which would pass as an internal résumé, at least for a first look. And she’d made contact and had a call scheduled with the executive who needed to fill the slot.

So I wasn’t surprised when she popped up on IM early this morning and asked a simple question: “I have a call with [redacted] – what do you want me to do (I can derail it, or push for it, or try to be neutral…..)”

I had a one word answer, straight from my gut:

“Derail.”

I don’t think she was surprised.

And I was relieved to make my decision explicit.

She and I talked for a while. Both of us came away from the conversation happier, and with a slightly-revised plan for the rest of my time at IBM. Later today, I talked with my first-line manager so I could make sure he knew what was going on, since he’ll have to make the first move to implement the plan.

Welcome to the endgame.

For those trying to follow along in BluePages, note that my first-line manager is in Canada and doesn’t show up in my “reports-to” chain.