Well it's three weeks into my new job and I'm amazed at what a difference it has made to my life.
In just three weeks I've been transformed into a whole new man, and hooray for that I hear some of you say.
Ok so what's so different about you then John?
Well I'm glad you asked ;)
Ok it's only when things change that you realise just what a rut you were in, though what I was doing before was of value and excellent work it pales into obscurity against what I'm doing now and I'm loving it.
Nowdays I'm working 10-12 hr days and feel like I'm on holiday, I'm still up at 6am and off to work on the tram but at 4:30 when I leave I'm home and back on my computer working till 8 or so, I feel so liberated I can't tell you.
Ok so what's different that's made such a change to my life, well in a word control.
Happiness is not about working less or being paid more but for me it's about having control of my own destiny, sure I'm still employed and sure I could still be made redundant get the sack or have some sort of life changing accident but now I feel that I have control, I choose when and how I work and that makes such a difference.
Of course I have orders to follow and jobs to do but my new employers have faith in my abilities and leave me to organise my own work, it's always amazed me that companies pay people huge amounts of money to do their jobs and then insist on micro managing them, how unproductive is that?
Worse than making employees unproductive it also starts to eat away at their confidence and self worth, after a while you begin to accept it as the status quo, you begin to accept that you have no mind of your own, that your ideas are of little worth and that how it is is how it should be.
Rebel I say, don't accept the mediocre, don't let the little people control your life take ownership of your own destiny and get yourself something better.
Ok ok I know it's easier said than done, believe me I've been there and done that and sometimes you have little choice but to knuckle under and get through the day but what I would urge you to do is keep your eyes open for that opportunity to change your situation.
Nowadays with the advent of jobsite and jobserve amongst others it's the easiest thing in the world to set up automatic e-mails of likely looking jobs sent direct to your account every day.
Ok that perfect job may not be the first thing that arrives in your inbox, it took 19 months for me but if you aren't looking it'll never turn up.
Let's face it if your current employer needs to shed jobs they won't think twice about getting rid of you if it suits their purpose.
I'm not saying be disloyal to your current employer, you owe them your loyalty all the time you are taking their money but for the love of god keep your eyes open and your head up cos no one cares about your career like you do.
Personally I don't give a damn about your career as much as you don't care about mine but I'm sure as hell interested in mine !
So what's the point then John I hear you say.
To quote the she bitch of all time get on your bike and find yourself something better.
Next bulletin from the Isle of Man !
John Anslow
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
You can Write, why aren't you Shakespeare?
One of the things that plagues web workers is the perception among the general population that web stuff is easy.
I won't bore you with the amount of times I've heard disparaging comments from some colleague about how they could do my job if only they had a spare 5 minutes, typically writing code is probably about 10% of building a web site and most staff given some training could probably manage that.
Putting together a web site is a lot like putting together a book, it’s only a string of words after all, hell my 7 year old nephew can write words ! and so it is with web sites, seems like everyone knows just enough html to think they know how to do it.
Just knowing the language and being able to get the screen to display "Hello World" doesn't make you a developer in the same way as knowing the alphabet and being able to write "Hello World" doesn't make you William Shakespeare.
I’m not here to crusade for the rights of undervalued web professionals, the fact that I get paid for doing what I love is good enough for me, but it does wind me up.
When I sit here and look around at my colleagues bashing out code to calculate VAT on 3 for 2 offers or working on a new 80 column report about cash-flow I don’t see them smile an awful lot, I don’t see them jumping up and punching the air in joy when they finally get the sub total to line up in column 65.
I wonder if the lack of excitement in what they do is a result of their personalities or their work, they seem like ordinary guys, we have a laugh when we go down to lunch etc. so my guess is that it’s their work that makes them act the way they do.
I guess if they loved what they do as much as I do they’d be as excited by it as I am by mine, perhaps instead of being wound up by these comments I should recognise them for what they are.
I won't bore you with the amount of times I've heard disparaging comments from some colleague about how they could do my job if only they had a spare 5 minutes, typically writing code is probably about 10% of building a web site and most staff given some training could probably manage that.
Putting together a web site is a lot like putting together a book, it’s only a string of words after all, hell my 7 year old nephew can write words ! and so it is with web sites, seems like everyone knows just enough html to think they know how to do it.
Just knowing the language and being able to get the screen to display "Hello World" doesn't make you a developer in the same way as knowing the alphabet and being able to write "Hello World" doesn't make you William Shakespeare.
I’m not here to crusade for the rights of undervalued web professionals, the fact that I get paid for doing what I love is good enough for me, but it does wind me up.
When I sit here and look around at my colleagues bashing out code to calculate VAT on 3 for 2 offers or working on a new 80 column report about cash-flow I don’t see them smile an awful lot, I don’t see them jumping up and punching the air in joy when they finally get the sub total to line up in column 65.
I wonder if the lack of excitement in what they do is a result of their personalities or their work, they seem like ordinary guys, we have a laugh when we go down to lunch etc. so my guess is that it’s their work that makes them act the way they do.
I guess if they loved what they do as much as I do they’d be as excited by it as I am by mine, perhaps instead of being wound up by these comments I should recognise them for what they are.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Uncommon courtesy
I write this looking back at some of the managers I’ve worked for and wonder at how they got and kept their jobs, of course having read the Peter Principle I know how, but it still amazes me.
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of reading The Peter Principle, its basic tenet states "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."
i.e. the good production line worker is promoted to be a supervisor where all his production skills are next to useless and he has to learn how to be a supervisor, once he’s learnt enough to be a good supervisor he’s promoted to manager and so on until he finds it impossible to learn enough to become competent and thus ceases to be promoted, he has reached his level of incompetence.
One of the traits that distinguish great managers from human potato sacks is manners.
By manners, I don’t mean people who hold the door open for you, or wish you good morning – that’s politeness, and even evil things can be done in a polite way.
When I think about my best managers I remember their concern for me, their unstinting support and belief, their ability to help me to grow and their mentoring skills. What pervaded everything they did was their good manners: treating me how they themselves would like to be treated by their manager.
I remember meeting the first real manager of my life a now deceased and greatly missed gentleman called Arthur Lomasney, he was Superannuation Manager at St Georges Hospital, Tooting in the 80’s.
On my first day I was introduced to Arthur by the Payroll Manager, he immediately took my hand and gave me a warm welcoming smile. “Welcome to Superannuation,” he said. I felt his sincerity like a brazier on a cold night.
Before he went on to talk about the job he talked to me at some length about me - a fascinating subject for a 20-year-old. By listening patiently to my ramblings he convinced me in pretty short order what a wonderful man he was. As time went on and I came to know him, that initial impression was confirmed but I will never forget the effect he had on me when he first made me feel welcome.
If he was around today, he would say it was just good manners, but like common sense, I know it’s a human trait that’s rare. Arthur based his entire life on good manners, at work, at home, in love and war and though when he died he was not a rich man in the conventional sense his funeral was immense and the gap he left fathomless.
I spent a long time learning how to behave from Arthur, I watched him time and time again turn antagonists into evangelists primarily by using good manners.
Staff members would come to Arthur upset and angry, expecting a fight and ready for it, sometimes they would bring support in the form of union reps or spouses, sometimes they would be resentful, sometimes tearful and only rarely friendly and in all cases Arthur would treat them with care and consideration. He never let people leave feeling angry, and I’ll repeat that because it was fundamental to his method,
he never let people leave feeling angry.
I remember on one occasion a widow and her two teenage children came to visit us to fight about her pension benefits, they turned up bristling with indignation and if knives weren’t actually drawn they were certainly eased in their sheaths.
By use of his impeccable manners and wonderful people skills he soon had the situation turned around to such an extent that before they left he had them out in the lobby playing “Red Arrows”
The lobby in the hospital is a large square area with 4 lifts around the outside, about 30 foot square, Arthur’s game of Red Arrows involved four people starting at each corner of the square and walking towards the opposite corner, Arthur proved time and time again that people would instinctively avoid hitting each other and cross to the opposite corner and because of the coordination required he named this game “Red Arrows” after the famous flying display team.
How do you think they went away and what do you think they said to their friends and acquaintances about Arthur and the superannuation department?
Since Arthur I’ve enjoyed working for the good and the bad, one manager introduced another manager who stuttered, like this,
“You know Mike Noakes, Four M’s three N’s.”
I won’t forget that experience I can tell you.
Nowadays I try and emulate people like Arthur and avoid acting like the second manager, I send thank you notes, how hard is that with e-mail? He did all his by hand.
I greet people with a smile and a warm hand shake, I try and treat everybody like a guest in my own home and I try not to let people leave feeling angry.
There is insufficient space here to list everything required to have good manners in a business sense but I bet you can think of someone who has them, and a little side-bet that they aren’t languishing in the depths of the company.
So does having good manners do me any good?
Well if I tell you that I will shortly be leaving my current employer and joining another for double my current salary I’m sure you can draw your own conclusions.
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of reading The Peter Principle, its basic tenet states "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."
i.e. the good production line worker is promoted to be a supervisor where all his production skills are next to useless and he has to learn how to be a supervisor, once he’s learnt enough to be a good supervisor he’s promoted to manager and so on until he finds it impossible to learn enough to become competent and thus ceases to be promoted, he has reached his level of incompetence.
One of the traits that distinguish great managers from human potato sacks is manners.
By manners, I don’t mean people who hold the door open for you, or wish you good morning – that’s politeness, and even evil things can be done in a polite way.
When I think about my best managers I remember their concern for me, their unstinting support and belief, their ability to help me to grow and their mentoring skills. What pervaded everything they did was their good manners: treating me how they themselves would like to be treated by their manager.
I remember meeting the first real manager of my life a now deceased and greatly missed gentleman called Arthur Lomasney, he was Superannuation Manager at St Georges Hospital, Tooting in the 80’s.
On my first day I was introduced to Arthur by the Payroll Manager, he immediately took my hand and gave me a warm welcoming smile. “Welcome to Superannuation,” he said. I felt his sincerity like a brazier on a cold night.
Before he went on to talk about the job he talked to me at some length about me - a fascinating subject for a 20-year-old. By listening patiently to my ramblings he convinced me in pretty short order what a wonderful man he was. As time went on and I came to know him, that initial impression was confirmed but I will never forget the effect he had on me when he first made me feel welcome.
If he was around today, he would say it was just good manners, but like common sense, I know it’s a human trait that’s rare. Arthur based his entire life on good manners, at work, at home, in love and war and though when he died he was not a rich man in the conventional sense his funeral was immense and the gap he left fathomless.
I spent a long time learning how to behave from Arthur, I watched him time and time again turn antagonists into evangelists primarily by using good manners.
Staff members would come to Arthur upset and angry, expecting a fight and ready for it, sometimes they would bring support in the form of union reps or spouses, sometimes they would be resentful, sometimes tearful and only rarely friendly and in all cases Arthur would treat them with care and consideration. He never let people leave feeling angry, and I’ll repeat that because it was fundamental to his method,
he never let people leave feeling angry.
I remember on one occasion a widow and her two teenage children came to visit us to fight about her pension benefits, they turned up bristling with indignation and if knives weren’t actually drawn they were certainly eased in their sheaths.
By use of his impeccable manners and wonderful people skills he soon had the situation turned around to such an extent that before they left he had them out in the lobby playing “Red Arrows”
The lobby in the hospital is a large square area with 4 lifts around the outside, about 30 foot square, Arthur’s game of Red Arrows involved four people starting at each corner of the square and walking towards the opposite corner, Arthur proved time and time again that people would instinctively avoid hitting each other and cross to the opposite corner and because of the coordination required he named this game “Red Arrows” after the famous flying display team.
How do you think they went away and what do you think they said to their friends and acquaintances about Arthur and the superannuation department?
Since Arthur I’ve enjoyed working for the good and the bad, one manager introduced another manager who stuttered, like this,
“You know Mike Noakes, Four M’s three N’s.”
I won’t forget that experience I can tell you.
Nowadays I try and emulate people like Arthur and avoid acting like the second manager, I send thank you notes, how hard is that with e-mail? He did all his by hand.
I greet people with a smile and a warm hand shake, I try and treat everybody like a guest in my own home and I try not to let people leave feeling angry.
There is insufficient space here to list everything required to have good manners in a business sense but I bet you can think of someone who has them, and a little side-bet that they aren’t languishing in the depths of the company.
So does having good manners do me any good?
Well if I tell you that I will shortly be leaving my current employer and joining another for double my current salary I’m sure you can draw your own conclusions.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
How to resign
“Take your job and stick it where the sun don’t shine” might be tempting but “so long and thanks for all the fish” makes much better sense.
I'm pleased to announce that I recently got a new job and I’m looking forward to starting it in February.
The good news, however, did raise the awkward issue of how to resign from my current position without succumbing to the above temptation.
I have resigned in many ways throughout my interesting career.
A particularly memorable resignation came when I knocked the company owner’s son into a pool of his own piss – he took the ‘wet floor’ sign literally by passing water on a floor I’d mopped to prove his power over me.
In my latest job though, it was just a straightforward resignation.
That’s not to say I haven’t had issues with my current job. Let’s face it, if I’d been entirely happy I wouldn’t have been looking, so the opportunity to put them down in writing knocked twice and rang the doorbell.
I could have detailed the reasons for my resignation at some length with dates and timings where appropriate. I could have explained where I was failed, put upon, abused etc. but looking at it with the benefit of experience I decided not to.
The temptation to get it all off your chest is immense; all those petty insults and real or imagined sleights, the passed over promotions or unreasonable behaviours are just demanding that you give them an airing now that you haven’t got anything to lose.
So why then did I choose to hand in a resignation letter thanking my boss for her kind attentions and the company for its care when what I really wanted to say was something far more accurate?
There’s an old saw that bears repeating:
“Don't burn your bridges behind you”
It is indeed a small world, I have lost count of the number of ex-colleagues I have encountered over the years, some who have gone on to be more successful than me and some who have not but all with a tongue in their mouths and some influence in their work places.
I have got and not got, jobs based on recommendations from these ex-colleagues.
I highlighted that because it’s the primary reason not to let fly with your reasons, no matter how good or well supported they may be.
The second reason is that your employer has invested time and money in its staff. The higher the position of that member of staff the greater the investment. Who then do you think they are going to back when a dispute arises, even more so, when one part of that dispute is disappearing and the other part will remain?
Use that most valuable tool in your survival pack and put yourself in your employer’s position: would you stir up trouble with a supervisor/manager/director/whatever when the problem is removing itself anyway?
I can see the light of realisation in your eyes and the slump of acceptance in your shoulders – don’t be too downhearted however, you are moving onwards and upwards and the people you are leaving are not your problem any more.
I’m afraid I’ve some bad news for you.
When you get to where you are going there will be more (insert collective derogatory term here) there and you will have to deal with them. The trick of the game is to develop yourself to such an extent that the little people can’t hurt you.
Try re-framing the problem: be grateful for every (insert singular derogatory term here) you meet, It’s one less person to compete with.
John Anslow
www.ffriar.com
I'm pleased to announce that I recently got a new job and I’m looking forward to starting it in February.
The good news, however, did raise the awkward issue of how to resign from my current position without succumbing to the above temptation.
I have resigned in many ways throughout my interesting career.
A particularly memorable resignation came when I knocked the company owner’s son into a pool of his own piss – he took the ‘wet floor’ sign literally by passing water on a floor I’d mopped to prove his power over me.
In my latest job though, it was just a straightforward resignation.
That’s not to say I haven’t had issues with my current job. Let’s face it, if I’d been entirely happy I wouldn’t have been looking, so the opportunity to put them down in writing knocked twice and rang the doorbell.
I could have detailed the reasons for my resignation at some length with dates and timings where appropriate. I could have explained where I was failed, put upon, abused etc. but looking at it with the benefit of experience I decided not to.
The temptation to get it all off your chest is immense; all those petty insults and real or imagined sleights, the passed over promotions or unreasonable behaviours are just demanding that you give them an airing now that you haven’t got anything to lose.
So why then did I choose to hand in a resignation letter thanking my boss for her kind attentions and the company for its care when what I really wanted to say was something far more accurate?
There’s an old saw that bears repeating:
“Don't burn your bridges behind you”
It is indeed a small world, I have lost count of the number of ex-colleagues I have encountered over the years, some who have gone on to be more successful than me and some who have not but all with a tongue in their mouths and some influence in their work places.
I have got and not got, jobs based on recommendations from these ex-colleagues.
I highlighted that because it’s the primary reason not to let fly with your reasons, no matter how good or well supported they may be.
The second reason is that your employer has invested time and money in its staff. The higher the position of that member of staff the greater the investment. Who then do you think they are going to back when a dispute arises, even more so, when one part of that dispute is disappearing and the other part will remain?
Use that most valuable tool in your survival pack and put yourself in your employer’s position: would you stir up trouble with a supervisor/manager/director/whatever when the problem is removing itself anyway?
I can see the light of realisation in your eyes and the slump of acceptance in your shoulders – don’t be too downhearted however, you are moving onwards and upwards and the people you are leaving are not your problem any more.
I’m afraid I’ve some bad news for you.
When you get to where you are going there will be more (insert collective derogatory term here) there and you will have to deal with them. The trick of the game is to develop yourself to such an extent that the little people can’t hurt you.
Try re-framing the problem: be grateful for every (insert singular derogatory term here) you meet, It’s one less person to compete with.
John Anslow
www.ffriar.com
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Get the Bear Facts
Happy new year all, may this year bring you all you would wish and nothing that you would not.
Ok Christmas has come and gone, My wife's birthday being the 27th has also come and gone and much has happened in the Anslow household.
During the Christmas holiday I experienced many incidents of customer service and leadership in action, some of them good and some of them not so good as you will imagine.
I'm sure that you all will have similar stories to tell, the assistant and I use the term lightly, in Woolies who chewed gum and looked down her nose at you when she eventually deigned to serve, the schoolgirl cashier in Next who didn't know what a tank top was, the guy in Dixons who went out of his way to get you that camera you wanted etc.
My own experience was affected somewhat by my habit of Christmas shopping all year so for me it was a case of wrapping more than buying but I did have one pleasurable experience that I thought I'd share with you.
For my wife's birthday I purchased a gift card for the Teddy Bear Workshop in Croydon, it's in the Centrale Centre in case you want to go, She is wild about cuddly toys and I knew that she'd just love going along and making her own.
We toddled along all excited on a rather wet Wednesday and were greeted at the door by a bear wielding staff member, I explained that it was a birthday treat for M and the lady and her bear explained the process to us and offered help should we need it.
I don't know if you've been to one of these shops so I'll list what happens.
- Select empty skin
- Choose sound machine
- Get a heart
- Get it Stuffed
- Fluff it
- Choose Outfit
- Produce Birth Certificate
- Pay and leave
Well as you can imagine M was in raptures about it all, she spent ages choosing which bear she wanted, as usual she wanted them all, then I recorded a short message for the bear to play when you squeeze its paw, she chose a heart and we took it to the stuffer.
Imagine liposuction in reverse and you've got a good idea of how that worked, she was squirming around and muttering about how it must be hurting the poor thing, the poor assistant who was doing it was mightily uncomfortable.
We took it over to fluff and preen it with bear paw shaped brushes and an air shower thing before trying to choose an outfit.
You should see the range of outfits these people stock and at about the same price as kiddy clothes I'm not surprised ! We ended up with a fisherman's outfit, complete with fishing rod, fish and wellington boots, M naturally decided to call him Fisher !
We generated his birth certificate on one of a row of PC's and went to pay, I was watching the customers and staff while we waited for our turn and it was fascinating to watch people so obviously enjoying themselves, not just the customers but the staff.
Let's face it 8 hrs a day stuffing bears can't be all that great so there must be something else going on to account for all the smiling faces, and then it struck me it was the smiling faces, and that led me to another obvious revelation, happiness breeds happiness.
Happiness breeds happiness.
Now whether it was the customers infecting the staff or the staff infecting the customers who can say but it certainly made for a pleasant environment for both, I believe it is the managers responsibility to foster happiness as much as fostering good customer service skills or financial management because the happiness factor does make a difference.
Look back over your Christmas at the examples of excellent customer service that you had, were they given by people with a smile on their face by any chance?
Monday, December 18, 2006
Ok well Christmas is here and I've been shopping !!!
Ok well Christmas is here and I've been shopping !!!
So what paragons of good service have you encountered this week john? I hear you groan.
I'm sorry to say that the best bit of customer service I've had this week was at ASDA in Beddington Lane, I went in to buy some Christmas presents for my wife and of course cards.
Now my wife's birthday is the 27th of December so as you can imagine it's an expensive time of the year for me as I have both Christmas and Birthday presents to buy my own birthday is the 8th of December so I know what it's like to have your birthday and Christmas presents rolled into one and I've always made sure that this was not the case for M.
Anyway back to the story, I went in to buy some presents and made my way to the cards, now ASDA have a huge selection of cards so don't get the idea that I couldn't be bothered to go to a proper card shop, anyway I was staring bemusedly at the racks and racks of cards when I noticed a pair of young ladies refilling the racks.
Now these two ladies are not ASDA employees but are employed by the card suppliers to keep the displays full and tidy so they have no need or requirement to help customers.
I approached them with some trepidation and asked if they wouldn't mind helping me, one young lady looked up and smiled asking what it was I wanted.
I explained that I was looking for a birthday card for my wife from me and one from the cats, she got up and found me two perfect birthday cards, when I asked her if she wouldn't mind doing the same with Christmas cards she led me to a fine selection and suggested a couple for me to choose from.
I thanked them both and took my cards off to pay with a smile on my face.
Now I haven't given M the cards yet as it's neither her birthday nor Christmas but I am sure she will love them, and I already do because they were given to me with pride.
Last week I was lucky enough t0 be sent to Edinburgh by my company to look at some stores and judge them for a competition.
It was lovely to see the old town again and also to see some examples of finely turned out stores, while I was judging I saw 6 stores and I couldn't help comparing them to the one in Croydon, I'm sorry to say its not a flattering comparison.
Every store in Edinburgh was imaculate, the staff were cheerful and attentive, if not the best dressed I've ever seen, I saw example after example of pride at work, even the store rooms were tidy and well laid out.
So what did I learn in Edinburgh?
Just this question.
Does pride have a place in modern retailing?
The americans in their usual way have coined a phrase for pride and as usual I hate it !
"Take ownership" yuck !
But if we get past the appalling use of the Queen's english and see through to the nub of the matter, we will see the good old fashioned word pride.
So what paragons of good service have you encountered this week john? I hear you groan.
I'm sorry to say that the best bit of customer service I've had this week was at ASDA in Beddington Lane, I went in to buy some Christmas presents for my wife and of course cards.
Now my wife's birthday is the 27th of December so as you can imagine it's an expensive time of the year for me as I have both Christmas and Birthday presents to buy my own birthday is the 8th of December so I know what it's like to have your birthday and Christmas presents rolled into one and I've always made sure that this was not the case for M.
Anyway back to the story, I went in to buy some presents and made my way to the cards, now ASDA have a huge selection of cards so don't get the idea that I couldn't be bothered to go to a proper card shop, anyway I was staring bemusedly at the racks and racks of cards when I noticed a pair of young ladies refilling the racks.
Now these two ladies are not ASDA employees but are employed by the card suppliers to keep the displays full and tidy so they have no need or requirement to help customers.
I approached them with some trepidation and asked if they wouldn't mind helping me, one young lady looked up and smiled asking what it was I wanted.
I explained that I was looking for a birthday card for my wife from me and one from the cats, she got up and found me two perfect birthday cards, when I asked her if she wouldn't mind doing the same with Christmas cards she led me to a fine selection and suggested a couple for me to choose from.
I thanked them both and took my cards off to pay with a smile on my face.
Now I haven't given M the cards yet as it's neither her birthday nor Christmas but I am sure she will love them, and I already do because they were given to me with pride.
Last week I was lucky enough t0 be sent to Edinburgh by my company to look at some stores and judge them for a competition.
It was lovely to see the old town again and also to see some examples of finely turned out stores, while I was judging I saw 6 stores and I couldn't help comparing them to the one in Croydon, I'm sorry to say its not a flattering comparison.
Every store in Edinburgh was imaculate, the staff were cheerful and attentive, if not the best dressed I've ever seen, I saw example after example of pride at work, even the store rooms were tidy and well laid out.
So what did I learn in Edinburgh?
Just this question.
Does pride have a place in modern retailing?
The americans in their usual way have coined a phrase for pride and as usual I hate it !
"Take ownership" yuck !
But if we get past the appalling use of the Queen's english and see through to the nub of the matter, we will see the good old fashioned word pride.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Costs Benefits and Verisimilitudes
Because of the atmosphere in which I work I have developed a back complaint, fortunately I have caught it early and am undergoing physio-terrorism to get it back to how it should be, it's a painful process and it's reminded me of the cost of employment.
When you come to think about it being employed costs you a lot of money, all of the following would not be required if it wasn't for work and I'm sure you can think of a few others
- Work Clothes
- Commuting Costs (season ticket car purchase fuel road tax parking etc.)
- Work Hair Cuts
- Appalling Coffee from the vending machine
- Canteen Lunches
- Assorted Presents (leaving birthday baby etc.)
- Work Related Outings (drinks meals bowling etc.)
- Work Contracted Illnesses (beechams powders night nurse strepsils etc.)
Not to mention intangible costs such as.
- Work time
- Commuting time
- Time shopping for work related goods
- Lost sleep worrying about work
- Relationship issues around work
- Stressful relationships at work
- Injuries directly attributable to work (RSI Slips Trips and Falls Silicosis etc.)
Ok ok, I'm not suggesting we all give up work tomorrow, heaven forbid, but it does us good to remember that there are hidden costs to what we do for a living as well as the rewards.
A friend of mine was recently offered a job by one of his clients and he was agonizing over whether to take it or not, when he sat down and tried to work out how much he should ask for he was surprised to realise just how valuable his current employment benefits were.
Once he'd taken into account the difference in holiday entitlement, pension benefits, flexi-time, charity-leave, car allowance etc. he realised that the job offer of beating his current salary by a couple of thousand a year wasn't quite as good as he'd first thought.
And this goes as counter argument to my first point, in that we may not be overjoyed to go into work every day and the hidden costs may be extortionate but the hidden benefits could be making our whole package much greater than we imagine.
This week I complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the broadband ads currently doing the rounds that claim unlimited downloads, subject to a fair use policy.
I hate it when people misuse the language so blatantly and pointed out to them that unlimited meant without limits and that making something unlimited and subject to a limit was a direct contradiction in terms.
Surprisingly I received a reply, only two days later, explaining that I was one of many to complain and that the ruling had been made that as long as the amount of people affected by the restriction was limited then companies were allowed to use the term unlimited.
As you know dear reader I have a love of the English language and this blatant disregard for accuracy really sets me into, to coin a phrase, dander erectus mode.
How many more inaccuracies are we going to allow; safe streets, honest politicians, accurate reporting, unbiased press, fair taxation...?
Oh I see your point :(
On a personal note I'm happy to report the diet is working and I've now lost 6lbs in a little over 4 weeks, to be honest I don't feel like I'm depriving myself and I cheat a lot ! I'm now playing badminton twice a week which is helping and the physio-terrorism is stopping the chest pains that were worrying me so much.
Take care till next time.
John Anslow
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Giving the finger to cash and forming a spam posse
Soon you could be giving the finger to supermarket queues and identity theft if new ideas go ahead.
I can see a lot of good coming out of the current drive to eliminate cash using biometric data to identify purchasers, it’s a lot harder to mug an old granny of her fingerprints than her purse for instance and there’s an interesting development in Biometrics that is raising eyebrows, expectations and hands in the air in almost equal proportions.
In a recent article by the BBC it was claimed:
"Pay By Touch" allows customers to settle their supermarket bill with a fingerprint rather than a credit card. With three million customers in the United States, this payment system is now being tested in the UK, in three Co-op supermarkets in Oxfordshire.
Once a customer registers, and has their finger scanned, they can use a fingerpad for payment, with the money directly debited from their bank account.
Of course there are very real fears about identity theft and rightly so but if it’s handled properly then I can see it being a boon to consumers and retailers alike, mind you there is a list of people who make their living out of handling cash who won’t be too happy, Securicor, Securitas, foreign exchanges, bank tellers etc. and that completely ignores the black economy who will be even more opposed, bank robbers, muggers, drug dealers, illegal workers, cash in hand employers, illicit minicabs etc.
So let’s address peoples’ fears of identity theft, if someone steals your identity and commits crimes you are not liable, it's simply a case of proving where you were when the said crime was committed, if you used your fingerprint to purchase goods in the co-op in Leicester at the same time as some thief used it to buy a car in Wales then it's fairly obvious to your local Leicestershire copper that you couldn't have been in two places simultaneously isn't it?
If you think resisting Biometric recognition systems will improve your civil liberties then you'd better cancel your bank accounts, send back your credit cards, not drive, not pay any bills, not attend any social services, not send your kids to school, not join a library or indeed any council run club or association and if you do all that and a host of things that didn't pop into my head while writing this, then you may just be able to avoid having any personal information stored about you and used at the collector's discretion, oh yes I forgot, better not go out either as the CC Cameras may see you.
Of course there will be cases where it’s hard to prove and mistakes will be made, and you can bet my body weight in yesterday’s unsold copies of the daily mail that the press will make the most of them to whip up some more paper selling hysteria but will it be any more prevalent than current cases of mistaken identity?
I'm more concerned about companies selling my data to marketers than I am about identity theft and I'm afraid that goes on all the time.
I currently receive over 400 pieces of spam email a day, harvesters of email addresses will account for most of that and no doubt writing on here has increased my visibility to these “people”, but there is the odd piece of snail-mail (actual physical mail that comes through the letterbox) that turns up unsolicited but bristling with my personal details that can only have come from someone who's bought my details.
Sadly there is no easy solution to this problem, most spammers (name given to people who send you stuff you don't want and didn't ask for) are based offshore, in countries where there is little to no control or possibility of redress, I know I’ve tried and hosts in countries like Latvia are extremely unlikely to even reply to a complaint let alone do anything about it.
By its very nature the internet is a very difficult place to police effectively, just look at how few convictions there are for that most vile crime, child pornography, international co-operation is required and huge amounts of money are spent to track down just a few individuals a year.
Having been involved in ecommerce I can tell you that even when I had proof of fraudulent behaviour, someone trying to use someone else’s credit card to purchase goods from me, the police couldn’t do anything as the funding wasn’t available, how much less are they going to prioritise spam?
So is there anything we can do I hear you ask, well maybe not but it’s a rhetorical question anyway so there!
And the answer is, funnily enough, about the same as the Americans came up with in the Wild West during the 1800's, look at their problems a huge country, no police, no money to pay for police, no effective central organisation to ensure that local governments instigated police departments etc. sound familiar?
Towns set up their own police and eventually central government took a hand and legislated them into existence everywhere whilst also creating central agencies to oversee and handle cross border issues.
Ok ok I'm not claiming the American way is neccessarily the only or right way but it does bear striking similarities to the current situation on the net.
We can protect ourselves from viruses with mail checking programs and we can set complex spam identification rules on servers to filter it out somewhat, we can continue reporting spammers to various organisations, Spamcops, pinkertons, the local sherrif etc. but in the end they will keep sending it and we will have to keep dealing with it until there is an internet wide police force.
Now if someone could invent a way of doing away with spam automatically, that would be news, I might have to mail everyone I know and tell them about it ;)
Take care,
John
ffriar.com
BBC Article:
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6129084.stm )
I can see a lot of good coming out of the current drive to eliminate cash using biometric data to identify purchasers, it’s a lot harder to mug an old granny of her fingerprints than her purse for instance and there’s an interesting development in Biometrics that is raising eyebrows, expectations and hands in the air in almost equal proportions.
In a recent article by the BBC it was claimed:
"Pay By Touch" allows customers to settle their supermarket bill with a fingerprint rather than a credit card. With three million customers in the United States, this payment system is now being tested in the UK, in three Co-op supermarkets in Oxfordshire.
Once a customer registers, and has their finger scanned, they can use a fingerpad for payment, with the money directly debited from their bank account.
Of course there are very real fears about identity theft and rightly so but if it’s handled properly then I can see it being a boon to consumers and retailers alike, mind you there is a list of people who make their living out of handling cash who won’t be too happy, Securicor, Securitas, foreign exchanges, bank tellers etc. and that completely ignores the black economy who will be even more opposed, bank robbers, muggers, drug dealers, illegal workers, cash in hand employers, illicit minicabs etc.
So let’s address peoples’ fears of identity theft, if someone steals your identity and commits crimes you are not liable, it's simply a case of proving where you were when the said crime was committed, if you used your fingerprint to purchase goods in the co-op in Leicester at the same time as some thief used it to buy a car in Wales then it's fairly obvious to your local Leicestershire copper that you couldn't have been in two places simultaneously isn't it?
If you think resisting Biometric recognition systems will improve your civil liberties then you'd better cancel your bank accounts, send back your credit cards, not drive, not pay any bills, not attend any social services, not send your kids to school, not join a library or indeed any council run club or association and if you do all that and a host of things that didn't pop into my head while writing this, then you may just be able to avoid having any personal information stored about you and used at the collector's discretion, oh yes I forgot, better not go out either as the CC Cameras may see you.
Of course there will be cases where it’s hard to prove and mistakes will be made, and you can bet my body weight in yesterday’s unsold copies of the daily mail that the press will make the most of them to whip up some more paper selling hysteria but will it be any more prevalent than current cases of mistaken identity?
I'm more concerned about companies selling my data to marketers than I am about identity theft and I'm afraid that goes on all the time.
I currently receive over 400 pieces of spam email a day, harvesters of email addresses will account for most of that and no doubt writing on here has increased my visibility to these “people”, but there is the odd piece of snail-mail (actual physical mail that comes through the letterbox) that turns up unsolicited but bristling with my personal details that can only have come from someone who's bought my details.
Sadly there is no easy solution to this problem, most spammers (name given to people who send you stuff you don't want and didn't ask for) are based offshore, in countries where there is little to no control or possibility of redress, I know I’ve tried and hosts in countries like Latvia are extremely unlikely to even reply to a complaint let alone do anything about it.
By its very nature the internet is a very difficult place to police effectively, just look at how few convictions there are for that most vile crime, child pornography, international co-operation is required and huge amounts of money are spent to track down just a few individuals a year.
Having been involved in ecommerce I can tell you that even when I had proof of fraudulent behaviour, someone trying to use someone else’s credit card to purchase goods from me, the police couldn’t do anything as the funding wasn’t available, how much less are they going to prioritise spam?
So is there anything we can do I hear you ask, well maybe not but it’s a rhetorical question anyway so there!
And the answer is, funnily enough, about the same as the Americans came up with in the Wild West during the 1800's, look at their problems a huge country, no police, no money to pay for police, no effective central organisation to ensure that local governments instigated police departments etc. sound familiar?
Towns set up their own police and eventually central government took a hand and legislated them into existence everywhere whilst also creating central agencies to oversee and handle cross border issues.
Ok ok I'm not claiming the American way is neccessarily the only or right way but it does bear striking similarities to the current situation on the net.
We can protect ourselves from viruses with mail checking programs and we can set complex spam identification rules on servers to filter it out somewhat, we can continue reporting spammers to various organisations, Spamcops, pinkertons, the local sherrif etc. but in the end they will keep sending it and we will have to keep dealing with it until there is an internet wide police force.
Now if someone could invent a way of doing away with spam automatically, that would be news, I might have to mail everyone I know and tell them about it ;)
Take care,
John
ffriar.com
BBC Article:
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6129084.stm )
Friday, November 10, 2006
Driving elsewhere…
This week I was lucky enough to be able to pop down to Herne Bay and see an old friend of mine Katy, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl only two weeks ago and my wife and I went down to say hello and welcome her to the world.
It was a beautiful sunny day and the drive down was pleasant if a tad long so we arrived in good spirits, ok I had to ring for directions once or twice but at least we got there.
Baby Abigail is lovely and her mum Katy looks like she hasn’t even had a baby, M was quite jealous of her figure, we sat and had tea and as it was lunchtime we went to eat at a small restaurant in the town.
Greensteds Family Restaurant in William St served us all a very pleasant luncheon and the service was excellent, owned by a Turkish Cypriot family they were attentive without being overbearing and I could tell from the state of business that this was not unusual, isn’t it funny that businesses that give good customer service always seem to be busy?
Businesses that give good customer service always seem to be busy.
We chatted over lunch and then decided to go for a walk down to the beach, as we passed the car I noticed a ticket on the windscreen, now you can imagine I was a little surprised, when I had parked I looked hard for any restrictions and having received a ticket you can bet I looked even harder.
I’m here to tell you that there were no warning signs or restrictions posted anywhere in the road, eventually I found a sign at a crossroads 50 yards away!
The 5 other cars parked in the bay, oh yes I parked in a bay, had no tickets on their windscreens and I have no idea why I was singled out.
Now I could write to the council and complain about it but I’m not going to bother for two very good reasons.
1. It wouldn’t do any good
2. It wouldn’t do any good
I’ll pay the £30 fine and never go there again.
Every week in the Croydon Guardian you see examples of Croydon Council’s obsession with parking fines and I can’t help feeling that the short term gains are not offsetting the long term damage done, you see, like me, anyone who has had an unfair parking ticket will take their business elsewhere.
I will not be spending any of my hard earned money in Herne Bay again, the next time I go to see Katy we’ll drive elsewhere for lunch, and I have to ask myself how many potential Croydon customers are driving elsewhere?
On a brighter note I popped into ASDAs on Friday for my weekly shop, I had some pictures of Abigail to print off so I popped over to their camera shop to sample the service.
I stuck my memory card in the reader and selected the images I wanted printing off, the machine printed out a receipt and I wandered over to the till to pay the bill.
I duly paid and was handed a standard picture type receipt and went off to do my shopping.
M and I got everything we wanted and popped into McDonalds for a coffee, I remembered my pictures and went next door to pick them up, well all I can say is wow, the quality was outstanding, delivered in the usual wallet they were larger than I expected and looked as good as any I’ve ever got back from developing.
Ok so it’s not earth shattering but it is a good example of the icing on the cake principal I talked about in an earlier blog, I got more than I expected and of a better quality, am I going to use their services again?
Well what do you think?
Take care till next time,
John
ffriar.com
It was a beautiful sunny day and the drive down was pleasant if a tad long so we arrived in good spirits, ok I had to ring for directions once or twice but at least we got there.
Baby Abigail is lovely and her mum Katy looks like she hasn’t even had a baby, M was quite jealous of her figure, we sat and had tea and as it was lunchtime we went to eat at a small restaurant in the town.
Greensteds Family Restaurant in William St served us all a very pleasant luncheon and the service was excellent, owned by a Turkish Cypriot family they were attentive without being overbearing and I could tell from the state of business that this was not unusual, isn’t it funny that businesses that give good customer service always seem to be busy?
Businesses that give good customer service always seem to be busy.
We chatted over lunch and then decided to go for a walk down to the beach, as we passed the car I noticed a ticket on the windscreen, now you can imagine I was a little surprised, when I had parked I looked hard for any restrictions and having received a ticket you can bet I looked even harder.
I’m here to tell you that there were no warning signs or restrictions posted anywhere in the road, eventually I found a sign at a crossroads 50 yards away!
The 5 other cars parked in the bay, oh yes I parked in a bay, had no tickets on their windscreens and I have no idea why I was singled out.
Now I could write to the council and complain about it but I’m not going to bother for two very good reasons.
1. It wouldn’t do any good
2. It wouldn’t do any good
I’ll pay the £30 fine and never go there again.
Every week in the Croydon Guardian you see examples of Croydon Council’s obsession with parking fines and I can’t help feeling that the short term gains are not offsetting the long term damage done, you see, like me, anyone who has had an unfair parking ticket will take their business elsewhere.
I will not be spending any of my hard earned money in Herne Bay again, the next time I go to see Katy we’ll drive elsewhere for lunch, and I have to ask myself how many potential Croydon customers are driving elsewhere?
On a brighter note I popped into ASDAs on Friday for my weekly shop, I had some pictures of Abigail to print off so I popped over to their camera shop to sample the service.
I stuck my memory card in the reader and selected the images I wanted printing off, the machine printed out a receipt and I wandered over to the till to pay the bill.
I duly paid and was handed a standard picture type receipt and went off to do my shopping.
M and I got everything we wanted and popped into McDonalds for a coffee, I remembered my pictures and went next door to pick them up, well all I can say is wow, the quality was outstanding, delivered in the usual wallet they were larger than I expected and looked as good as any I’ve ever got back from developing.
Ok so it’s not earth shattering but it is a good example of the icing on the cake principal I talked about in an earlier blog, I got more than I expected and of a better quality, am I going to use their services again?
Well what do you think?
Take care till next time,
John
ffriar.com
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Pull the other one...
Are you sitting comfortably, I hope so because by the time I've finished telling you about my leg you won't be lol
Actually surprise surprise it wasn't half as bad as I was expecting, a tad sore and I look like I've been beaten with a stick for a couple of hours but apart from that ok.
As you can imagine the last week has been interesting for me I've been hobbling around like a cripple with my old walking stick trying to get the required 1000 steps a day in, with such a sore leg it was a case of loose clothing and frequent rests.
I've taken the opportunity to visit my favourite Cafe a couple of times (Tres Gourmet 227 Lower Addiscombe Rd) and as you would expect they were very solicitous, they've taken to outside catering now and next time I have a party I'll be giving it a go, of course I'll let you know.
As part of my pre op I was instructed to lose weight, no surprise there for those of you who know me, and as usual I asked how I was supposed to achieve that, I've been overweight for 40 years ! My consultant shrugged and recommended the GI diet and I'm here to tell you that it's not bad.
Ok so most of you won't need to lose weight, you can skip on to the next bit, but those of you who do listen up, the GI diet works and it's easy to follow and doesn't leave you feeling hungry, in fact I struggle to eat all the food I'm supposed to on this diet !
In 12 days, including a trip to hospital and recovering ever since I've lost 4 lbs, ok not earth shattering I know but considering I couldn't do any exercise for 5 days and have been sitting around quite a bit I don't think that's bad.
I can heartily recommend the diet and I'll keep you posted.
Ok so what was the service like at the hospital I hear you ask, well you knew I'd be talking about it.
Despite it being a BUPA establishment I was disappointed in the customer care on the day, I arrived at 6:25am having been instructed to be there by 6:30am and was asked to wait by a polite young night porter.
Other patients started arriving and by 6:30am there were 4 of us waiting to be admitted, the staff nurse arrived at 6:35am and told us that they were short handed because one nurse was off sick and asked us to wait till we were called.
At 6:45am we were collected and taken to the ward by the staff nurse who pointed us into our rooms and told us to make ourselves comfortable.
Eventually she came back and took my details, filled in some forms and dumped a gown and plastic pants on the side for me.
We waited and waited and at last it was time for my operation, I got changed and hopped onto the trolley when it came, taken up to the operating theatre I was duly knocked up, sorry out, and woke up some time later in the room.
Very groggy after the general anaesthetic I asked for a drink and something to eat, I expected something nice but what I got was something bland, I'd ordered a tuna fish sandwich and a yoghurt, the sandwich was dry and the yoghurt was warm.
The tea was warm and wet so at least I could wet my now very dry mouth.
I was in some pain so the staff nurse gave me two pills which knocked me out for a few hours but eventually I was well enough to go home.
I rang my good friend Neil who came and picked me up and took me home.
I can't say that anyone there was actually rude but it was all a bit brusque, I felt like a cash cow being milked rather than a patient being treated, now maybe they were stressed because they had a nurse off sick but it's in times of adversity that we are given the opportunity to really shine.
It's in times of adversity that we are given the opportunity to really shine.
I haven't named the hospital concerned because otherwise I've received excellent customer service there and this experience may have been an anomaly.
Have a great time and I’ll catch you next week when I’m back at work.
John
www.ffriar.com
Actually surprise surprise it wasn't half as bad as I was expecting, a tad sore and I look like I've been beaten with a stick for a couple of hours but apart from that ok.
As you can imagine the last week has been interesting for me I've been hobbling around like a cripple with my old walking stick trying to get the required 1000 steps a day in, with such a sore leg it was a case of loose clothing and frequent rests.
I've taken the opportunity to visit my favourite Cafe a couple of times (Tres Gourmet 227 Lower Addiscombe Rd) and as you would expect they were very solicitous, they've taken to outside catering now and next time I have a party I'll be giving it a go, of course I'll let you know.
As part of my pre op I was instructed to lose weight, no surprise there for those of you who know me, and as usual I asked how I was supposed to achieve that, I've been overweight for 40 years ! My consultant shrugged and recommended the GI diet and I'm here to tell you that it's not bad.
Ok so most of you won't need to lose weight, you can skip on to the next bit, but those of you who do listen up, the GI diet works and it's easy to follow and doesn't leave you feeling hungry, in fact I struggle to eat all the food I'm supposed to on this diet !
In 12 days, including a trip to hospital and recovering ever since I've lost 4 lbs, ok not earth shattering I know but considering I couldn't do any exercise for 5 days and have been sitting around quite a bit I don't think that's bad.
I can heartily recommend the diet and I'll keep you posted.
Ok so what was the service like at the hospital I hear you ask, well you knew I'd be talking about it.
Despite it being a BUPA establishment I was disappointed in the customer care on the day, I arrived at 6:25am having been instructed to be there by 6:30am and was asked to wait by a polite young night porter.
Other patients started arriving and by 6:30am there were 4 of us waiting to be admitted, the staff nurse arrived at 6:35am and told us that they were short handed because one nurse was off sick and asked us to wait till we were called.
At 6:45am we were collected and taken to the ward by the staff nurse who pointed us into our rooms and told us to make ourselves comfortable.
Eventually she came back and took my details, filled in some forms and dumped a gown and plastic pants on the side for me.
We waited and waited and at last it was time for my operation, I got changed and hopped onto the trolley when it came, taken up to the operating theatre I was duly knocked up, sorry out, and woke up some time later in the room.
Very groggy after the general anaesthetic I asked for a drink and something to eat, I expected something nice but what I got was something bland, I'd ordered a tuna fish sandwich and a yoghurt, the sandwich was dry and the yoghurt was warm.
The tea was warm and wet so at least I could wet my now very dry mouth.
I was in some pain so the staff nurse gave me two pills which knocked me out for a few hours but eventually I was well enough to go home.
I rang my good friend Neil who came and picked me up and took me home.
I can't say that anyone there was actually rude but it was all a bit brusque, I felt like a cash cow being milked rather than a patient being treated, now maybe they were stressed because they had a nurse off sick but it's in times of adversity that we are given the opportunity to really shine.
It's in times of adversity that we are given the opportunity to really shine.
I haven't named the hospital concerned because otherwise I've received excellent customer service there and this experience may have been an anomaly.
Have a great time and I’ll catch you next week when I’m back at work.
John
www.ffriar.com
Friday, October 20, 2006
Quotes Woolies and Angiograms
My car insurance is due for renewal and being a bit short of cash at the moment I duly logged onto http://confused.com/ to get some quotes.
Quite frankly I was amazed in the difference between what my current insurer (MoreThan, also known as Sun Alliance) had quoted and the figures that came up on screen.
MoreThan had quoted me £525 and that was higher than the highest quote Confused.com came up with !
The lowest quote was for £287 from Budget and as you can imagine I'm investigating that route right now.
This experience led me to think about comparison shopping and the effect the Internet has had on people's shopping habits.
Right now if I worked for an old fashioned broker I'd be frantically trying to get into some other business, I can see the time when insurance brokers as we've all grown up with them will cease to exist, why bother paying the middle man for doing what you can achieve at home in a matter of minutes.
Have you seen Woolworths have jumped on the bandwagon at last and are really pushing their internet shop, as long as they’ve worked out the inevitable fulfilment problems, and believe me it’s a vexed issue, then it should be a roaring success, look forward to Woolies shares rising in January when their Christmas results are announced.
On a completely different subject, last week I went into hospital for the day to have a Cardio Angiogram, it was fascinating watching my own heart beat and see my veins in action, we were looking for evidence of plaque accretion, thickening of the vein walls, and I’m very pleased to report there was none to be found, not bad for a fat bloke.
I attended the Cornwall Hospital in Earls Court and can tell you it’s a different world, from signing in next to a woman who was handing over her gold card to pay a £980 bill for something she’d had done to being escorted to my room by a porter, to ordering my a la carte dinner and watching my free movie channels on my motorised bed it was as much of a joy as going into hospital could ever be.
My consultant came up to see me and got me to sign my release form, he explained how it would go what he was looking for and what the next steps might be before leaving me to get changed.
My wife M came with me to the hospital and whilst I was off having my Angiogram she was plied with trays of coffee and biscuits.
When I came back, a bit groggy from the sedative, I was attended by a staff nurse who took my measurements every 15 mins and showed genuine concern for my well being and happiness.
My a la carte dinner was served to me by an immaculate waiter and copious amounts of tea and coffee were served whilst I recovered.
My consultant made a re-appearance and explained to us both what his findings meant and what would happen next, M was amazed I was clear and he had to tell her twice.
After explaining everything he instructed the nursing staff on what to do before releasing me and wished me well before leaving.
Eventually I was discharged and made my sore way home.
Every time I use this BUPA coverage I remember the last time I went into a NHS hospital and working for a company that provides BUPA cover doesn’t seem so bad.
Next week I’m off for my next operation and I’ll let you know how that goes in due course, god willing.
Take care,
John
www.ffriar.com
Quite frankly I was amazed in the difference between what my current insurer (MoreThan, also known as Sun Alliance) had quoted and the figures that came up on screen.
MoreThan had quoted me £525 and that was higher than the highest quote Confused.com came up with !
The lowest quote was for £287 from Budget and as you can imagine I'm investigating that route right now.
This experience led me to think about comparison shopping and the effect the Internet has had on people's shopping habits.
Right now if I worked for an old fashioned broker I'd be frantically trying to get into some other business, I can see the time when insurance brokers as we've all grown up with them will cease to exist, why bother paying the middle man for doing what you can achieve at home in a matter of minutes.
Have you seen Woolworths have jumped on the bandwagon at last and are really pushing their internet shop, as long as they’ve worked out the inevitable fulfilment problems, and believe me it’s a vexed issue, then it should be a roaring success, look forward to Woolies shares rising in January when their Christmas results are announced.
On a completely different subject, last week I went into hospital for the day to have a Cardio Angiogram, it was fascinating watching my own heart beat and see my veins in action, we were looking for evidence of plaque accretion, thickening of the vein walls, and I’m very pleased to report there was none to be found, not bad for a fat bloke.
I attended the Cornwall Hospital in Earls Court and can tell you it’s a different world, from signing in next to a woman who was handing over her gold card to pay a £980 bill for something she’d had done to being escorted to my room by a porter, to ordering my a la carte dinner and watching my free movie channels on my motorised bed it was as much of a joy as going into hospital could ever be.
My consultant came up to see me and got me to sign my release form, he explained how it would go what he was looking for and what the next steps might be before leaving me to get changed.
My wife M came with me to the hospital and whilst I was off having my Angiogram she was plied with trays of coffee and biscuits.
When I came back, a bit groggy from the sedative, I was attended by a staff nurse who took my measurements every 15 mins and showed genuine concern for my well being and happiness.
My a la carte dinner was served to me by an immaculate waiter and copious amounts of tea and coffee were served whilst I recovered.
My consultant made a re-appearance and explained to us both what his findings meant and what would happen next, M was amazed I was clear and he had to tell her twice.
After explaining everything he instructed the nursing staff on what to do before releasing me and wished me well before leaving.
Eventually I was discharged and made my sore way home.
Every time I use this BUPA coverage I remember the last time I went into a NHS hospital and working for a company that provides BUPA cover doesn’t seem so bad.
Next week I’m off for my next operation and I’ll let you know how that goes in due course, god willing.
Take care,
John
www.ffriar.com
Friday, October 06, 2006
Let's go good and fast !
When someone demands something yesterday I say to them do you want this quickly or do you want it to work? Try it, the looks on their faces the first time you say it is worth a fortune. When they reply, as inevitably they will, both !
You can say it's not an "and" it's an "either or".
One of the things I do for a living is build web sites and one of the primary things I worry about, when I'm doing so, is speed.
How fast:
For a long time I worried about this issue until one day I started looking at speed in a completely new way, in fact I started to look at it in the same way as I had been taught to look at money when I worked for a Pensions company and later for a cash handling company.
Get ready for another saying,
Speed is just another commodity.
Ok not earth shattering at first glance I admit, but when you start to apply this thought to your work it really starts to change how you perceive it.
In the past I have become incredibly frustrated because I couldn't go as fast as I perceived the end user wanted, I would rant and rail against those things that stood in my way, I tried to circumvent the barriers to the head-long charge for results and sometimes I came unstuck.
Do you know what?
The end users who seemed so pre-occupied with speed suddenly became very concerned about quality.
Eventually, and I don't claim to be a quick study, it dawned on me, when users say fast they actually mean good and fast and that is a whole different ball game.
When users say fast they actually mean good and fast.
So having learnt that fast means good and fast how have I implemented that and how has it helped me in my work?
I have often said "I can do this within your challenging time-scales but I can not guarantee that it will work, or I can do it in the time-scale I have laid out and I can guarantee that it will work, choose."
You'd be surprised how often the time-scales set in stone suddenly appear to be more fluid.
Of course you have to be realistic in your estimates and if your new time-scale is accepted then you have to come in on time.
If you get "we want it yesterday regardless" then you can proceed happily in the knowledge that should there be a problem you have pre-cleared yourself.
Of course I still try and do the best job I can and avoid problems but I find myself far more relaxed when I have followed this procedure.
Try it tomorrow and watch your stress levels drop.
By the way, giving excellent customer service is sometimes about saying no !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
You can say it's not an "and" it's an "either or".
One of the things I do for a living is build web sites and one of the primary things I worry about, when I'm doing so, is speed.
How fast:
- will this load
- can a user get to what they want
- can they find information
- can they find the site through a search engine
- can I restore it from backup
- can I get this application built and ready to go
- can I move onto the next project
Sometimes it seems to me that this need for speed is in direct conflict with good customer service, if I'm rushing people through my site how can I give them the sort of personal service that will make them say wow?
For a long time I worried about this issue until one day I started looking at speed in a completely new way, in fact I started to look at it in the same way as I had been taught to look at money when I worked for a Pensions company and later for a cash handling company.
Get ready for another saying,
Speed is just another commodity.
Ok not earth shattering at first glance I admit, but when you start to apply this thought to your work it really starts to change how you perceive it.
In the past I have become incredibly frustrated because I couldn't go as fast as I perceived the end user wanted, I would rant and rail against those things that stood in my way, I tried to circumvent the barriers to the head-long charge for results and sometimes I came unstuck.
Do you know what?
The end users who seemed so pre-occupied with speed suddenly became very concerned about quality.
Eventually, and I don't claim to be a quick study, it dawned on me, when users say fast they actually mean good and fast and that is a whole different ball game.
When users say fast they actually mean good and fast.
So having learnt that fast means good and fast how have I implemented that and how has it helped me in my work?
I have often said "I can do this within your challenging time-scales but I can not guarantee that it will work, or I can do it in the time-scale I have laid out and I can guarantee that it will work, choose."
You'd be surprised how often the time-scales set in stone suddenly appear to be more fluid.
Of course you have to be realistic in your estimates and if your new time-scale is accepted then you have to come in on time.
If you get "we want it yesterday regardless" then you can proceed happily in the knowledge that should there be a problem you have pre-cleared yourself.
Of course I still try and do the best job I can and avoid problems but I find myself far more relaxed when I have followed this procedure.
Try it tomorrow and watch your stress levels drop.
By the way, giving excellent customer service is sometimes about saying no !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Friday, September 22, 2006
Is good customer service possible over the phone?
Hi all, just a quickie this week am a tad busy as you'll see.
Today I had to ring BUPA to make arrangements for a visit to a consultant surgeon I will be making shortly, I get BUPA coverage as part of my work benefits so don't get carried away with visions of my wealth.
Anyway I rang up with details of the Surgeon I need to see and the appointment date, I was electronically directed to "new customers" and got through to a charming young lady called Linda.
Well I explained the situation and she took me through the process immaculately, I didn't know the first name of the surgeon so she rang the hospital to find out for me making sure I could hold and offering to ring me back if it was more convenient, she completed whatever details she needed to on her system and gave me two reference numbers to take along to the appointment.
The surgeon will bill BUPA direct so all I have to do is turn up !
Before letting me go she explained about the rules of out patients’ costs and warned me to check that the surgeon would operate, if necessary, within BUPA rates.
At the end of the conversation she enquired if there was anything else she could help me with, a standard enquiry for this role but spoken with practiced conviction rather than bored disinterest.
I hung up feeling that I'd dealt with a true professional.
Ok nothing that happened was earth shattering, nothing that couldn't be scripted, but so much more satisfying than dealing with some call centre operative with no interest in her job.
So what did I learn here?
Good customer service is definitely possible on the phone
A decent script will cope with the unexpected
A well motivated employee will deliver it with care
I wonder how BUPA maintain these high standards?
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Thursday, September 21, 2006
My Dentists' and my Doctor's are three doors and seven light years apart !
My dentists are two lovely ladies from ireland, Mary and Kathleen Macarthy and their practice is on the Brighton Rd in South Croydon I tell you this not to encourage you to join them, they don't need to advertise, but so that you will know that the people I am describing are real.
These ladies should be writing this blog because they have customer service down pat, every time I visit I am amazed at their skills.
Now let's face it a visit to the dentist isn't something any of us looks forward to and I'm no exception but these two ladies do everything they can to make the experience as pleasant as possible.
When I walk to the door and ring the electric door buzzer I know what will happen next, Kathleen or Mary will come to the door themselves, it's a remote operated door so there's no need for them to get up but they would see buzzing someone in as just plain rude.
A warm smile greets me and a genuine interest in my well being is evident in everything they do, whoever welcomes me to the practice walks me to the waiting room and makes sure that I have everything I could want before returning to her desk.
Often if there is a delay one or other will pop in and explain why and have a chat, my whole family go there so we always have plenty to talk about, how's your mum and dad, and Margaret etc.
We talk about all sorts of things until whoever is seeing me is ready when she comes to collect me, with a smile I am led to the couch and invited to recline.
We talk about whatever is required and agree together on any treatment before it is carried out, ok a filling is a filling and I'm not goingto tell you that they never hurt me but what I will tell you is that they hurt me as little as possible, I have total confidence that whatever they do is absolutely necessary for my well being.
When the treatment is over whoever was operating will walk me to the office for a brief chat on any next steps repeat visits etc. before returning to her next patient, the other sister will deal with the administration and walk me to the door.
As I pass the surgery I'll get a cheery farewell and at the door the same from the other sister before I leave with a fresh smile on my face.
My doctor's is also in the Brighton Rd but I won't name it as I would not want to encourage anyone to attend there.
When I have to attend and believe me I rarely do I dread it, the surgery is grubby the staff indifferent at best and the doctor herself when she is there and normally I see a locum, is brusque and completely fails to listen.
I hate being late so I am always early for appointments, I'll arrive 15 mins early or so despite the fact that I know my appointment will be at least 30 mins late.
When I eventually get the receptionists attention he or she will grunt and point me at the waiting area, the waiting area for this surgery was originally decorated in the late 50's or early 60's and since then has seen not a lick of paint.
There has obviously been a flood at some point judging by the huge brown stain on the ceiling, there are posters on the wall that have been there at least 9 years as that's how long I've been going and they looked old when I first went !
The place is as inclusive as a private gentlemans club with none of the redeeming features.
This time I had to visit the loo, hmmm interesting experience fighting my way past broken toys to find a cardboard box over the pan, I turned and spotted another door to find a working example but no loo paper, I did a bit of searching and found a roll tucked away so all was well, apart from the cork ceiling tiles hanging off the ceiling and the smell.
When my long wait was over normally a buzzer goes off to signify that I may approach the doctor but today the locum I was seeing came and got me, we made our way up the dark corridor to the front room, as you would expect there is an examining couch, a desk and mountains of other stuff in there.
The place looks like it hasn't seen any organisation for years and with locums coming and going I'm not surprised no one takes any ownership of it.
I explained the reason for my visit stripped so an examination could take place, a few prods and squeezes later I was back in my clothes and receiving a blood pressure test.
Apparently my blood pressure is 90 and it shouldn't be above 85 but no ideas on what to do about it were forthcoming before I was dismissed.
I wandered back down the dark corridor and out of the surgery unremarked into the fresh air.
What a contrast huh?
I wonder why?
Do my dentists have fewer patients?
No that I can see, their appointment book is always full and they start at 8 and finish at 7.
Do my dentists get paid more?
I don't believe so, it's been a long time since I worked in payroll for the NHS but at that time Dentists were very badly paid in comparison to Doctors, no they are not private dentists by the way.
So what is it then?
Well they do all the things I've discussed before, "Live the vision", "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "Care" but they do one more thing too.
When I walk into their surgery they treat me like a visitor to their home, another classic lesson there so I'll repeat it.
Treat customers like visitors to your home.
When I talked to them about this they said that that was what they were taught at dental college and it's served them well through their careers, in their own way they are also seekers after customer service truth as they both admitted to watching how it goes when they are out and about, it's a small world it seems.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
These ladies should be writing this blog because they have customer service down pat, every time I visit I am amazed at their skills.
Now let's face it a visit to the dentist isn't something any of us looks forward to and I'm no exception but these two ladies do everything they can to make the experience as pleasant as possible.
When I walk to the door and ring the electric door buzzer I know what will happen next, Kathleen or Mary will come to the door themselves, it's a remote operated door so there's no need for them to get up but they would see buzzing someone in as just plain rude.
A warm smile greets me and a genuine interest in my well being is evident in everything they do, whoever welcomes me to the practice walks me to the waiting room and makes sure that I have everything I could want before returning to her desk.
Often if there is a delay one or other will pop in and explain why and have a chat, my whole family go there so we always have plenty to talk about, how's your mum and dad, and Margaret etc.
We talk about all sorts of things until whoever is seeing me is ready when she comes to collect me, with a smile I am led to the couch and invited to recline.
We talk about whatever is required and agree together on any treatment before it is carried out, ok a filling is a filling and I'm not goingto tell you that they never hurt me but what I will tell you is that they hurt me as little as possible, I have total confidence that whatever they do is absolutely necessary for my well being.
When the treatment is over whoever was operating will walk me to the office for a brief chat on any next steps repeat visits etc. before returning to her next patient, the other sister will deal with the administration and walk me to the door.
As I pass the surgery I'll get a cheery farewell and at the door the same from the other sister before I leave with a fresh smile on my face.
My doctor's is also in the Brighton Rd but I won't name it as I would not want to encourage anyone to attend there.
When I have to attend and believe me I rarely do I dread it, the surgery is grubby the staff indifferent at best and the doctor herself when she is there and normally I see a locum, is brusque and completely fails to listen.
I hate being late so I am always early for appointments, I'll arrive 15 mins early or so despite the fact that I know my appointment will be at least 30 mins late.
When I eventually get the receptionists attention he or she will grunt and point me at the waiting area, the waiting area for this surgery was originally decorated in the late 50's or early 60's and since then has seen not a lick of paint.
There has obviously been a flood at some point judging by the huge brown stain on the ceiling, there are posters on the wall that have been there at least 9 years as that's how long I've been going and they looked old when I first went !
The place is as inclusive as a private gentlemans club with none of the redeeming features.
This time I had to visit the loo, hmmm interesting experience fighting my way past broken toys to find a cardboard box over the pan, I turned and spotted another door to find a working example but no loo paper, I did a bit of searching and found a roll tucked away so all was well, apart from the cork ceiling tiles hanging off the ceiling and the smell.
When my long wait was over normally a buzzer goes off to signify that I may approach the doctor but today the locum I was seeing came and got me, we made our way up the dark corridor to the front room, as you would expect there is an examining couch, a desk and mountains of other stuff in there.
The place looks like it hasn't seen any organisation for years and with locums coming and going I'm not surprised no one takes any ownership of it.
I explained the reason for my visit stripped so an examination could take place, a few prods and squeezes later I was back in my clothes and receiving a blood pressure test.
Apparently my blood pressure is 90 and it shouldn't be above 85 but no ideas on what to do about it were forthcoming before I was dismissed.
I wandered back down the dark corridor and out of the surgery unremarked into the fresh air.
What a contrast huh?
I wonder why?
Do my dentists have fewer patients?
No that I can see, their appointment book is always full and they start at 8 and finish at 7.
Do my dentists get paid more?
I don't believe so, it's been a long time since I worked in payroll for the NHS but at that time Dentists were very badly paid in comparison to Doctors, no they are not private dentists by the way.
So what is it then?
Well they do all the things I've discussed before, "Live the vision", "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "Care" but they do one more thing too.
When I walk into their surgery they treat me like a visitor to their home, another classic lesson there so I'll repeat it.
Treat customers like visitors to your home.
When I talked to them about this they said that that was what they were taught at dental college and it's served them well through their careers, in their own way they are also seekers after customer service truth as they both admitted to watching how it goes when they are out and about, it's a small world it seems.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The Goodwill Bank and the BPF !
Hi all,
this week's blog is on this saying "People don't care what you know till they know that you care." I don't know where or when I first heard it but I do know it has applications in all areas of my life.
From a customer service point of view it helps me give better service, from sales I make more, from leadership I get more co-operation, at home I have a better life etc.
It's almost as powerful as "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or as my lovely wife asked me the other day, "What does, do unto Otters as you would have them do unto you mean?"
So how can we put this simple phrase into action in our everyday lives?
Next time you deal with a customer try imparting some care into your phrasing,
I'm sure you must feel terrible about this let me see if I can help
I can see that you are very angry about this, let me see if I can sort it out with you
You look like you're looking for something, can I help at all?
You know I've got one of those at home and I use it every day, can I show you how it works?
By adding that dash of care you are identifying with your customer, they will quickly stop seeing you as a barrier and start seeing you as a solution.
It works just as well in the leadership arena.
You've obviously worked really hard on this let's go through it together and see if we can make it even better.
Tell me how you feel about this, I'm interested in how it will be received and I know you have your finger on the pulse
I've completely failed to explain this properly can you help me?
I can see your concerned about this let's grab a coffee and talk it through?
By using this approach you are stepping over the boundary between you and whoever you are talking to, you've seen that diagram about personal space and this is one way that you can move closer.
Ok ok I can hear you saying "I don't have time to do all that soft stuff every time I want something done" and to a certain degree I agree that it is not practical to always use this approach.
Now let me introduce you to something I really hate the Big Pointy Finger (BPF)
This is a dangerous tool, needed at crisis points but should remain holstered at all other times
If the office is on fire it's no time to hold a fire warden's steering committee meeting, out must come the big pointy finger and you may have to give orders "everyone out, you do this, you do that" etc.
This is the antithesis of the caring leader's method of doing things however, I don't have a cute graphic for showing a caring manager but I guess if I did it would be of a concerned face and an open hand.
So why am I so against the BPF?
I look on it like a bank, when you are put into a position of leadership or indeed service you are given by dint of your appointment some coin of goodwill, those of us who wish to be successful will do all they can to increase this account of goodwill, spookily enough by spending it freely for like bread cast upon the waters it returns many fold.
We keep this goodwill in the goodwill bank, that every person we interact with has an account at, we put coin into their accounts in many ways, not least of which by demonstrating our care for them and they put coin into ours in return.
Now all goes along smoothly until we start to spend more goodwill than we credit, we can spend the coin most effectively by using the big pointy finger but there are a million ways we can fritter it away, eventually we come to spend some of the coin of goodwill and find that the account is empty and that means trouble with a capital T !
If however we continue to accrue more coin than we spend when the crunch comes and we have to pull out the BPF, to get something done in a hurry for instance, we find ourselves in the happy circumstance of still having funds in our account and things go smoothly still .
Now when I was in the position of leadership I spent coin freely, built up huge supplies with everyone I came into contact with and yes when I found myself in a hole I had the reserves to spend to buy my way out, you can bet your bottom dollar that when the crisis was over I made some pretty rapid deposits too.
Yeah yeah yeah I can hear you all saying "It's all a bit airy fairy John" but I would urge you to consider putting it into practice.
There's a side effect that may encourage you, it makes your life so much easier and happier.
Ok so I hear some of you say my boss is a poor leader, uses the BPF all the time, I am demoralized and despairing, how can I put this into practice and how will it help?
Congratulations you are in an ideal place to see the beauty of the goodwill bank, next time the BPF comes out try responding with care.
"I can see this is really important do you think you could find time afterwards to explain it to me?"
"You know it's great to have such strong guidance but do you think you could find time to ex-plain the bigger picture sometime?"
"How can I help?"
Ok not easy I agree, I'm not always capable of doing it myself and I've been practicing for years, what's important is that you know what effect your attitude will have and make a conscious choice of which one to adopt.
If you are unlucky enough to be labouring under a poor leader, remember this.
No one cares what you know till they know that you care.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
this week's blog is on this saying "People don't care what you know till they know that you care." I don't know where or when I first heard it but I do know it has applications in all areas of my life.
From a customer service point of view it helps me give better service, from sales I make more, from leadership I get more co-operation, at home I have a better life etc.
It's almost as powerful as "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or as my lovely wife asked me the other day, "What does, do unto Otters as you would have them do unto you mean?"
So how can we put this simple phrase into action in our everyday lives?
Next time you deal with a customer try imparting some care into your phrasing,
I'm sure you must feel terrible about this let me see if I can help
I can see that you are very angry about this, let me see if I can sort it out with you
You look like you're looking for something, can I help at all?
You know I've got one of those at home and I use it every day, can I show you how it works?
By adding that dash of care you are identifying with your customer, they will quickly stop seeing you as a barrier and start seeing you as a solution.
It works just as well in the leadership arena.
You've obviously worked really hard on this let's go through it together and see if we can make it even better.
Tell me how you feel about this, I'm interested in how it will be received and I know you have your finger on the pulse
I've completely failed to explain this properly can you help me?
I can see your concerned about this let's grab a coffee and talk it through?
By using this approach you are stepping over the boundary between you and whoever you are talking to, you've seen that diagram about personal space and this is one way that you can move closer.
Ok ok I can hear you saying "I don't have time to do all that soft stuff every time I want something done" and to a certain degree I agree that it is not practical to always use this approach.
Now let me introduce you to something I really hate the Big Pointy Finger (BPF)This is a dangerous tool, needed at crisis points but should remain holstered at all other times
If the office is on fire it's no time to hold a fire warden's steering committee meeting, out must come the big pointy finger and you may have to give orders "everyone out, you do this, you do that" etc.
This is the antithesis of the caring leader's method of doing things however, I don't have a cute graphic for showing a caring manager but I guess if I did it would be of a concerned face and an open hand.
So why am I so against the BPF?
I look on it like a bank, when you are put into a position of leadership or indeed service you are given by dint of your appointment some coin of goodwill, those of us who wish to be successful will do all they can to increase this account of goodwill, spookily enough by spending it freely for like bread cast upon the waters it returns many fold.
We keep this goodwill in the goodwill bank, that every person we interact with has an account at, we put coin into their accounts in many ways, not least of which by demonstrating our care for them and they put coin into ours in return.
Now all goes along smoothly until we start to spend more goodwill than we credit, we can spend the coin most effectively by using the big pointy finger but there are a million ways we can fritter it away, eventually we come to spend some of the coin of goodwill and find that the account is empty and that means trouble with a capital T !
If however we continue to accrue more coin than we spend when the crunch comes and we have to pull out the BPF, to get something done in a hurry for instance, we find ourselves in the happy circumstance of still having funds in our account and things go smoothly still .
Now when I was in the position of leadership I spent coin freely, built up huge supplies with everyone I came into contact with and yes when I found myself in a hole I had the reserves to spend to buy my way out, you can bet your bottom dollar that when the crisis was over I made some pretty rapid deposits too.
Yeah yeah yeah I can hear you all saying "It's all a bit airy fairy John" but I would urge you to consider putting it into practice.
There's a side effect that may encourage you, it makes your life so much easier and happier.
Ok so I hear some of you say my boss is a poor leader, uses the BPF all the time, I am demoralized and despairing, how can I put this into practice and how will it help?
Congratulations you are in an ideal place to see the beauty of the goodwill bank, next time the BPF comes out try responding with care.
"I can see this is really important do you think you could find time afterwards to explain it to me?"
"You know it's great to have such strong guidance but do you think you could find time to ex-plain the bigger picture sometime?"
"How can I help?"
Ok not easy I agree, I'm not always capable of doing it myself and I've been practicing for years, what's important is that you know what effect your attitude will have and make a conscious choice of which one to adopt.
If you are unlucky enough to be labouring under a poor leader, remember this.
No one cares what you know till they know that you care.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Monday, September 18, 2006
Wet in every sense of the word !
Hi all,
well last week was interesting for me on many fronts, I went swimming with my niece, learnt a new phrase went on a stag do and learnt a bit more about myself.
Now where to start?
My niece who is 16 and has just started studying for her A levels is kind enough to give her old uncle some exercise once a week, normally it's Badminton but last week we went swimming for a change down at Leatherhead, they have some great lockers controlled by individual magnets in a wristband very posh, I managed about 18 lengths when I got cramp and nearly drowned, it's amazing how painful cramp can be and how far 10 yards seems to be when you are clutching your calf and trying to swim at the same time.
Once we finished I headed for the changing room and a shower only to find that the showers are shared and in full view of the pool!
Ok not fatal but still unusual, what swung this trip from a normal event to one worth talking about was the behaviour of 2 parents in the showers.
Now now calm down !
When I went in, a mum and dad were washing the hair of their kids, I guess the children were about 4 or 5, one of the children twitched and got some soap in his eyes, needless to say he started greetin (Scottish for crying) his mum bellowed and I use the word advisedly, you fxxxing xxxxhole !!!
She then went on to explain exactly how useless he and his sister were, what a waste of space their father is and how much she hates them all, all at the top of her lungs and all the while she was scrubbing away at the poor tykes head.
I started thinking about the lessons this little boy was learning and by default the other kids who were being exposed to it.
So what has this kid learnt from his experience?
well last week was interesting for me on many fronts, I went swimming with my niece, learnt a new phrase went on a stag do and learnt a bit more about myself.
Now where to start?
My niece who is 16 and has just started studying for her A levels is kind enough to give her old uncle some exercise once a week, normally it's Badminton but last week we went swimming for a change down at Leatherhead, they have some great lockers controlled by individual magnets in a wristband very posh, I managed about 18 lengths when I got cramp and nearly drowned, it's amazing how painful cramp can be and how far 10 yards seems to be when you are clutching your calf and trying to swim at the same time.
Once we finished I headed for the changing room and a shower only to find that the showers are shared and in full view of the pool!
Ok not fatal but still unusual, what swung this trip from a normal event to one worth talking about was the behaviour of 2 parents in the showers.
Now now calm down !
When I went in, a mum and dad were washing the hair of their kids, I guess the children were about 4 or 5, one of the children twitched and got some soap in his eyes, needless to say he started greetin (Scottish for crying) his mum bellowed and I use the word advisedly, you fxxxing xxxxhole !!!
She then went on to explain exactly how useless he and his sister were, what a waste of space their father is and how much she hates them all, all at the top of her lungs and all the while she was scrubbing away at the poor tykes head.
I started thinking about the lessons this little boy was learning and by default the other kids who were being exposed to it.
So what has this kid learnt from his experience?
- He's useless
- So's his sister
- So's his father
- His mother hates him
- His father will allow his mother to abuse him
- It's ok to use abusive behaviour if someone annoys you
- It's ok to abuse those who are weaker than you
- It's ok to shout obscenities at the top of your lungs in public
- It's not ok to show how hurt you are to those you should be able to expect to care for you
I wonder what they are going to grow up like?
In a few years when these poor kids are putting these lessons into effect will we care why?
Saddened by this experience, I read this week about a child who went beserk with a rifle and killed a schoolmate, injured others and finally killed himself, his actions were described as "Going Postal" which phrase came from the USA where stressed postal workers went beserk so often that the phrase stuck.
What is it that this young man found in life that prompted him to act in this way?
When I was going through my "Kevin" years I was undoubtably a very sad young man, sad in all definitions of the word, yet I managed to avoid "Going Postal" was that because I didn't have access to a gun?
Was I happier, wealthier, better looking, better built ;), better anything than my peers?
Err nope.
So why didn't I get a gun and blow away the people I identified as persecuting me?
I dunno but I know my parents never bellowed at me in the showers !
Last week I received some bad news, not earth shatteringly bad news but bad enough to get me thinking about the big questions, why, who, what etc.
I felt pretty bad about it until Saturday night when I was lucky enough to attend a stag do with some of my friends.
My friend Jason has recently got married but it had all happened in such a rush that he'd not had time to have a stag do, so we had it after the event.
The day started at 2:10pm for me when I was stood outside my house waiting for my best friend to pick me up, I was still feeling down about my news but determined to enjoy myself and put it behind me.
2:25 he turned up and we were off, his delightful wife Nikki kindly drove us down to the venue the AMF Bowling Alley in Purley.
We arrived having picked up another friend en-route and met up with the groom and a couple of other friends, 6 in all we got the drinks in and the fun began.
We were bowling away, some better than others when during the second round the next alley became populated with 4 physically disabled and their carers.
I looked at this group with guilt in my heart, how dare I be sad when I have all I do and there are people who have so much less, not a million miles away but right next door !
As they enjoyed their game I found that I was thinking hard about how I was feeling and behaving, I realised that I was being selfish in the extreme, that by wallowing in my self pity I was extending it and hurting those I loved.
That's such an important lesson for me I'm going to repeat it. "By wallowing in my self pity I was extending it and hurting those I loved."
I've vowed to try and stop doing that, so if you see me falling down please feel free to give me a kick in the pants and I'll do the same for you.
John Anslow
Monday, September 11, 2006
Monkey see Monkey do !
Last time I talked a lot about leadership and how it affects customer service and I promised I'd expand on that a bit more this time so here goes.
The title of this week's blog is not intended to be a slur on anyone but a very old saying which like so many very old sayings has a huge dose of truth in it.
When we are little we look up to our parents, older siblings, nannies, minders etc. to see how to act, there are lots of studies that prove that what we experience when we are children has a direct effect on the rest of our lives and it would be a brave man indeed who claimed that this is not the case.
My point is, this never ends, we continue to change our behaviour based on observing our direct superiors and colleagues or to put it another way, "Monkey see Monkey do"
You must have noticed in yourselves how your behaviour, speech mannerisms, language etc. alters when you are in different surroundings, do you use the same language to describe a missed tackle down the footy on Saturday as you do to describe a missed deadline at work on Monday morning?
Why is that?
Aren't you subconsciously fitting in with your environment, acting the way your peer group acts, going with the flow or whatever phrase best suits you?
Of course you are, I do the same, we all do, well almost all of us anyway.
Take a close look at the best leader you know personally, watch their body language, listen to how they say things not just what they say, if the studies are to be believed that's what you do 80% of the time anyway, but this time do it consciously.
What do you see, how does it compare to the worst leader you know?
If you are lucky you will see them painting pictures sure but you'll also see them and I'm going to use a horrid expression here, "Living the vision"
I can here you saying it now "WTF does that mean?"
Put as simply as I know how "Living the vision" means representing the best method of behaviour in everything you do, the finest example I can give you is Jesus Christ, now there was a man who lived the vision, there is nothing in the Bible that shows him doing anything that is inconsistent with what he was trying to achieve.
To truly live the vision you have to believe in what you are trying to do, gauge every act against your objectives and discard those that take you away from rather than towards your goal, you have to act as a role model at all times, not only in using the systems properly or wearing the right clothes etc. though these things are important, but in your attitude.
If you are trying to encourage honesty, say in retail or cash handling situations, then you must not steal, seems obvious doesn't it?
What about a pencil or a paperclip or a minute off the working day no one would begrudge you a paperclip surely? It's a short trip from a paperclip to a £5 note and that way lies ruin, how can you discipline a follower for dishonesty if you are guilty of the same crime but to a lesser extent?
When I was in a position of leadership I told my followers that they could do anything they saw me doing, you can bet your life it was a hell of an incentive to display the right attitude and do the right thing at all times.
Attitude is the single most important thing in life, there are hosts of saws about attitude I quite like "It is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so" which demonstrates for me that it is how we choose to perceive which makes the difference in how we react.
And like a badly scratched record that brings me back to Living the Vision.
OK so how does “Living the Vision” help people become better leaders?
Well, I've already established that people act differently in different surroundings and that we tend to look to our superiors to see how to act, so it's not much of a leap to see that if a leader wishes to produce a given attitude and behaviour in his staff he should model it himself.
Have you any respect for a "Do as I say, don't do as I do" kind of guy, do you religiously do as he says or do as he does?
Hmm interesting that, when you see juveniles in the papers or on television behaving badly what's the first thing that goes through your minds, is it "I blame the parents"?
I wonder why that is so common a reaction?
Of course there are bad eggs born to good families just as there are good eggs born in horrendous circumstances, there are no hard and fast rules in life but I am convinced that environment has a lot to do with how people behave, is it nature or nurture?
Given that I believe all that, it is no surprise that I believe also that by Living the Vision any leader can affect his followers for the good.
Keep an eye out for leaders in your environment and see how they affect their followers, see what vision they are living how they model behaviour and how closely their followers model them.
I think you'll be surprised !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
The title of this week's blog is not intended to be a slur on anyone but a very old saying which like so many very old sayings has a huge dose of truth in it.
When we are little we look up to our parents, older siblings, nannies, minders etc. to see how to act, there are lots of studies that prove that what we experience when we are children has a direct effect on the rest of our lives and it would be a brave man indeed who claimed that this is not the case.
My point is, this never ends, we continue to change our behaviour based on observing our direct superiors and colleagues or to put it another way, "Monkey see Monkey do"
You must have noticed in yourselves how your behaviour, speech mannerisms, language etc. alters when you are in different surroundings, do you use the same language to describe a missed tackle down the footy on Saturday as you do to describe a missed deadline at work on Monday morning?
Why is that?
Aren't you subconsciously fitting in with your environment, acting the way your peer group acts, going with the flow or whatever phrase best suits you?
Of course you are, I do the same, we all do, well almost all of us anyway.
Take a close look at the best leader you know personally, watch their body language, listen to how they say things not just what they say, if the studies are to be believed that's what you do 80% of the time anyway, but this time do it consciously.
What do you see, how does it compare to the worst leader you know?
If you are lucky you will see them painting pictures sure but you'll also see them and I'm going to use a horrid expression here, "Living the vision"
I can here you saying it now "WTF does that mean?"
Put as simply as I know how "Living the vision" means representing the best method of behaviour in everything you do, the finest example I can give you is Jesus Christ, now there was a man who lived the vision, there is nothing in the Bible that shows him doing anything that is inconsistent with what he was trying to achieve.
To truly live the vision you have to believe in what you are trying to do, gauge every act against your objectives and discard those that take you away from rather than towards your goal, you have to act as a role model at all times, not only in using the systems properly or wearing the right clothes etc. though these things are important, but in your attitude.
If you are trying to encourage honesty, say in retail or cash handling situations, then you must not steal, seems obvious doesn't it?
What about a pencil or a paperclip or a minute off the working day no one would begrudge you a paperclip surely? It's a short trip from a paperclip to a £5 note and that way lies ruin, how can you discipline a follower for dishonesty if you are guilty of the same crime but to a lesser extent?
When I was in a position of leadership I told my followers that they could do anything they saw me doing, you can bet your life it was a hell of an incentive to display the right attitude and do the right thing at all times.
Attitude is the single most important thing in life, there are hosts of saws about attitude I quite like "It is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so" which demonstrates for me that it is how we choose to perceive which makes the difference in how we react.
And like a badly scratched record that brings me back to Living the Vision.
OK so how does “Living the Vision” help people become better leaders?
Well, I've already established that people act differently in different surroundings and that we tend to look to our superiors to see how to act, so it's not much of a leap to see that if a leader wishes to produce a given attitude and behaviour in his staff he should model it himself.
Have you any respect for a "Do as I say, don't do as I do" kind of guy, do you religiously do as he says or do as he does?
Hmm interesting that, when you see juveniles in the papers or on television behaving badly what's the first thing that goes through your minds, is it "I blame the parents"?
I wonder why that is so common a reaction?
Of course there are bad eggs born to good families just as there are good eggs born in horrendous circumstances, there are no hard and fast rules in life but I am convinced that environment has a lot to do with how people behave, is it nature or nurture?
Given that I believe all that, it is no surprise that I believe also that by Living the Vision any leader can affect his followers for the good.
Keep an eye out for leaders in your environment and see how they affect their followers, see what vision they are living how they model behaviour and how closely their followers model them.
I think you'll be surprised !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Friday, September 01, 2006
Hello sir, how can I help you?
Sometimes those words can really brighten my day, and sometimes they make me cringe.
I went into Superdrug in Wallington today and had a look around, I was very impressed with the standards and took the time to observe the cashiers at work.
I heard the above phrase spoken several times with real feeling, made me smile all over my face, the cashiers were showing that they were interested in:
Exactly the same phrase completely different effect !
The cashier behind the till obviously didn't want to:
Well I believe passionately that it is a direct reflection of the managers.
Ok I can hear some of you saying, yeah but it's different companies or different locations or just you caught the Boots girl on a bad day and to those of you I say nay !
In retail there are no such things as bad days, let me repeat myself cos I think that's so important. "In retail there are no such things as bad days" in fact I'll go further than that and say
"In service there are no such things as bad days"
As a consumer I couldn't give a fetid dingo's kidney what sort of day my cashier is having, I couldn't care less if he has a headache, groin strain, a horrible home life or an appointment at the dentist I am solely interested in my wants, another nugget there so I'll repeat it
"As a consumer...I am solely interested in my wants"
So if we wish to give excellent customer service whose wants should we be focussing on?
Seems simple doesn't it?
So why is it that Superdrug in Wallington managed to satisfy mine and Boots failed?
Which brings me back, rather neatly I think, to the store managers.
An excellent store manager, nay leader, will paint pictures for their staff, it is their job to make the future sound bright, you've heard that classic song, "The future's so bright you just gotta wear shades" it should be the mantra of anyone who wishes to be a real leader, they should go to bed humming it and wake up to it on the radio, sing it in the shower, ponder it in the car on the way to work .... well you get the message.
Ok so why is it so important?
Well look at it this way when do you do your best work?
When you are sad and depressed, worried about your job and the future, feeling undervalued and unappreciated, in the dark, ignored, passed over etc. etc.
or
When you are feeling on top of the world, valued, prized even, when you know what you are doing and why, when you have hope in your heart and a smile on your face?
Well durr !!!
And yet again we find that this simple fact is ignored time and time again, how many times have you felt like a mushroom, you know, kept in the dark and covered in xxxx?
Did you do your best work?
I think not !
Ok so is painting pictures enough?
Hardly but it's a great start !
I'll go on with what else is required to be a great leader next time but for now let me finish telling you how the two stores I visited reflect their managers and how one satisfied my wants whereas the other didn't.
I don't know the manager of Boots but I do know the manager of Superdrug in Wallington and I can tell you this she had every reason to be down in the dumps today and yet when I walked in she was acting like a beacon for her staff, stood on the shop floor she was briefing the staff on something or other that needed doing whilst opening her mail and scanning the shop for opportunities, she took comments and feedback from her staff and garnered agreement before moving on.
Could I experience service like I'd got at Boots in a shop managed like that?
I could tell by the way her staff reacted to her that she is a great leader and as I've said the store reflected that, what I wanted was well displayed easy to find and served to me with obvious care and concern let alone efficiency.
Conversely in Boots I struggled to find what I wanted, it was grubby on a grubby shelf and I've already spoken about the service, if the manager was painting pictures for his staff would I have had that experience?
Answers on a postcard to "No of course not you damn fool, c/o ffriar Productions, Croydon.
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com/
I went into Superdrug in Wallington today and had a look around, I was very impressed with the standards and took the time to observe the cashiers at work.
I heard the above phrase spoken several times with real feeling, made me smile all over my face, the cashiers were showing that they were interested in:
- what they were doing
- giving good service
- making a good impression on the customer
- making the most of their opportunities.
Exactly the same phrase completely different effect !
The cashier behind the till obviously didn't want to:
- be there
- serve anyone
- serve me in particular
- make money for her company
- keep her job
- progress any further
Well I believe passionately that it is a direct reflection of the managers.
Ok I can hear some of you saying, yeah but it's different companies or different locations or just you caught the Boots girl on a bad day and to those of you I say nay !
In retail there are no such things as bad days, let me repeat myself cos I think that's so important. "In retail there are no such things as bad days" in fact I'll go further than that and say
"In service there are no such things as bad days"
As a consumer I couldn't give a fetid dingo's kidney what sort of day my cashier is having, I couldn't care less if he has a headache, groin strain, a horrible home life or an appointment at the dentist I am solely interested in my wants, another nugget there so I'll repeat it
"As a consumer...I am solely interested in my wants"
So if we wish to give excellent customer service whose wants should we be focussing on?
Seems simple doesn't it?
So why is it that Superdrug in Wallington managed to satisfy mine and Boots failed?
Which brings me back, rather neatly I think, to the store managers.
An excellent store manager, nay leader, will paint pictures for their staff, it is their job to make the future sound bright, you've heard that classic song, "The future's so bright you just gotta wear shades" it should be the mantra of anyone who wishes to be a real leader, they should go to bed humming it and wake up to it on the radio, sing it in the shower, ponder it in the car on the way to work .... well you get the message.
Ok so why is it so important?
Well look at it this way when do you do your best work?
When you are sad and depressed, worried about your job and the future, feeling undervalued and unappreciated, in the dark, ignored, passed over etc. etc.
or
When you are feeling on top of the world, valued, prized even, when you know what you are doing and why, when you have hope in your heart and a smile on your face?
Well durr !!!
And yet again we find that this simple fact is ignored time and time again, how many times have you felt like a mushroom, you know, kept in the dark and covered in xxxx?
Did you do your best work?
I think not !
Ok so is painting pictures enough?
Hardly but it's a great start !
I'll go on with what else is required to be a great leader next time but for now let me finish telling you how the two stores I visited reflect their managers and how one satisfied my wants whereas the other didn't.
I don't know the manager of Boots but I do know the manager of Superdrug in Wallington and I can tell you this she had every reason to be down in the dumps today and yet when I walked in she was acting like a beacon for her staff, stood on the shop floor she was briefing the staff on something or other that needed doing whilst opening her mail and scanning the shop for opportunities, she took comments and feedback from her staff and garnered agreement before moving on.
Could I experience service like I'd got at Boots in a shop managed like that?
I could tell by the way her staff reacted to her that she is a great leader and as I've said the store reflected that, what I wanted was well displayed easy to find and served to me with obvious care and concern let alone efficiency.
Conversely in Boots I struggled to find what I wanted, it was grubby on a grubby shelf and I've already spoken about the service, if the manager was painting pictures for his staff would I have had that experience?
Answers on a postcard to "No of course not you damn fool, c/o ffriar Productions, Croydon.
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com/
Friday, August 25, 2006
Ohh the terror !!!
Hello everyone,
a mate of mine, JP Kamath (http://www.JPKamath.com) has just launched a free comic site that I have had a little to do with, well I built the back end and another mate of mine John Murphy did the design.
It can be found at http://www.londonhorrorcomic.com/ and is a cracking good read, I know JP would welcome any comments so please feel free to use the feedback form on the site to let him know what you think of it.
Haven't had two minutes to put together a proper post this week, sorry.
Note to self, "must do better"
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com/
a mate of mine, JP Kamath (http://www.JPKamath.com) has just launched a free comic site that I have had a little to do with, well I built the back end and another mate of mine John Murphy did the design.
It can be found at http://www.londonhorrorcomic.com/ and is a cracking good read, I know JP would welcome any comments so please feel free to use the feedback form on the site to let him know what you think of it.
Haven't had two minutes to put together a proper post this week, sorry.
Note to self, "must do better"
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com/
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Perfect Strangers
Hi all,
went to London yesterday and was hanging around in Covent Garden for a while, what a fabulous place for people watching.
Whilst I was there I took the opportunity to have a cornish pasty from The Cornish Pasty Company who have stalls all over London, there's one at London Bridge and One at Wimbledon that I have visitied and I know there are loads more.
The pasties are made in Cornwall and delivered frozen to the stalls who then bake them and serve them up, loads of varieties and every one I've had has been fabulous.
I would heartily recommend trying one if you pass a stall should be about £3.
I went up to audition for a new game show called Perfect Strangers, it was an odd experience but interesting so I thought I'd share it with you.
I arrived 15 mins late thanks to some delays encountered in my travels, only little ones but they added up to a 15 delay, now I hate being late, I really hate it so I didn't arrive in the best of moods, it was a muggy day and I'd legged it all along Long Acre to the venue so was sweating profusely, I must have looked a sight !
I apologised profusely to the researcher who was very nice about it and fitted me in at the side of the line-up having first stuck my name on my chest and taken a digital photo.
The host was just finishing putting the potential candidates at ease with some jocular chat when I arrived and seemed a little put out when I was thrust onto the end of the line, I smiled like a loon and tried to catch up with what was happening, feeling very uncomfortable I have to say I wasn't at my best.
In front of us were table tennis bats and the host explained that they would take the place of buzzers while we played a trial round, the whole point of the quiz is that you have to work as a team one of you answering half the question the other answering the rest so of course I ended up on a team of three !
The star of the audition was a super agressive guy up the end whose bat was in the air before the rest of us could blink, we later found out he is an estate agent, when we did manage to beat him to it it seemed a reasonable game, they showed us George Bush snr and Jnr and asked us to name them, Everest name it and the two countries it lies in etc.
I was crap you won't be surprised to hear.
After that we were put in a circle and interviewed on camera individually, of course I ended up being last and by the time it got round to me every funny thing possible to say had been said, the estate agent said he didn't want to play with any thickies and that he'd probably cope with losing by having a quiet word round the back with his partner!
After that there was a written quiz, not too bad except I'm pants at modern music and couldn't remember for the life of me who Shakespeare married lol.
It was after this ordeal I went to Covent Garden to meet my wife for lunch.
We ate as mentioned and while we were enjoying our food we watched the street performers, geez these guys work hard for a living, then wandered round the stalls, oh my word the prices ! and went home.
The return trip was slightly more relaxed than the outbound and we made it home in plenty of time for me to visit my dentists, now they know about customer service but I'll leave them to another time.
Keep slogging guys and remember.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't
you're right !
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com
went to London yesterday and was hanging around in Covent Garden for a while, what a fabulous place for people watching.
Whilst I was there I took the opportunity to have a cornish pasty from The Cornish Pasty Company who have stalls all over London, there's one at London Bridge and One at Wimbledon that I have visitied and I know there are loads more.
The pasties are made in Cornwall and delivered frozen to the stalls who then bake them and serve them up, loads of varieties and every one I've had has been fabulous.
I would heartily recommend trying one if you pass a stall should be about £3.
I went up to audition for a new game show called Perfect Strangers, it was an odd experience but interesting so I thought I'd share it with you.
I arrived 15 mins late thanks to some delays encountered in my travels, only little ones but they added up to a 15 delay, now I hate being late, I really hate it so I didn't arrive in the best of moods, it was a muggy day and I'd legged it all along Long Acre to the venue so was sweating profusely, I must have looked a sight !
I apologised profusely to the researcher who was very nice about it and fitted me in at the side of the line-up having first stuck my name on my chest and taken a digital photo.
The host was just finishing putting the potential candidates at ease with some jocular chat when I arrived and seemed a little put out when I was thrust onto the end of the line, I smiled like a loon and tried to catch up with what was happening, feeling very uncomfortable I have to say I wasn't at my best.
In front of us were table tennis bats and the host explained that they would take the place of buzzers while we played a trial round, the whole point of the quiz is that you have to work as a team one of you answering half the question the other answering the rest so of course I ended up on a team of three !
The star of the audition was a super agressive guy up the end whose bat was in the air before the rest of us could blink, we later found out he is an estate agent, when we did manage to beat him to it it seemed a reasonable game, they showed us George Bush snr and Jnr and asked us to name them, Everest name it and the two countries it lies in etc.
I was crap you won't be surprised to hear.
After that we were put in a circle and interviewed on camera individually, of course I ended up being last and by the time it got round to me every funny thing possible to say had been said, the estate agent said he didn't want to play with any thickies and that he'd probably cope with losing by having a quiet word round the back with his partner!
After that there was a written quiz, not too bad except I'm pants at modern music and couldn't remember for the life of me who Shakespeare married lol.
It was after this ordeal I went to Covent Garden to meet my wife for lunch.
We ate as mentioned and while we were enjoying our food we watched the street performers, geez these guys work hard for a living, then wandered round the stalls, oh my word the prices ! and went home.
The return trip was slightly more relaxed than the outbound and we made it home in plenty of time for me to visit my dentists, now they know about customer service but I'll leave them to another time.
Keep slogging guys and remember.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't
you're right !
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com
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