I've never been fired, but have been laid off three times over the course of four distinct careers. I'm also three-for-three for having landed in a much better place after having been laid off. So with three data points, maybe there is some truth to the street wisdom that a little adversity is a good thing.
"I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent- no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you."
- Seneca, On Providence, 4.3
I have also survived 17 layoffs. And I remember them all.
Paradoxically, many of the layoffs I survived were more painful than the layoffs in which I was included. I have clear memories of people I enjoyed working with that one day were simply gone from the place I was spending more than one third of my life. The resulting crash of morale at the workplace added to the sense of dread and "why bother" attitude. Their absence became a reminder that we were all living under someone else's Sword of Damocles, that we would pay the price of poor decisions made by someone else. In some instances, the nauseatingly smug expression of schadenfreude by a few well-connected corporate parasites and toxic individuals cruising the corridors just added to the sting. It doesn't seem this is easier to deal with by those that remain after a layoff in a distributed work environment.
To say I've "survived" all the layoffs that occurred throughout my multiple careers, whether I was culled or not, is more than a little melodramatic. I have truly survived much, much greater losses. Layoffs are not lethal events and living according to several key Stoic principles has helped me to persevere and gain strength from the brief storms of finding work.
"To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden."
- Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus, 231232
Reflecting on work transition experiences, I wondered what is it about having been laid off that made the next place so much better.
I have always worked hard to add value to my employer's business. If that value was either not appreciated or the business shifted away from needing the value I was capable and willing to provide, it was a clear sign that it's time to move on. By making this a choice, I could leave with no hard feelings and no burned bridges. Psychologically, this is more intimidating but much healthier.
Seeing the positive side of being laid off can be a little more difficult, particularly if one has been blind to the signs that every company and manager broadcasts when a layoff is eminent and is surprised when they happen. For starters, layoffs erased all the baggage I was carrying that belonged to the employer and made it much easier to strike out in a direction that suited my interests, skills, talents, and goals. Each of the three layoffs launched new, more lucrative and rewarding careers.
"Today I escaped from the crush of circumstances, or better put, I threw them out, for the crush wasn't from outside me but in my own assumptions."
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.13
Switching employers, even careers, more frequently than previous generations is a good career development strategy. In the dot com era, it was the only effective way to find meaningful raises and career advancement. Why toil away for a decade under Management-by-Taylorism to scratch out incremental pay increases when a salary could be increased by 10%-20% just by switching employers? Twenty-five years on, staying with the same employer for more than five years actually looks odd to many recruiters I've been talking to.
A friend of mine has a personal policy to commit to an employer for 1,000 days. At that point, she decides if the workplace is meeting her goals and expectations. Doesn't matter if it's a shortcoming of her employer or if her goals and interests have changed - a mismatch is a mismatch so it’s time to leave. I think it's a good policy, particularly in the Age of Information and Knowledge and distributed workforces.
A policy like this builds resilience in several ways.
It's important to know what it takes to persevere with the crap work that goes with just about any job. Flitting from job to job doesn't develop this. A 1,000 day commitment is enough to show that you made it past the "honeymoon" period every job has, have worked more than a few significant problems into solutions, and generally paid your dues and demonstrated - if only to yourself - you have the chops to do the work.
Deciding to leave a job and doing so multiple times throughout your life builds confidence in your abilities to create your future.
It adds a valuable layer to your talent stack, as Scott Adams has described it.
If it was generally known that employees had this policy, employers might expand their efforts to foster cultures that allow employees who are creative and collaborative to thrive and grow. Instead of what's more common: Cube farms propped up by career leaches that brag about having worked at the company for 25 years when in fact all they've done is worked one mediocre year and repeated it 24 times.
I'm done with that. Forever.
"There are those too who suffer not from moral steadfastness but from inertia, and so lack the fickleness to live as they wish, and just live as they have begun."
- Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind
Photo by Benmar Schmidhuber on Unsplash