A Christmas Tale
Watching the England cricket team over the past few years has been a little bit edgy. No matter how well things are going, you always get the feeling that something could go wrong at any minute, and a good situation turn bad very quickly. On a dominant batting display you have this aching worry that a collapse is just around the corner. When they have the batting team on the rack, you’re just waiting for some sloppy bowling that’ll lead to easy runs and a strong position thrown away. The recent test matches against South Africa have been a breath of fresh air in some ways. Not that the aching worry has gone away. Oh no, that’s still there in the background like a troublesome wisdom tooth. The great thing is that in the recent tests they have managed to tough it out, and pushed on through for a victory, or a very satisfying draw.
The period over Christmas was a bit like that for me. I have a client who, for regulatory reasons, needed to execute a series of Client Instructions on New Year’s Eve, supported by the Singularity Process Platform. We had all done a lot of work in the lead-up to December to prepare for the Big Day, and things looked pretty good. But still, there was that troublesome wisdom tooth, nagging away at the possibility that things could still come tumbling down around our ears. The days leading up to the Big Day were extremely busy, lots of calls, lots of little steps in the right direction, and lots of little nags! In the end, the hard work and preparation paid off, and the result, a bit like England, was not so much a hard-fought draw, as a great win for all concerned! Just rewards for all the hard work, stress and sleepless nights!
Next Christmas, it’s the Ashes, when the England team travels to Australia in the (possibly forlorn!) hope of holding on to that little urn. I can’t wait for an action-packed, exciting, and stressful Christmas and New Year, but hopefully in 2010 it will be confined to the cricket pitch!
