In tech we tend to think linearly. In an ideal scenario, all things should go up and to the right, signifying growth and success. Even if there’s a bumpier road working toward career or company goals, things should keep moving in one direction: ever forward.
We don’t do ourselves any favours with this single-track mindset, though, since life, the world and, hell, the universe tend to move in cycles.
I’ve been reminded of this many times over my working life, and was reminded again recently when the company I work for was acquired. It made me think back to previous company changes I’ve gone through, including another acquisition.
For a long time my working life seemed to go in four-year cycles, which have stretched out to five years as I get older. Yeah, five years in tech time is practically a geological epoch.
My co-worker wrote a post about cycles as well. He was one of the founders of the company I work for, and will now be moving on to other things. So it was very much on his mind. His cycles have always tended to be 10 years.
For some people, 10 years is a really long time to build up experiences, relationships and patterns. It can make change – especially big change – very difficult. But he’s one of those people who dives in. He’s not only currently in the process of changing what he works on, but also where he lives and how he lives.
Now, during the last 10 years, he was doing and trying all kinds of things, but the broad strokes of his work – where he lived, who he knew and ideas that intrigued him – remained within general cyclical boundaries.
He’ll always be a tech punk in some way or another, but it brought to mind several people I know who’ve reached the end of their tech cycle in the last while and who’ve moved out of the industry entirely, sometimes after decades.
Over time, it can become easier and easier to let work, tech life and other considerations happen to you. However, it’s better to make changes, like changing jobs because you want a new challenge or greater responsibilities or more money, not just because you got laid off.
Of course, tech tends to attract the entrepreneurial-minded and misfits of other kinds, and this reactivity less often applies to such personalities.
But approaching life reactively can make change more difficult and even traumatic. You get comfortable and stop expecting change to come. Even though it’s pretty much guaranteed if you’re alive in the world.
Even if you weren’t that happy before, some people would think that making an “unnecessary” major change – quitting a job, leaving a relationship, moving somewhere new – is crazy if it appeared that things were going really well.
Note the use of “appeared.” Maybe things were pretty great, or maybe it just looked like it to those on the outside.
Tech companies, particularly, can be pretty flashy and vocal about their perks and cultures. Which can seem especially cool to those who work elsewhere, especially at more traditional or corporate organizations. But that doesn’t mean that working at such places day to day is awesome for everyone.
Some would argue that when you’re on the upswing is exactly when you should push forward into a new cycle. Don’t give things a chance to hit a downswing. Start a new chapter with that energy and feeling positive and confident about new challenges.
I’ve known people who’ve been knocked down at the end of a cycle – which they may have not realized or refused to acknowledge was ending – and never really recovered.
When we think of cycles, we tend to think of a circle. Ending up where we started. But that’s not how it works.
For example, say you got laid off, then got a new job, and then a few years later got laid off again. Sure, that might very well suck, but you’re not back where you started. You were working for several years, gained experience, met new people, and had a life through it.
Now that that cycle has ended, you’re about to start another one, bringing with you knowledge and experience and the effects of change from the last few years.
The idea of cycles is important, too, because built into it is the understanding that things end eventually, but not without being connected to new starts. Unless you’re dead. Especially in tech, which, it seems, can never move or change fast enough for its own taste, endings are going to happen often.
Endings are as inevitable as change. People quit jobs, partnerships dissolve, companies fail, industries go extinct, ideas get abandoned for the next big thing.
Endings aren’t a bad thing. Sometimes, when things aren’t working well, they’re a great thing. Sure, it can suck if you’re on the receiving end of an ending you weren’t expecting or didn’t want. But sometimes we all need a kick in the pants to get going on what’s next, especially if it’s a major pivot from what we were doing before.
As much as unexpected change or quick endings can be a shock, slow transitions can be nerve wracking, too. The acquisition I just experienced took a long time, and for most of that we knew next to nothing and there was no news. This fostered unease and unfounded gossip, which is normal, but not terribly productive.
It also illuminated people’s past work cycles. Those who’d never been through such experiences can get a little panicky. I was grateful for previous layoff and acquisition cycles. It helps you roll with future changes and lack of concrete data a bit better.
Realistically, life and work never always go up and to the right. It’s never all growth and success. If it seems to be, that’s usually what we call a bubble. Anyone who’s been in tech any length of time should be familiar with how those tend to end up.
But when you come to expect to move and exist within cycles, keeping an eye on their flow, over time you get better at handling change the way you want it.
M-Theory is an opinion column by Melanie Baker. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Communitech. Melle can be reached on Twitter at @melle or by email at me@melle.ca.
