text: It’s that time of year again, when the power of a retrospective is amplified! We take the opportunity to look back at the year and work through what worked, what didn’t and what we can change in the next year.
  This year we ticked over to our fourth year of operation. We did so with a global footprint of being in 26 countries, having impact in over 90 companies and just over 1400 ‘students’ through our courses and programs now. Not bad for a micro-business / start up based in Australia!
  We decided to use the 4L version of the retrospective. We like this one, because yes, we like alliteration, but it also allows us to move out of our heads (which both Lena and I tend to stay in) and connect with our emotions (which we don’t do so much of – it’s a work in progress!).
  We loved that even in a year with some significant challenges for both of us, we were able to continue ‘launching’ things. There was the Agile Change Management Self-Assessment, the next iteration of the Agile Mindset Scorecard, a new program Change is Everybody’s business, and of course our new Micro-Credential the Agile Mindset, Group Learning Guides, and Book club facilitation guides.
  We loved the range of large clients we got to work with – superannuation, telecommunications, fintech, fast moving consumer goods, super savvy government departments, biotech, and social enterprises.
  We loved working with Julieanne Dimitrios as a facilitation partner this year – that’s for sure! And we loved automating a LOT of the tasks that were taking up time. This was a game changer.
  Through our engagement and assessment marking with YOU we learned lots!
  We learned that some of you don’t like to tell others about us because we are your competitive advantage SECRET!! Which means we are going to have lift our game from a marketing perspective. For those less secretive who are keen to tell others about us, THANK YOU, and if you haven’t done already would you mind giving us a google review?
  We also learnt a lot through continuous reviews of our sales process and really sharpened our sales process and tools, creating a master services pack, refining website copy, and launching our new course comparator tool.
  Through workshops with lawyers, we learnt a lot about things start ups should be doing, and we learnt we were actually ahead of the pack in many regards. Common sense and [ahem] a few years under the belt get you far…
  We learned that you have to go through a lot of work to do one-hour lunch and learn style webinars, and they don’t always translate to more work.
  When you do the SCARF self-assessment you find which elements trigger your amygdala. For both Lena and I, a violation of the element of ‘fairness’ makes us really cranky. To that end being asked by companies with billion-dollar profits to provide free professional development sessions for ‘exposure’ got very wearing.
  But other than that we’re bloody lucky. Not much got us cranky.
  Time. We longed for time. So many ideas. So many things in our backlog. Our WIP limits were really stretched this year. But we think we have finally got to a point where 2023 is the year we can resource for all administrative tasks and support activities.
  Next year we will…
  So what does this mean for next year? In the spirit of accountability we’re happy to share:
  - Scaling continues to be a big focus – and to that end we are very keen to explore more partnerships that support that goal.
  - We will be resourcing differently and continuing to automate what we can.
  - We will move our monthly newsletter to fortnightly and make it smaller – brain friendly change comms in action!
  - We will launch one more thing – but its more a relaunch / iteration, we’re going to take my Conversations of Change podcast which has been on hiatus and having a LONG nap, and turn it into Conversations of Agile Change and talk with YOU about what you are doing in the space. Why should we be the only ones who get to learn from you when you submit assessments?
  - We will take the standalone one / two-hour webinars off the menu. They will be available as part of large programs of change capability development.
  2023 here we come!
  While we do monthly retrospectives over here at the Agile Change Leadership Institute, it’s the end of calendar year retro that gives us a longer range to review. This reminds us to reflect over a longer period of time to truly appreciate what we have achieved and learned. It means we start our break ready to rejuvenate with a view of our priorities for the new year.
  So, after a wonderful year we are happy to declare that’s a wrap for 2022!
  We have enjoyed working and learning with you and look forward to creating more to share with you when we return in 2023.
  Until then…happy holidays!