Hello everyone, I’m Pratan Thinsomchaisin, Senior Executive in the Culture Development department for AnyMind Group, based in Bangkok.
I joined the company since the first day Kosuge Sogo and Otohiko Kozutsumi, the company’s founders, established AdAsia Holdings (now AnyMind Group). Back then we only had five people including Sogo himself. Prior to that, I worked at Sogo’s previous company MicroAd and was invited to join his new company.
Despite my degree in Architecture, my work after graduation was never related to my field of study. I can say though, that my skills in design, critical and analytical thinking, and innate curiosity, have been a big distinguishing factor and helped me a lot throughout my career.
I first started off in the Advertiser Engagement department, then moved to the Publisher Engagement side on my first day in this company. After that, I moved to administration, media planning, HR – recruitment, HR – employee engagement, and now the Culture Development department.
I’ve held 7 roles while working at AnyMind Group, and I feel lucky to have been given these huge opportunities (or maybe felt lucky I was not fired LOL).
Initially, I joined this company in a sales position because I wanted to develop my speaking and negotiation skills, and I thought that having a job that involves client interaction is the best way to develop these skills.
However, the point that actually made me a better speaker and negotiator is not when I was in a sales role, but further down the road when I was in admin and HR recruitment that required me to talk to suppliers and candidates every day. Most of all, when I talk to internal “clients” – our employees on a daily basis, it also made me more confident to speak to people.
Also, I saw Sogo’s potential when he was driving the previous company MicroAd, I think the most impact was made by him and there was and still is a lot to learn from him, so I accepted his invitation to join the company.
I experienced the highest growth rate in my most recent years working as HR. My position might not be very high, but I am sure I’ve become a much better version of myself.
This might sound weird, but I have learned the right way to grow, personally. In all my previous jobs I have learned the wrong way, I was passive, I defined learning as how it was during university days.
Once you know the right way to self-learn, the possibilities are endless, and your growth rate will increase exponentially. You will stop relying on other people or your environment to feed you knowledge and experience, but you can proactively seek knowledge and experience by your own actions the right way.
Every factor plays a role in shaping me throughout these years. Once you figure out the right way to learn, you can grow from everything around you, every interaction and conversation you have with people around you.
But if I were to mention only one thing, it’ll be the opportunities and challenges that come with the job. They have pushed me to learn independently and develop myself more every day. I needed to improve or else I could not make an impact, and in this company, we’re always looking to make an impact on an individual, country and company level.
I find myself reinforcing AnyMind Group’s core value, “Speed, Commitment, and e Adaptable” in most of my tasks and projects. These values are inseparable.
First, you got to have the commitment to believe that the objective can be achieved, and you’ll do what it takes to achieve it. Second, once you have identified your direction, you will need to move towards it fast, setting deadlines, next actions, and quick follow-ups are crucial to achieve the goal before the set deadline. Finally, along the way, if there are obstacles or changes made to the direction, quickly adjust yourself and adapt to the new direction and find ways to achieve it nonetheless, but do not stop and give up.
I love problem-solving, and I believe every challenge has a solution. If I realize I can not solve it by myself, I will ask other people’s opinions, If others do not have solutions, I will research, and eventually, come to the best solution at least for the moment, and I can just try it out. If it fails, it will teach you a great lesson, and you will grow and try better next time. So basically, no matter what you try, it’s a win-win situation, you either win or you learn.
The truth is, I do achieve positive results, but not consistently, there will always be undesirable or unexpected results in my line of work, if there isn’t, then that is probably a problem in itself.
However, I always make sure to learn from the results and do better next time. I put in my best effort and make sure the progress is already well planned and executed, so when I see the results, whether good or bad, I know we have already tried our best, and have nothing to regret.
I learned to separate personal emotions completely from work, that is why I tend to experience less stress at work. Everything at work is basically doing what it takes to achieve the goal. You might encounter obstacles or differences in opinion from colleagues, but as long as everyone is moving in the same direction, we can always find a solution. If someone becomes emotional, I will always reset the tone and align them back on track.
In communicating with others, I personally have no problem with communicating in English, Chinese, or Thai. So, the message can be sent over clearly. But just to make it more efficient, talking to the person face-to-face or calling the person is always better than text messages, and after the talk, re-confirm the conclusion again via text.
The 2 best things we have here are resources and opportunities. If you know how to leverage the given resources and find opportunities to push new ideas forward, it can definitely help you grow both personally and professionally.
Remember, always be confident in yourself, trust in yourself first and try it out, take action. The truth is, there is no exact formula in business, always look for opportunities, do not fear to fail, with the right attitude no matter what you try it will always be a win-win situation, you either win or you learn.
