I think I used that excuse once when breaking up with a girl. However, when it comes to leaving an employer, that’s another story.
Over at Techcrunch Michael Arrington has an interesting post about a “group” created by Google HR for people to post about why they’re leaving Google for other employers. What’s interesting isn’t so much the reasons (e.g., low pay, cutting back of perks, “in the box” thinking – though that IS interesting) as the psychological effects of the decision. As one respondent stated:
“Those of us who failed to thrive at Google are faced with some pretty serious questions about ourselves. Just…Google is supposed to be some kind of Nirvana, so if you can’t be happy there how will you ever be happy? It’s supposed to be the ultimate font of technical resources, so if you can’t be productive there how will you ever be productive?”
That’s pretty intense, and I’m not sure I’m comfortable with building a corporate culture to the point where the decision to leave is followed by years of therapy, counseling and prescription drug dependency. It’s great to love where you work, but to do that to the detriment of your self esteem is a bit suspect.
Many people have left successful companies and been just as successful, if not more so. Look at Bret Taylor, Jim Norris, Paul Bucheit and Sanjeev Singh – they are the former Googlers who founded FriendFeed – the de facto standard for social networking aggregation. What about Mark Messier, who was traded by Edmonton Oilers to the New York Rangers – and in the process added to New York sports legend by guaranteeing a victory in Game 6 of the 1994 Stanley Cup. With the Rangers down 3-2 in the series, Messier then backed up his guarantee by scoring a natural hat trick in the game. The Rangers went on to win Game 7 and hoist Lord Stanley’s trophy.
Look, a job is just that, a job. It doesn’t define who you are, it’s just a means to an end. Sure, there is some “carte blanche” that goes with your “team” – whether that is a literal professional sports team or the company you’re working for – but leaving that team doesn’t mean you’re any less important, less skilled, or that you lack some inherent quality to be successful. As noted, in some cases, it means just the reverse.
Actually leaving a company can mean actual advancement of a career versus moving to just another job, especially when you’re leaving a company that has built a huge cult of personality, something commonplace in the tech industry. There’s no penalty for making a decision to move on – either personally or professionally. Sometimes you need to “Just Do It”.
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