In every job I’ve ever held I’ve always written a letter. If I stay a year, it’s delivered on my anniversary date. If I don’t, it’s part of my letter of resignation.
The letter basically has 3 components: a huge thanks for the opportunity, some of the things I’m looking forward to for the future (kind of a “here’s what’s possible” section) and finally things that really need looked at.
It’s a really ballsy / foolish / egotistical thing to do, and I know that. Upon leaving my one and only dot-com position, Iwrote something to the effect of (boiled down) “this place is okay, but has no business strategy and in spite of serious funding will flounder until it finds just such a strategy”.
That was the only negative letter I’ve written though. Every other one (I’m at 5 so far) have all been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging because, ultimately, I believed in the place I was working.
Embarrassingly, and probably sadly, each one of my letters has been bang on. Maybe it’s because I never write them lightly or in a cocky manner. I often spend more than 10 hours agonizing over them. Sometimes they are self obvious. One time it served as a wakeup call. Every other time it’s effectively been ignored with a “sure young’un, whatever” shrug and a smile. But, again, each time they’ve been right.
I don’t say that pompously. It’s just my string of luck so far.
I’m approaching my 1-Year anniversary here at HSC. Sure it’s not until February, but with a baby, 3 weeks of holidays and Christmas coming up it might as well be right around the corner.
And I’m starting to think about this letter.
I’m seriously debating not doing it. Not because I’m afraid I’ll be wrong, but because I’m afraid I’ll be right.
Earlier today I mentioned that I was “walk the tightrope between honesty and losing my job“. That’s exactly how I feel. HSC’s been good to me. They hired me for a job that I wasn’t actually qualified for, gave me time to learn the ropes and have given me the freedom to practice my unique blend of skills fairly well.
But I am still left questionning the point of these letters. Is it to leave a big “I told you so” behind? Is it actually to encourage change? Is it to satisfy my own ego?
It’s always difficult to feel like you’re being heard. But when your director tells you “I see you as a mowing the lawn type of guy” (ie: doing the grunt work) it’s hard not to feel… Pigeonholed.
But HSC, healthcare and public sector work in general excites me. The politics, the lack of opportunity for advancement and hte lack of communication annoy me, but those are things I know I can live with (having been in several similar situations in the past).
What do you think? Is there a point to such a letter, even a well intentioned one? Or am I just spinning my wheels and ultimately wasting my breath?
October 26th, 2004 at 10:08 am
If this is something you have done consistently thus far, I think you would need a very compelling reason NOT to do one. You are creating a pretty cool history of your working life with those letters.
But maybe, if you’re really concerned or torn, you write it and just keep it for yourself.
October 26th, 2004 at 11:08 am
Letters like those you describe, when they are well written, are like hand grenades. They can be very effective if thrown at the right direction, at least 15 meters away.
I have thrown a few myself, and at times under the 15 meter minimum.
Whether the letter is negative or positive, it is a profound expression that you care — that you care about the organization, its people, and its mission. Unfortunately, I think few recipients of these letters appreciate that.
I’ve written a few such letters in my current job, but I don’t plan on writing any more, because I don’t care. I show up and collect a paycheck every two weeks and try to maximize my personal benefit/cost ratio.
Every organization gets what it rewards, and you would be amazed at what I’ve been able to accomplish when I stopped caring. My pay per hour worked has skyrocketed (I’m salaried, if you get my meaning, nudge nudge wink wink).
I don’t know what your situation is, but I work under an “at will” employment agreement, which essentially means my employer can fire me for any reason it sees fit. I’m OK with that, because it also means I can quit for any reason I see fit. We are on equal terms. They pay me to do work; I do the work and get paid.
I’ve learned that how much I care about the organization’s well being is not part of the deal — they don’t pay or reward me in any way to care. In fact, the organization discourages caring, no matter what its leadership says to the contrary.
I would prefer to work for an organization that rewards good work AND caring (i.e. excellence), and I’ve come to believe that I’m going to have to build the organization myself — that I won’t find it in a job search.
October 26th, 2004 at 12:03 pm
I say write the letter. If anything, your manager’s opinion of what you do should be more of a catalyst to write it than not to. Let them know that people’s ideas should be heard no matter what their position is in the organization. I’m sure there have even been janitors in the past that have come up with great ideas for organizations they work in.
October 26th, 2004 at 12:16 pm
I agree with Vinnie. Hell, an example of one such janitor, though not for the organization, is the inventor of the vacuum.
Voice your opinions. If they don’t like them then obviously they’re not on the same page as you anyways. But if they’ve been forgiving enough to let you have a job you weren’t qualified for, then they’ll surely look at this and not be angry. In fact, they may just listen.
October 26th, 2004 at 1:31 pm
I guess one of the questions is: “do I care?”
I don’t know how to answer that. I like healthcare. I like what I’m doing (system administration / server administration). I like some of the folk I work with.
But, if I were fired, would I really lose any sleep over it for any reason other than a loss of income?
I really don’t think I should answer that
I know that at my last job it would have been incredibly hard to walk away (it was) and even harder to be kicked out the door.
Maybe it’s because I’ve only been here 10 months that I don’t have the same attachment.
Gerrrh… Thanks for your comments and being supportive. For future consideration, next time I ask anything that involves me actually doing something always answer “Hell no Jeremy, you fool!”
October 26th, 2004 at 2:04 pm
Always keep in mind, it’s nearly impossible to put the pin back in a grenade once you’ve pulled it.
October 26th, 2004 at 3:04 pm
Just to get it over with ahead of time:
Hell no Jeremy, you fool!
October 26th, 2004 at 5:38 pm
“I see you as a mowing the lawn type of guy”
Wow, forward that to Mike Judge for if he makes Office Space 2.
October 26th, 2004 at 9:35 pm
Mmmmm. Writing the letter is good, but unless you’re already well known within your organization for your astute insight and analysis, you’ll want to (must) build the business case in order to be truly heard. And you gotta put on the gloves–no bareknuckle action. Nobody will listen if you tell them they’re an idiot, so you’ve gotta give it to ‘em softly. Give them a little bit of room to connect some dots on their own.
And read the slacker manifesto.
October 26th, 2004 at 10:36 pm
IMHO there are two choices:
- Write the letter
- Create a well-planned and organized scheme which will, in the end, result in the “higher ups” believing that they came up with the idea then show them your brilliant scheme and rub it in their faces every chance you get.