“I might have to become a trainee barista at the local coffee shop to help pay the bills,” I told my wife lightheartedly one day, as the possibility of our startup going bust in 2024 arose.

Fast forward six months, and I was made redundant. In this post, I’d like to share my perspective and experience navigating redundancy. I felt compelled to document my journey in the hope that it might help others facing the uncertainty of a layoff, so here it goes.

Intro

(No joke!) Blue Ocean Seismic Services did become insolvent and went into liquidation due to unfortunate investment/funding issues, and all staff were made redundant just before the 2024 holiday season begun; talk about timing, apparently quite common in the redundancy world. The team and I brought our best selves to work every day (attitude, quality, and outcomes) leading up to the event, despite being aware of the risks. Why, you might ask? Because we saw the stellar potential in the disruptive technology and we knew it would propel our professional growth trajectory, putting us in the driver’s seat of a product ready to scale.

Cutting ties with our “underwater drone babies” just when they were growing leaps and bounds (my bad, dad joke!) was certainly a bit overwhelming. The thought I forced myself to repeat, to overcome the fleeting emotions, was that I had put in my best effort, and there were things that were not in my realm of control or influence. So, it was time to reflect and come up with an action plan.

Here’s what I did over the course of ~two months which became my recipe of success.

Mindset Shift

I considered the redundancy period a welcome break for me and my family. I realised I had never had more than a month off between jobs in my 12+ years full-time employment across four different countries. Having a job is just one part of the life equation, but we shouldn’t let it be the major weighing component - a lesson I learnt, fortunately or unfortunately, in the second half of my ongoing career. This perspective helped me spend quality time with my family without thinking about work, and to make the holiday season to work in my favour instead of against me. Nevertheless, I did have moments of feeling low and struggled to get through the period at times, doubting my capabilities and goals - I believe it’s a normal human reaction, and by fully acknowledging the situation and my prior decisions, I could keep my headspace free for the (unknown) good things that lay ahead.

Managing Finances

Finding an income stream was important, but it was not my highest priority. Fortunately, I could lean on my wife’s income to narrowly meet the bills, however, I understand this privilege may not be available to everyone. At work, leading up to the D-day, I did everything I could, in company-wide meetings and forums, to maximise the redundancy payout for me and my local team members. The executive team at the time were good leaders and understood the impact we had on the product over the last 3+ years, resulting in a fair payout that was viable within a startup’s means. It bought me just enough time to get through the hiring downtime of November, December, and most of January.

The thought of eating into our savings still existed, but it was somewhat kept at bay by literally meditating on the thought of finding the right opportunity for about five minutes every day. The following phrase by John Soforic in his book, The Wealthy Gardener[1], stayed with me and motivated me to meditate regularly.

Be quiet and be still. Calm your thoughts and get to know your inner voice. In the silence, concentrate on the things you want. If you can’t narrow your focus, you’ll forever dissipate your potential during the crowded days of an ordinary life.[1]

Leaning into my Network

As simple (or cliché) as it sounds, networking did wonders to help me fine-tune my thoughts and solidify my perspective. Ultimately, we all face challenges and overcome most of them. Getting in touch with folks with whom I could be openly vulnerable and share my emotions was one of the best things I did for my mental health. Having good conversations with people you know fast-forwards the time it takes to get through the downtime.

Habits and Activities

Similar to mental health, a physical activity or two away from keyboard that brings fresh air into the lungs was the other side of the health coin. For me, it was running, swimming, and spending time in the backyard composting (aerobic, anaerobic, and worm farming). The latter newly formed habit provided a ton of dopamine, particularly because I was creating life out of trash, and I was simultaneously doing real carbon capture (shoo away climate-change doubters) through the microbial life forms and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Global food waste contributes to 8-10% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, roughly equivalent to four times larger than global airline industry emissions (1.9%), and more than all of the emissions from plastic we produce (3.8%) and from extracting oil (3.8%)[2].

Outro

  • Redundancy can be a positive experience. I found it provides an excellent pause button to one’s career and can be effectively used to assess, rethink, and take on new priorities and challenges.
  • The anchors that kept me steadfast were a positive mindset shift, prudently managing finances, leaning into my network, and staying mentally and physically fit by keeping up with the habits and interests I enjoy.

References