Transitioning into 2024 with a new ‘word for the year’
As the year draws to a close, it feels fitting to reflect on the single word we chose to guide us through 2023 and explain our chosen word for 2024. Our 2023 word was ‘together.’ A simple, powerful word that’s acted as a beacon lighting our path through the highs and lows of the year and a source of inspiration, resilience and togetherness for our team.
Boosting team dynamics
The word ‘together’ has become the cornerstone of all our interactions. We’ve integrated it seamlessly into our team dynamics, and it’s nudged us beyond our individual efforts and further into Curve’s collaborative spirit. It serves as a constant reminder that each team member is a valuable piece of a bigger puzzle, contributing unique skills and perspectives to achieve shared goals. Our ‘Weekly What’s On’ meetings have improved as we’ve focused on aligning our efforts, sharing knowledge and supporting each other.
Strengthening client relationships
Our commitment to ‘together’ extended beyond our internal workings to our relationships with clients. We started approaching projects with a shared mindset, viewing our clients not just as partners but as integral parts of our own creative process. This approach has not only strengthened our client relationships but resulted in more innovative and effective workshops.
Reinforcing our core values
‘Together’ especially reinforced one of our core values, ‘We Are Enough.’ It became a word that echoed through our zoom-corridors, reminding us that collectively, we possess the resources and capabilities that we need to overcome challenges. This mindset-shift fuelled a sense of confidence in the team, leading to increased creativity and problem-solving.
Looking forward to 2024
We spent part of our winter team offsite collaborating to choose our successor to ‘together.’. You won’t be surprised to hear that our own workshops are as carefully planned and facilitated as those we do for you. Here's a sneak peek into the creative process that our brilliant facilitator Carol-Anne led for us.
We settled into the somatic, co-creative experience of a short meditation followed by individually free-writing our dream stories for Curve in 2024. Next, using our beloved Post-its and Magic Whiteboard, we singled out words from these stories that really spoke to us. Carol-Anne worked wonders, clustering and guiding us through the voting process.
The power of a smile
The real magic happened when we closed our eyes and felt these words we’d chosen in our bodies, and ‘smile’ emerged as the favourite. Interestingly, this word hadn't received any votes during the "thinking" round, but it resonated deeply within all of us. For us, ‘smile’ is more than just a word — it's the joy in our best work, the fertile ground for transformative workshops, and the expression on our clients' faces at the end of sessions we facilitate for them. It's how we’re closing the year, and how we’re approaching 2024 and all that it holds.
What about you?
One single powerful word creates a unifying force, aligning our efforts and energising our shared vision. Selecting a word through a facilitated collective process fosters better engagement and a real sense of ownership of the word among team members. We hope you’ll be able to join us on the 17th January at our free 45-minute Word for the Year workshop, where we’ll help you choose your own personal or team word to guide you through 2024.
Until then, we’d like to wish you a Happy Holidays and to thank you for being part of the wonderful Curve community through reading our newsletter. See you next year!