At breakfast before school one day last week, my eight-year-old daughter looked at me over her yogurt-covered waffles (her self-created entrée) and asked me a great question. She asked what would make COVID-19 go away. We’ve all asked the same thing. As we usher in a new administration in Washington we can see (regardless of … Continued
We now exist in the planning range for what happens to your successful multi-unit restaurant company after the pandemic ends. Write that down on a post it note, or take a picture of it on your phone and look at it every day. Take action on this every day. Pay Attention and Don’t Forget When … Continued
If you’ve watched the most recent season of The Crown on Netflix, you probably remember the episode when Prime Minister Thatcher and her husband spent a social weekend with the royal family at Scotland’s Balmoral Castle. However, even though it was supposed to be a social weekend, Thatcher couldn’t stop working – and even declined encouragement from … Continued
For the generation of restaurant companies growing up over the past 30 years, two things remain clear today that were not so evident in, say, 1991: 1. How you master professionalization, and2. How you master culture will determine your restaurant company’s results. One way or the other, you will prove this when we recover from … Continued
I’ve gone back and chosen five especially popular or meaningful posts from this year – a year when, just like you, I’ve pivoted to help people in a different way. It’s astonishing that, if you had shown me these five subjects a year ago, I would not have known what the heck you were talking … Continued
After nine months, no one wants to hear about what we’ve learned from this mess. They just want to know what to do. I can’t tell you how many times throughout this crisis I have had to quiet my brain every time I thought, “lesson learned, lesson learned, lesson learned.” That is how I am … Continued
Welcome to the re-beginning. Last March, we felt shock as we walked through empty dining rooms, establishing tactics and strategy as we went along. In the background we heard health authorities warn us there would be a spike “next winter” – but we sort of just filed that in the back of our minds, distracted … Continued
At the risk of going all Winston Churchill on you, forecasting and planning for 2021 looks like “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” Increased COVID cases may have a negative impact on revenue. Availability and acceptance of a vaccine may have a positive impact on revenue. Meanwhile, the regrettable truth is the … Continued
Remember the days leading up to the presidential election? And the days after it? World-championship LeBron James levels of uncertainty – like much of the year 2020. Reminds me of a telephone negotiation I just completed. The person on the other end of the call said to me, “What we really need on this is … Continued
Earlier in the year, I expected to be writing by now about the lessons we learned during the COVID crisis. I mean, we knew going into this that it wasn’t going to be a sprint. We always thought it would be a marathon. But it turns out we’re in an ultra-marathon. When the COVID-19 crisis … Continued