Our Story and
where it all began
Happy Sandpit has been co-created by our customers and ourselves since the first blueprint for organisational culture was laid down in November 2013 with the publication of the book How to build a Happy Sandpit* by our founder, Colin J Browne. When we began to get organised, it made sense to name the company for the very thing we hoped most to help companies around the world to achieve: the discovery and development of their own Happy Sandpits.
Over the years, we have worked with hundreds of organisations across 20 countries, on long projects and small interventions, writing new employee induction processes, Employee Value Propositions and leadership manifestos, as well as playing games we have invented to better embed Core Values, unlock high performance and reduce unconscious bias.
Our areas of greatest interest and expertise remain those of organisational culture, employee engagement and leadership. The flashpoints where those three things meet is where the magic lies for organisations looking to go achieve greatness and it’s that, which excites us most of all.
With a decade beneath our feet already, we’re confident of the impact we can create and we’re optimistic and excited about the great work and great customers that lie ahead of us.
Books & Publications
We have a small, but growing library of books, laying out some of our formative thinking (How to build a Happy Sandpit) and our more recent obsessions (Don’t believe everything you think). You can check them out here, and download the first one for free!
Organisational Culture
How To Build a Happy Sandpit
This book takes a unique look at Southern African companies that enjoy exceptional levels of employee engagement and the organisational culture traits they use to achieve that.
Rich with stories from some of the region’s leading executives, gathered by author Colin J. Browne over the course of two years, there are lessons here for businesses of all sizes, and in all parts of the world.
Unconscious Bias
Don’t Believe Everything You Think
When it comes to making great decisions, the way you think about things is usually a lot more influential than what you actually think.If you ever hired a person who ‘looks the part’, dated someone who ‘gives you a good feeling’, voted for the party that ‘speaks the most sense’ or got into an investment that ‘cannot be missed’, only to realise you made a horrible mistake, you might have wondered how you ever talked yourself into it…
OUR CORE VALUES
These are baked into everything we do. Every interaction, every Zoom call, every idea, every solution, every … everything. We know if we stand by these, we’ll have a good business, good relationships, and deliver good results for our customers.
SERVE
We are here to help you to the full extent of our capabilities (which are always growing).
BE FAIR
We always seek a fair exchange of value, and keep things absolutely real.
BE NICE
We like people. In fact, we really like YOU. You’ll notice that in everything we do.
SOLVE THE RIGHT PROBLEM
We know how to dig and we know how to connect dots so we can create the impacts you need.
