We're delighted to say that, as of Feb 14, Thompson + Chong has wrapped up its 2nd year of business and enters 2022 with a sense of anticipation as we get tighter on our WHY.
First, a bit of context:
We officially launched Thompson + Chong on Feb 14, 2020…a date that for us, signifies our commitment to bringing big heart and clarity to everything we do.
Year 1 was the year of adaptation...the pandemic pushed us out of our comfort zone (as it did for many)
...and Year 2?
2021 was the year of experimentation.
We experimented with taking on new clients in different industries, experimented with new service offerings, experimented with more advanced digital tools, experimented with our Test & Learn Lab called FLY Academy, and experimented with creating and piloting a Creative Thinking for Business Professionals training program for our former company Sklar Wilton & Associates.
Reflections from Year 2
Here’s what we’d like to share in case a) you're curious about what we've been up to, b) you're eager to learn from others' perspectives, or c) you're embarking on a similar journey.
Digital Tools…Don’t Fight It, Embrace It: Companies that embrace digital tools have more team connectivity, more flexibility, and increased productivity. So, get on the bandwagon. Decide which ones work best for your needs, then implement. Here are our favourites: MURAL, Trello, Airtable, Calendly, Otter, Notability.
We're Clear on Where We Want To Play: Our focus from the start was to Help Leadership Teams Build Strategies That Make A Difference. It's fun, it's challenging and it's in our wheelhouse. It’s How We Work that has proven to be our unique advantage: 1) Create an environment that fosters collaboration and taps into the team's collective smarts, 2) Design sessions tailored to the needs of the business and employ creative approaches purposefully, 3) Constructively provoke to unlock the team's problem-solving potential. While strategy will always be our core, once teams landed on a strategy they had energy for, it kicked off a whole series of important activities and in particular, building the supporting structure, and developing high-performing teams. THIS is where we also need to play. With a deep understanding of the Strategy, the Business, and the Team, it made sense to add Team Building and Collaboration to our core offer. We facilitated lots of these work sessions in our prior consulting days but had forgotten how BIG an impact these team-building sessions have AND how much we love doing them.
Collaboration & Creative Thinking is Suffering as a Result of the Pandemic: COVID-19 dramatically accelerated virtual work, and while working virtually has many pros, the one glaring con is that team collaboration has waned. We believe in the power of collaboration to build better strategies. Less collaboration results in a whole lot of less: less connection, less alignment, less productivity, and less innovation. Looking forward, we predict that the spotlight will be on team collaboration, and those who figure it out will have a true business advantage. We're big fans of the Mars High-Performance Team Collaboration approach and have seen firsthand how powerful it can be. The framework integrates all the complexities of teamwork but serves it up in a simple way. We’d love to see more organizations investing in team collaboration, online or off. More collaboration results in a whole lot of more: more connection, more alignment, more productivity, and more innovation. And what about Creative Thinking? Creative thinking has taken a bit of a hit because of work-from-home realities and deserves its own mention.
Creative Thinking is The Skill of the 21st Century: A study by the World Economic Forum identified creativity as one of the most sought-after skills by CEOs. And New York Times best-selling author, Daniel Pink believes “The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind – creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.” We’re incredibly excited about how a renewed focus on Creative Thinking skills will help shape the future.
What’s Next for Year 3?
2022 is the Year to THINK WAAAY BIGGER.
It also happens to be the articulation of our WHY. We’ve always been passionate about helping people think differently to land on bigger and better solutions. Now it’s official.
Here we come Year 3!
P. S. We are ever so grateful for our clients, business partners and families. We couldn’t have come this far without you all. Thank you so much.
If you'd like to stay connected, you can sign up here to receive FLY weekly emails filled with inspiration, how-to's, and more!
P.P.S. We will celebrate our anniversary again this year by donating to two local charities: Eastview Community Centre which focuses on helping families, newcomers, and seniors, and Street Haven which helps women experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
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