I've got a new job. I'm no longer at Socialtext doing wikis, but am back at Follett Library Resources.
I used to be the manager of the Development department here at FLR, but now I'm just a plain ol' Senior Programmer. The current manager is a guy I hired years ago who is a great leader, and a natural for the position, and so working for him, with our roles reversed, is no trouble whatsoever. It's great to work in a company again with real management.
My mom asked me "Do you like not having the boss responsibilities? Do you have aspirations to move up again?" I really don't see my move back here as "down". It's just a different role. When I took the manager job, it wasn't because I wanted to move "up", but because it was part of what I needed to do to make things happen. I had to hire people to make the department better, and I needed to be the technical leader. After five years of getting the department into shape, I had come to the end of what I wanted to do, so I left. Now that I'm back, it's with a new set of challenges, leading work on a new project overhauling a website for a sister company, doing new cleanup and refactoring.
Andy: congratulations for your new job. I hope you find it enjoying and satisfying.
