The Project: Move back to SA

The clock is ticking, the countdown has long since begun. A mountain of paperwork, process and planning awaits me. Having started the process off a few weeks ago with the dreaded trip to South African High Commission in London, where I got my citizenship revoked, I now prepare myself for the second journey, this time to apply for my 18 month old's relative visa. This time round I'm going more than prepared, I just hope they don't mess me about. With less 7 weeks to go to finalise the move, the visa application takes about 3 weeks...fingers crossed.

So what does a relocation plan look like?? Some people say that relocating one's family between continents is one one of the most stressful projects, if not, the most stressful project in one's life. How do you prepare for such a move? There's so many variables to consider, logistics, and timetables. Each task brings about new dependencies you haven't thought about.  All of these delays take time, for example, just to name a few:

• Insurance policies can't be cancelled more than 14 (motor vehicle) or 28 (household) days in advance. The computer system only allows for cancellation as long as it's within the allowable time window! Imagine that - you sign up for insurance and pay up front for the entire year, and then to simply cancel based on a forward looking date is next to impossible...grrrr! So you have to pencil in days in your calendar to remind yourself not to forget about calling up your insurers within the time window. So can't mark those tasks as completed until you know for sure your policies been cancelled.
• Similar note - beware of the AA.  Reminds me of the clip from lethal weapon - read the fine print in the terms and conditions page 19.   Apparently, leaving the country doesn't count as an exceptional circumstance, and you're not allowed a rebate on your annual policy of £150 just renewed last month, and you can't terminate the agreement on the day you're leaving the country - bottom-flippin-line: No refund due.
• Inland revenue - you can't really sort your income tax out without getting the P45 from your employer. So if you want to be an eager beaver and prepare in advance, no chance. First wait until your notice period expires, get the P45 and then inform inland revenue. All of this should ideally be done whilst you're in the country. 
• Sorting out relocation companies and vehicle import - this deserves a separate post....
• The biggest headache is sorting out the house for renting. If you're like me and take your time fixing up things, i.e. just being content with living with the problem, then before you know it, all of these add up and bang - one problem after another to fix.  And somewhat ironical that the tenants will move into a much better house than what we were living in :p But joking aside, it's really important to ensure the house is in order, safe and free from major defects - which should mean less worries for the landlord...

Anyway, just take a look at what an initial brain-dump of a project plan for relocation looks like:

I've resigned from my job...

Yesterday I handed in my resignation letter, giving notice of 8 weeks, my last day at work targeting 13 May 2011.  It was surreal, and I had a deja-vu moment just as I was writing up the letter, it was as if I've seen myself doing this before in a dream...I've had a few occasions of this deja-vu where I could almost predict what's going to happen next, or the situation seems really familiar...

Even though I've not formally accepted a job offer so in theory I don't have a job waiting for me, I was duty bound to let my employer know of my intentions to leave.  Some might say this was a foolish move, but I was faced with an unusual dilemma: I had a got a new job at my company and was going to start with my new team this week, I was in the process of handing over my old job and join the new team.  We were going to plan my next set of work and was being assigned to a critical project where the CEO was the main stakeholder.  This was a critical project where the stress was going to be high and the pressure to deliver, enormous.  Knowing that I'd made the decision to leave for South Africa, I felt duty bound to come clean with my new manager - it could have went either way:  I could be put on this project and commit to working through my notice period, or take on other tasks the company felt they needed help with, or my employment be terminated immediately, or stay with my old team...

It turns out however, that my new boss was very understanding and appreciative. I wish I'd made the move to his team years ago. In fact, his team is considered the crem-de-la-crem of the company (working on advanced development), and I felt honoured to have got the job, competing with eight other extremely competent colleagues...and now I was leaving!!  So my new boss says he understands completely, family should always come first, and it was the right thing to do instead of waiting to take on new tasks and then spring the notice on him suddenly.  He was very quick to resolve everything with HR and my old manager, and we came to an amicable agreement.

I would work with my new boss for the rest of my stay with the company, working on an invention of mine called "Talking EPG", bringing it to closure before I leave...What a wonderful way to stay motivated for my remaining 8 weeks!  I was dreading going back to my old job and didn't want to take on the other stressful project.  

"Talking EPG" is a project I started about 5 years ago aimed at enhancing accessibility for digital TV. Essentially for people who don't like reading the text on the Electronic Program Guides, they have the option of the TV speaking out the text for you. This was before the days of iPhone/Android, nowadays most modern devices have some sort of speech capability. Soon it'll come to TVs and Set-top-boxes.  I wish I could say my invention became public before anyone else, but alas, my company was too slow to pick it up (I'll write about that in another post on Innovations soon to come) and other company has went public and are already selling these boxes in the UK.  Anyway, accessibility is a passion of mine, one that I hope to pursue in the years to come.  So my new boss says they need parts of my Talking EPG to integrate with another project they're running...without hesitation, I jumped at the chance!!

Working on my own creations would be a nice way to go, and also leave the stressful part to the whole moving back to SA.

So I have 8 weeks to:
- fix my house up, find a letting agent and get a renter committed
- sort out all the paperwork for SA home affairs
- get relocation companies to quote on the move
- agree everything with new employer (actually sign a contract when it's ready, hopefully there's going to be a contract)
- sort out vehicle import
- sort out paperwork for UK

I should be back in SA by June time...fingers crossed

Review: Good Boss, Bad Boss by Rob Sutton

Fight as if you're right; listen as if you're wrong.If you plant a seed in the ground, you don't dig it up each day to see how it's doing.Beware of your inner jerk. Peformance, humanity...Self-awareness.Bossholes

...are just a few snippets that stand out for me. This piece is not just an opinionated work by Sutton, it's a culmination of a life time's research, backed by professional studies, research and personal accounts from the workplace. Although it could be said the vast majority of the material is from US companies, the problems of being a good/bad boss/manager are relevant to all countries & cultures - humanity.

This book can be read by managers and subordinates alike - If you're a manager, then hopefully you'll leave your ego at the door, open yourself to new insights, allowing you to question yourself, an exercise of introspection; if you don't experience an "aha" moment, then you're either a very good boss, or just an asshole...for those people reporting to managers/bosses, you'll find the material useful in managing your boss, to detect signs of "bossholes" and possibly change you ways, e.g. don't take it personal, find methods to deal effectively with an asshole boss...



 


It's unbelievable how I found myself looking back to scenarios in my own professional life, and of late, have had to deal with some really difficult people, including my bosses.  I can personally relate to having a boss who is so full of himself that he barely listens to people, or appears to be listening, but doesn't heed a word being said. Once he zones in on a train of thought, for his understanding and for all intents and purposes "rightly or wrongly" (his famous quotes) assumes his way is the best without giving a chance to the others for trying out their ways....on top of that, the guy builds upon his 20 years of industry experience and always uses that as leverage against his subordinates. Instead of teaching the ropes, this guy is just plain bossy - a manager without any form of coaching skills, of rather selfishly keeps the skills and experience preventing others from learning.  Among other the things, this guy was notorious for delaying meetings, extending the meetings to have "educate me session" with no cause for concern if you've got other commitments to attend to. Not to mention, he takes over meetings, and wants to be involved in the detail...I've also had bosses where after having been completely honest about issues, does nothing to improve the situation...At first I thought it was just down to UK management style and culture (i.e. being aggressive, in control, focussing on production production production, less on people people people) - but then I later worked with some brilliant managers that were very good coaches, mentors and leaders.  So it's good not to generalise... Anyway, one should always take time to assess the situation, as the saying goes to "soss it out" - and if you don't like what you see, or the person you might become as a result of working for a crappy boss, then walk away.... 


 
If only they could read this book and learn a thing or two. But even then, as the example cited in the book, even if you give the book to your asshole boss as a gift, he won't get it, think that he's an excellent boss...afterall a leopard can't change its spots, you can't teach an old dog new tricks....unless you empty your tea cup ;-)  And yes, I'll be reading the The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilised Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't in the near future...

What's in a nationality anyway??

After 33 years of being considered a South African, I found out today that actually I, along with my wife, are not South Africans any more. Our SA citizenship was lost automatically on acquiring British citizenship because we had not formally applied for permission, or retention of SA citizenship BEFORE applying for UK Naturalisation!

My fault really :-( I was impatient to get my UK nationality sorted out, and I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. So what I did back in 2009 was apply in parallel. I thought I could get my Home Office letter proving  I'm not yet a UK citizen, send that off to SA Home Affairs at at the same time apply for UK naturalisation...but it didn't work out well, because as soon as I got the letters from Home Office, the naturalisation application followed suit the next day!

So I could've sent the SA retention application anyway to see what would happen, but decided against doing that because if for some reason the SA people called the UK Home office then that letter would've contradicted the status with the Home Office...so I said, not a big deal...I'm pretty much free to travel the world on a UK passport and I could zip in and out of SA on visits to the family...

Little did I realise that I would actually be moving back to SA soon, the idea of going back to work in SA was far off in the future. Just proves how life is so unpredictable.

So after many weeks of email conversation umming and arrrring about my situation with various immigration consultants, which by the way, gave conflicting advice, I decided to go to the SA Consulate today to get things sorted out. What was really annoying though, is that the people I was talking to via email, refused to offer advice, or make any effort in understanding my situation. All I got was "Please come in with BI-529 application, original certificates and we'll see what we can do".  Up at 4AM getting ready for the trip to London, took the 6:43 train to London Waterloo from Eastleigh station. I thought I would make it in good time as the office only opens at 08h45am - but when I turned the corner to Whitehall, looking for the building as I hadn't been there in my 8 years of living in UK, I walk past this long queue of people, and then it struck me I was right in front of the building...lo and behold, in typical SA fashion, people are queuing out early in the cold...a nice introduction of what's in store for me when I get back :-)

Waiting in the queue for 30 minutes, then get called, I speak to the lady at the counter, explain the situation and why I'm there.

"Show me your paperwork"
"Here you go - BI-529, ID book, passport, naturalisation"
"Where's your photocopies"
"What photocopies - nobody mentioned I needed photocopies - see the email. They said bring original documents"
"I don't know who's that person who told you that..."
"Mrs Stone, she works here. I didn't bring copies. Do you have a photocopier I could use?"
"We don't do photocopies, that's not what we're here for. Go and get photocopies and come back"
"I'm not from London, where should I go?"
"Just go round to Charing cross station, opposite is Ryman stationer - you can get copies there. Come back and see me"

I lose an 45 minutes sorting the photocopies out....but the rest of the waiting and the process pretty much went smoothly...

Long story short - I'm in a bit of a mess here because I didn't follow protocol to the letter. And in an instant, one can lose one's nationality...In my heart I'm still African, even though I live in the UK and am naturalised, my heart still belongs in Africa - but I've blended into UK society and pretty much become invisible like the rest of the 60 million sheep living a life of comfort, efficiency, safety and routine...

Advice to you if you're a South African living in the UK that just happened to stumble upon my blog:
- Follow procedure
- Be very patient
- You will lose your citizenship if you don't follow the rules to the letter. Do not apply for naturalisation before doing the SA paperwork...
- By the way, the email address they have on their website for emergencies:

In cases of extreme emergency, applicants concerned should send their emergency requests to:Lusibanet@dirco.gov.za or fax to: 020 783 5198 

is wrong - you should use: Lusibanet@foreign.gov.za

Another trick I found to get information about who to contact - just google "dirco.gov.za" and you'll find some useful sites and contact names popping up...this site contains some useful info not on the consular pages...

Still, it's not a complete loss. I can return to SA as a permanent resident, live and work there without restrictions, the only exception is I won't be considered a citizen of South Africa...if I live there long enough, 3 years, then I'm entitled to regain SA citizenship...or possibly apply for dual-citizenship...

The Build Master by Vincent Maraia (Microsoft build secrets exposed)

If you're in the business of software product development and management and are not using a continuous build and configuration management system, then you should definitely reconsider your approach. This book offers insight into how Microsoft handles its product build processes, it's always interesting to learn from the world's most successful software outfit - finding out about Microsoft isn't easy, so any bit of inside info is useful.

Regardless of this book being out-of-date, especially with the influence of continuous integration and delivery, and the large-scale adoption of Agile development processes; where information is freely available on the net - I still recommend this book to those who have little or no experience on effectively maintaining product code, what you'll learn is the following:

• Processes, techniques and tools to make build, configuration management, integration and testing easier, more controllable and predictable
• Change the way you think: The people in power is the Build, Integration and CM team, not component developers. Learn ways to control check-ins, find out about Triage and WAR room. Learn about Dogfooding
• Interesting side-notes on the inner workings on Microsoft, containing memos from Bill Gates himself, Microsoft's management philosophy, etc.

If you're not a fan of Microsoft or your products are not based on Windows, then this book isn't for you. There are plenty of good resource material available on the web...