Gary Thompson Random Thoughts

It’s been a busy summer with changes to my plans. 

The biggest change being that I have joined Henry Schein One.  Back in May I did a blog post where I mentioned I was planning to take a year out. As with most plans, they change.

I’ll answer two questions that might be on your mind. What changed my plan? How did the self-sufficiency work out?

What changed?

I wasn’t looking for a new role, not just yet, but a request to chat about a role caught my attention.  I enjoy helping grow and develop organisations, especially when it means working with great people. The opportunity for a role leading global software teams met my criteria.

So I am pivoting to another business domain, building dental practice management software, focusing on challenges such as appointment scheduling and administrative automation to ultimately allow dentists to treat more patients. The potential social impact—leveraging AI to detect dental decay earlier and optimise scheduling for both patients and practitioners—was particularly compelling. I recognised multiple avenues where my experience at Amazon and Deliveroo could be highly relevant.

What stood out most during the interview process was meeting the CPTO and one of the company’s founders; their commitment to meaningful innovation was truly inspiring. The atmosphere reminded me of Deliveroo during 2019/2020 (and beyond, Deliveroo is always innovating) — but 2019/202 was a period defined by vision, necessity, and palpable excitement.

As a result, I have now completed three weeks in my new position as Director of Engineering at Dentally, having officially joined on August 4th. While this update is slightly overdue, I am eager to contribute to the organisation’s mission.

What happened to being self-sufficient?

When priorities shifted, I found myself weighing the needs of my home against the ambitions I had for the garden. I realized that the house repairs were more important, so I had to shift my focus from the garden to ensure the home was ready. This meant fitting new windows in July, even though I had originally planned for August. The increased urgency left less time for tending to fruit and vegetables, and as a result, I ended up with batches of the wrong things at the wrong time—too much lettuce, but no cucumbers or tomatoes. The timing was off, and my plans for a balanced harvest fell short.

Reflecting on the experience, I see that the decisions I made were guided by immediate necessity, but lacked the strategic planning required for successful crop timing. Next year, I plan to create a detailed planting calendar to better coordinate sowing and harvesting times. It’s all a learning process and hopefully next year I will have a more consistent yield across the season.

Some crops did surprisingly well despite the lack of attention—courgettes, cucumber, and lettuce thrived, and our apple and plum trees continued to produce their usual bounty. The excess produce is shared with the village, a tradition that I’ve come to appreciate more each year. Neighbours often stop by to pick up fresh apples and plums, which has helped foster a sense of connection in our community. Seeing how the shared harvest brings people together is a highlight of the season and a reminder that resourcefulness benefits everyone.

With the house repairs handled and the garden’s lessons in mind, I’m now back to relying on help for gardening, and using weekends to plan for another year—this time with an eye toward better coordination and community spirit.