Thursday, May 23, 2013

Time is Money




Time, she says, is money. If that be the truth, then my time at IDI should be worth a lot of money in the bank.  I was thinking about this as I wrote my farewell email to all staff after receiving the letter from HR telling me what my gratuity/separation payment was going to be. It seemed my 8 years at IDI was not worth a lot of money anyway.


Later that day I went home and, as happens every day once I put my key in the door,  those Pavlov conditioned daughters of mine came hurtling towards me screaming, ‘daddy daddy….!’ I did not have any children 8 years ago when I joined IDI. But here we are and I feel so much richer for having my kids.

Since I made the announcement, I have discovered that I was actually a star. Everyone has been telling me I am a star and I shall be missed. Already I am feeling 10 feet taller. Even this issue with the gratuity has not spoiled my mood for long. It has all left me feeling like Alex Ferguson. May be I should be knighted...

8 years ago if you wanted to watch a video online it took almost 10minutes to load the damn thing. Now it takes just over a minute on my smart phone (its Chinese, do not snigger). 8 years ago there was no mobile money, Liverpool were still turning corners and the same well-meaning dimwitted politicians were running this … oh sorry about that last one.

So I think I have grown very wealthy over the last 8 years. I have a very lovely wife. I have 3 wonderful kids; even though the 2 big ones are actually fatter than they are big. I actually have 2 years of senior management experience to put on my CV.  IDI gave me the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives too. We serve over 10,000 clients in the HIV clinic and we have published studies that show that my work has impacted on the treatment outcomes for these people. And that is real wealth.