I hate Ikea. No really I hate it with such intensity, I cannot explain. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like the store, the café is cheap with some different but not unusual food, the products are mostly cheaply made but don’t cost the earth, and I kind of like the European style layout.
My wife however is the polar opposite. If she could move into the Ikea store she would. She loves it to death. Whatever mood she is in, if I suggest an Ikea trip, she is instantly transformed into a puppy, bouncing around outside the car door waiting for me to unlock it, and set off. I’m not complaining of course, some wives are far harder to please and a lot more expensive too.
So at this point, you would think that I have the most blissful happily married life. After all I know the magic ‘happy key’ of my wife. But no. life is never that simple.
If you could just pick up that new funky-looking cabinet from off the shelf, man- handle it to the checkout ,squeeze it into the car and then into the house, fine. But no. everything comes in flat-pack.
You could not think of a word that instils so much fear into me than ‘flat pack’ for two reasons. One I have to put them together and two the instructions always lie. You would think that because of my wife’s obsession with Ikea that I would have plenty of practice, but as each one is different, and I have a memory like a goldfish, I have no clue.
I approach a flat pack box as though it was a dangerous snake, or a large dog with big teeth. I know quite well what pain awaits. Each time I bring one back I decide that this time, I will follow the instructions. I will work them out. But each time the same thing happens. I lay out all the bits, then carefully unwrap the instruction list. Whereupon I am presented with something that resembles a very large fold up origami map. There are diagrams but some are upside down some are the right way up, some instructions are in Dutch, German, French, Italian and other exotic languages that I don’t understand.
After some flipping and turning, I find the English instructions but they still don’t make sense. Insert 2:1.3 into side B, slot C, flip over and repeat…. some very sadistic people live in Holland.
So I do what I imagine every other male in the country does, carry on without them. I look at the picture on the box and try to make all those bits into the closest resemblance possible. The worst part is my wife repeatedly asking if its done yet, then finally loosing her patience and trying to help, spoiling my chi in the process. We argue and end up with some very unstable furniture.
Business is a lot like Ikea. We choose what we want to do, spend money on it and are then left to work out the pieces to get the desired result. Is it any wonder then that sometimes business can be frustrating.
Certainly, we all know support helps, the word is used quite a lot. But the power of support cannot be underestimated. Just like having a flat pack genius helping you to put your furniture together, a helpful supportive company pointing you in the right direction can have a dramatic effect on the outcome of your business.
As usual post a comment if you wish
Carl Phillips
Director
Clear View Plus Ltd
My wife however is the polar opposite. If she could move into the Ikea store she would. She loves it to death. Whatever mood she is in, if I suggest an Ikea trip, she is instantly transformed into a puppy, bouncing around outside the car door waiting for me to unlock it, and set off. I’m not complaining of course, some wives are far harder to please and a lot more expensive too.
So at this point, you would think that I have the most blissful happily married life. After all I know the magic ‘happy key’ of my wife. But no. life is never that simple.
If you could just pick up that new funky-looking cabinet from off the shelf, man- handle it to the checkout ,squeeze it into the car and then into the house, fine. But no. everything comes in flat-pack.
You could not think of a word that instils so much fear into me than ‘flat pack’ for two reasons. One I have to put them together and two the instructions always lie. You would think that because of my wife’s obsession with Ikea that I would have plenty of practice, but as each one is different, and I have a memory like a goldfish, I have no clue.
I approach a flat pack box as though it was a dangerous snake, or a large dog with big teeth. I know quite well what pain awaits. Each time I bring one back I decide that this time, I will follow the instructions. I will work them out. But each time the same thing happens. I lay out all the bits, then carefully unwrap the instruction list. Whereupon I am presented with something that resembles a very large fold up origami map. There are diagrams but some are upside down some are the right way up, some instructions are in Dutch, German, French, Italian and other exotic languages that I don’t understand.
After some flipping and turning, I find the English instructions but they still don’t make sense. Insert 2:1.3 into side B, slot C, flip over and repeat…. some very sadistic people live in Holland.
So I do what I imagine every other male in the country does, carry on without them. I look at the picture on the box and try to make all those bits into the closest resemblance possible. The worst part is my wife repeatedly asking if its done yet, then finally loosing her patience and trying to help, spoiling my chi in the process. We argue and end up with some very unstable furniture.
Business is a lot like Ikea. We choose what we want to do, spend money on it and are then left to work out the pieces to get the desired result. Is it any wonder then that sometimes business can be frustrating.
Certainly, we all know support helps, the word is used quite a lot. But the power of support cannot be underestimated. Just like having a flat pack genius helping you to put your furniture together, a helpful supportive company pointing you in the right direction can have a dramatic effect on the outcome of your business.
As usual post a comment if you wish
Carl Phillips
Director
Clear View Plus Ltd
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