Re:Ask HN: A colleague is leaving. How to investigate what w...
by ljm on Saturday August 24, 2019 @03:10PM
(#20789067)
Asking about what's next is great for conversation in any case, whether OP's colleague is a friend or not. Maybe they don't have future plans but want to talk about it anyway to feel out the opportunities. It can be helpful and it stays forward-thinking.
If it was a surprise, there's also a non-zero chance they were fired. "Not a good fit" is vague enough to not really mean anything, but good enough to be able to move on with.
Besides that, OP is going to have a very short question if their idea of speaking to their colleague is to interrogate them, and what the OP is thinking about feels very official.
If the resignation caught you by surprise, it's unlikely he/she will tell you the real motivation. People often start the contemplation long before they decide to leave. IMO.