Navigating Uncertainty

Hi there,

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since we sent a Feelin' Sketchy issue—partly because last year was, once again, pretty challenging for us at Sketch Group, as it was for everyone. The rollercoaster of working from home, keeping ourselves and those we care about safe, doing our best at work, while still finding moments of joy and socialising has been a real juggling act. I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve dropped balls here and there, and needed some time off over the summer.

Completely unplugging this past few weeks has been wonderfully restorative. My family and I opted not to attempt traveling anywhere—relaxing at home is just what we needed to get some perspective and to find renewed enthusiasm for the year ahead.

What’s become clear to me during this downtime is that the need for clarity, insight, inspiration, and purpose is greater than ever. Many of us thought we’d be past this pandemic by now, but it’s clear that CoVid will be a part of our lives for a while yet—possibly even years.

We can't just sit in a holding pattern, waiting for it to go away though. So how do we plan and make decisions in the face of such uncertainty? Well, speaking from our own experience, it turns out the Three Cs framework that I've mentioned previously has served us pretty well...

Our biggest year ever

Despite it being a challenging year, I’m extremely proud to share the fact that 2021 was in fact Sketch Group’s biggest year ever—we recorded our highest revenue for the year ever since I started the company in 2012. Here's a sample of what we achieved, some of which I've included parts of in the images below:

Ramped up our strategic illustration offering, with fascinating projects for Flinders University, City of Frankston, MLC, CSIRO, and others
Produced a record number of whiteboard videos for new and existing clients, including Coalition of Peaks, Bus Safety NSW, Clothing the Gaps, Fisher & Paykel, and more
Graphically recorded an extraordinarily diverse collection of events (both in-person and remote) for clients such as the Victorian Department of Justice, Level Crossing Authority, UX Australia, and others

I attribute a key part of our success in 2021 to the framework that we champion with our clients, and apply internally at Sketch Group: the Three Cs.

Comprehension, Communication, and Collaboration

We developed the Three Cs framework during 2020, right after the pandemic first hit our shores. It became clear to us that from working across a range of industries that there were common challenges, and common skillsets that were missing, in particular the ability to think, work, and interact visually.

We believe that using visuals to improve a team’s ability to comprehend, communicate, and collaborate, then you’ll see extraordinary results. Indeed, the Three Cs framework has been instrumental for helping us to achieve the results that we have over the past year.

If you’d like to hear more about how the Three Cs can help you to transform your team, don’t hesitate to get in touch—I can talk about this stuff all day!

Thank-you for reading all the way. I would sign off this newsletter by saying I hope that 2022 will be filled with less uncertainty and fewer challenges than the previous year ... but I don't actually believe that will be the case. However I do hope that you find success this year.

There is plenty of opportunity to thrive—are you well positioned to pounce?

Be safe,