The Only Thing That is Constant is Change

One of my favorite sayings in my early twenties was "the only thing that is constant is change." I said it blithely, with a youthful confidence bordering on indifference. I looked forward to the changes all the time.

Curious about attending college in the United States, I transferred to Harvard from Peking University. Unsatisfied with the graduate school I chose upon graduation from college, I transferred to MIT to finish my PhD. Restless with my bench scientist job at Genzyme, I decided to change career path by joining McKinsey & Company. There were unwelcome changes that happened to me as well, such as when I was part of casualty during Syrrx's second layoff. When the idea of starting a company caught my fancy, I quit my job to start a company based on a PowerPoint presentation. It seems that at every step of my life, I always liked and welcomed change.

Recently, however, I have come to realize that perhaps like many other people who are getting older, I occasionally feel a loss when changes do take place. When my first start-up company was acquired early last year, it took me a while to get used to the fact that it no longer existed. When I chat with long-term friends, I sometimes remember fondly the good old days when all of us were essentially carefree and responsibility-free, playing cards until dawn.

It looks like that finally Sanofi Aventis will acquire Genzyme Corporation, the company where I had my first job out of school. I used to tell others that had I stayed at Genzyme in my comfortable scientist position, I would have made more money (because of stock options and stock purchase plan) than I actually did by pursuing the business development career path. Despite all the mergers and acquisitions and ups and downs of the industry throughout the past 10 years, Genzyme seemed solid and invincible. My friends at Genzyme adored Henri Termeer, who turned Genzyme from a little garage company to a multi-billion dollar biotech company.

Therefore, Genzyme represented in my eyes the epitome of "constancy". Now, even Genzyme will be no more. That reminded me that the only company where I worked that has remained independent is McKinsey & Company - all the other 4 companies have been acquired.

"The only thing that is constant is change." Nothing will last forever. Still, I felt a wave of nostalgia, when I remember those days when my colleagues and I at Genzyme would go t BeanTown for coffee, Penang in Chinatown for Malaysian food, and Museum of Fine Art for the annual holiday party.

I no longer view change with absolutely rosy glasses - change is inevitable, for better or for worse. We all have to embrace change and adapt. However, change erases a lot of beautiful things, leaving our own memory as the only proof that such beautiful things ever existed.