Why I left a great job and so should you.

Recently, I have been asked why I left my last role, more than I expected, by many.  The simple answer is, life is short, and as far as I know, we only get one of them.  The longer answer, and the one that everyone actually wants, is a little more difficult to answer.  Now, to get something out of the way, right away, it had nothing to do with my employer.  Yeah, sorry, that's just not the case, in fact, if it wasn't for the people that I worked along side, I would have probably left a little earlier.  Great people, amazing talent, I just started to notice that I was in a routine.  Sure, you have new projects, or fires to fight, but in the end, it was by and large the same things occurring over and over.  That wasn't the case when I began in the role, and with the talent of many, we built an enterprise offering, almost from scratch, amazing days indeed.

My view, is that your average shelf life in any organization is 4 to 6 years, less than that, and you haven't been able to really influence change.  It takes time to win trust, go through with projects, make a difference that isn't fleeting.  Beyond that, and your settling in for a routine, with less challenges, and by challenges, I mean with yourself.  There is a reason why most democracies have term limits, every organization, that of a government or a business needs change.  I'm very much an advocate of hiring within, its key to retention, and allows stellar employees to prosper, yet, I also think that new blood is just as important, if not more so.

Here's the great thing, taking on change, and taking on new challenges is very rewarding. Had I stayed at my previous employer before Canonical, I would have never met so many great people, making lifelong friends, or done things that I am very proud of doing, like building a world class support and services organization.  The same can be said about Red Hat, very proud of the work that I did there, and met many amazing people there, again, lifelong friendships.  And that's why, when asked why I left, I tell them life is short and so should you, once your in a routine and not challenging yourself anymore.