I was terminated one day before presenting a Technology Strategy I had spent months building — am I reading too much into this?
I’m looking for an outside perspective on a situation that happened at my previous company. I’m still trying to understand whether I’m being overly sensitive about what happened, or whether the way I was treated was genuinely unfair.
I’m deliberately leaving out the company and people’s names because I don’t want to identify anyone. I’ll call my manager M, his manager A, and the R&D Technology Strategy owner P.
I joined the company in January this year as a technology strategy manager
I have around 20 years of experience in product management, strategic marketing, portfolio management, and technology strategy. My role was supposed to cover hearing aid hardware portfolio management and part of the R&D technology strategy.
The Technology Strategy situation
When I took over the Technology Strategy work, there wasn’t an established framework or process.
I was given an older version of a Technology Strategy PowerPoint, which I used as a starting reference.
I then developed a new framework from that starting point.
I created the Strategy House and Technology Vision, and developed the Technology Strategy process, templates and R&R.
More importantly, I designed connections that had not existed in the previous approach:
Customer / Commercial needs → Technology Vision → Technology Strategy → Technology Direction / Architecture → Portfolio → ART execution
I wanted Technology Strategy to be more than an R&D technology document. The intention was to connect technology choices to customer value, product/portfolio decisions and actual execution.
I also worked with the architects and educated them on the approach, asking them to review and validate the technology directions.
So while architects contributed to reviewing the technology direction, I was the person who designed and led the overall framework and documentation.
My manager M knew this. He had reviewed the Technology Strategy before I presented it to the DHW LT leadership team.
Then things started to change
I presented the C&M Technology Strategy to the DHW leadership team on a Wednesday.
In my 1:1 with M the following week, he told me that A, his boss and VP of Device Hardware, thought:
* overall, the work was good;
* the content was good;
* but the way I presented it was “not convincing.”
No specific examples were given about what exactly was wrong with the presentation or how I should improve it.
Then M suggested that another colleague should present the work instead.
I asked why, because I had spent a huge amount of time developing the process, templates and strategy, and had worked with and educated the architects.
I basically said:
“I have spent a lot of effort creating the process and templates and educating the architects. Why should I let someone else present it?”
M said he would consider it.
There was also supposed to be a department presentation where I would present the strategy. That presentation was subsequently removed from the agenda, and I wasn’t told beforehand. I only discovered it when I looked at the agenda.
At this point I was already confused about what was happening.
Then I got positive feedback from another senior person
Separately, I had a discussion with P, who owns Technology Strategy at the broader R&D level.
I presented my approach to him.
He thought the strategy was really very good.
In particular, he liked the Strategy House / Technology Vision approach and the way I connected Technology Strategy with Portfolio and ART execution.
He suggested that I work with a Portfolio colleague, D, and showcase the approach to the Technology Drivers Group.
The meeting was scheduled for the following Thursday.
So at this point I had:
* my manager’s prior review/approval of the strategy;
* presented it to DHW LT leadership;
* feedback that the overall work and content were good;
* positive feedback from the broader R&D Technology Strategy owner;
* an invitation/suggestion to showcase the work to a wider technology leadership group.
Then something completely unexpected happened.
I was terminated
On Wednesday morning — one day before the Technology Drivers Group meeting — HR and my manager called me into a meeting and terminated my employment.
The verbal explanation was:
“Your profile doesn’t match the future changes.”
I asked no further questions at the time.
It happened very suddenly, and honestly I felt that the decision had already been made and that asking more questions probably wouldn’t change anything.
I was given a formal termination letter.
The written wording was slightly different. It said that:
my profile “does not fully align with the requirements” for my current position.
But nobody explained which requirements my profile allegedly didn’t meet.
There was no specific discussion of poor performance, missed targets, misconduct, lack of delivery, etc.
I was simply told that my profile didn’t fit the future changes.
The next day
The following day I had a handover meeting with M.
All the Technology Strategy work was already in the shared folder.
M already knew the work very well because he had reviewed the strategy before I presented it to the DHW LT leadership team.
I handed everything over to him.
And that’s basically how my employment ended.
What bothers me most:
I’m not necessarily upset that the company decided to terminate me.
I understand that companies can make decisions about organizational fit, future roles, restructuring, etc.
What bothers me is the sequence of events.
I was asked to build something that didn’t previously have an established framework.
I spent months building the strategy, processes and templates, connecting technology with commercial/customer needs, portfolio and execution, and working with architects to establish the approach.
My manager reviewed the work before I presented it to leadership.
The feedback from leadership was that the overall work and content were good.
Then I was told another person might present it instead.
My department presentation disappeared from the agenda without anyone telling me.
Then the broader R&D Technology Strategy owner reviewed the work and thought it was very good and suggested showcasing it to a wider leadership group.
The showcase was scheduled for Thursday.
I was terminated Wednesday morning.
And immediately afterwards, the work I had developed was handed over to my manager.
One thing I’m struggling with
I suspect that A, my manager’s boss, was more involved in the decision than M.
A was the person whose feedback about my presentation was passed to me.
M was the person who communicated that feedback and proposed having someone else present.
Then M and HR formally terminated me.
I don’t know who actually made the final decision.
And I don’t want to claim something I cannot prove.
But the timing makes me wonder whether the “presentation wasn’t convincing” feedback was actually about the presentation — or whether it was being used as a justification for something that had already been decided.
I also wonder whether I was being gradually removed from visibility and ownership of the work before being terminated.
Again, I don’t know this for a fact.
That’s why I’m posting here.
My questions
Am I looking at this too emotionally because I was the person who was terminated?
Or does this sequence raise legitimate red flags?
Especially:
Is it normal for a manager to remove the person who developed a strategy from presenting it, after saying the content itself was good?
How would you interpret “your profile doesn’t match the future changes” when the formal letter says the profile doesn’t fully align with the job requirements, but nobody can explain which requirements?
Does the timing — being terminated one day before a broader leadership showcase of work that had just received positive feedback — seem significant, or could it simply be coincidence?
How would you handle the fact that your work continues after you’re gone, especially when you believe you were the primary person who developed the framework?
Would you raise this with senior leadership/CEO, or simply move on?
I’m not looking for legal advice. I already discussed the termination with my union/legal representative and understand that, given my relatively short tenure, challenging the termination itself is a different issue.
What I’m struggling with is whether I should formally tell senior leadership that I believe the way I was treated was unfair, particularly regarding ownership, visibility and the lack of a clear explanation.
I’d appreciate an outside perspective, especially from people who have been in senior product, strategy or R&D management roles.