Lessons From The Repair Shop | A quntessentially English TV programme ... |
 POSTED BY JACKY SHERMAN ON 21/08/2019 @ 8:00AM
Everything in my house stops at 7pm for an hour just to watch a quintessentially English TV programme called The Repair Shop ...
The Repair Shop shows us little pieces of the intimate personal family events that most of us can relate to! photo by oxana lyashenko on unsplash
It is quiet in its understatement and enables us to witness something profound and often quite magical. It's the power to be transported back in time through our memories to those we thought we had lost, but were just buried deep deep deep in our souls.
For those who have never watched The Repair Shop, it's about a group of talented craftspeople who mend and restore broken or neglected toys, ornaments, and other personal objects.
The quality of the workmanship and the time and effort spent on returning these objects to their former glory is fascinating. I'm always left in total awe at the skill and patience of the individual artisan as they painstakingly match the colours on a vase to hide the jagged crack, or get an old rusted music box to play a tune long forgotten.
However, the real addiction for me is how these actions and the finished object are imbued with emotion, and the strongest one of all is love. This comes through in the individual stories behind the artefact.
Who first owned it? How it was passed down the generations? How long was it on the mantlepiece at grandmother's house? The owner often tells a story about how it got broken or put away in the garage and forgotten after a house clearance.
These stories are little pieces of the intimate personal family events that most of us can relate to, mostly told by people in their later years still mourning parents, grandparents or just a lost childhood.
The sound of the music box playing, the clock ticking or the teddy bear once again looking back at you with button eyes that remind you that he once knew all your secrets. And the person is immediately transported back to that time. Tears are frequent, and this from an English generation not used to crying in public.
The real power then is not in the physical, but in the spiritual. The programme, and the repair shop team show deep empathy, respect and understanding that what they offer is not just a refurbished teddy, but a means for people to achieve reconciliation, closure, or find a conduit back to a loved one who has been lost.
"How many of us are lucky enough to have this in our work?"
The joy of running your own business is that you can mould its culture, its sense of purpose and the deep reason why you set up your stall in the first place.
We may not be dealing with the level of raw emotion evidenced in The Repair Shop, but we can have a deep respect for our work, for our own skills and those of our team that reflects how we deliver our service and how we relate to the other people who help us and who we serve.
We have been developing a new service at Asentiv and there is a phrase in our new mission statement that reminds me why I bought into the company. It is the link that made me write this blog post. It's our equivalent of getting the model steam engine to work again: "Our clients turn their business into a means of having a fulfilling life where work is a form of self-expression."
"Would you like to know more?"
If you'd like to find out more about Asentiv and how our services can help you to grow your business, or maybe just want to have a good natter with a fellow lover of The Repair Shop, then do give me a call on 07970 638857 or click here to ping me an email and let's see how I can help you.
Until next time ...
JACKY SHERMAN
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