Leave for the memories

A couple of hundred young engineers met me in 2005 in Beijing. The expectations were high: they needed to grow up fast to take on intense and difficult software development projects, working for leadership positins that were 16 hours away and they did not speak the language. Politically, offshore promoters were considered traitors and not to be trusted.

Three years later, dozens of local leaders grew up quite nicely. Bi-coastal collaborations were common place. Inter-racial friendships, even marriages, were forged. People migrated, in both directions, and started new lives. Those three years changed my and many others’ lives. I made life-time friends.

And not needed anymore. It was time to go. And I left. China history taught that starting something anew is hard, and keeping it going well takes a different kind of people.

I guess it is an art to recognize the transition from the starting phase to the “on-going” one. These changes are hard, since there is no fault on the people involved. It is simply the timing that forces that change.

The expat community in Beijing is dwindling as companies pull out of China. A close friend is ending his 10-year tenure. He founded the establishment when he came, built it into a ~500 people facility, and has been closing the doors for the past several months. He told me about the new employers, the ambitious and scary new young, and the glee that his car licenses are worth more than the cars themselves.

Know when to leave. That takes strength, courage, and wisdom.

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