Posts Tagged ‘Olney’
- Image by Nancee_art via Flickr
Quite recently, we got a TESCO’s, a little one. We have a Co-op tucked away in a side court. But we don’t have a Boots or WH Smith.
This is a little town and we don’t have a Timpson’s either. I had never heard of them until I heard one its owners talking on Radio 4. They are an odd jobbing kind of firm that do your shoes, your keys, and so on, and have branches right across the UK.
Well what is this to do with you?
They say they have two rules in their code of conduct
1. Look the part
2. Don’t steal our money
What are your rules?
I have three rules of conduct
1. Look after yourself
2. Look after us
3. Always be ready for a customer who walks through the door
Can you make them any simpler or clearer?
PS The swan is a general symbol in south-east England. The hare is a symbol of our town. There are plenty around but they are made a part of the town by Newton, the author of the hymn, Amazing Grace, which was written in our church.
- Image by joolney via Flickr
Doing well by doing good
On January 21st, just in time to see the inauguration, I connected up the wi-fi at Much Ado, my favourite deli and cafe in Olney. We watched Obama’s inauguration and the owner of Much Ado, Matt Prosky, was so inspired, he invested in a brand new netbook so customers are able to check their emails while they have coffee. Bliss!
Today, I followed up what seemed to be a surprising bill from BT and with the help of James in Glasgow, we ended the afternoon by reducing Much Ado’s bill for internet services by 400 pounds (about USD600) – that is 400 pounds less than what they paid before they offered their customers wi-fi! So they’ve recouped their investment in the netbook by twice over!
I love it. Much Ado did right by their customers, and gained.
Good business does not mean being tight
So many people in business confuse controlling costs with being mean and cut-throat.
Of course, it is really important to control costs in businesses – we all know that. When margins are as low as 3 or 5%, which they often are in retail (or even less), taking care of the pennies does indeed take care of the pounds. I go even further. I think controlling costs is an act of beauty. It is almost as a form of reverence and worship, as I heard a lecturer in Islamic finance say on Radio 4. It’s fun to plan a job of work and to execute it smoothly and within budget.
But controlling costs isn’t a matter of being “tight”. Businesses do well when they do good. Business do well when they create value and wealth.
How will the internet affect businesses?
I’ve been puzzling over my own challenge to think through the impact of the internet on my profession. It is hard. I like the idea of branding work with flowers. I chose a red carnation for myself, meaning I carry a torch for you.
A second technique might be to do something for free just because you believe in it. That helps us find the core of our business – though possibly a coach would help you see it more easily (I’m not touting here – I am strictly entrepreneurial ).
My favourite deli doesn’t offer wi-fi per se. They offer hospitality shaped by the place and time in which they work.
What you do for free is probably your competitive edge
What do you do for free because you know it is right?
That’s probably the ‘competitive edge’ that distinguishes you from non-professionals who offer a similar service. That’s probably the subterranean skill which underpins your profession.
If you can tell me what you do for free, then I can ask the next question. How do we express that skill in the days of the internet?
Yes this works. How can a psychologist, for example, express commitment to their clients with internet mediated services?
What do you do for free because you know that it is right?
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- Belonging: what was your take the inauguration? (flowingmotion.wordpress.com)
- Image by joolney via Flickr
Will your degree really take you where you want to be?
I’ve just read story in the TimesOnline about a mature student who returned to university and read psychology, very successfully, only to find that there are insufficient places for students to complete their professional qualifications.
I am sorry to hear this story. There is a breach-of-confidence here that shames us all. When students go to university, they accept in good faith our implied promises of progression within their degree and access to their chosen profession.
Very sadly, these promises are often made lightly. And quite often universities deliberately conceal the facts, if not by commission, then by omission. They quite consciously don’t collect information on student destinations, and they just as consciously don’t make these facts available. It is certainly time for regulators to insist that these facts are published on University websites and kept up-to-date!
Not only do I think publishing student pass rates and destinations should be mandatory. I think universities should loan fees to students and recover the loans themselves!
Caveat emptor
Until the day that regulations are tightened up, then I afraid it is a matter of caveat emptor, buyer beware. Students need to be wary of making large investments in services that have no warranty! Should they discover that the university’s promises are inflated, they will be able to recover neither their money nor, more importantly, their time.
Craft a life plan that is far bigger than uni and the professions
So what can students do to avoid this trap?
The advice from contemporary positive psychologists is this. Don’t plan your university studies around a specific job and employment route! Neither is guaranteed. Indeed, we have seen from the banking crisis that nothing in this world is guaranteed.
Rather, see your university education as a supplement to your life plan. Let me give you this example.
Young Nick Cochiarella from my village of Olney has already launched his first social network, SpeakLife while he is at college. He’s a hardworking guy and he also has a job at the local Coop. He is taking a slightly circuituous route doing technical training before he goes to university. But he is not waiting for anyone. It is true that his hard work still guarantees him nothing. But he is not deferring his dreams, and his university training supports, rather than defines, his life’s purpose.
But I need a job now!
It can be tough to start living our dreams. We often get into an enormous tangle.
The biggest distractor is the desperate belief that we will somehow be safe when we follow a road carved out by others. But it is not safe, as we have seen.
And even if it were safe, why do we think that other people’s dreams will be enough for us?
Wouldn’t it be better to have our own dreams and to work with others to find where we can temporarily work together to make the path easier and broader for both of us?
A plan big enough to include now
Ned Lawrence has been challenging me to refocus this site on the needs of the ordinary person – the person who lives these dilemmas.
What do you think?
Is it possible to make a plan that is big enough to include now?

Ben Thompson at MuchAdo
Brits leaving for downunder
Ben is leaving us today for a year long working holiday in Australia. Sad for us. Happy for him!
I’m sure many young people in UK are checking out jobs in Australia. This is an inevitable upshot of the recession. Actually, I think it would be a good thing to upgrade the agreement with Australia that allows young people from Britain to work temporarily there and young Aussies to work temporarily here.
Swap young people during the recession
I think we should go further and set quotas to swap young people. We should even provide an year return ticket!
Build a resilient young generation
Experience abroad broadens the mind, expands our skills, deepens our resilience, and rekindles hope. We will be stronger country for it. Our future at the end of recession may depend upon a better reservoir not just of skill but of character (selfish, aren’t I?).
MuchaAdo Cafe
I’ll miss Ben. He’s been with MuchAdo Cafe in Olney since it opened a year ago. I understand he began his career as a schoolyard at the Courtyard Brasserie tucked away in Rose Court off Market Place. He went off to Australia, came back, and is now associated with a very successful start-up with the most delectable food and friendly adaptable stylish service. MuchAdo have a daily blackboard menu with food from the delicatessen next door and they happily adjust the dishes to your taste. They’ll also send you home with delicacies too and the recipes to prepare something special.
Bon Voyage, Ben! Enjoy the sun and sand. And be back soon! We’ll be waiting for you.
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Life on Market Day in Olney!
Posted February 19, 2009
on:Life on Market Day in Olney
I had another delightful day in the village of Olney in Buckinghamshire or Bucks in England, UK. That’s a long address, isn’t it?
Social Media
Hero of the hour, GarethLRoberts, tweeted well before morning tea that he was back from the markets in London. A quick look at the blog of MuchAdo deli persuaded me that I was not going to eat noodles this week. I am going to eat a fresh green salad with tropical fruit and to accompany this extravaganza, I am going to grill mackerel (for the first time in my life). UPDATE: Catch MuchAdo on Facebook and see the ceiling mural by Lee Farmer unfold.
Market Day
Thursday is market day in Olney. Market Place thronged with the regular array of butchers and greengrocers, haberdashers, cobblers, and gardeners. The Coffee Cavern joined Olney100 today bringing their range of exotic teas and coffee. The Happy Carrot, who are the most-glass-half-full people I know, were the ONLY stall to appear during our heavy snow. I wish they would blog. They have a philosophical turn of mind, a ready camera, and extensive knowledge of the whole Bucks area. This is when I regret using Ning. People can’t comment without logging in.
Housing Market
After the market, I headed for the eastern corner of Market Place and went to congratulate Taylor’s, the estate agent, for selling a house around the corner from me. Did you hear that folks? The market for housing in sought-after Olney ain’t dead. Poke it with a stick!
Coffee Shops and Youthful Enterprise
A lively young man reminded me of how much fun it is to work with Gen Y – on-the-ball, optimisitic and conecting-connecting-connecting. Next door at the coffee shop, Beans, young Charlie Ray (17) seized the opportunity to raise the profile of his business Mute . . . Anything but Quiet! – an online store for tie-and-dye shirts. Charlie and his team will teach us a thing or two about websites and social media with connections to Facebook and Myspace. He intends to go up to university in a few months to read broadcast journalism – mental note to myself – ask Euan Semple at Amplified09 if he knows any mentors around here.
Hair Salons
Energy levels continued to throb in the next store. Well, it is a store within a store. Olney is an old lace-making town and shops are tucked away romantically down alleys and warrens. To reach Olney’s newest of five hair salons, we weave our way through a baby clothes store. Secluded, airy, fresh, At the Salon is run by engaging proprietor, Rebecca Green, who also teaches hairdressing in Milton Keynes.
Phonebox
My rounds ended with a visit to the Phonebox – an extraordinary institution. Ron, or Gandalf, got to the social media business model long before Google. Funded entirely by advertisements, Phonebox prints and distributes around 50 000 copies of the must thumbed and read periodical in the Bedford – Milton Leynes – Northampton triangle. Quick remarkable!
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