2022: A Review of the Mad Year that was

Earlier this year, I went from a massive corporate to Three6, a small business. It's been quite an adjustment, but as I've grown personally, so has Three6 as a company. Here's my look back over the ways we've grown throughout 2022.

The day I joined Three6, I find out that the person I’d be working under is leaving the company.

The person I had great rapport with in the interviews, the person I’d be learning from, was going in two weeks.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little concerned – what have I gotten myself into?

But that turned out to be a massive opportunity for me to grow in ways I might never have imagined.
Of course, being a small business, growth was always on the agenda for Three6, and 2022 was no exception!

So here’s my look at the year that was 2022 – for myself at Three6 and for Three6 as a whole.

2022 for Paul
In some ways, that shock on day 1 was emblematic of the challenge I faced in adjusting from big corporate to tiny (but rapidly growing) start-up.

While I’d worked at some start-ups before, those were casual roles between or during my degrees. My first true, full-time job to kick off my post-uni career was at a massive Australian tech firm, where I spent the past two-and-a-half years.
In that time, I learned a lot and made some invaluable experiences, but of course, I also became entrenched in the big corporate way of thinking and of doing things.

To say that I had to adjust was an understatement. Before Three6, I was mostly told what to work on and deliver. I was given the “what” and, often, the “how” – how to tackle a task. The “why” (why is this important, why are we doing this) was provided occasionally, but not consistently.

Suddenly, I had a lot less “how” and a lot more “why” – more on the “why” in a bit. I knew what we want to achieve, but it was up to me to come up with how to do so. Instead of waiting for guidance, I was now in the driver’s seat.
It isn’t just the small things I get to help steer, like how to accomplish a singular task – now, I’m driving a young company’s Marketing strategy. I had to completely shift my habits and mindset. Previously, as soon as we discussed a new goal for me, I’d ask something along the lines of “how should I do that?”

I still get that itch, that urge to ask. That’s natural. But now, I try and answer it myself first. I have a think, and then I propose an approach, which we can discuss. It took me a while to get there, but it’s a win for everyone: I get to think critically and creatively, my peers may hear about an approach or idea they wouldn’t have thought of, and I feel way more ownership over the work I do.

It’s helped me massively to have the “why” be so central to everything we do. Whenever I feel stuck, or get lost in the weeds, I can take a step back and remember just why I’m doing this, why we’re all doing this. By working with our clients to improve their services, we alleviate real pain and create real joy for their end users, all while our clients’ employees have a great experience too.

I’ve learned to be more purpose-driven at work myself. Whatever I propose, whatever meeting or task I set up, should also have a clear reason. Nothing stifles motivation and creativity like not knowing why we’re here.

Of course, I don’t have all the answers. Sometimes, half the fun is in coming up with answers, not knowing exactly where they’ll lead! And that’s given me the confidence to deal with uncertainty a lot better.

Other times, even with brainstorming and research I’m not sure, and that’s when I can be honest and ask the team. It’s not that I never ask for help now, or never get any – I just give it an honest go first. My philosophy in personal life has long been “how will I know if I don’t try?”

So it’s great to finally apply that at work too, even if it was an adjustment.

2022 for Three6
Part of the challenge, but equally part of the fun was continuously adjusting to a rapidly-growing company. As our fourth year in operation, it was another massive year for us. We had six further people join us. Actually wait, I only counted those who joined after me in May. Last I checked, the year starts a bit earlier…

Including those who joined Three6 before me in 2022, that brings us to nine! We don’t want to grow just for the sake of growing, so this growth in the team is a reflection of the amazing work we’ve done to bring in even further clients, and needing a bigger team to keep delivering the high standard of work we promise.

With that level of growth, other things had to change too. On a more obvious, physical level, we needed to move! Things were getting a bit cramped in our office, so we’ve upgraded to a larger office overlooking the river.

But there’s more than just the physical space. Less visible, but even more crucial to the success of any organisation, is culture. Back when Three6 was only comprised of a single-digit number of people, it was a lot easier to have an implicit, shared understanding of things. Fast forward to a team of 15, and there’s a lot more room for interpretation and misunderstanding.

A lot of what used to be implicit, we made explicit. We had lots of deep, honest conversations together as we’ve grown to discuss who we want to be and what we want to stand for. Our culture and team spirit was the best part of many of our working lives, so we needed to ask: how can we hold on to that? And, in parallel, what parts of that do we need to adjust as we take on more and diverse people?

So far, we’ve been laughing just as much, if not more, with 15 of us than we did with 8. But we’ve also created and adjusted new policies and ways of working along the way.

As our Marketing and Business Development Specialist, I’m probably missing out on all the incredible client highlights the team have achieved (though you can read about those on our LinkedIn page). But since joining:

• We broke the 2,000-follower milestone on LinkedIn, now sitting at over 2,300!

• Our revenue has increased by over 120% year on year, with the trend continuing this financial year.

• And perhaps most importantly, our Net Promoter Score (NPS) continues to be a perfect 10.

Without our clients, we’d be nowhere, so it’s incredible to know that, together with them, we continue to make a difference. For their employees and for their own customers.

What a journey it’s been. And that was only seven months for me! I can’t even begin to imagine how I, and Three6, will continue to grow and change in a full year together. But I can’t wait to find out. And, as my training has taught me, to help shape it!

At Three6 we love solving problems, and we’re only a call away from helping you through your journey!

Let’s chat: hello@three6.com.au