Andy Gilbert’s reflections on 25 years in business
“25 years ago (at 6pm on 20th December 1996) I left my last ‘proper’ job just before Christmas to set out on a remarkable journey. I am grateful that I was able to discover my passion and purpose at an early age and have spent the last 25 years doing what I love – helping people to think bigger, better and bolder, building a great team and working with wonderful clients in 43 countries in line with my purpose to ‘improve YOUR world through better thinking’.
In a world where so much has gone topsy turvy for both individuals and organisations over the past two years, I still believe that it is important for our mental health to practice gratitude on a daily basis. I typically vary this, alternating between personal A-Z lists (mine starts with Ann and Bryan, my parents, who always get some early gratitude and continues to Z which often represents a good night’s sleep zzzzzzz!) and business related gratitude lists. I thought I would share seven gratitude’s for the past year.
- I am so grateful to our clients, some of whom we have been working with for two decades, and to every person who has ever read a Go M.A.D. book, watched a Go M.A.D. video, learned and applied the seven Go M.A.D. key principles, engaged or shown an interest in working with myself and the team.
- I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to practice what we preach. At the start of the pandemic we survived with losing 80% of our short term consulting revenue. However, as you would expect, we continued to apply our own solution focused improvement methodology for a big strategic rethink – not just for Go M.A.D. Thinking as a business but also to support many of our clients who needed to think differently. This resulted in bigger, better, bolder ways of working that have totally transformed our business.
- I am grateful to our brilliant team of Thinking Engineers and Make it Happen Managers who went the extra mile to rapidly create not just a brand new range of remote digital solutions but also a completely new strategic business model to strengthen every aspect of the way we work internally and externally.
- I am grateful for digital technology that enabled us in 2021 to work virtually in Brazil one day, Thailand the next day with a quick trip to USA in-between to meet a new client. It has never been easier to work with our global clients as well as our local ones.
- I am grateful that several NHS Trusts chose us as their change partner during the past 18 months when the going got tougher for them. The Go M.A.D. Thinking team has been privileged to work with lots of Matrons and Ward Managers at the peak of the Covid pandemic to help them think and act differently to solve resourcing challenges and improve patient care. This has been some of the most rewarding continuous improvement work we have ever undertaken in making a difference.
- I am grateful for Go M.A.D. Thinking being recognised as being one of the Top 5 Emerging Change Management Companies in the U.K. in 2021 (and also reflective that it took us 25 years to emerge!). Plus we also got officially recognised as one of the world’s most inspiring companies because of the positive impact we make!
- I am grateful that most people I meet smile back at me in response to the questions I continue to ask. The gift of the right question, for the right person, at the right time, can sometimes be the most helpful gift we can give to a person in need.
25th Business Anniversary of Go M.A.D. Thinking
2022 marks the 25th Business Anniversary of Go M.A.D. Thinking and we have lots of exciting things planned that we have been secretly working on. These include:
- Our commitment to working towards becoming a certified B-Corporation to make a greater positive difference to the world around us
- My new book T.R.E.C. – “Transforming Results, Enabling Change” shares the 25 best working practices we have tested and proven over the past 25 years with leaders and teams to achieve transformative results. We will be working with 25 teams in 25 organisations to embed these 25 best practices and measure results as part of ‘T.R.E.C. 2022 leadership challenge’.
- Our new website is now ready with great navigation so you can quickly understand and perhaps re-educate yourself about what we now do and how it all works.
We are all on a remarkable journey in this world. You can choose to stay the same, think small, think big, or think massive. Whilst we might not achieve all our goals, the actions we take and the results we achieve will always reflect the level and quality of our thinking.”
If this inspires you to reflect or to think about your goals for this year and beyond and if you would like some help with your thinking you might choose to download our free mobile app Thinking For Good. This was developed for NHS workers, but is applicable to anyone, needing to find the right question at the right time; to kickstart your thinking, solve problems or work on things you want to achieve.
