how to do things better

two hows and a who, what, why

how - the grocer

"He’s totally committed to everyone in the community”

These were the words from my taxi driver in Carlisle this week, telling me about life in his Cumbrian village. I initially assumed he was describing the local doctor or maybe his vicar or priest… but no, he was telling me about his grocer.

Apparently, it was the only grocery shop in the village and, being several miles from Carlisle, had over time, become the reliable pantry for villagers. The current owner had taken over the business forty years ago, with a clear mission - to fully support the village’s grocery needs.

Now in his late seventies and finding it increasingly difficult to be in the shop for a long working day, he devised a remarkable way of continuing to deliver his pledge. He cut individual keys for his shop and gifted one to each of his loyal customers.

Today he opens the shop for morning deliveries, filling his shelves with fresh bread, milk and vegetables. The rest of the day he operates, through an ‘honesty box’ system for all his valued key-holders. Now in its second year of operation, the shop has become more profitable, no keys have been lost, and new residents are cordially invited to join and are gifted their own key.

The pledge he initially made to the village, of providing groceries for the community is still being securely delivered – he just changed how he does it.

how - the musicians

"We need a full ninety- piece orchestra this afternoon George!” There were twenty-four empty bars to fill between the main part of the song and the newly written middle section. The song was to be called ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ and the band were called the Beatles.

John Lennon had an idea to fill the bars with a sound that he described as, ‘’beginning tiny and to gradually grow and become all engulfing’’. His colleague song writer and band member Paul McCartney excitedly agreed, recognising and respecting the band's obligation to retain the reputed production quality of their previous recordings. George Martin, their stalwart producer, similarly loved the idea, but was sensibly wary of justifying the cost of such a scale of orchestra for a one minute, twenty-four bar sequence.

For a rare moment, the Abbey Road studio fell quiet. It was Ringo Starr who broke the silence, chipping in from behind his drum kit… ‘’let’s hire half an orchestra and have them play it twice’’. Everyone did a double take, stunned by the simplicity of the suggestion… brilliant!

The song was completed, the budgets justified and those twenty-four bars of orchestration successfully reflected the band’s brand reputation for having the highest production quality… they’d simply changed how they did it.

createbalance

So, what do a Cumbrian grocer and a group of Merseyside musicians have in common?

The ability to balance their decisions… being confident, that when they are working out how to do things, they are consistently making the best choices.

Both were guided by their values, both recognised their unique capability and strengths and both were committed to what they were trying to achieve. Being aware of who they were, what they did and why they did it, enabled them to consistently balance their choices and decisions.

It was at the heart of their story from the beginning, helped them both build and extend their reputation and underpin their legacy long into the future.

If you look today, at the world’s most established or successful people and organisations, their clarity on who they are, what they do and why they do it, is a common trait. They are navigated by these three things when they need to work out how to respond to change, to overcome challenges, to go after opportunities or to come up with new ideas.

We firmly believe that our ability to evolve how we do things, is what helps us to keep moving forward. It’s what gives us our agility, pace and resilience to stay focused on what matters most, change things for the better and be at our best. Today, this ability to continually evolve, prioritise and remain responsive is critical to survival and success.

Our balance framework serves as the perfect tool to help you be really clear about defining your who, what, why and use these as a mindset and a capability to balance how you do things… whether that’s sharing keys with core customers or filling twenty-four bars of full orchestration!

So, if you’re looking to understand, develop or evolve yourself or your organisation and learn how to better balance your choices, decisions and priorities too, the balance model could be useful.

Why don’t you call us for an informal chat to explore more… we love those!

latest posts

why the big pause?

The value of using a pause in our day-to-day interactions may be under threat, but it’s a useful tool that helps us respond vs. react.

bring me sunshine!

This week is the centenary of Morecambe and Wise, an opportunity to celebrate, but also to recognise the benefits of working in such a strong partnership