Tag: Philip Dodson

The search for great gelato

Posted on by philipdodson

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Ever since my trip to Feuteventura a few weeks back, for the Copass Camp, I have been on the search for great gelato in London.

Every day for 10 days I was in FV, Stefano (no prizes guessing where he’s from) and I would visit the fab gelato place and enjoy wonderful, authentic Italian ice cream.

Since returning to London, I have tried to find pukka, genuine, Italian gelato, and there really is a huge difference between this and any other ice cream. It is difficult to put it into words, and if you have ever had the real stuff, then you know what I am saying.

However, today the search came to an end in Borough Market, and I found the wonderful 3BIS gelato shop. I checked with the lady behind the counter as to the authenticity, and once she spoke with an Italian accent, I knew I was in the right place. She let me try some of the Bacio (chocolate and hazelnut) and that was it, I knew I found the place.

So with a regular cone with bacio and panettone, I was a very happy man.

Until today, all the places that had talked a good talk, had not delivered the real thing.

The thing is, I have shared this story on social media, via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, I am blogging about it, and I will tell others.

In business, deliver what you say, then the right customers will tell others, and comeback for more.

Simple isn’t it. Who needs a ‘guru’ or ‘expert’ to explain that? Give the right people what they really want.

Why is there so little empathy?

Posted on by philipdodson

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If we asked ourselves, what do we prefer as a reaction from others, sympathy or empathy?

Most of us would prefer empathy. We want people to understand and share our feelings. We do not want pity or sorrow.

Sympathy normally involves this attempt to makes us ‘feel’ better, actually more trying to get us to not moan and ‘suck it up’ and get on. People say things like ‘well at least the other leg is OK’ or ‘could have been worse, you could have been killed’ or ‘well at least you’ve got some savings’. The list could go on.

What most of us want is someone to listen, to understand, to be able to be in our shoes, and to share the feelings. We do not want solutions or opinions or judgements, we want someone to share it with, someone who relates to how we are feeling.

The world offers sympathy, which is seen as kind, yet I would question that. I think the kind thing to do, is not to say ‘shut up moaning and count your blessings, and get on’, it is to listen, relate, understand and share the feelings of others. Helping them to understand that you have experienced what they are feeling, it’s normal, it’s OK and that you have dealt with it.

The reason there is little empathy, is it requires more time, more understanding and perhaps will lead to challenging how we deal with things in life.

The world would be a more harmonious place if we choose empathy rather than sympathy. Understanding others requires compromise and it requires bravery.