I feel compelled to add something here.

I hope no one gets the idea I am whining for the sake of... whining. There's more to it.

I joined Nokia because I wanted to. I was already employed elsewhere at the time. I saw an opening that highly intrigued me and went for it.

Best move of my professional life, hands down.

I fell in with a team of passionate, can-do people at the Alliance factory that had the knowledge and desire to make Nokia USA THE cell phone provider of choice. This group had been given an ultimatum: transform the way you do business; improve your efficiencies and quality targets; become THE best practice standards bearer for the corporation. Do these things, accomplish some very specific metrics, and your factory has a future. Fail, and it does not.

I was hired to help fulfill that. We took the challenge very seriously. The factory teams rose to the occasion and beat

every

single

expectation.

Not long afterward, we were told, "hey, nice job! You did what you were asked and more. But we decided to shut you down anyway."

Therein lies the origin of some of the bad feelings of many ex-employees. I can't blame anyone for it.

I decided to be optimistic despite depression over the closure, and made sure my name came to the attention of the main US office. I was fortunate that a role opened up I could walk into. So my employment was extended for a while.

Anyway, it's not just sour grapes. We were dangled a carrot and we rolled up our sleeves and went for it. We WANTED Nokia to succeed. We had the knowledge, the people and the tools to kick both Apple and RIM's @$$es soundly.

But we were not allowed.

And that's as much as I'll go into... and maybe more than I should have.

Some may wonder, "are you bitter, then?" No. Disappointed, but not bitter. And if asked, I would gladly return to Nokia. There's still things I want to be a part of fixing.