My Departure from Infrrd

You may have read or noticed that I’m no longer with Infrrd, our Middlerock client. I don’t write about the internal workings of client companies, but I did want to say that I’m still cheering them on and the separation was on good terms. I can’t talk specifically about my mission or why I’m not there. It had to do with a mutual change in direction after lots of discussion. I don’t like to get into client stuff and they have a right to maintain their confidentiality.

I was very eager to do the work I love and I didn’t take even a moment off to reflect as the departure has been anticipated as a likely outcome for a while. The very next day I was onto other projects and I’m excited about getting to do what I know and what I love. I love my profession, especially when combined with my love of writing.

I’ve taken the time to step up my writing, especially on Quora, which I’ve neglected over the past eight months. Quora itself continues to change, and it’s harder to find the right questions to answer, so I’m sifting through that site every night with the hope of providing better content. I also put my book aside and I’ll now get back to following my editors notes.

I was thinking about company departures in general, and we’re now in such a different employer world where short-term engagements are far more common. I review a lot of resumes and short term roles don’t hit me as negatively as they once did. If the movement from one company to another looks like a lack of performance, that’s one thing, but generally people are moving around a lot more than they once did and often because the two sides are equally driver to follow separate paths. Employees are less willing to roll with a bad situation. Short stints are now common in tech.

One of my loftier projects is to better understand the midwest business climate during this push for more onshore manufacturing. I’m trying to get my arms around the differences in business culture here versus the Northwest.

I did notice one thing, and that is that people dress up for work in the Midwest where they normally dress down on the West Coast. I see more people still wearing a suit and tie here than I did in Seattle where it’s now very rare unless you’re a lawyer, banker, attorney or accountant. Those four positions seem to be the last holdouts.

I’ve not drawn any conclusions yet as I think my ideas are still anecdotal. I’m still absorbing how people think of business around here. I do know that old relationships matter here, so I’ll see how well I’m received as an outsider. Time will tell. Yet, I still love it here and FOMO is not taking root.