This is a cross-post of my original Facebook note, announcing my decision to exit TW and tech to take a break.
San Antonio, Kampala, Porto Alegre, San Francisco, Nairobi, Johannesburg. These are the cities I have worked in during my time at ThoughtWorks (TW), that quirky (yet “elite”) global IT consultancy that Martin Fowler works for, little known outside of tech circles. Needless to say, I am the most privileged person I know.
But the most significant things are not the travel and silly/fancy consulting stuff. It’s the extraordinary, dedicated, passionate people I’ve worked with and the incredible diversity of projects (and accents) I got to encounter at home and abroad. The sort of experiences I will remember for a lifetime and helped me grow.
Thank you, everyone.
In all of this, I kept thinking how crazy that I had found a company that allowed me to be me (mostly). Not only that, at times I would garner that I was not the biggest oddball in the room!
By New Year’s day next year, TW South Africa will cease to be and I have chosen to exit the company. It’s been one heck of a ride. I know a lot of you are disappointed and I’m truly sorry. I will be taking a break (a sabbatical, as it’s often called). Those who know me will also know my hangups about software development1, consulting and basically white-collar office2 work in general.
It’s time for Sett to slow down, breathe and re-orientate. To be frank, I haven’t been able to flow3 in a while and while I’m not even sure if I’ll decide to remain in tech, I think my goals will always remain the same:
- Build cool shit
- Make the world suck less