Carl's Corner
by Carl Pritchard, PMP (July 2, 2010)
Freedom to Walk Away
by Carl Pritchard, PMP, PMI-RMP
Sometimes the hardest part in any business relationship is ackknowledging that there's a time to stay, and a time to walk away.
This being July, it seems appropriate to talk about freedom. With Independence Day, Bastille Day and vacation time, it is a time when our thoughts should genuinely turn to the joy of the freedoms we enjoy. And I'm speaking not just about our cultural and civil liberties. I'm talking about one of our key freedoms on the job, particularly in our roles as project managers. That's the freedom to walk away.
A client that I highly value recently suggested that they were going through a major administrative shift and were going to start requiring large volumes of new paperwork. They apologized profusely, explaining there was no way around it. As my contact began to outline the new forms, policies, procedures, legal agreements and other aspects of this "new" relationship, I held off on any response.
My visceral reaction was to tell them that there was no way on earth this was going to happen, and that my business was based on limited administration. Instead, I remained silent through the information-sharing moment.
When she was done, I explained that there were four or five items that she had outlined that would not put any strain on our relationship and that I would be honored to comply with in order to serve the client. There were four or five others that I could comply with, but which would inherently be costly, and would result in an adjustment in my standard fees. And there were three which I simply could not comply with. When she said she was pretty sure they were all non-negotiable, I thanked her and asked how we would then go about closing out the relationship altogether.
It was not a response she expected. Our relationship stretched back almost a decade. And I was willing to walk away. Why? Because I have the freedom to do so.
In today’s economy, such freedom comes at a dear price. But it's important to recognize that for personal and professional sanity, choices regarding our freedoms cannot be ignored. If we act as if we have no choices, we put ourselves into a prison of our own creation.
"Easy for you to say, Carl. You have your own PMP courses (like the one coming up later this month…), you have your own business. I work for other people! I don't have that kind of liberty."
12 years ago this month, I was on the verge of walking away from the best job I had ever had in my life. I was the Vice-president for e-learning for ESI International, and was proud of my role, my company and my colleagues. I was making a decent paycheck and was honored by my associations.
Why did I leave? There were a variety of reasons, but the largest among them rolls back to freedom. I wanted to write. I wanted to teach. I wanted to cut back on travel. I wanted to set down the rules.
Was there a price to be paid? Yes! I work longer hours than I ever did at ESI and I am wholly responsible for determining where the next paycheck is coming from. If I fail, I am totally accountable. There is no organizational safety net to catch me. And yet, would I ever go back from the independence I now enjoy? Never. There's a high price for freedom, and it is worth every workaholic moment.
Note the connection. It's not just a matter of walking away from problems. It's a matter of establishing a degree of responsibility for what that "walking away" entails. It's going in with eyes wide open to the fact that freedom includes larger risks, higher chances for failure and greater possibilities for variability in any business equation. And yet, we ignore it as an option out of fear, misunderstanding or apprehension. If we take the time to evaluate the strains of NOT walking away, walking away can seem like a far more viable option than it often is.
How do you know it's time to step back and re-evaluate?
1) Is meeting the requirements of the relationship creating a greater and greater strain on your ability to perform the way you believe you should perform?
2) Is meeting the requirements of the relationship minimizing your ability to produce professional deliverables?
3) Is meeting the requirements of the relationship diminishing your capacity for higher-reward work? And finally,
4) Is meeting the requirements of the relationship making you miserable?
The old axiom that "Life is too short to drink bad wine" really can apply in the business world. But it only works if we make those around us aware that we're NOT bad-wine-drinkers. For my recent experience with my long-term client, I received a call later the same day, telling me that they were most appreciative for the four or five things that I would comply with at no charge, and that they'd take care of the rest. Sometimes when we are truly ready and able to step back from a relationship, we discover newfound freedoms without going anywhere.
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(c) 2010 Pritchard Management Associates. Right to reproduce in full is granted freely to members of the PMI Silver Spring Chapter for personal and professional use. All rights for distribution and other rights reserved.