Business Reflections: What We Learned in 2022
“I am still learning.” (Michelangelo @ age 87)
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” (Einstein)
“There’s always ‘one more thing’ to learn.” (Steve Jobs)
One of the most rewarding parts of being an entrepreneur is the endless opportunity to learn.
I’m fortunate that I get to learn from my team, my mentors, and thought leaders in my industry. I learn from my kids (their lessons are especially powerful). And, of course: my colleagues and clients.
When we stay open to the lessons life has to teach us, we grow. We make better decisions.We iterate faster.We communicate more effectively.
So every year around this time, it’s worth looking back on what the year has taught you. And thinking about how you can use those lessons to be smarter, wiser, and happier in the year to come.
We polled our consulting team to each share one thing they learned this year with you.
Here’s what they came up with:
“The most important thing I learned this year was the transformative power of OKRs and their ability to drive alignment, accountability and ultimately profitable growth for organizations.” —Brendan Leonard
“...how great it feels to be part of a team…one plus one does not equal two, but more like eleven, because everyone contributes to a common goal.” —Pascal Tellier
“One thing that I learned this year is that the name of the game is people. How do you bring out the best in others and in teams? How do you bring out the best in yourself? And how do you relate to your customers? That is the key to getting things done.” —Maggie So
“One thing that I learned this year that really struck me is that truly 90% of business is about people. You get the right people, in the right seats, at the right time, you have a super strong leadership team, you are poised to take off and you can do anything.” —Heather Schmidt
“One thing I learned this year has to do with what I call the spirit of leadership. So a team or a group can have all the tactics, they can have all the tools, but when push comes to shove, there's a spirit of leadership that seems to really drive or pull people through challenging times.” —Jay Bacrania
"One thing I learned this year is the value of really understanding the function of a role map. What I mean by that is not focusing on the thing everybody does when going through the exercise of building a role map and mapping out your accountabilities, but really truly understanding the jobs that are being done and whose accountable for them." —Phil Colacchio
"The one thing I learned this year at Crews & co. is the importance of core values to any team. Not just having them, but living them and recognizing when your team members live those values." —Stephen Webster
What have I learned? My biggest takeaway from 2022 was the importance of your value proposition. Why do people buy from you? How do you differentiate yourself? There has to be a compelling reason for people to say, “I want to use that company.”
Nail that, and you’ll be in great shape.
Happy New Year from Crews & co. Here’s to a fantastic 2023!
