On November 6th 2008, Canon announced the changes I and so many friends have experienced over the last 11 months, 234 jobs moving to London. That evening one of those people, Pascale de Rooij, went to an art class and painted the picture you see here.
People see different things in this painting (and that's a sign of how great a painter Pascale is). But for most, it seems to suggest a Shipwreck in the foreground with a positive and bright horizon behind it. That's how it has felt over the last months. Life as we knew it was de-constructed as we learned about how a big corporate deals with such situations - coldly, impersonally and practically.
As a member of the Works Council and a Director of the company, as well as an employee for Canon over 16 years, it was a hard and emotional journey to realise and accept this harsh truth.
It was not what we expected, because we thought Canon was a human company. But what we learned is that NO company is human. Finally, for the corporate and its highest management, it is only about the numbers. The human element is provided by the social connections we created together, made special by the rich diversity of culture in a building housing people from 50 nationalities.
For me, the social connections are the thing I miss most. I learned that my Amsterdam life is heavily associated with the experience of being in the daily influence of interaction with people from such incredibly different backgrounds. The deeper friendships which I made over the years have stayed and the bonds will be there for years to come. But the small kindnesses and simple contact from so many people in Canon - a smile on the way to the canteen, a chat at the coffee machine, a bit of moral support in a tough meeting - was something I fed from and didn't fully recognise.
The last months of being starved of that hour-by-hour warm contact with colleagues have made me see that I need to do a job which involves exactly that. Working on my own is not my thing. It doesn't mean there is no option to set up my own company - when I talk to my friend Mieke and her company, she is replacing the social interaction of a big organisation by being part of lots of groups and finding other ways to connect. What it does mean is that, whatever the next work step is, I will prioritise daily connection with people and development of a team I like working with over money and position.
Yesterday, a few of us met up in Amsterdam's Vondelpark. It's not insignificant that a different group of people met up in Amstelveen. We start to go our separate ways.
During the meet-up, we talked about the future. Jobs we're applying for, agencies we're discussing with or travelling we are going to do. The anger that was a constant feature of our talk about the company 4-5 months ago has faded. We all realise that Canon did not target any one of us as individuals. They just made a business decision. And in the end, "it was just a job".
But what a job. Morten and I sat together aftewards, drinking Bokbier in a cosy, dilapidated bar opposite the Rembrandt House. We talked a bit about some of our experiences in the early days, 1998 and 1999 when we first arrived in Amsterdam, and reflected on a few of the people we have met. We've come a long way from where he and I first met at Penrith in England's Lake District. We've travelled to amazing places with Canon (China, Japan, Brazil, USA, South Africa, Middle East and most of Europe) and we leave with CV's stuffed full of experience and characters developed by diversity. Our conclusion is often "we lived the dream" and its true.
And now it's time to create some new dreams, build new relationships and establish a new path. My own new path started when I met Nicki just over 3 months ago. It reaches the beginning of the biggest next step in 2 weeks, when I leave Amsterdam for 5 months to travel the world together with the girl I love.
