What was the hardest thing about quitting my job at Google?
Advice for those who are afraid of leaping into the unknown
In my previous blog post, I told you about how and why I left my position as Google’s Chief Decision Scientist after almost 10 years of service. This blog post is part 2, where I’ll get into the hardest thing about quitting.
What was the hardest thing about quitting Google?
Sure, the actual logistics were annoying. Being in the groove of a ten year gig means most of the little details are taken care of. You’ve got your team all specialized for what everyone is good at and you have plenty of space to think about the big ideas that interest you. When you leave, you discover all the tiny chores and paperwork in the universe. It’s all forms, forms, forms. (Which is why also I threw in moving house across state lines to keep things amusing.) But for me, the two hardest things about quitting were:
- losing my work identity
- information asymmetry
I’ll get into information asymmetry in my next blog post, but let me start by telling you about the inevitable identity crisis that hits when you leave a job you’ve devoted a large chunk of your life to. In my case, I spent almost 10 years at Google.
