If it’s your birthday as you read this… then Happy Birthday, it’s the anniversary of your birth. Has much changed for you over the past year? In terms of who you are, what you do and why you do it, probably not - but how you do things will certainly have evolved. One year on, the things you’ve accomplished, the changes you’ve lived through with others, the things you’ve learned are always worth recognising. With Les Mis Misérables also celebrating its 40th Anniversary, this month’s newsletter, has us musing on the significance of anniversaries and the moments of balance they bring to our lives in reminding us how we’ve evolved – specifically, how they help us to celebrate, connect and learn...
Celebration
Last week marked the 40th Anniversary of Les Misérables – a giant of a show that has enjoyed incredible and quite unique success around the world. Privileged to be given a seat at this extraordinary event, it was inspiring to hear the stories and watch the past and present cast bring to life just why this show has become the longest running musical in the world. From its first appearance as a staged musical at the Barbican in 1985, its iconic anthems, compelling lyrics and unforgettable characters have all travelled relatively untouched to 2025.They’re the core of Les Misérables, its DNA… with little or no change in forty years. However, as audiences, markets and technology have changed more dramatically in recent years, the show has evolved from Stage to Screen from Theatre to Arena, using the latest technology to progress the art, plus a measurable diversification of performers, both professionals and amateurs. All enhancements evolving how the show is delivered and experienced, allowing the core production to continue to be enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. An easy journey to get here? Definitely not - so as well as a celebration of achievement, the anniversary also served as a testimony to the commitment, belief, resilience, patience and sheer hard graft involved by all those who have enabled it to reach its 40th year.
Connection
Anniversaries mark something significant – it might be a birthday, a wedding, the founding of an organisation or the first launch of something. They provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the past, to celebrate how far we’ve come and to remember and connect with the people and events that are important to us. The Arts of course are pretty good at celebrating. We’re creative by nature. We’re really good at parties. But Anniversaries are more than celebration alone. They also allow us to pause and identify how we’ve evolved as individuals, as teams, or as whole organisations They enable us a moment to reconnect to who we are, what we do and why we do it and to share that moment with those who’ve been on the journey with us. They also help us to connect to the future and look forward to the next milestone. In an industry that is high risk, increasingly volatile and capable of spitting you and your ideas out before you’ve even begun; marking the significant moments and sharing them with others and planning ahead is a good thing. At an annual Company Away Day recently we watched the initial founding members look back at their humble beginnings, celebrate how far they’ve come, show their gratitude to the people who have joined them on their journey and involve them in co-creating a forward plan that we know will see them celebrate next year and for many years to come. Anniversaries offer unique moments to strengthen bonds between individuals. Marking the event instils a sense of belonging and connection. They offer a chance to revisit memories and renew commitments, to unite people by recalling shared heritage and cultural identity and to remember both the achievements and gains plus shared struggle, sacrifice and loss with others who understand the experience.
Learning
Anniversaries allow us to focus on the things that matter to us, reflect on the lessons we’ve learned along the way and help guide our future endeavours. Acknowledging important dates helps maintain a connection to historical lessons, reminding us to avoid reliving the same mistakes and instead to work on emulating the successes. They also inspire motivation to set new goals as individuals or communities, celebrating progress while planning for the future. We’re often called in to work with clients when they have an upcoming anniversary – an annual meeting, a significant event and it’s good to put those pins in the calendar. It’s a chance to look back over the years since the event we’re marking and reflect with the client on how it has shaped them. Remembering the past (but without letting it rule us) can be an important part of understanding who we are, what we do and why we do it. It’s also a great moment to celebrate what we’ve achieved, what lessons we’ve learned and how we might now evolve and extend the strengths we’ve developed into new areas. If you have an upcoming anniversary moment in your organisation, we’d love to share thoughts on how we can help make it an opportunity for celebration, connection and learning. Get in touch and tell us about it!