Change is Inevitable

I've been told before that change is inevitable.  I don't disagree with this, but there are times when I absolutely hate that things change.  Change can be good or bad, but it always brings with it a level of uncertainty.  I hate uncertainty.

There has been a major change at my company today.  Wyde has been bought by an Indian company called MphasiS, a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard.  You can read more details about this here and here.  We had a companywide phone call this morning when the news was dropped.  I tweeted about it here.  Needless to say, it was quite a surprise.

I've been with Wyde for four and a half years now.  Being with a company that long gives you some idea at what your career prospects are like within the company.  I knew where I was and where I was likely to go and I was happy with that.  Now, though, this change has introduced a large amount of uncertainty to that path.  Sure, management told us several times that we would remain a separate entity and that nothing would be changing.  I'm not so sure.  I'd like to believe that, but if management didn't want anything to change within the company, why would they sell it to MphasiS?

They explained that MphasiS would bring us more opportunity and I do believe them.  One of our problems of late is getting large insurers to take us seriously due to our size.  While the company has at least grown by four times in the time that I've been there, two hundred employees doesn't make us a large company.  MphasiS will solve that issue because of their numbers.  They will allow us to create an off-shore team in India that can support Wynsure development efforts.  Their size brings a certain amount of credibility to Wynsure and a guarantee that Wyde won't just disappear off the face of the earth at any moment.

I never really write about my personal life, so why am I writing about this?  Good question.  Well, I have been filled with a tumultuous sea of emotions ever since I heard the news and I thought that getting it all down into a blog post would help me sort out my feelings on the issue.  Also, because I don't really write a lot about my personal life.

So, what are my feelings about all this?  Well, I don't really like the uncertainty that this change brings to the table.  I'd like to think that I've cemented my reputation and career path within Wyde and this has cracked that foundation.  Why would Wyde use me as a project manager when I'm sure MphasiS has many project managers chomping at the bit to get on one of our projects?

Of course, there is the feeling of hope that this change brings.  Lately, I haven't been terribly satisfied with my job.  Sure, it pays well enough and I certainly am good at it, but I've been having a lot of trouble lately caring about it.  I do the job from day to day, but I haven't been putting any feeling into my job.  The hope here is that this change forces me to care or forces me to find something else.  Since I'm kind of lazy and hate job hunting, I'm hoping that this shakes things up a little for me and gives me a reason to care again.

So, what does this change mean for me right now?  Nothing.  Right now I'm going to play the wait and see game.  I'll be prepared, of course, the best I can.  I've tried to stay positive and that's the best that I can do right now.  Is this change good or bad?  I think it's too early to say, quite yet.  I'll let you know as soon as I know.

PS: I almost titled this post "How I became a third tier HP employee".  Is that a better title?  :)

PPS: Since change is inevitable, I've changed my Twitter handle.  I'm now @geekonablog!