At the beginning of lockdown I sent out an email quoting Charles Darwin: “It’s not the strongest of the species who survives, nor the most intelligent who survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Doesn’t the start of all of this seem like a long time ago? And yet, here we are some four months later, still communicating with you via the pages of this humble periodical. And you, yes you, how well are you doing? You’ve adapted to this new situation; you might not like it all that much but you’re adapting, you’re living in the “new normal”, staring down the challenges that COVID19 has thrown at you, and you’ll continue to adapt. So, welcome back, we knew you could do it!
If someone had told me at the beginning of 2020 that we’d have to close our practice for 12 weeks because of a global pandemic; that I would have to furlough my team for three months; that my children would effectively finish school at the end of March and not see their teachers or classmates until September (at the earliest!); that my wife Karen would add “surrogate teacher” to her ever expanding list of unpaid job roles; that our planned summer holiday to Almeria would be cancelled; that I would only be seeing only a fraction of the number of clients I would normally be seeing, I’d have said (a) You’re crazy! and (b) how on earth would
we manage to live through all of that? And yet we have and we continue to do so. We don’t give ourselves enough credit for our ability to adapt to new situations, possibly because they usually come about in a slow and gradual manner, we have a bit of time to think things through and get used to the idea. But COVID19 has changed all of that. We had to change our entire way of living in a heartbeat. And that can be hard, really hard. But it’s amazing at just how resilient we really are and how we’re able to adapt to circumstances and make the best of things. We’re made of tougher stuff than we think, and that’s an important lesson for us all to take away from this whole situation.
One of the team told me recently that a friend of theirs had described their return to work as a “leisurely, gentle, gradual return”. And they asked me why they hadn’t experienced a “leisurely” day at work since starting with me two years ago. They were joking of course. They also know that businesses that are just going with the flow right now, being “leisurely” or just keeping their fingers and toes crossed that things will just get better all by themselves, are just “leisurely” going out of business. We all put ourselves under pressure to perform at the highest level at Clarke & Roskrow because we genuinely want to “WOW” our clients. So, although we’re working at reduced volumes, and only seeing 6 or 7 clients per day, it is a world away from “leisurely” because we want to take care of every detail for every client and provide the best possible experience. We don’t always get it right, but that’s what we strive for each and every day. The illusion that we create is that Clarke & Roskrow is a calm, relaxed, comfortable, enjoyable and delightful place to visit; that is how it’s supposed to feel for you, our clients. The team, on the other hand, appear as though they are swans gliding effortlessly across the water, while under the surface they’re paddling like hell! And that’s the buzz and thrill we get as a team, crafting a unique experience for you each and every day. While other businesses might still have their heads buried in the sand or are caught in “go slow” mode, the C&R Team are back at work doing what they do best, working extremely hard and striving to delight our clients. And the best thing of all? We’re loving being back!
You can visit our “Welcome Back” video to see the changes we have made to make your visit to Clarke & Roskrow Styling Opticians comfortable, safe and the highlight of your day! See the video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/pmaUekofqpw or on our website https://clarkeandroskrow.co.uk/blog
