I was rereading one of my favorite business books the other day and I happened upon a quote of McDonalds guru, Ray Kroc: I didnt invent the hamburger. I just took it more seriously than anyone else. I love that line. Kroc, as you may know didnt invent McDonalds, either. He invented the MODERN McDonalds; the one you and I know, and have probably frequented a hundred or more times in our lives. The McDonald brothers, of San Bernardino, California, invented what was then a breakthrough for a fast food drive-in. Krocs work represents a watershed not only in fast food marketing, but also in systematizing service work. And I have been a beneficiary of his wisdom, quite a direct beneficiary, at that. When I was seventeen, I worked for an experimental unit of McDonalds, called Ramonds. This is pronounced exactly as you would Mr. Krocs first name, Raymond, except the emphasis is on the second syllable. We tested new menu items, such as roast beef, and different pricing and dcor changes. And Ramonds units were not drive-ins or drive-throughs. They were like todays urban McDonalds units, on the first floors of office buildings. Anyway, whats important is how seriously we were all taught to take cleanliness, service, and being systematic. Everything we did was operationalized. When do you flip a burger? When a little ring forms around the outside portion of a cooking patty. I could go on. What Ray Kroc did with food Ive tried to do, obviously in a more modest manner, with customer service and sales work: to make them highly achieving and idiot proof. After all, to impress a seventeen year old, get him to work his tail off, teach him the value of discipline, cleanliness, service, and systems, well, thats nothing less than a huge achievement. Millions and millions of employees, worldwide, got their start under the the Golden Arches, and we have benefited immeasurably because one fellow simply took the hamburger more seriously than anyone else! |
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