ReThink Productivity Podcast
Best bits of business advice
We've spent the past two years gathering the top tips from our knowledgeable guests, and we've compiled all that invaluable advice into one exciting episode. Tune in and discover that one game-changing tip that could transform your business journey. It's all here and just a play button away—don't miss it!
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We've spent the past two years gathering the top tips from our knowledgeable guests, and we've compiled all that invaluable advice into one exciting episode. Tune in and discover that one game-changing tip that could transform your business journey. It's all here and just a play button away—don't miss it!
#theproductivityexperts
Register for the Produtivity Forum 2024
Follow us on Twitter @Rethinkp
Connect to Simon on LinkedIn
Follow ReThink on LinkedIn
Welcome to the Productivity Podcast, something a bit different. Today we're taking the best bits of business advice we've been given over the last two years of the podcast and putting them together in special episodes of the best bits of business advice Enjoy.
Speaker 2:Best business advice. I think the best piece of advice I've been given over the years is you don't have to answer everything immediately.
Speaker 3:You can be wrong at the right time, and you can be wrong at the right time and you can be right at the wrong time. Sometimes we as leaders, we feel that when we're right, it's got to be implemented now. But I've learned one way or another that sometimes you can be right at the wrong time, and so timing is really important. There's a number of projects I've been trying to get off the ground for four years and now suddenly everything's just falling into place and it was just timing.
Speaker 4:so that's probably the best advice I would have to say that and again, this applies very much in in a, in a retail context, and I found, throughout my working life, I found more and more perhaps we're all told to look at the data and so on and so forth, and insights from the data, and, yes, we very much need to use that data-driven insights and so on and so forth, and analytics, yes, there's always, always a place for that, always, always a place for that. Ultimately, I would suggest, trust your instincts. Trust your instinct because usually, on the one hand, if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't, and on the other hand, if it feels, yeah, this is the right thing to be doing, for whatever reason, whether it be for your business, for your customers, for the planet, perhaps you know, if it feels like it's the right thing, then usually it, uh, it is.
Speaker 5:So trust your instinct, I would say the best bit of a business advice I've ever been given and I've said it a couple, I've said it numerous times on on this podcast is about the importance of empowering people closest to the problem. I would echo that and I've echoed that and used that in every organisation I've worked.
Speaker 6:On the back of that, treat your colleagues with respect. I think that's the way you take people on these sort of change journeys and the challenging times that we're facing. So I think it absolutely links back to the way we, as leaders, interact with our teams.
Speaker 7:I think the first thing that comes to my mind is from a vice president of manufacturing to whom I reported. He said to me if I have structured your work in a way that you cannot get it complete in your daily tasks, then we need to talk about that so that I can fit the right amount of work into the time that you are here, because if I don't, then I create an environment that you are set up to fail, and that is my fault, not yours.
Speaker 8:It's, just go for it. You know there's there's always a reason not to do something. Um, when I look back to the day that I incorporated or do on company's house here in the uk and registers it as a business, um, my wife was eight weeks pregnant and we picked up a dog 14 weeks before that. Um, so you know, some people would say I'm absolutely mad. I, I would say it brought me the biggest focus of my, my life because, you know, all of a sudden, all that new parents and responsibility was hitting on the shoulders. And here I am. Well, we're 22, 23 months old now.
Speaker 8:Business the team is 15 people. Revenue should have kicked in a few months ago. Didn't quite because of COVID-19, but it will be in a few months time. You know we've been literally around the world. You know, during that time and don't get me wrong, it's there's been challenges, it's been stressful, there's been lots of sleepless nights, but I wouldn't change anything for it. And if, if Greg hadn't phoned me that day and said I think you should go for it and I said yes, then um, I guess I'd still be. Um, it may be even sat still working for him. Um, wondering what if, and don't ever allow, what if to stop you.
Speaker 9:I'd say it wasn't given to me personally, but John Maxwell talks about how everything rises and falls on leadership, and so being able to pay special attention to bringing in people who have good qualities there, but also people who can cultivate other people, and then being able to build that into the Bike Ninja platform is just something that's extra special out of that, but it's definitely held true.
Speaker 10:I would say it's move fast, change before you have to. You know, the family business is all about tradition and doing things the way they've always been done, and that may have been fine before, but in 2021, I'm afraid that that may not be able to be good enough to keep your business open. You got to adapt with technology and try to be more efficient.
Speaker 11:Wow, that's a big question and been given a lot because I've needed a lot of advice over the years.
Speaker 11:But, you know, I think maybe it's just sort of what's developed my mindset around this notion of relevance and resilience, you know, and just not fearing change, right? So understanding the opportunities that those create for the right reasons. So I think, you know, embracing change, or I guess my mantra is sort of you know, the only thing that's constant is change. So recognizing that and not fearing it, but seeing the opportunities that that can create for your business, for yourself, personally, I think it just makes everything a lot more fulfilling, but it's not easy. And especially when you have, you know, you think it just makes everything a lot more fulfilling, but, uh, it's not easy. And and especially when you have you know you've had an organization or you have an organization that's been very successful, you know, recognizing that need to change is, is, can be, uh, could be pretty, uh, intimidating, but uh, for me I think embracing it and and taking it for the opportunities that uh, it can create, I think is a big lesson.
Speaker 12:Know your customer so obsessively that you know them better than yourself.
Speaker 13:Because only when you know your customer so obsessively, will you ever be able to predict their current and future needs and deliver what they expect from you as a brand?
Speaker 14:expect from you as a brand research, understand who you're speaking to and be relevant. And, uh, the best bit advice I have is never go into a meeting unless you've had a look at the news feed of that company. I remember once I went into into a meeting and made you meeting and had my presentation and it was based on out-of-date information that they'd been acquired by someone else and I was curtly told well, the guys who were in here before actually understood where we are now, not a year and a half ago. So thank you, but no thank is to understand what the company is going through. That's more important than trying to peddle your greatest and best technology. That will come. We have the greatest and best technology, that I'm assured. But I think that advice is really something that I've taken to my core.
Speaker 15:The best bit of advice I was ever given was absolutely if you're sure it's the right idea, act now, do it. The worst that can happen is it doesn't work and you try something else. But if you think you've got the right approach, act on it and then see what happens.
Speaker 16:Oh, that's a really good question. Probably I'd say keep the faith. I know I think running, running a business, you know, particularly a business I set up from scratch um, you know it's, it can be a roller coaster and so many ups and downs and obviously things like COVID coming coming from left field as well, uh is, you know, keep keep the faith, keep keep focused on your, your vision to, to, um, help customers and and why, why use that of the business? So for me, that's helping business, helping small businesses to make, make and save more money using data. So, yeah, keep keep the faith. That's probably the best advice I've had I would always say openness and transparency.
Speaker 17:Um, you know, I think too much organizations, people and staff try and do what's right for their boss rather than what's right for the organisation, and I'm certainly a big believer in that sort of open culture. So openness, I think, is probably the answer to that. You know, never being afraid to speak up, you know, no idea is a bad idea. I think it's certainly in a technology organization that that is really important learn to listen better, dulce that's it just give it a go.
Speaker 19:Um, just just give it a go. Just just try. Just try things. Um failure is great. Um finder we have. We have one of our. One of our many, many philosophies is that if it's 70 right, that's more than good enough. Don't wait for something to be 100. Just give it a go and learn from what you experience, whether that's um raising money, launching a new business, hiring a team member, launching a new product feature, just give it a go. If it's 70 right, then that's more than good enough. But just give it a go. Life is far too short, if nothing that the past 15, 16, 17 months taught us, just give it a go. Life is far too short, if nothing that the past 15, 16, 17 months taught us, just give it a go it's not.
Speaker 20:It's not the sexiest piece of advice, but I have to say one thing that I've learned working in startups is that cash is king, and this applies to definitely to my startup, but also to any startup and any company. Managers and leaders will be concerned about cash for reasons that they have to make salary payments, they have to make sure that the business is sustainable, and I think that is a very important consideration. When you are talking to other businesses to under, when you're when you're negotiating or when you're trying to set up a partnership, that is going to be something that they they'll always be thinking about. Um, it's, it's a very real consideration, no matter if you're a very small team, like us, of six, or a larger, like multinational, of 60 000, I, I would say remember that cash is king and that really, really matters.
Speaker 21:Well, I think I've been given lots along the way and I've also, through working with lots of different organizations, learned a lot. But I think the one for me that's really stuck in my mind for the last couple of years is a guy called George Menekakis who I've met here in Canada and he's written a few books and the last but one book he wrote was, I think it was A Great Transition or something, and he wrote it about, I think was it three or four years ago, I think, and sneaked into one of the chapters and he sort of shrugged his shoulders when I talked to him about it. You know, sort of sort of shrugged his shoulders when I talked to him about you know, said lots of other things was this statement and it really it was like a gleaming light and it said for those companies who keep particularly retail, keep saying, well, what's what's amazon doing? What's what amazon doing? We need to do more of what amazon's doing. Or you know, latterly it might even be you know, if you're self-reported, what target are doing. Or even you know, latterly it might even be you know, if you're self-reported, what Target are doing, or even what Walmart might be doing. But he said, competitors are not the enemy.
Speaker 21:The inability to create trends is, and I think that this is a really powerful, profound statement. It's almost up there with, in my mind, with some of the things that Deming came out with in the sense of if we can't understand our purpose and take our customers on a journey where we're actually getting ourselves into some kind of blue ocean situation, then of course we're going to be obsessed with what the competitor's doing because we're just following and, as a result of following, we'll have lower margins. We'll be on the on the periphery of things, we'll have no loyalty and, you know, in terms of forward development path, we just wait for somebody else to do something. Then we'll study that, reverse engineer it and try and do it in in our store network. Whatever you know format, we in.
Speaker 21:So I think that's really for anybody listening to this part of the podcast. I think I'd just challenge them and just say are you setting trends in your business for your customers? Are you taking them on a journey or are you just watching? If you're a retailer, are you just watching Amazon? What are they up to? Are they doing drones? You know airship warehouses. Oh, better, do some of that. No, stop following everybody else. Know your stuff and get in front of your customers.
Speaker 18:I always find those questions really difficult because there's tons of stuff that have been really useful, but for me, I think it's about being yourself, about being you. I think, as a leader, the more you are present, the more you are yourselves, the more impact you're going to have. So I think I certainly spent my early years trying to be someone I wasn't, and that just takes energy. Spent my early years trying to be someone I wasn't, and that just takes energy, whereas when you start to be yourself and play to your strengths and suddenly you realize actually you can't be brilliant at everything, you outsource the stuff you can't do to other people who are good at it and do the stuff that you're good at. And as soon as you start playing to strengths and start being yourself, that's when it really happens and being really clear about linking what you do to your real purpose. So I was talking about understanding who you are, why you do what you do, what you do and how you do it. So I think that would be the biggest learning for me.
Speaker 22:I would say probably. How to eat an elephant is probably, you know, one of the things that's always stuck with me and, as we know, or some may not, it is bit by bit and a bit like this technology itself. You know, you look at it and you think, well, this is a big thing, but actually if you break it down and work with somebody like us, we can really make it into you know manageable chunks of what you want to achieve. Maybe it's picking from a store for doing you know collections from a store that you've never done before. Maybe it's just to make sure your pricing's accurate. Or maybe it's that you really want to engage with your suppliers and run you know promotions as and when all those things are possible. We can kind of break that down.
Speaker 23:How to eat in ed to face into the challenges, but to to embrace the challenges. Every day comes with it with a new challenge. Um, don't get, um, don't get frustrated by facing into these. Just embrace them and fix them and we can move on. There's always a solution.
Speaker 24:Best bit of business advice I've ever been given, I think, when it sort of comes down to sort of technology. I think it's a case of it's about the appropriate uh using appropriate technology and also technology that has sort of low capex and high return. So it's actually how can retailers use tech that is multifunctional or can be built upon with software upgrades? And I think that's where some of the challenges we may have had with things like robotics or cameras is. They become quite one-dimensional. As they start coming smarter and better and they can offer more solutions, they become more beneficial from a capex point of view. So ultimately, food and grocery is a sort of high volume, small margins gain, so you can't invest loads of money in tech. So the money you do invest needs to be beneficial and have a return on investment that's relatively short.
Speaker 26:I think the the best bit of business advice I've been given and it kind of plays back to my days when I was looking after formats is that that everything that you do, you've got to put the customer at the heart of what you do. And I think you've got to remember that when you're running a store whether you're operating in a retailer without the customer, you're actually nothing. So I think it's important that you keep the customer at the heart of everything that you do.
Speaker 2:So I think it's important that you keep the customer at the heart of everything that you do.
Speaker 2:I was on a podcast recently and sort of reflected on this and thought it doesn't show me in a good light, but one of my team many years ago said to me that if I spent as much time doing my work as I did organizing myself and did it in such a a good way, then I'd be even better. As, in, I'm really good at organizing myself, but it's a really good way of procrastinating. I'm not actually doing any of the work and she did. She was my subordinate and that did pull me up quite, quite short, and I have remembered that ever since and she's still a good friend and I do value the fact that she made that point to me. So, yeah, I need to, uh, or everyone needs to spend time doing things that are really important rather than planning to work out what those important things are the best bit of business advice I've been given.
Speaker 27:You know what I I'm gonna. I'm gonna give that to um, to you, actually, because it's not about for me. The biggest thing for me was moving from a paid job to being a consultant and running my own business. And when we spoke about me and setting up my business, remember you saying to me look, you'll be fine With all of the work that you've done and the operational projects you've delivered. There's a lot of value there.
Speaker 27:So I think for me and it comes to everybody who's either looking to set up their own business or has taken on a new job if you go and spend time in stores and you understand the operation and you talk to people and you're open to ideas, you can build a really solid plan. So two things there. One is believe in what you can do, but the answers are in stores. So I that's probably the the one thing that I saw from a leader that came into to boots who just kept saying the answers are in stores, and that's that's where I would say if you spend your time in there, talk to the teams there, get the data from there.
Speaker 13:That is how you build your plan perfect I think the best for me and it's one thing that I've taken from, I guess, the start of my career, is listening to your people in shops. I haven't stopped listening and I think that's probably from me being back in stores. So you know, when I was a colleague in store with ideas, suggestions, I've always been encouraged to listen to our colleagues in store because they are at the forefront. They are the ones who have got the complexity and process and understand it. They are the ones who are dealing day in, day out with our customers. For me it's around either way is being encouraged to never lose sight and never stop listening to the teams in shops, because that will improve the way they feel.
Speaker 28:But it will also deliver better for the customer. I think it's probably it's in the people space and it's about that taking a chance on people, because I think that I've been lucky enough in my career to have had, you know, two or three people in my career that had a real fundamental impact on me, but it's been primarily because they've believed in me and and taken a chance on me. So I think that's probably the single best thing that I've learned along the way is that when you see somebody with a bit of spark and a bit of drive, then take a chance, because you know the chances are it will pay you back okay, thanks for putting us on the spot there.
Speaker 29:I think probably the wisest bit of advice I got and and I still don't like it, but it is absolutely spot on is it's all about focusing on outcomes, not about activity. So you know, it's very easy to keep yourself incredibly busy, but you've actually got to be focusing. Are you getting the outcomes?
Speaker 30:yeah, I like that some of the focus well, just building on what Neil said, I think many times you can confuse activity with progress. So the natural instinct particularly in retail, I find is people want to do stuff and they want to do stuff quickly because that's the way they've been successful. But often you can find that all of that activity isn't delivering the outcome you want. And and to go back to my original point about making things logical for people in their world, you can put all sorts of activity into trying to change stuff, but if it's not logical it won't land. So put some time and some thought into what will make it logical and you've got a better chance of getting it to that.
Speaker 31:Oh, wow, yeah, so actually it was while I was at Tesco. I know I've mentioned Tesco a lot, but it was really quite formative on me as an individual and on my career and it was a piece of advice that came from a conversation at a leader's dinner. I won't reveal much more than that because I need to protect the innocent. It came from a leader's dinner and in the conversation the most senior person at the table said yeah, so you know, when did you last get into store? And I said, oh, you know I don't really get into store very much these days. Yeah, very, very busy in the office, lots and lots going on and big projects to deliver and all sorts of innovation. And, oh my goodness. And he said, well, would you like to get into store more often? I said, absolutely, if only I could find the space in my diary then I would absolutely get into store more often. And he said, oh right, okay. He said, who manages your diary then? And it kind of dawned on me. It's like, ah, yeah, that will be me.
Speaker 31:And so my best bit of advice from business was prioritize the things that are really important. And to identify the things that are really important you might just have to take a step back from everything that's troubling you in your day to day. The important stuff in retail goes on in stores and online, and if you are in the office and, uh, and you know busy got your head down working on delivering your project, then yes, of course that's important, but you're kind of missing the point of retail. So my best bit of advice is do the things that are important and, if we're in retail, get out to stores and get online.
Speaker 32:See what's going on so how long have we got?
Speaker 32:you know it's transformation is a really broad topic, let's be honest, um, and the the reason I I like what what I call my transformation trifecta those three elements, the strong will to change, the achievable approach and the right people to do it is because actually each one of those has lots of different areas that you can evolve. You can make sure are working, whether it's making sure that your governance is working, or whether it's making sure that there is the right team culture. That does, you know, work on exciting initiatives that maybe might fail, or whether it's actually great program management. There's lots of different elements that do fold up into a wider transformation.
Speaker 32:I think for me, there are a couple of additional elements that I really encourage your listeners to think about. One is how can you continue to stay curious, how can you continue to learn and continue to evolve? That was actually a question one of my old bosses quite early on in Tesco asked me how can we make the team more curious, and it's always been something that stayed with me to really think about. Actually, how can you inspire curiosity? It's a really interesting topic, so maybe we can get into that another time, perhaps.
Speaker 32:The second thing is I always think it's really important to have a logical plan through to your goal. What is one of my core values? To have this sort of logical structure in place on things that I work through, but also be able to add in some left field thinking as well that allows you to add that spark of excitement, that slightly different angle that can help make things really work. So those would be the additional couple of things that I would, I would add in for your, for your listeners, to take up and help get better at doing transformation.
Speaker 25:So I think I think it's about living in the moment, and I think the pandemic has shown us that. I think understanding the context of the business in the moment that we currently live is really important. We can all have strategies and visions for the future, and I think that's absolutely fantastic. We can have plans, but we have to understand what that core model is for how and why our business is successful today what that core model?
Speaker 25:is for how, how and why our business is is successful today, and I learned that at tesco um, and I learned about really understanding the economic model, the relationship model, what holds people to this organization and why is it at the heart of it that we're successful and we make money. I think we you have to stay true to and you have to understand that before you can start being really ambitious about the future.
Speaker 33:I can always remember the advice of Cash is King, and that was something that you know was drummed in at university and all of those good times, and at the time you thought, oh, you know, this is one of those cliche statements that comes out. I guess never has a true word been spoken in these times. So looking after the business through cash management has become critical and I think I would take that as one of the best pieces of advice as we come through this time.
Speaker 34:One of the best pieces of advice as we come through this time. Best bit of business advice I've ever been given is keep experimenting until you get the result you want. So if you try and fail, you haven't failed, you've just got a different result. So I think it's is it. Colonel Sarnas went to 900 restaurants before he got his first order for any chicken. Dyson did 1,200 prototypes before he got a first order for any chicken. Dyson did 1200 prototypes before he got a vacuum cleaner that worked properly. Uh, edison made an awful lot of bad light bulbs before he made one work with the light. So too many people give up. They'll try one thing. So I didn't work and do something else. It's not that keep, keep going. Keep going, because the answer's there oh, I've had a lot.
Speaker 35:Now my ex-chairman, good friend of mine, is sir ken alissa, who's ex ibm sales old school. He's also the lord lieutenant of greater london and he he always said to me um, you know, it's about selling. And when I got into business I thought you know, we're clever, we've got business plans, we made some money, we know we've got a great, there's a huge market opportunity, but never stop selling. So my advice is always sell, sell, sell and then go and sell some more.
Speaker 1:Because sales at the end of the day can make all sorts of issues in your business seem much less painful. Oh crikey, well, I don't know if it was advice that was given, but it's certainly. It's certainly the thing that I've always made decisions based on, which I've always made a decision based on where I think I can add the most value. So throughout my career, all the decisions I've made have never been about the financial benefits that come with it. I've always believed that they will kind of take care of themselves at some point. If you do a great job and work with great people, you know that that part of it will kind of take care of itself. I've always made decisions based on where I genuinely think I can make the biggest impact I'm working. You know, what's hugely important to me is the people I work with and for, and I think you look at the decisions that I've made and the choices that I've made.
Speaker 1:People thought it was really strange when I left nearly 25 years ago, when I left that small independent restaurant and wine bar in in Cheshire to go and work for a big, brash, red and white striped American brand. But that gave me, you know, huge opportunities. People genuinely couldn't believe. When I left Cosser to go and work for Brewers Fair, people thought I was absolutely mad, even though it was, you know, still part of Whitbread. People thought why would you leave? You know, leave a business that was growing, that was really innovative. That was, you know, on the high street in Costa to work in a under-invested restaurant brand. But, you know, I believed in in the leadership and the plan and the people.
Speaker 1:And again, you know, when I went to work for um, went to work for Morrison's, again, you know, people thought why would you move out of hospitality? But I learned you know a huge amount. You know some great, some great learnings, great people, great leadership, challenging, innovative, agile. You know, just just a great place to work. So that's probably would be my. You know my advice would be make to work. So that's probably would be my. You know my advice would be make decisions based on where you think you can make the biggest contribution, the biggest impact, rather than just chase the pound note all the time.
Speaker 36:Wow, that is an interesting question. Lots of good and lots of bad, as you can probably imagine, but probably and a relatively recent thing. I think we all get caught up in trying to be all things to to all men. A phrase, more than perhaps advice, but it was know what you do well and do it often, or know what we sell well and sell a lot of it. And that was, uh, that was a relatively recent piece of advice that stuck with me in the last, in the last few years stop trying to be all things to all men. Realize what you do well and do a lot of that best bit of business advice I've ever been given.
Speaker 37:Um, I, I, I'm. I'm a great believer in values and certainly probably the best bit of advice I've been given was by the person that recruited me when I worked for Audi, and the chap was very values-driven and he genuinely believed that if you're going to have a set of values, you have absolutely got to live by them. There are so many times you get people who define values for a team or an organization or put down their personal values but don't actually really genuinely they're not under the skin, they're not in your DNA. And certainly his advice was you know, if you're going to have a set of values, when they get challenged, when times get tough, that really proves out whether those values are true, and I think at the moment we're all going through tough times and I think it really unveils or reveals what people's true values are, and that, to me, is important. So trust is one of my key values, so that's really important to me and when you get put under pressure, trust is a key player for me.
Speaker 38:Oh crikey, I didn't see that one coming. That's the point.
Speaker 10:Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 38:Best bit of business advice, I think just get started. I think that's something I've learned, especially since being co-founder of Score. I think that's something I've learned especially since being co-founder of Score. You can spend ages and ages procrastinating about planning perfectly, creating a perfect plan, figuring out all the scenarios, when in fact, you've missed the point. Actually get started, try something, see if it works and evolve from that.
Speaker 1:I like that and you tend to learn a lot of stuff by getting started.
Speaker 38:that you probably never thought about in six months of thinking and planning. Indeed, indeed, to learn a lot of stuff by getting started that you probably never thought about in six months of thinking and planning. Indeed, indeed, and and be prepared to fail because your product is probably going to be more that doesn't work, than does work in the totality of things.
Speaker 1:So just crack on. Good and craig, you've had a bit more time to think about it, so we're expecting a good one I.
Speaker 39:I was so hoping you were going to ask me the same question. I am no same question Brilliant.
Speaker 39:The one that immediately popped into my mind as soon as I heard the question was a few years ago. I worked with a CIO from a major retailer household brand in the certainly in the UK and I think in other countries too and he made this point. He said look, I'm a very, very busy person. If you want to get my attention and get me to make a decision, you need to tell me what the answer is in one sentence and then back it up with other information. And essentially what he was saying there was whether you're in a sales environment or trying to get an idea across to people, it's dumb. It right down to the very, very simplest term, and actually keeping things simple is harder to do than you think it is. But if you can keep that in mind, how do you keep the message as simple as possible?
Speaker 40:I think that's something that we strive to do as difficult as it can be, this may not be where you're going. I think the best piece of business advice, which is probably also the best piece of personal advice, is it's not about you. You know not to take things too personally that what, what often looks like a calamity will, will likely pass. So it's a little, a little bit of you know. Focus on what you can control and don't get too wrapped up on things that are outside of your control or or probably very much of the moment. It's a little bit harder to take that advice in a pandemic which is keeps going on and on. You know, I think it works better when you have a bad meeting or a presentation or something doesn't go the way you want to. You can just kind of move on from that.
Speaker 41:But I'd have two, given it's a retail podcast buy one, get one free. The first one would be keep calm and carry on. The second one would be really making sure that you prioritize on the true scale and impact. I think when you're in any retail business, it's very easy to get distracted on a multitude of things that are are all hit your inbox, but you always need to get after the things that are going to have that that big sort of scale and impact and the sort of 80 20 Pareto, because it's very easy to lose that focus and you can be a busy fool. So always get after the two or three things that are going to have the biggest commercial and personal benefit.
Speaker 12:When I was at Boots, alec Gurley, who is now at Walgreens kind of chief operating officer at Walgreens, but he was just kind of the director of Boots at the time said to me that something along the lines of you can go like a football team can have good seasons and bad seasons, people in their careers can have good seasons and bad seasons, companies can have good seasons and bad seasons. And if you're going through a bad season it doesn't mean that next season can't be a great season.
Speaker 38:It's the famous Steve Jobs quote of strategy is choosing what not to do, and I think that's been really applicable to us over the last three or four years may have two.
Speaker 42:Simon, yeah, of course you can. There you go. That's the first one ask. If you don't ask, sometimes you don't get. And it's that simple, simple action of just asking for something, asking for help, asking for resource, the worst scenario that can happen if someone says no, so you're still in the same position. So so always ask a question. And then the other one is be adaptable. To be adaptable personally, be adaptable as a business, because, as we've just seen, changes happening every single day and it's accelerating technology, accelerating that smartphones are accelerating. That be, be an advocate of change. Be adaptable because it's inevitable. There's no point resisting it because it's happening, like I say, faster and faster and faster. So ask the question, don't be afraid to ask the question. And adaptability, or being an advocate of change.
Speaker 43:The best bit of business advice. Well, I've always been in the business of providing solutions and I think the best advice I've ever got is to see yourself as someone who's solving customers' problems. I think that we work for a solution provider, a vendor, and I think if you see yourself as having a thing that you need to convince people that they need, it really is the wrong approach. I think the approach is what are the problems that a business, a potential customer or a customer is actually facing and just solve their problems, and I really believe in that. I see myself as a problem solver and obviously, with that mindset, I love working for companies that have great solutions, because it means you can have a proper problem solving conversation and then sometime later sit back and look at the fantastic solution that's been put in place. So view yourself problem solver. I think is what comes to mind.