Monthly Archives: June 2010

Launch Lessons from Five Guys Burgers

Posted on by David
2

A new Five Guys burger restaurant just opened in our town, which I had been eagerly anticipating. I used to eat at the original restaurant in Arlington, VA, back in the early 90s. When I stopped in to the Salisbury shop for the first time they had been open for about four days.

I got my order and sat down at a table next to a guy who was wearing a Five Guys t-shirt but without the demeanor of someone who flips burgers. As I unwrapped my burger I noticed it had all the wrong toppings on it. It must have shown on my face because suddenly I hear from the next table, “Not what you wanted?”

I said it wasn’t, he confirmed my original order and then headed back to the kitchen. A few minutes later he was back with a new burger, another round of fries, and offered his apology.

Great customer service, no? I asked if he were the owner of the store and he said he was. He was doing something very smart for a business leader: he was sitting in his store during peak operations in the first week, watching how it went. Taking care of my individual burger was nice but the real important thing for him as the owner was that he had evidence of a broken process, poor training, or a simple one-off error. It was data he could act on, discovered during the shakedown cruise of his restaurant.

The first cruise of a new ship is often called a shakedown because components that will fail early usually do so during that first cruise. They identify those problems, fix them, and then have confidence that the rest of the ship ought to hold up for the normal lifetime of those components.

Same principle applies to launching a new restaurant, a new product or a new service. Pay a lot of attention during the shakedown run. Stay close to the action and see what isn’t working as planned. Being close lets you catch these items quickly and do something about it.

Disciplined Creativity

Posted on by David
2

Early last year I went on a bit of a learning binge, reading books by some of my favorite or respected creators about the process of creativity. I find it a fascinating topic overall but at the time I was ramping up for writing my first solo authored book and wanted to see how they did it. It was highly relevant and urgent for me given the task ahead (new projects are always my favorite way to learn!).

I read On Writing by Stephen King, Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit: Learn It And Use It For Life, and John Scalzi’s You’re Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop: Scalzi on Writing.

(I give Scalzi the best in show award for the title alone!)

King is a horror writer you’ve probably heard of, Scalzi is one of my favorite sci/fi authors (he has interesting ideas about science and the future while still being able to tell a hell of a story), and Tharp is one of the preeminent choreographers today.

The one thing they all had in common: creation is a discipline. The writers all have established a schedule of working on their art that they stick to without much deviation. Equally important, they create whether they are feeling ‘inspired’ or not. The artist burning with the intensity of an idea and then creating madly in an epic session is the rare exception and not sustainable.

These three creators, who have made works highly valued by others repeatedly for years, are workman like about their art. They go at it every day. Is everything a gem? Hardly. But their mix of talent (yes you do need some!) with dedication and consistent effort is why they stand out from the crowd.

As you might guess, this same lesson applies equally well to any other endeavor. With so much work being knowledge oriented today, creativity is worth more than ever.

The lessons from these three creators should give you heart: keep working at it and you will be creative. Don’t worry about inspiration, it’ll happen when it happens. Your discipline is what enables you to take advantage of it.

Bridging Silos

Posted on by David
3

Breaking down silos is a frequent organizational mantra. However, if taken to the extreme, you end up with a pile of rubble and scavengers making off with your grain.

The simple truth of the matter is that no organization can be made perfect, they all have their inefficiencies, politics and barriers. Sometimes the more effective approach is to bridge silos rather than break them down. You are much less likely to bring the whole edifice down on your head if you focus on punching strategic holes in the towers and connecting them rather than trying to take on the entire power structure.

Sometimes the silo is more powerful than you. But almost any organizational silo can be pierced by an intrepid orgpreneur.

Build these bridges based on creating results, getting things done, routing around office politics that have things gummed up. You’ll soon be known as the person who gets it done without trying to reinvent the organization first.