I’m writing this at just after seven in the morning in central London. I’m relaxing in a comfortable chair, listening to Louis Armstrong, sipping a freshly-made ‘Iron Man’ juice (strawberry, kiwi and apple, since you ask).
I’m running a course this morning, see, and as always arrived at the venue a little early. “Joe and the Juice” is a couple of doors away – and I’m customer number three. Ever, today being their first day of operation. And I’m watching as the six staff get set up.
The guy in the pink shirt’s just come in with a selection of trendy magazines from the newsagent next door, setting them out for customers to read. A chap in a coat is checking that a colleague knows how to work the juicing machine. A lady in black’s chopping fruit. The boss is proudly taking photos. The pride, enthusiasm and anticipation are palpable.
And I wondered… What would your proposal operation look like if you could start from scratch? How many staff would you need, with what skills and attitude? What equipment would you have, and what would your working environment be like? How would you work together – to produce really great results that surprise and delight a growing customer base? What would be playing on the soundtrack?
I won’t pretend that you’ll be able to make your vision come to life – but if you don’t take time to dream, how can you ever start to move on from wherever your team is today to open the doors to the way you’d really like to be able to work?