The thick of it.

We are right in the thick of it at the moment, busy but aware of how so many of our customers are having a tough time at the moment.

Earlier in the week I met with our local chamber of commerce to discuss how we could help more businesses to save a bit of money, there are a few projects we've been involved in recently which we had a chat about. Whilst I was there I filled in a questionnaire for them from Business Link... and I couldn't help thinking whislt I was filling it out that I was staring at the reason why some businesses wont survive the year.The question - Do you know where you're going? The answer on a sliding 1-10 with 10 being the best possible and your answer being something like - 'We have a clear picture of where we're going along with a set of clear targets and the plans that will help us to achieve them'. Now I don't think there is anything wrong with that answer but it certainly doesn't fit with how we tend to do things and does that mean that we don't know where we are going? Not at all. In fact our major successes have been built on the flexibility to adapt to change and create new products hence our answer - 'Yes (we know where we're going) but we're going to explore a bit on the way'. Surely getting there is part of the adventure!

The next question was really the icing on the cake - Q - How do you ensure that everyone gets behind the plan? A - We involve everyone in the process of planning and setting targets, and allocate responsibility downwards by the implementation of those plans. OUR ANSWER - 'We only ask them (our staff) to work if they believe in our vision'. Sometimes we feel things can be complicated. The real way to get people behind your plan must be for them to believe in it. The rest will come hand in hand with that, processes wont necessary fix problems hey. In fact, who said we had a problem.

This was page 1 of about 10 so by the end I felt cleansed in the feeling that we are different, but not because we want to be, because it's what feels right. Whenever we have a hard question to ask, we just see where it fits with our values, is it Fun, is it Green and is it Honest, the rest will work itself out.

Whilst I'm here I had this picture mailed to me from this years awards ceremony this morning, we must be doing something right..

Onward and upwards we hope, enjoy your weekend!

Will