Summertown Interiors

How do we grow, how do we attain superior performance, and how can we go from good to excellent? What makes truly exceptional people and companies and what can we do to make a difference?

Ask yourself; what do you believe in, what is important to you and what are those values on which you would never compromise. The idea is not to create or set core values but to look deep within, by looking inside your organization, your department, or yourself and discover the core values that are already there. Identify what you stand for. Once you have identified your core values you must protect those core values. Anything that does not comply with those core values must be ejected like a virus as if it were a disease. In everything you do you need to remind yourself of the crucial distinction between core and noncore, between what should never change and what should be open for change, between what is truly important and what is not. In order to operate at our best when doing business or dealing with others we should never abandon our core values. This may at times be very difficult and almost seem impossible. It may make us move more slowly but we should only grow as fast as we can find people who will uphold our standards and deal with challenges in such a way that we never abandon our principles. Never compromise on your standards for the sake of expediency, opportunity, or financial gain.

Secondly, ask yourself; what is your organization’s, department’s, or your personal core purpose, your fundamental reason for being? Please do not confuse it with goals and strategies or with products and services offered by the organization or your self. Purpose gets at the deeper reason for a company’s or your existence beyond just trying to make money. Money is important for an organization’s and your own existence but it is not the reason for our being. Examples of purpose are; a psychologist’s purpose could be to help mentally challenged people reach their full potential or for Walt Disney it simply is to make people happy. Another example of purpose may be the pursuit of excellence. We do not want to create or set our purpose, we need to find it by looking inside, it must already be there somewhere at the gut level. Why is purpose so important? A purpose can never be fully realized as in the pursuit of excellence there is no finish line, as quoted by Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai. When focusing on a purpose there will be continuous change and improvement. When implemented properly it can guide and inspire yourself and an organization in the short, medium, and long term. “What is your purpose” may be difficult to define, however, it requires a “simple” answer in one or two sentences.

And last but not least there must be an envisioned future, a big audacious goal to achieve. You must commit to a risky and challenging goal in order to stimulate progress.

Evidence from research has shown that those who make a lasting contribution and give meaning to their life are more happy and make more money over the long run.

If you are a CEO, manager, or entrepreneur and wish to read more on the subject of core ideology I would recommend the bestselling author Jim Collins.

Ready made furniture is designed, engineered and manufactured to the highest standards by in-house or sometimes external designers from well known furniture manufacturers from all over the world. These designers get the support of a designated team to take their design from design stage to final product.

Of course there are many advantages of using in-house resources: they have available tools, such as factories and staff, to manufacture a long lasting product which will also be available in their portfolio for the future. The end product meets, and in most cases exceeds all relevant test criteria for strength, stability, environmental friendliness and ergonomics, ensuring fitness for purpose.

With ready made furniture, you will receive a warranty period of 1 or 2 years on some of the parts. However, they state very clearly, that their standard warranty on seating products is conditional upon the seating being used in a normal office environment and subjected to normal usage of, on average, 40 hours per week. But, you can always order extra spare parts to maintain the products to their best. There are some Dutch furniture manufactures which have been using the same superior products for over 30 years, with some minor spare part changes, they can even last that long!

For example Ahrend has proven this with their Mehes collection, which was used by Fosters & Partners for the HSBC Headquarters in Hong Kong in 1984 (the furniture is still been used today). In the year 2002, Fosters & Partners have again used the Ahrend Mehes collection to refurbish the HSBC Headquarters in London.
This means, if you ever plan to expand your office, you do not need to go for a totally different look as far the furniture is concern. You just need to give ONE call to Royal Ahrend and you will have your second order, matching your first order!! Isn’t that fantastic!

Custom made furniture is generally designed and manufactured by a local company in your country. This process will allow you to work closely with a designer (hand in hand) to design the ideal furniture piece that will fit the room, resulting in a custom made piece for your office/house/boat, etc.

Most probably, there will be only 1 piece manufactured and that is for you only! Unlike the ready made furniture, which you can find in every brochure/magazine and showroom, custom made is unique with your specific chosen finishing details.

Of course this will also be well designed, engineered and manufactured in a factory with experience and knowledge. However, usually only 1 year warranty is given on their products. The damage control with custom made furniture is lower than with ready made furniture. Because of the used materials!

In my years of experience within the industry I have found that a combination of using standard desking/seating/storage plus bespoke pieces at the reception areas and/or conferencing areas will result in a great office lasting many years and is a great solution!