Looking on the bright side

I am a somewhat regular guest at the community swimming pool. I find swimming to be a refreshing activity that can be quite social and rewarding for my body and mind. Lately the wardrobes have been under renovation, so that access to sauna’s that are in the shower area has been limited. In an effort to pleas most of the users, men and women have had access to the one wardrobe that is finished on different days, so that everyone can use the sauna 3 days every week. The remaining days, people have had to use wardrobes belonging to a sports center that is located in the same building. All of this has resulted in me getting to see what the new wardrobes look like, and at the same time feel the difference between the old and the new.
I have to tell you people, I am amazed! Not only has the renovation taken twice as long as promised, and no one seems to know when it will be finished, but the results are out of this world. In fact, I’d guess as far as back to the times of the first moon landing. The new wardrobes have gotten all new linoleum, and that’s it! Old and ugly lockers that are hard to close after being bumped and slammed for 40 years, no place to put your make-up or hair products as you get ready to leave, old and energy consuming hairdryer (yes, one is enough for the population of 50.000). BUT, it seems that there will be to different saunas in both men’s and woman’s shower areas, and they ought to be in tip to shape and up to date one would think. Well, they are hard to use, as they are uncomfortable to climb up to, even impossible for older people or anyone who has bad back or legs. There are metal peaces sticking out, both structural and screws, making it easy to get burned, as the metal warms up a lot in a sauna.
I cannot imagine how all of this is possible. And I’m not too eager to be so understanding about all this either. At least it is obvious that whoever planed this “makeover” does not use the pool, has not considered the average user, or asked anyone with experience of doing makeovers of this sort on advice. In my town as most places in Norway, many of the tradesmen have less to do than they used to, so there shouldn’t be any reason for this renovation to take forever to finish. And it would be ideal when the times are getting tougher, if the local council would do what they could to keep up the spirits among the population by supporting everything that is healthy and might keep the citizens active. So if anyone from Sarpsborg town council would stumble upon my blog, here are my advices:
1. Keep the pool open for the general public more than 3-4 hours a day.
2. Keep it open on Sundays, as swimming is excellent activity for families.
3. Finish the renovation, and do a proper job at it within 2 weeks.
4. Join forces with the users of the pool and the employees to find out how to give best service, and how to better the offer given to the general public.
5. Market all the free or affordable services that are available, and that can help keep up the health and the sprits in general. (Library, pool, Ice-skating, arts and so on)

So what about this headline then? Is it all about pretending to be optimistic and then wining and griming? No, not completely.
What I really appreciate about this situation in particular is:
· I really look forward to the day this renovation is finished.
· It makes me appreciate the swimming pools in Iceland and the service around them even more.
· It makes it easier for me to believe that the city council isn’t wasting the tax payer’s money on unnecessary luxury makeovers.
· It becomes so obvious for me how much I have learned about customers, development, service, marketing, processes, design and so much more the last 3 years.
· Sure the price will be the same after so economic approach to a makeover.
· And since it really is the same as it’s been the last decades, I’ll have more space both in the pool and in the wardrobes.


The spring is on its way, the birds are getting enthusiastic and it is lovely to know it will soon be safe to take a walk both outside, and on the wild side.