Celebrating thoughtfulness-as-a-service

Heavenly is a business built on thoughtfulness. And we’ve got the ROI to prove it. As we get ready to begin our third decade in business, we reflect on the power of referrals and the role that the goodwill of others has played in keeping us busy over all these years. And why “thoughtfulness-as-a-service” might be the least SaaS-like method for maintaining our commercial sustainability and cultural relevance.

We launched in 2003 without a business plan or portfolio, but with a passion for ideas and an idealistic spirit that if we build it – whatever ‘it’ is – they will come. Twenty years later, we’re proud to look back on the 1,000+ clients that have come through the doors of our shop. And, thanks to the power of our own painstaking research, we know that 85% of those relationships originated with a kind word or a connection, as opposed to the uncertainty of a cold or competitive pitch. Connections made courtesy of our growing network of clients, colleagues, friends and fans. We’re convinced that thoughtfulness plays a huge part in nurturing the goodwill we experience. And the kindnesses that come our way.

A cynic might suggest that a higher profile for Heavenly would reduce our reliance on such referrals, but we’ve always been victim to the adage that the cobbler’s children have no shoes. Too busy carrying the lantern for our clients rather than spending time lighting our own.

But the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as those of you familiar with the Buddhist preaching of Nichiren will remember: if you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way.

Philosophers call this the Golden Rule. Or, more academically, the Ethic of Reciprocity. The idea of doing as you would be done by, living life in anticipation of being treated in the same way as you treat others. The Victorian clergyman turned author, Charles Kingsley, embedded this theme into his 1863 novel The Water Babies, where the protagonist, a young chimney-sweep called Tom, encountered Mrs Do-As-You-Would-Be-Done-By, a fairy very fond of the Golden Rule. Mrs DAYWBDB would reward the thoughtful and considerate water babies with “all sorts of nice sea-things: sea-cakes, sea-apples, sea-oranges, sea-bullseyes, sea-toffee; and to the very best of all she gave sea-ices, made out of sea-cows’ cream, which never melt under water”.

While that picnic sounds delicious, we’re not so mercenary to expect a Return On Thoughtfulness. For us, the feel-good factor is feast enough.

Fortunately, the inspiration for our thoughtfulness is all around us. We’re involved with so many exciting sectors, they’re often to be found on the news agenda. The things that the world is talking about. From the environment and energy, culture and the circular economy to ground-breaking technology, the world of work and beyond. And it’s this topicality that feeds our love of ideas – and our compulsion to share them.

Royal Mail ran a campaign back in the 1990s when I was starting out in business. In a world before social media, they wanted people to send more letters to stay in touch. “I saw this and thought of you” was their riposte to BT’s “It’s good to talk” campaign which had launched around the same time. That sentiment of the thoughtful gesture stuck with me. I loved its unconditional nature. Thinking of you. And no response required.

In the years since then, I’ve discovered that sharing ideas begets ideas. Flashing a thought, a ‘thinking of you’ or a well-timed news article across someone’s inbox might just trigger a little inspiration or get lodged in the mind to be unpacked later. That’s the wonder of working in the ideas game, where it’s often essential for organisations to evolve in tune with what’s happening around them and contribute to that great, rolling conversation we call progress.

This year has gone quickly and now 2023 beckons. The New Year gives us all a chance to evaluate, regroup and reset. Whatever it holds, one thing’s for certain. Staying thoughtful and doing-as-we-would-be-done-by remain top of our list of resolutions. After a while, it just becomes innate. And, as Mr Kingsley once said, “nothing is as infectious as example”. Now there’s a thought.