A crystal ball was passed around in the pub at last night’s leaving do for a colleague. We all asked it a question, shook the ball and awaited our fate. The answers were abysmally negative ranging from “Probably”,to “You are Kidding” to “Absolutely not”. In these uncertain times I inferred that the question posed by many at the table was “Will I have a job this time next year?”. As ever it’s all in the way that the question is phrased and a matter of how the answer is interpreted. Posing the question “Will I be fired?” leads to a different conclusion. Nonetheless there were some fleetingly glum faces last night as the group looked with a hint of envy at our departing friend who was jumping ship to pastures new. It’s a great feeling when you leave a job to move on to another feeling wanted and valued.
Alex is in a dilemma about her job. While her school is growing and going from strength to strength she is having doubts about the future direction of the school. Can business rules be applied in something as fundamental as education? Is the business case superseding the education function? Can a business model still provide a good education? Alex is using the benefit of two nights in the West Country at a college friend’s wedding to have space to think about this weighty matter. Change is challenging and the Tory philosophy is forcing these shifts in thinking. Although they have only been in government a little over a year they have taken the New Labour philosophy of “citizen look after yourself”, because the state does not have any responsibility for you. The principle of cradle to grave benevolence has been eroded as a response to inefficiency and personal irresponsibility.
It could be said that I have been unfortunate to have been born at the wrong time. A mere five years earlier and my pension would be secure and the conditions clear. As it stands, my expectations have been seriously eroded. Now I will have to work longer for less anticipated income. That is, if I can find a job. On the other hand, if I had been born five years earlier the likelihood of my chance meeting with Alex which led to our generally happy home life would have been non existent. A phrase at work that’s doing the rounds is, “We are where we are” and it’s a good one. It’s a waste of time to ponder the “might have beens,” or “we should never have started from here” and the “What ifs”. We can learn a lot from our dog Blue. She wakes up every day in good spirits with her bunty little tail wagging a furiously. As Blue and I drive to work she gets really excited as we near the office and can’t wait to jump out of the car, run to the office door and bound up the stairs.
Indecision is a tortured place and like our departing colleague last night, once the decision is made the world becomes a clearer place. I hope Alex comes home from the West Country with a clearer head.
