First a quick disclaimer. The timing of this is because saying thank is the theme for this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, hosted by Kay Sauter. But the content is something that Kelly and I had been talking about doing anyway. So if you’re in this post (not by name – that’s not our style), then please know that it’s not just the regular monthly blog post; it’s a genuine sentiment.
Wow, Christmas is here again. I had my first shift as Father Christmas on Saturday. My daughter’s birthday was on Sunday and I’m feeling very much aware of all the gifts I still need to buy, as well as the pending deadlines for the end of the year. The weather is supposed to be hot now in Australia, but instead of we have storms (at least in Adelaide – not so much for our non-Adelaide people and customers). More rain than I think we’ve had all year doesn’t make life any less stressful.
But despite all this, it’s a great time to reflect on the year, and say a heartfelt thank you to those people who deserve it. To our team, to our customers, to our business partners and life partners, and to the communities in which we live. Thank you.
As it’s me (Rob) typing, I’m going to say a huge thank you to Kelly, my General Manager and an amazing BI expert. You help me do a better job of running LobsterPot Solutions, and I don’t know if I’d still be doing this if it weren’t for you. Management isn’t my thing, and you do a great job of handling those things that aren’t my best work. You also tolerate my endless talking. Thank you. Your heart for the community means we agree on enough things to make it work, and I want to thank you for being that kind of manager. I couldn’t have someone in the role who didn’t understand that side of me, and I’m really pleased you do.
You also proof-read my posts, Kelly, so I think everything else further down is from both of us. Let me know if it’s not, and I’ll delete those parts. 😉
To the people that work on our team, whether employees or subcontractors, thank you for representing us so well. It’s so good to have people in the team, helping deliver great stuff to our customers. We appreciate your commitment and your flexibility, not to mention your skill level. You all do things that make us proud. Thank you.
Our business partners, those people from other companies that work alongside us, whether it’s for our customers or for yours, thank you for walking with us on that path. Collaborating on work is always good, and sharing the load makes journeys better.
To our significant others, thank you for being understanding on the days when things have been going wrong. You provide those safe places we can relax in when we don’t want to focus on work any more. Hopefully we haven’t had to lean on you too much this year, but thank you for being there in the times we do.
To our customers – obviously the business wouldn’t exist without you. But thank you giving us the honour of helping you in your journeys. We take your goals on as our own, and it’s wonderful to see your transformations. We enjoy helping you and your teams grow in capability and skill, achieving things that are new, helping you improve the performance and insight in your data. We love seeing your confidence in your data increase, the time you spend on your processes decrease, and the sparks in your eyes when you understand that you have grown too. Thank you for being amazing. Also thank you for knowing that we don’t always see the right answer right away. Together we can do great things, but we couldn’t do it without your involvement, so thank you for that too.
And to the communities we’re involved with, locally and worldwide, technical and non-technical, thank you for letting us be part of you. The data community (in all its forms) continues to be strong, but also the other communities, of business leaders, of comedians and church-goers and cadets, and all the other groups we’re in. Those people we mentor, and who mentor us. Thank you for stretching us. Thank you for being welcoming. Thank you for letting us use our non-technical skills, not just our data skills. You help us remember that our worlds are not just about data.
We hope you all reflect on 2023 positively. That even with the tough times (I think we’ve all had them), it’s been okay for you. Hopefully 2024 will be good. No matter what our journeys hold, we can do them together.
Thank you, and Merry Christmas!
Rob & Kelly
This Post Has One Comment
It’s been a pleasure to work with Team Lobsterpot over the last couple of years. We have made some significant improvements to our business as a direct result of our working relationship. A genuine thank you to the whole Lobsterpot team who have been very gracious in answering all my (potentially silly) questions and providing our team with guidance, support and mentoring.
Personally I never knew I could find a love for data and who new that I would be coming home from work and telling my wife about the cool stuff we have been doing with Power Bi and Power Apps (her eyes still glaze over like im talking about my favorite car or the best players from the 1990’s basketball era but she appreciates that it makes he happy seeing the progress)..
Merry Xmas to you all.. Hope you have a safe and Happy Holiday season.