Almost boomerang

As many of you know, I moved to Sydney from New York and am continuing to build my career here. A large part of that is building my network here, and while it’s been a lot of work, I’ve genuinely enjoyed chatting with people I meet — I’ve met some really interesting and incredible people, and it only reinforces my belief that everyone has a story to tell.

Yesterday I stopped by the Deloitte Australia office in Sydney to visit the Australian Greenhouse. Their building is only a couple of years old and sits at a perfect location close to the waterfront and Circular Quay (now that’s pronounced “key” not “kuay” because English is a tricky language).

Deloitte Australia in Sydney at Quay Quarter Tower, 50 Bridge St.

I worked as a facilitator and designer at the New York Greenhouse from 2017 - 2019. This role was one of the most pivotal in my career because it reinforced my belief that all of business comes down to understanding people, whether that’s the people who are your customers or the people who are making the decisions in the business. I got to work with C-suite executives and help them work through their messiest, complex problems, all in an incredibly immersive, personalized, and human-centred way. One of my favorite pieces of work produced by the Greenhouse is this video that describes our Breakthrough Manifesto, the principles that (should) guide our approach to problem solving and that captures heart of what we do. I say “should” because sometimes clients, and the Business (yes, Business with the capital “B”) can be resistant to change.

Anyhoo!

Of course when you bring clients to your office you want to impress them. In New York where we were headquartered in the 30 Rock building, the Greenhouse was on the 50th floor and had stunning views overlooking Central Park, the Manhattan skyline, and the Rockefeller tree and skating rink during Christmas time.

Here, in Sydney?

Here the Sydney Greenhouse sits on the 44th floor and looks over the Sydney Harbour, including the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

I don’t think I’ll be returning to Deloitte anytime soon (though history may prove me to be a boomerang), but the stunning sunset over the CBD skyline almost swayed me in the end.