Barooga
NSW, 7 May 2021,
Hi
Marlis,
That’s
right, all the way over in Barooga in NSW today, driving Yumi back and forth to
a work thing. I’ve parked the car next to a river and the only thing you can
hear is the birds and oh, there’s a Kookaburra! I hope you are doing well now
that the ACT is hitting the frosty lows again, it’s hard to imagine sitting in
25degrees just now 😊. The past 2 months have been as
eventful as they could be, so I’ll just get into it straight away.
Hamilton
trip
Not
to the musical Hamilton, I always get so confused when they first act, then
dance and sing, I never know what to do! No, the place Hamilton near the
Grampians national park. We once visited there about 10 years ago when we came
to Australia for the second time and the weather was so miserable, we ended up
not seeing or doing much for 3 days. This time around it couldn’t have been
more different. The weather was gorgeous, the little bed and breakfast we
stayed at was lovely and at night the stars were so bright and visible we could
see parts of the Milky Way and even the Magellan Clouds (small parts of other
galaxies), which just doesn’t happen in Altona with all the light pollution
from industry and the city nearby. As always, Yumi had crafted a very good
travel plan and we climbed mountains, visited cultural sites and bushwalked to
our heart’s content. We drove up along the Surf Coast and great Ocean Road and
you just know you’ve become a local when you don’t even stop at the 12 Apostles
or any of the other tourist traps because, well, you’ve seen them more than a
few times and they’re rocks, so they don’t change much, haha. Instead, we went
inland and got a little bit lost in a volcanic crater park because ethe signage
was so strange and all over the place. We found our way back and called it a
day for then, without Yumi I’d still be wandering around there now… At the
cottage we could play with the cat, who also wanted to sit on Yumi’s lap all
night, there were some sheep and alpacas and a veggie garden where we could get
fruit and some veggies for our snacks and meals. It was all pretty good. Aside
from the fire alarm going off full tilt, not once, but twice, so I pried it off
the ceiling and took its batteries out. That’ll teach it! On the way back we
stopped in Ballarat to visit the regional art museum and it was much better
than expected. It was only supposed to be a stop to stretch our legs a bit, but
we ended up staying much longer than expected. They had all sorts of
interesting paintings, art installations and contemporary works by local people
and the building itself is also a piece of art on the inside. You’d never guess
form the outside, with its black and brown façade, but the inside is bright,
colourful and light.
Work/Career
change
You
know that job I was so happy to have and go to every week? Yeah, I quit that 2
weeks ago…There was very little drama in the whole event and we parted on good
terms. Two months ago, my boss had spoken to one of my teachers who mentioned
that I was rushing things and wasting materials. The rushing thing is true and
I changed that a lot since then, but the wasting material is just nonsense,
also, I pay for those materials myself, so I feel I can make a mistake or two. Anyway,
my boss spoke to me about it, I said I’d do better and then two weeks ago he
felt that it was necessary to repeat the whole thing again. I let him do the
talking and then at the end he said he felt like I wanted to say something too.
I wasn’t going to say anything, just having promised Yumi that I would give it
my best try, but he really opened the door and I decided that enough was enough.
I
explained how I felt that this was not going to work if he treated me like a 17-year-old
and that it made me feel like this was maybe not the job or even career for me.
He didn’t take that too bad but said that he had many things going on and that
I needed to sort my sh** out and fast. Now I am never one to walk away from a
challenge, so in the calmest of ways I told him that I’d make his life really
easy, pack my stuff and leave. Despite being 2 team members down already, I
think we was very happy with that outcome. I always felt like I was a bit of a
disappointment to him for some reason and life’s too short to live or work like
that. I’ve written a blog post abut it that I’ve included all the way in the
end, so you can read even more if you like.
Since
then, I’ve had a think and decided to call it quits with the tradie life. I
gave a good shot for nearly 18 months, but this is where I’ll get off the bus.
I’ve decided to go back into some form of consulting. I thought I was going to
be totally stressed out, but I am actually doing fine. I might end up working
with one of Yumi’s business partners on a few things and have a few ideas of my
own that I’d like to work on. The Change community was happy to have me back,
judging by the dozens of comments and messages I got since announcing my career
reversal. Never a dull moment in the life of Gilbert! By the time I write the next letter, some
kind of plan will probably have formed and I’ll tell you all about it.
School
and training
With
me quitting my job, that also means that TAFE is coming to an end and “good
riddance”, I say! The teachers are good, but it’s all so poorly designed and
organised that things take twice as long and having to ask what I need to do
for every step, yeah, that’s just not me. I did manage to finish my desk (see
picture on the next page) which also means I completed my first-year furniture
making apprenticeship! I’ll get a statement of attainment, so that if I ever
decide to go back and finish it, I can start form that point on, so that was totally
worth the last 3 days of last week. I also got to hang out with one of the best
teachers and he helped me sharpen my chisels to such a point that I can now
perform simple surgeries on humans and farm animals if required. Probably not a
good idea though 😊.
On
the same day I quit my job, I also got the news that I passed the exam for my
Cert4 Training and Assessment. Now I don’t want to sound like a total whinger,
but that was one of the most terrible courses I’ve ever done. The people and
organisation were lovely, but the paperwork and repetitive work were beyond
funny. I honestly think I wrote a 300-page book of forms and templates. I was
super excited to get the qualification because it allows me to teach at unis,
TAFEs and schools in a casual capacity, but I will never, ever do this again if
I can help it. Aside from the refresher courses every few years, those can’t be
too bad…Right?! Well, they can’t be any worse than the course itself, if only
because it’s just 2 days!
SES
activities
It
was relatively quiet with callouts for a while, aside from the possibility that
we’d be going to WA to help out with the cyclone damage over there. But then
they went in lockdown and all things got stopped. It’s always a weird feeling,
because you want to go and help, but you’re also happy that you don’t have to,
because that means things are under control. Well, sort of, because in
East-Gippsland, people still need help and not much is happening there now that
the media has moved on to the next crisis.
I’ve
started my truck license and passed the theory exam already, even had an hour
behind the wheel of our own very old truck that will be replaced in a few
weeks’ time. I need a few more lessons because some habits I’ve developed over
time are not good enough when you’re driving a 3-axle 27 tonne block of steel.
I had my truck license 15 years ago, but let it expire when we came to
Australia. I hadn’t driven a truck for 8 years by then and didn’t think it was
safe to just get behind the wheel. I mean, we see enough accidents on the roads
around Melbourne and now that I’ve seen the theory exam, I understand why. It
was So.Much.Harder. in the Netherlands!
Yumi’s
work, courses and training
Yumi
keeps powering on and working with her clients all over the country. She was in
Canberra last weekend to meet with her business partners in person for the
first time in more than 12 months. It sounds like it was a good meeting,
because she came back full of energy and plans, which is the version of her
that I like best. A lot of things that had been on the boil for a while are now
finally getting pushed to the next step or will be brought to a close, so
that’s progress! Between all that busy business work, she’s also managed to
complete 2 trainings. One more in the space of thinking about yourself and how
your respond to the world, the other about a certain method that consultants
use to get results without making organisations and the people in them jump
through hoops. She’ll end up delivering that training to others now as well and
will perhaps even do a few consulting jobs for Semco Australia. I think she got
a lot out of it and even made the course better for others. Money well spent
for sure!
Bronn
the foster dog
The
day after we came home from our Hamilton break, we picked up foster dog #3,
Bronn. His whole litter was named after character from Game of Thrones, a
popular, be it slightly gruesome, t-series. He’s named after a mercenary and
that is just so funny because he is a massive grey hound of nearly 40kgs, but
also the biggest scaredy pants you’ll ever meet! In hindsight, the other two
gave us a real easy time. He was just the loveliest and most gentle dog, but
afraid of the wind, cars, the trains, the train horn, loud noise and fast
movements. He probably led a very sheltered life so far. He’ll get there
eventually though because he was just so smart. He recognised reflections,
understood doorknobs and how he would get a treat if he had all four of his
paws on his mat. He was the only one so far that Yumi felt safe to leave in the
living room while we were out and aside from the occasional ‘stolen’ shoe, he
didn’t get up to mischief at all. He also was enormously food motivated and ate
everything we gave him, which was a very pleasant change from the other two. We
learn so much from every next one, this is just too much fun to stop doing. His
anxiety and stress caused him to lash out to me a few times, but he doesn’t
mean to harm you, just trying to tell me he was scared, so I don’t blame him,
just kept my distance when I could. He’s back at the shelter now and I am sure
they’ll find a good home for him, maybe after a bit more training on how to use
stairs because that remained a bit of a challenge till the end. Below are some
pictures of him on his mat, exploring the water, proudly standing on the
landing of some stairs outside and sniffing all the snack for his birthday on
the 28th of April. The only time we had grilled chicken in the house
and he loved it!
New volunteer gig
I’ve
started working with an animal shelter in Grafton, NSW just because they asked
for help. The lady, Sally, has turned 70 and feels like it’s time to start slowing
down and hand over the ‘business’. It’s early days still, but I’ve been asked
to write up a strategy, a media plan, a succession plan, a fundraising strategy
and a few other things that shouldn’t be too hard. I plan to take it slow and
there’s no need to rush as she has a 5-year plan in mind. Then again, she’s had
three strokes so far and things might not be up to her completely. I handed in
the draft documents this Wednesday and learned a lot in the process. Very
curious to see what happens next. There’s a very small chance that Yumi and I
will take over the shelter if everything works out just right, but for now I am
designing it all for someone else and it’s just good to use my brain for these
sorts of things again!
Small
things
· BeachPatrol,
where we clean the beaches and streets in Altona has started up again and it’s
good to be out and cleaning up again. Now that things are getting back to some
sense of normal, littering is back as well, so there’s work to do!
· My
friend Peter and I will be working on a comic book about Change management and
what doesn’t work and maybe even design a game where one team needs to make
change happens, while the other team does everything they can to make it fail.
Even if nothing comes of it, I just love working with him because we have so
much fun.
· All
the family in the Netherlands are getting their Covid shots and we feel much better
knowing they’ve been vaccinated. Australia is so much better off than any other
country I know of, it’s just amazing to see thousands of new infections and no
one seems to car that much I hope you also decide to go and get the Pfizer one.
There are some very rare problems with the Zeneca one, but knowing how tough
you are, you probably wouldn’t even notice it if you caught Covid anyway 😊.
Alright,
that’s it form me for now, please stay safe and warm and I’ll write soon again
with my adventures from May and June.
Gilbert
This
is the piece I wrote on my ‘professional’ blog:
To make sense of my career changing events of the last week or so, I
imagined meeting myself at a networking event and answering some questions
I might have after not seeing me there for 18 months. Here’s how I imagine this
conversation would go.
Where
have you been all this time?
I decided that I needed a break from Change management and how it was
being practiced. I wanted to find out if working with my hands was a better
career option for me. After two workplaces and a year of TAFE I realised that
the mature age apprentice life is definitely not for me.
What
made you quit?
In hindsight it was two big things that were made worse by smaller
things. Big thing one was that I had interviewed way too well and got a
reference that was so glowing that people all around Torquay had to shut their
blinds for 3 days. I could simply not live up to that, despite my best efforts.
Big thing two is that I was arguably the worst apprentice ever. My work ethic
is beyond compare, but I consider myself too old for most BS that a teenager
will put up with. Add to this that my last boss and I have very similar
personalities and we brought out the worst in each other by just being
ourselves. Being told that I needed to get my sh*t sorted (and fast) while I
was trying to explain that I wasn’t sure if this was the life for me, sealed
the deal for me. It was also the first time that after six months I was still
the least performing person on a team of legends. After a while I got the sense
that mistakes were no longer acceptable and that I was simply not good enough
to keep around. Life’s too short for that and the team deserves better, so off
I went. That’s my version of events, a story with an okay ending and no heroes
or villains.
Has
it changed you in meaningful ways?
I sure hope so. It would be quite depressing if 18 months of being in a
completely different environment, doing very, very different things would leave
me unchanged. My patience has improved at least 5-fold! But before you get
excited, that’s from 2% to 10%, so let’s hold off on the celebration just yet.
I am less confident than I used to be and I like to think I am a bit more
easy-going, less intense. People often mistake my intensity for passion, but
it’s really just frustration with the way things are, voiced in a pleasant and
sometimes amusing way.
What
was the best thing about it?
So many things! Every day is different, new places to go, things to do,
furniture to finish and offcuts to set on fire. What’s not to love?! I got to
work with truly talented people and make beautiful things that people want to
own and sometimes designed themselves. The trade took me all around Melbourne
when lockdowns 1,2 and 3 happened and kept me working and learning when so many
others had the roughest of times. I’ve visited many schools, businesses, the
poshest of homes and lots of other strange and wonderful places that Change
never took me. On top of that I now have a full kit of tools that I know
how to use if I ever want to make an okay-ish piece of furniture. And that’s not
even mentioning the hundreds of hours of podcast on science and history I could
listen to while working in an ‘office’ with the best view and coolest workshop
dogs ever. Good times indeed.
What
was the worst about it?
TAFE, without a doubt. Imagine a kitchen where 16 incompetent young
people (and old me) are cooking a somewhat specified meal, using the same
tools, pots, pans and the same space, with little to no instruction and
guidance and everyone can stir pots, change the temperature of the oven and mix
up ingredients. That’s not a meal you’d serve anyone. Most of the teachers were
masters of their craft but the system itself is beyond repair and caused so
much frustration that I was looking forward to leaving by the time I walked in.
I also didn’t enjoy feeling incompetent for months on end. Apparently, that’s
part of the process, which makes me feel that the process is in serious
trouble. I figured I’d feel more competent, skilled and trusted as months went
by, but the exact opposite was true for me. Perhaps it was one of those: “once
you know how little you know, it’s hard to remain confident about what
you do know” kind of situations. I’ve been known to be
my own worst enemy…
What
did you learn?
So many things! Probably the most important thing was to not drill into my hand! Not only does it hurt
quite a bit while it heals, it also really freaks people out. Their screaming
is a lot worse than the blood. Another thing I learned is that it feels better
to work pro bono than for minimum wage. I always had respect for people doing
hard work for minimum wage, now that I’ve experienced it myself, that respect
has at least doubled. Another key learning was that almost every mistake can be
fixed if you have enough time. Also, sometimes IKEA is easier, faster and almost
always cheaper than making it yourself from scratch.
Any
regrets?
No, it was totally worth it, even though I would not recommend this kind
of career change to just anyone and probably never do it again myself. Despite
having failed in what I set out to do, the experience of stepping away from
Change and fully committing to a completely new trade gave me some much-needed
perspective and helped me regain creativity I didn’t even know I had lost.
Did
you miss the Change Community? Even a little bit?
I missed the people and conversations a lot, for sure. But LinkedIn and
Twitter kept me connected to long-time Change friends and in the loop on the
big things. With 2020 being the social and professional dumpster fire it was
for so many, I feel like this was the best year to take a break. For once, my
timing was spot on! I’m not saying that nothing has changed in Change, but now
that the roar of lockdown terror, vaccine anger and all the posts on making
sense of a post-COVID world have subsided a bit, I think we’re once again
hearing all those good ideas and new initiatives that got drowned out before.
So much new ideas to look forward to!
You’re
here tonight, does that mean you’re back to doing Change work?
Short answer, yes. If the right challenge comes along; I’ll jump on it
to get back into things. Longer answer: I’m not sure if I want to. From what
I’ve seen from 20 minutes on job boards, the change job market is as mercenary
as it’s always been. I’ve got a few things I am working on with Purpose at Work
in board advisory on quality and safeguarding and if things go well, I’ll be
creating a whole new toolkit on purposeful practices in disability, aged and
social care. I am also looking forward to the third round of Change Tools
Masterclasses for Deakin. I still prefer short term, complex and hard to solve
challenges and I think everyone is better off if I am my own boss moving
forward.
Good
to see you again, I hope the community welcomes you back with their usual
enthusiasm!
Thanks for the chat, I enjoy being back and look forward to finding out
what people have been up to.
