Prepare to Disengage

I was having lunch today with my buddy Paulie, and he had recently gone through a pretty rough breakup - after 2 years, they with no real animosity had to concede that things weren't working all that well. When I saw him last, I was a bit worried, but relieved. So today it turns out, he's back in the dating pool, and seems very happy. And he's going to read this and say "dude, what you talking about me for?"

It's actually relevant, because at the same time, I'm starting to break up with a long term client... at not with a bang but a whimper. After a few years, we've decided to start seeing other people. I'll always have fond memories of them, but with every day I spend separating, spending less time over there, the more "in-focus" it's becoming just how strange things had got.

This is a small hospital, and when I started, I was sort of "consultant at large", helping their team where needed. We had some great successes together. But as time went on, the project got bigger, and my time allocation stayed the same, and things just grew past the point where I could really be effective as a project manager. Then they hired a guy to "help me" - and now he's going to do the job.

I should be clear - I've done a great job, and they're a great client - but it's time for them to move forward with their own team for a while, and perhaps they can bring me back in as a "consultant at large" again when things have stabilized a bit.

It's been strange to have this happening - at first I was a bit panicky about losing these billable hours... and there was the fear that "they'd never get along without me". Again with time, I find that they're getting along fine, and my other work is more than compensating with the hours!

So it's a long way around to say that me and my friend both have gone through ending some long term relationships recently, and honestly it made me really happy to see him doing so well today.... because I can see myself turning that corner pretty soon too!