Once Is Chance, Twice is Coincidence, Third Time's A Pattern

When I learned that we were included in the Common Sense Advisory list of TOP 20 LSPs in South Europe for the third consecutive time, the first thing that came to my mind was a famous quote from the Ian Fleming book and movie Goldfinger:

“Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action'.”  

What does it have to do with our inclusion in this list?

I will try to give an answer in a self-reflective manner as an active participant and witness of the events over the last three years in business and try to point out the basic managerial lessons learned. Of course, this will be mostly a kind of a strategic overview, without delving deeper into details. 

The first inclusion in the list can easily be categorized as happenstance or a chance. It is relatively easy to enter the list, but it is even easier to be removed from it.

However, this was not in our case. We worked hard over the years and built the business organically from scratch. From zero to one employee, from zero to one million words translated, from zero to one million dollars in revenue, and so on.

Maybe small steps and milestones, but enormous for us.

I can remember when we studied the list and entrance criteria for the first time and evaluated them. We wanted to be there, to achieve something big, to be noticed, and we believed that we can make it.

We also knew that it was a challenge, so we approached it as a project and consequently, by trial and error method, we learned the best ways to do things and defined a clear set of actions. And we made it.

The second inclusion in the list can be coincidence, particularly if the organization has begun to enjoy the achieved level of success and started to reverse priorities. Or, succinctly speaking, if the organization forgets about its vision and falls in love with itself.

We took special care to avoid this by optimizing the organization and redefining our mission and vision by simply getting back to the roots and bringing back to the light that eternal question – Why are we here? And there could be only one answer: for the customers.

We eliminated all unnecessary elements, processes, procedures and roles without added value for our customers and our business in general. And we've become as lean and agile as possible. At the right time. And we made it, again.

The third time it's enemy action, and it is becoming clear that we've built something to last.

As one of our colleagues said, a monster, but I'd rather say a learning organization or an organizational machine with a growth mindset.

It is now clear that our inclusion in this list is not a happenstance or a chance anymore, but something of a pattern or habit. We are able to feel that progress on every step, to see the obvious results, and we feel empowered in every aspect.

Our experience teaches us that an easy and safe approach never leads to learning, but only to stagnation. And this is the reason why we look forward to the future challenges filled with confidence and enthusiasm.

Considering the recent events, including the uncertainty brought on all of us by the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic downturn, where we have demonstrated that we are a resilient company with sustainable business model, I'm pretty confident that we haven't said our final word yet and that the best things from the #Ciklopea team are yet to come.

Stay tuned. 

#TechnologyEclectic #LSP #L10n #Translation #Localization #Strategy #Ciklopea