42 is a series of reflections on work, technology, leadership, and the quieter questions that tend to get postponed when calendars are full. Written during a rare pause between roles, it is less about answers and more about noticing what usually slips past in the rush of meetings and momentum.
I am in that pause now. Officially in my notice period. No back-to-back meetings. No calendar Tetris. No last-minute “quick call?” requests that somehow need half a dozen people and a 40-slide deck. When all that noise disappears, you experience something unfamiliar: quiet days.
The quiet does something interesting. It creates space for introspection. You start noticing things you never really had time to sit with, including how much of your time was spent responding rather than thinking.
– Meetings continue without you.
– Projects move forward.
– Deals close.
– Clients sign.
Nothing pauses. Nothing waits. And honestly, that is exactly how it should be if you have done your job well. You see that your role was never to be the system, but to help it run better for a while, to reduce friction, apply judgment, and then move on. All the while getting paid for doing your part.
It is slightly uncomfortable at first because it punctures a familiar illusion, that being constantly present makes you indispensable. Organisations are not built that way. They are designed to survive people. If they were not, they would be hobbies, not serious, revenue-generating businesses.
That realisation does not make you feel useless. It makes you feel clearer.
And clarity, it turns out, leads to a much healthier relationship with work than the one built on constant motion and perpetual urgency.
More from this accidental garden on Thursday, the 29th (hopefully)
#42 #BetweenRoles #Leadership #Reflections