Jon WorthJan 26

How do I overcome my railway Groucho Marx problem? 🤔

It's not “I Don’t Want to Belong to Any Club That Will Accept Me as a Member” but “Why would any company in the railway sector consider me to work for them, as there’s nothing I know they don’t know already”

But I do need to find paid work, somehow. Question is how and for whom?

Explained 👇
https://jonworth.eu/how-do-i-overcome-my-railway-groucho-marx-problem/

How do I overcome my railway Groucho Marx problem?

"I Don’t Want to Belong to Any Club That Will Accept Me as a Member" Groucho Marx is supposed to have said. And I have come to the view that I am facing something similar in my railway work. "Why would any company in the railway sector consider me to [...]

Jon Worth
Show threadBruno GirinJan 26

@jon
It sounds to me like you would be a great Product Manager for a railway company. They wouldn't hire you for your knowledge, they would hire you for your ability to collect knowledge from a number of specialist sources, understand it and its limitations and come up with a strategy to deliver a solution.

Your projects perfectly show your ability to do this.

I do exactly this in my day job, albeit in a different domain, if you want to have a chat about it.

Show threadJon WorthJan 26
@brunogirin My partner is a product owner in the IT department of a healthcare firm. So I know what it entails, largely 🙂 And yes, I could probably do it for a railway company, but there's no way I can demonstrate I know how to do it currently as I do not have a qualification to show I can!
Show threadNils Pickert 🚂Jan 26
@jon @brunogirin your posts here and your blog are a quite convincing demonstration...
Show threadJon WorthJan 26
@nilspickert @brunogirin A rail firm is not going to see it as a convincing demonstration though! "I can project manage a ridiculous crowd funded project to every corner of Europe, now will you give me real money and responsibility to handle?" "Errr, no!"
Show threadMegan Lynch (she/her)
@jon @nilspickert @brunogirin Try to consult in Albania. God knows they need to make their rail work and the ruling party's drive to join the EU puts a little pressure on them to actually make such improvements.
Jan 26 at 1:23pmWeb
Show threadJon WorthJan 26

@meganL @nilspickert @brunogirin LOL 😂

I got in hot water at an event in Czechia in 2024 where some people from Albanian railways were present. "We will have an electric railway running by the end of 2025!"

No way I said, and listed the reasons.

It is now 2026... and... yep, no electric trains running. And indeed barely ANY trains.

Show threadMegan Lynch (she/her)Jan 26

@jon @brunogirin Well, hopefully they don't remember you!

I understand that you need to pick where you shoot your shot, but I also think in the blog entry and the replies that you're saying "no" to yourself instead of letting others say no. They might say "yes".

You're clearly very knowledgeable and you probably have some skills that they don't in terms of synthesis, being accessible to passengers, etc.

Show threadMegan Lynch (she/her)Jan 26

@jon German GIZ works with the public transit bus system here in Tirana. Makes me wonder whether they've got anything going on trains... Or at least bus connectivity to proposed trains. https://www.giz.de/en/projects/sustainable-urban-transport-albania

https://www.giz.de/en/regions/europe/albania

Sustainable Urban Transport in Albania

The project promotes innovative and climate-friendly urban mobility solutions in Albania, using comprehensive data management methods.

Show threadJon WorthJan 26
@meganL A person from that project was in the audience at the event in Czechia. Quite rightly I think they have not touched the rail stuff - it is too hopeless!
Show threadGinevraCatJan 26

@jon
Quoting from I-don't-remember-where:

Tired: I told you so
Wired: As it was foretold....

@meganL @nilspickert @brunogirin