October 2009

This month we are socially enterprising whilst eating quite a lot …

• Corporate Lunacy
• Special People
• More Than Rules
• Smoke & Mirrors
• Fashion Police
• Welcome To My Place
• The Film
• Today v. Tomorrow
• Boom & Bust
• Circulation Details
• And Finally

Corporate Lunacy

I was in Exeter a couple of weeks back. The first night we eat in the hotel restaurant. My meal was served on a small wooden plank – they called it a platter. The food kept falling off the edge. I discussed this the next day with the catering manager. Apparently planks are corporate policy; they have to use them for certain dishes.

My follow up letter to the general manager suggested that this was corporate lunacy. Leaving aside the stupidity of serving food on something inappropriate for the task, it makes no sense whatsoever to take away local decision making. Sure there are certain things that need to be ‘corporate’ to ensure a consistent image is projected, but these should be kept to the bare minimum. Once you remove the ability for staff to take on some responsibility and creativity, you remove the incentive for them to push themselves to greater achievement; then complacency sets in, shortly followed by not caring. Maybe this was why the food quality fell way below expectations for a hotel in this category.


Special People

Having abandoned the hotel’s restaurant we tried various others – Exeter is well endowed with them. Located on Cathedral Close is Ask. It is splendidly situated and atmospheric. They have proper plates and the chefs can cook. And they have a special person. Young and slightly built, nevertheless she was in control. Orders were taken, and food was served – oh, and she knew how to serve wine correctly. The footpad came off the leg of an adjacent table, there she was on hands and knees fixing it; a chef slipped into the garden for a quick cigarette during a busy time – he was spotted and discretely chastised. When serving, although paying full attention, her eyes were flicking over other tables to check that all was in order.

Just occasionally we come across people who stand out, people who we would back to do any job well. They are worth their weight in gold, they make things tick, run smoothly and they head off problems with minimum drama. Ask in Exeter has one such special person. And their team delivered what were three of the best courses I’ve eaten at any price.


More Than Rules

The Chairman of HSBC, Stephen Green, talking about the responsibilities of the banking community said, "It also owes the real world a commitment to learn the lessons. Some of them are about governance and ethics and culture within the industry. You can't do all this simply by rules and regulations."

Mr. Green is spot on. How often do we find that rules or regulations brought in to address a particular issue create unforeseen problems? The most visible of these in recent times has been MPs allowances. At one time Honourable Members were considered to be just that and trusted to submit reasonable expense claims. Presumably somewhere along the line one or two acted less than honourably. So rules were brought in that set limits. At that point the limit becomes the norm. For those of you who are law abiding (all of you I’m sure), how many of you drive along the motorway at 65mph? Precisely. The limit is 70, so that’s what you drive at … or a little bit above.


Smoke & Mirrors

What is a ‘designer name’? Isn’t everything that is manufactured designed? In many cases the so-called designer may have little input … in fact they may be dead! For example, Coco Chanel died in 1971 but her name lives on in the brand. So is Chanel a designer label?

And then there are ‘celebrity’ chefs. Whilst in Exeter we had lunch in Michael Caines’ Café Bar. His Gidleigh Park restaurant is one of only fifteen in the whole of the UK to boast two Michelin Stars. So was he cooking in his Café Bar in Exeter or at any of his other restaurants? I rather doubt it.

What about exotic cars? Ferrari and Porsche both bear the name of the company founder, but so do Fords. Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne uses his name for his health clubs and hotels because he believes that it shows that you are proud of what you do if you are prepared to put your name on it.

So what does our business name or brand say about us?


Fashion Police

Birmingham Metropolitan College has been accused of acting like the fashion police after it imposed a dress code for lecturers. Apparently the code requires staff to have tidy hair, business suits and skirts, no visible tattoos, no slogans on T-shirts or ostentatious earrings. The college says that it is important for staff to present a professional image.

Again, presumably this is a case of a few pushing the boundaries too far, hence causing rules to be brought in. Does the way you dress affect your ability to do the job? No. Does the way you dress affect people’s opinions of you? Yes, almost certainly. Does scruffy look professional? No. Do you need to look professional to be a good teacher or lecturer? Possibly not but it can’t do any harm.
Inevitably first impressions are based on the way we look. Second, and probably more important, more lasting impressions, are based on the way we behave. If we are trying to sell ourselves, our credibility, our products and services, then we don’t want to lose the ‘war’ in the first ‘battle’. So, rightly or wrongly, the way we are turned out is important.


Welcome To My Place

Last Wednesday evening I attended a film premiere. There was no red carpet, sparkling jewellery, posh frocks or paparazzi photographers. The film was Midwest Rural Enterprise’s ‘Social Enterprise – How It Works’. The venue was The Fold at Bransford near Worcester.

The Fold is a refurbished barn and other farm buildings. It describes itself as: ‘An inspirational space to encourage sustainable living through Designer Makers, Complementary Therapies, Real Food EcoCafé, Plants, Events, Festivals, Courses and Workshops.’ The huge slice of chocolate cake that I consumed was real enough and rather fine!

The real benefit for places such as The Fold hosting events is that it brings in people who wouldn’t otherwise cross the threshold. People like me who might now just pop in for another slice of cake and while I’m there take a look round at the other things going on. Could you host an event, however small, that might bring you new customers?


The Film

Well, DVD actually. The DVD, made by Midwest Rural Enterprise is fronted by Dick Strawbridge and features various businesses that are run as social enterprises. Social enterprises are businesses trading for social and environmental purposes. They can be very small or huge such as The John Lewis Partnership.

The film aims to show the various legal structures that can be used for social enterprises and to inform and encourage this way of doing business. The event was attended by the CIC Regulator, Sara Burgess. Possibly CIC (Community Interest Company) is a legal entity with which Ramblers may not be familiar. To quote from the Regulator’s website (http://www.cicregulator.gov.uk/):

“Community Interest Companies are limited companies, with special additional features, created for the use of people who want to conduct a business or other activity for community benefit, and not purely for private advantage. This is achieved by a "community interest test" and "asset lock", which ensure that the CIC is established for community purposes and the assets and profits are dedicated to these purposes. Registration of a company as a CIC has to be approved by the Regulator who also has a continuing monitoring and enforcement role.”

I think it inevitable that we will hear more about social enterprise – the government is keen to promote it – and CICs. If anyone would like a copy of this excellent DVD, contact me and I’ll forward your request.


Today v. Tomorrow

Going back rather a long time I recall someone in the office saying something along the lines of, “It’s easy for him, he’s never had to deliver anything”. The complainer was part of a project delivery team, and the ‘non-deliverer’ was involved with developing strategy. I have been involved with both aspects, sometimes at the same time. A recent conversation started me thinking about the challenges. Strategists need to be Philippe Starck’s ‘professional dreamers’. They need time to gaze into space and let their minds wander; they need to be able to have loose unstructured conversations with people who might add to the creative process.

If you are responsible for today’s production or this week’s sales performance, you will have little time for daydreaming. Even if your role requires you to look after today and tomorrow, today will always take precedence. Of course, if our organization consists of one person and next door’s cat, we will have no choice but to do it all. But if we have a reasonable size of organization, then maybe it’s possible to split the roles, at least in terms of lead responsibility.

But to avoid the ‘Not Invented Here’ syndrome, I suggest frequent role rotation so that everyone gets a go at strategy as well as delivery. In fact role changes are good for personal development in whatever form they take … but if it’s the brain surgeon and the hospital manager doing it, perhaps shadowing is a better option than an actual job swap!


Boom & Bust

I was reading a report about organic farming in Spain. Whilst large-scale organic producers have suffered in the recession, it appears that small-scale operators have seen little difference. They did not experience major growth during the economic boom and, maybe because of that, have not suffered as a result of the recent sharp downturn. One small grower commented that small farms have a variety of outlets through specialised shops and farmers’ markets whereas the big operators are much more reliant on the big supermarkets.

I am sure that this applies equally in the UK and it does demonstrate the benefits of remaining small and having a diverse customer base. Of course, the downside is that it is hard work to maintain contact with many different customers … or even to have real contact with them in the first place. First you need permission to be in contact with them, then you need to keep them informed about what you are doing without boring them. Maybe this is an area where a well-run social enterprise can score by making its customers feel part of the ‘movement’ in whatever sphere it operates. In essence by building a ‘community’ – people like to belong, to feel part of something; it is a sound marketing strategy that many businesses fail to exploit.

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And Finally

US General Norman Swarzkopf had a view on the importance of strategy in a leadership role: “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” Hmm, interesting.

There is much to be said for having a very clear aim. Carmen Boyle the 1996 Olympic Luge Gold Medal winner sums this up quite nicely:
“Luge strategy? Lie flat and try not to die.”

I hope that this month’s weather will not require luges, toboggans or similar forms of transport.

David