Saying Thank You...
If you had lived through the thirty-year period of 1918 to 1948, you would have been part of a generational group that lived through the unenviable trinity that the world witnessed. A pandemic followed by the great depression topped off with a second world war. Fast forward a century later - we have lived through the great financial crisis of 2008 and are currently living through a pandemic of 2020. One can only guess what is next.
Against this backdrop of financial turbulence and a public health crisis, White Rook came to be in April 2017. We turn five next April, and as an occupational hazard of having studied Economic History, I tend to rationalize future outcomes using historical data. The data for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is clear globally. 80% of SMEs usually survive the first year. This percentage drops to 50% by year 5 and it only gets bleaker with 30% getting past year 10.
Nothing in our journey to surviving that 5th year remotely resembled a random coin toss. It was the result of an intersection of brilliant minds (who worked for us both past and present), set against a geopolitical backdrop that lent itself to the proliferation for the need to rethink, relook and reassess how businesses navigated ASEAN. While the US-China contestation of power overshadows Asia, ASEAN’s economic power in consumer demand and global trade flows will ensure that it remains a market that is hard to ignore.
While 2021 has been tough on economies, societies, and the individual, it’s hard to bet against the resilience of the human species. We always find a way to improvise, adapt and overcome. I owe a huge debt of thanks to the team at White Rook Advisory for coming together in the face of turbulence to continue giving their 100% to all our clients.
The way we work and service clients may have had to adapt to the realities thrown at us. However, we are uncompromising (almost relentless) towards steering clients to the outcomes they desire. That part of what we do will not change regardless of the circumstances, period.
Our journey in the next 5 years is clear - to be the absolute and clear number one firm bar none in the public affairs and government relations space in ASEAN. The key differentiating factor I think will be the increased use of technology, both predictive artificial intelligence and machine learning, to harmonize data with the human eye. The faces at the firm will change but the mission impact we plan to make will remain intact. This remains the main reason the firm is not named after founding individuals - which to me is a vanity one can ill afford. The White Rook brand shares traits with the rook on a chessboard. The Rook on a chessboard is the only piece that is not representative of a living thing. We represent an ideal to strive for, to be the go-to team in getting a job done effectively, efficiently, and quietly.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to each one of our clients for their faith and continued support for what we do. They are at the core of our thoughts and focus and our belief in the philosophy that if you provide excellent counsel and service, clients will seek you out.
The reason I selected to be pictured with this tongue in cheek title was because I have read this book many times to my two boys. It always reminds me that sometimes in the rigors of work and life, we should try to take the time to say those two magical words “thank you”, and appreciate the people in our lives.
Given the tough 2021 we have all lived through, I think it’s the best way to sign off the year by saying, thank you.