DID YOU KNOW THAT THE CURE FOR A BROKEN ANKLE IS TO WALK ON IT?

OR THAT IF YOU ARE BORN WITH AN ALLERGY THE TREATMENT IS EXPOSURE?

My daughter was born with a milk allergy but, with incredibly careful medical supervision, she was exposed to, at first minuscule amounts which, over 5 years built up until she was no longer allergic. Amazing eh?

Modern science discovered that you could trick the immune system into no longer reacting to the point that she no longer has an ‘allergic’ reaction to milk. It works particularly well in small children whose immune systems are still developing but has been known to work in adults also. (Though don’t try this at home without medical supervision definitely one to discuss with your doctor).

As for my ankle, I broke it in a stupid running accident (what an idiot!) and after a cry about how I wasn’t going to be able to run for a long time cause obviously, I’d be in plaster and then need lots of rehabilitation, I was shocked to discover that in fact 4 weeks in an orthopedic boot was all that was actually required.

After 4 weeks, I saw the Xray’s the ankle is still definitely broken but apparently, the best treatment is to walk on it and rebuild the muscles, tendons, and ligaments before they get too weak. After 4 weeks the bone was ‘sticky’ enough to stay together and therefore rehabilitation could begin whilst the bone continued to strengthen - Amazing eh? (it still hurts loads though!)

BUT WHAT BOTH THESE EXAMPLES DEMONSTRATED TO ME WAS HOW WRONG I WAS ABOUT MY IDEAS.

Whilst for some with allergies is it true, the substance in question remains lethal, we have discovered that there is a better way. But knowledge of that has not filtered down into our collective understanding of the world most of us still believe that to abstain for life is the only option.

And with a broken ankle, at least for my type of fracture, the treatment is to start rehabilitation immediately. Even in my ‘boot’ (where my ankle was protected from movement and weight was redistributed) I wasn’t given crutches just told to walk on it as much as was tolerable (which for me included a 7-mile walk to the beach and back!)

But I am still marveling at how wrong I was.

AND WHAT HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH PUBS, BARS, AND RESTAURANTS YOU ASK?

Well, thought out my career in the industry I have come across so many customs and traditions and ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it’ and so many staff who are resistant to see that there is a better, easier, or more efficient way of doing things.

Yes sometimes that is because people are stuck in their ways and don’t like change but actually most of the time it is just that we have a collective understanding of how these businesses work and haven’t had time to look around to discover that the world has changed.

Obviously technology and how it can be used has changed but I think more interestingly, our understanding of each other and human behavior has changed.

MOREOVER, CULTURALLY OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE CHANGED AND ARE CONTINUING TO DO SO.

The business I opened in 2000 to young professionals in an up and coming area on the outskirts of a city would have no place now.

At the time it attracted 25-year-old young professionals just stating up home in an up and coming area of the city. The housing was cheap the area cool and we tapped into that with our perfect products and playlists which captured the mood and culture of our customers who created a community around us.

These people are now 45 with grown-up families and living randomly through the suburbs of the city. They were replaced by a new generation of 25-year-olds who are enough culturally different for the business design to be nothing more than a retro throwback!

THINGS CHANGE, PEOPLE CHANGE, CULTURES CHANGE AND SO ‘THAT’S THE WAY WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT’ SHOULD ALSO CHANGE.

To b an oustanding pub, bar or restuarant you first need to konw what your business for (why) and who your perfect customers are.

f you are able to really understand this, and it is not an easy task, everything else in your business design is suddenly simple

There is no longer a place for looking at other businesses to say ‘well they do it that way’ because they are not the same business.

Understanding current best practice is a great way to find new ideas and think about different ways to do things but that is an excercise that requires you to look forward and not back at how things used to be done.

If you can get this right (and remember it will change over time) you end up with the simplest solutions to designing a perfect business, delivering exceptional customer service to a perfectly targeted customer who do form a community around the business. The bonus is that training the staff is easy also to cause they just get it the business makes sense.

Moving with the times and watching how the world around you changes can be a bit scary but it can also be exciting to see how we ‘evolve’ and get better all the time. We have just got to remember that this applies to our businesses also.