Word Up, everybody say - you better listen to your anger, cause it will show you the way

With the start of a new year, after a little bit of time away from the day to day circus of work, I find myself considering all kinds of things. Let us say that we have around 14 hours of precious, conscious, productive, creative hours in a day and lets us say we spend up to 10 hours a day getting to work, working and travelling back from work. Let us then also suppose that we still think a significant amount of the day and the weekend about the work, is it fair to say that up to 80 percent of our time is occupied with work or thinking about work? And if that is indeed a fair assessment, wouldnt we want to spend that time doing something that 1) makes a difference to us 2) makes a difference in the world and contributes something and 3) makes us happy. And does something good for the benefit of many, maybe.

I have been in corporate IT roles for many years and despite the many pressures of managing projects in this industry, I have always loved what I do. Since my retrenchment by a large IT company 7 years ago, I've been taking short term contracts. I didn't want to be part of the corporate world permanently anymore as I had seen first hand what big corporations do to employees. And I enjoy doing different projects, it keeps things fun and exciting. I've worked very hard to get to some sort of financial state where dollars are not that important anymore; it allows me to pick up roles that suit my skills and personality. Some contracts have been interesting, some frustrating when the project management maturity of an organisation was very low, but I have always been able to deliver. Sometimes at a cost, as stress takes its toll and some projects were canned when funding ceased to exist.

The last contract I accepted has stretched my ability to make a difference, I think a significant amount of corporations have been on prolonged cost cutting and bottom line exercises to the point where they either lost their moral compass or have gone on a downward, unstoppable spiral. I have seen it happen many times, good people leave, no investment in processes and tools and a continuing stream of corporate cost cutting has drained the life and the soul out of the company. It is untennable as the foundation is broken and staff are still expected to deliver, morale is low, nothing works, the links are broken, sometimes irreparably broken. I found myself getting angry and going to work every day with a sense of dread. Angry that it is acceptable that employees are put through the wringer, dread as there was no drive to change, angry that as a contractor you are expected to put up with the crap "as you are paid for that". I cannot do that, what does that make me - a slave? And so I listened to my anger, it is the compass needle, the true North - the sign that things are not well. Anger is great, it is that signal that tells you that you need to take yourself seriously.

Sometimes people don't know when or where to stop. Hugh Mckay, the Australian social researcher and commentator has described this phenomenon in his latest book What Makes Us Tick. In order to comply to this group we are in, we go beyond the boundaries of what is good for our wellbeing. One senior leader told me that she works 80 hour weeks and sounded proud, it is a badge of honour. How many did you do this week, how early was your conference call with the US, how many hours of unpaid overtime did you do on the weekend? It is expected, it is expected that you burn yourself out, that you comply to the herd, even it it kills you, you have not seen your children grow up and you are at risk of a heart attack at 40. I wanted to ask that leader why she has such little self respect that she allows a corporation to abuse her like that. I have also heard people say, just stay and keep your nose down for the money. What does that make me, what is the value of money if you lose your soul and your values in the process.

That is not what I want. And nothing changes, unless something changes. So I quit, not lightly, not easily, but I quit. I don't know yet what is next, I am sure that something will materialise, sometimes when we set the karma wheel in motion, great things happen.

Always be on your side, choose what works for you and what does not. Don't accept things that make you doubt yourself just cause everybody else does. Sometimes it is not easy to go against the tribe, but it is healthy to question the goal if it is not clear what you are striving for. The book by Hugh McKay quotes David Cameron, the current British PM:

It's time we admitted that there's more to life than money, and it's time we focused not just on GDP, but on GWB - General wellbeing. This cannot be measured by money or traded in markets. It cannot be required by law or delivered by governments. It is all about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture and above all, in the strength of our relationships.