I keep reading that we will begin a new normal, that everything will change and nothing will ever be the same again. Thanks to the pandemic lockdown we have learned new habits and discovered a different way of living. I’m not sure. I think that after a period of time, things will pretty much revert to how they were. I’m not saying that some good won’t come of this. I’m just not convinced human beings with millions of years of evolution behind us, will change our ways because of a few months disruption.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted my car has been sitting on the drive saving me money and the planet. It’s great that in order to avoid the stress of large supermarkets I have been shopping local. It’s been nice to have more time with my family and not be distracted by shopping for shiny new unnecessary stuff.
On the other hand, realistically living in the sticks with no option of public transport, my car is essential. Do I want to work from home more? No, I miss the buzz of creativity and collaboration.
Of course, some habits might stick. I’ve finally got around to organising a milkman to cut down on our plastic waste! We’ve been talking to family who live away on Skype a bit more – I don’t know why we never did that before. I’m just thinking that most changes will be small, not earth shattering.
So, to put this into context for the way we do things at FMB, will anything change? Perhaps some of the technology we have been using as a result of necessity will become more commonplace faster than it might have done otherwise. It could certainly be helpful to include some of our clients who can’t get to the office so easily and use video calls sometimes. It might mean our staff can work more effectively at home from time to time when they need to.
I just think what we do is effective when we are sitting face to face. It’s a service based on relationships and professional trust. That is hard to build on a screen. We have always believed that even in the age of the internet, there is still value in what we do with our clients, sitting together and using our professional knowledge to collaborate on making the best financial decisions for your family.
I’ll finish with this quote from Jeff Bezos,
“I very frequently get the question: 'What's going to change in the next 10 years?' And that is a very interesting question; it's a very common one. I almost never get the question: 'What's not going to change in the next 10 years?' And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two …because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable.”
Perhaps the single most important thing about FMB that is not going to change is our relationship with our clients.