A year of growth, smart investments, and a bit of magic
By Sidsel Lindsø // CEO of ExploCrowd
2022 in short: This year many of my dreams have come true! But with a year coming to an end, it’s also a good time to elaborate, be thankful – and look forward.
With the founding of ExploCrowd in 2016, I wanted to prove that by creating a space where people could thrive and do what they are passionate about (and good at!), the company could deliver extraordinary results.
This also meant taking a different approach than traditional hierarchical management systems and use the underappreciated potential that lies in the Scandinavian trust-based society. Six years later, I am still certain that creating space and understand each other’s differences, is how we can create a great place to work.
2022: Our team grew bigger and happier! Here we are in Copenhagen.
Bigger team – same culture
We always knew that in this business we would have to adapt quickly, because our business is so vulnerable to changes in the energy- and geopolitical landscape. That happened this year as well as previous years.
Due to a high activity level our team has more than doubled in size. Do you want to know what happened to our company culture when so many new people joined us? As it turns out, our culture is strong enough to handle expansion. Our new colleagues have picked up on our different ways of working together. More about that later.
One of the main highlights this year for me was to get Mick McCaughey on board. He has been running teams of up to 25 people as project leader and has taken that part of the technical work off my shoulders so I could spend more time on many of the other important aspects of the CEO role.
The team tells me that there has been a marked difference since he came in, because it has enabled me to explore more of my own potential.
New development
Even though we have been very busy, we have managed to prioritise and allocate time and resources for training and development. We have built competence within fault seal analysis, petrophysical well evaluation, further expertise in the PaleoScan software, learned to create apps via no-code and we have even thrown our COO Anette out in the deep end of the pool with the Female Future leadership program by NHO.
New inventions have been made, and it has been fun to see clients welcoming the CO2 storage proxy model that our colleague Lex has developed based on our input data from the Norwegian underground, to assist them in commercial prioritisation of their projects.
High Performance: The kick and the rest
Walking into the woods – and a two week Christmas holiday!
This year, a client discovered and thoroughly understood our capabilities as a High-Performance Team. Honestly, it felt a bit magical! By letting us get the chance of unleashing our full potential, they set us free.
We have been training for this for years, just like a sports team. The motivation and satisfaction in giving it all you have while delivering high quality results cannot be underestimated. Scientifically, it’s a kick – and I am sure that remembering the experience can give team members a spark of joy in years to come.
After giving it all, you need rest and recovery. Like elite athletes, we know that our performance will be better if we take the time to rest. A cognitive break is necessary, even when the current workload tells you that some time off might not be such a good idea.
Hence, this Christmas we are taking two weeks off. We see it as a good investment, as 2023 will be anything but slow. Taking care of business means taking care of each other!
Payback time – as the first company ever!
2022 was the year where we could pay back dividends to our shareholders, based on the good results from 2021. It felt good to give back, rewarding the trust they have had in us all along the way.
And as it turns out: ExploCrowd is the first company in the Startup Norway portfolio that pays dividends! This feels amazing, knowing that the company has a female founder (a rare species) and with only 2 million NOK in investment.
In addition to this, we have been upgraded to a AAA credit rating – the highest possible – only awarded to 2,5 % of Norwegian shareholder companies.
Some growth investors would argue that it is a waste to be conservative with investments. We, on the other hand, feel safer going into uncertain times as a robust company with our finances in order. And this was basically the point all along: Being financially strong enough to withstand the volatility of the cyclic business we are navigating in.
Certification: A Great Place to Work
It is repeatedly demonstrated that there is a strong correlation between trust-based company cultures and outstanding performance. This is reflected on the bottom line.
We consider our culture a key competitive advantage. Also, we want to make sure that our framework enables innovative ideas. To create team awareness and map where we can improve our working environment, we established contact with the Great Place to Work team. Could we live up to their requirements? And how are we positioned compared to other companies and the Top 10 in Norway?
The results came out much better than expected! I mean, I expected them to be rather good because of our company culture initiatives, but I was blown away.
What I am most proud of is the way our colleagues care for each other, our shared level of trust, and their feelings towards their workplace as a place presenting a high level of psychological safety where immature ideas can be shared and matured together.
I will present more detailed results another time, but here are some quotes from the team:
“There are many factors that make our company a great place to work, but I think that the most important is that we trust and support each other. There is great communication which gives all members a sense of belonging to the team.”
“Small team, flexibility to balance work and life, recognition of achievements as an individual or as a team, good communication and trust are some of the characteristics of this organization that makes it a good place to work.”
There is a first time for everything!
This December we have been planning the entire of 2023 together with our clients. In the company history, this has never happened before! This makes me feel thankful and proud: We must have done something right.
I wish you all a merry Christmas! Take care of each other – and remember looking after yourself too.
// Sidsel