Grumpy takes a trip

and it sets him thinking

Richmond upon Thames

• Smart town.• Plenty of cash, plenty of tourists.• Too much traffic runs through it.• Looks surprisingly shabby (not chic) in

parts.• The station doesn’t give a great

impression.• But wait – they’re working on that!

This is how it looked a little while ago – the way it’s been for years

Last time I saw it it was blocked off with lots of work going on

Forecourt Redevelopment• The works comprise footway

improvements, the provision of a signalised pedestrian crossing at the station, reconstruction of the existing steps, the pedestrianisation of the station forecourt, the repositioning of the existing bus stops and taxi rank and the upgrading of the existing traffic signals at Church Road.

Forecourt Redevelopment• The works comprise footway

improvements, the provision of a signalised pedestrian crossing at the station, reconstruction of the existing steps, the pedestrianisation of the station forecourt, the repositioning of the existing bus stops and taxi rank and the upgrading of the existing traffic signals at Church Road.

Sounds like a plan

We were looking fro

m here

My next page is ta

ken from

here of this fe

ature

Post redevelopmentOn a wet summer’s day I find myself pondering:• Looking at rubbish – odd for Richmond, but guess what?

Not a bin in sight.• Nice benches and trees but it’s raining so I can’t sit down

– but it’s Wimbledon fortnight so it’s no surprise it’s raining, we get a lot of rain in the UK.

• All the buses now stop at the exact same spot (only one bus stop) – except they don’t because like grapes buses usually come in bunches and they simply line up and you now have to guess and dash the length of a few buses to try and spot yours before its doors close and off it scoots without you.

• There’s no bus shelter, so on a rainy summer’s day guess what?

Observing

• Everyone who doesn’t want to get wet crowds under the only shelter - the station canopy, blocking all the doors. And guess what else – if they’re waiting for buses from under the canopy cover, they can’t see buses coming, or what buses might be queuing.

Slightly grumpy pondering

• Now I’m wondering – what have they done and why have they done it?

• Surely no-one is going to be socialising around the station forecourt? There’s simply no reason to, it’s a meeting area, and a waiting area. It’s not a hanging about and shooting the breeze area.

• Why all this space given over to – nothing?

More grumpy pondering• All the traffic (taxis and private cars) that used to pull up

in front of the station to pick up and drop off travellers, where is that now?

• Right in front of my eyes, on the main road, where the bus stops with shelters used to be.

• Well the taxis are, I have no idea where any private cars are or where they are supposed to go to pick up and drop off. (The world’s most expensive car park around the corner?)

• Also, seriously, why no bins? Can anyone really be expected to carry empty coffee cups on to trains and tubes or buses or into taxis?

• Then I have a realisation, what I’m seeing is

something like this

I hear you ask?

Yes - something like this

Pretty, but doesn’t work!

When what’s needed

is much more like this

Effective EleganceAdmittedly, some forms of elegance cannot be emulated.But in business an elegant solution is always an option. It just takes design, intelligence, and application.

Richmond, what went wrong? For the investment you must have made I’m sure you could have done better.

Business Process Design

For more effective elegance in business improvements, put people and process into your design thinking.

Grumpy can sometimes be found answering to

graham.taylor@aspectsconsulting.co.uk