BBC restructuring isn’t anything new, there have been so many over the 20.5 years, I have been there. However, this time the changes have directly affected my role and position in R&D. BBC R&D is restructuring for many reasons which is way outside the scope of this personal post. The cuts are deep and sadly I am one of the people who was told at the start of August, that my position is at risk to close.
As you can imagine, this caused great stress and worry.
During the rest of the summer, I spoke to many friends, family, colleagues (current and previous) and of course my partner. I sought much advice to understand what I could do and make sense of my unsteady position. It was all a shock, I went through the grief cycle twice. Once at the start of August and then again when things became clear during my career consultation in November when things changed from likely to absolute.
Some of the best advice I had included, “Tell people” which I have been doing just not so publicly till now. “Sit like Buddha” don’t do anything rash and be clear-headed when making decisions.
This week it was made official…
I’m writing to confirm that you have been selected for redundancy. This means that unless you
find alternative employment in the BBC, your employment will be terminated on the grounds of redundancy.
The decision to take compulsory redundancy is mine after a lot of thinking and looking at what I value and want to focus on in the future. I will leave the BBC R&D on good terms wishing everyone the best. I’ll work for another quarter, leaving in March but have a lot of holidays to take and have things which I want to finish.
I will no longer be the BBC R&D Senior Firestarter which is sad as I built and crafted the position. Then became well-known for it. But using a quote in full…
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller
Over the last quarter; I stopped looking back and created a whole task list of items to manage the stress and gain some control over my future. I used it to manage, plan and focus. All while looking at where my values, talents and skills can have the most impact.
With my markdown CV in hand, I can honestly say I am open to new opportunities and considering taking forward a number of personal projects over the coming year; including the open-sourced Adaptive podcasting/music, Digital legacy/death, finishing my book, the related Ethical dating & matching rethink and some of my 2025 resolutions, while having a well-needed series of mini holidays/breaks.
There is a lot more I want to say about the unique culture created in BBC R&D, the amazing people I work/worked with, and some stories I’d like to share wider but I’ll save all that till later in 2025.
But here are a couple quotes I was reminded of over the last few months, both from Buckminster Fuller
“I’m not a genius. I’m just a tremendous bundle of experience.”
“The minute you choose to do what you really want to do, it’s a different kind of life.”
I think 2025 is full of doors, which might need simply a knock.