Category Archives: Thinking Aloud

December 13, 2017 · 1:03 pm

The Ninth Candle

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah. You’ve probably seen a version of the candelabra that is used to hold the candles that are lit each night of the holiday. You might not, however, have noticed that while the holiday goes for 8 nights there are spaces for 9 candles in the candelabra, called a Menorah. The ninth candle is our business topic today.

That candle is called the shamash in Hebrew, which translates to “helper” or “servant.” It’s not like the other candles in that it sits either higher or lower than the others in the menorah. It’s used to light the other candles, and although it burns just as brightly and sits in the same candelabra, it’s different.

What this brings to mind is how those of us who have grown up into managers and executives become very much like the ninth candle. We’re servants and helpers. Our job is to help the other members of the team to do their job, much like the shamash enables the other candles. Where we get into trouble is when we forget that. The people who actually do the work don’t serve us. They serve the organization, its goals, and customers.

Think about the best boss you’ve ever had (and I hope you’ve had some great ones!). My guess is that they were clear communicators who respected you as a person and as a professional. They probably never talked down to you when you didn’t understand something and were always pushing you to be your best self. They were also willing to get you whatever you needed to do your job, to the extent they could whether that’s a better computer or a pencil. They were also unwilling to let a weak team member jeopardize the entire team so they were clear about standards and held everyone to the same ones.

As you pass by a menorah (whether it’s a real one or a picture) this Hanukkah, remind yourself that while you may be the boss, you’re also a shamash, a ninth candle that’s a part of the team. You might sit higher up but you’re really there to help. Make sense?

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December 1, 2017 · 10:52 am

No Waffling Here

It’s Foodie Friday and this week I’d like to have us reflect on that great Southern institution The Waffle House. It seems that one trips over a Waffle House every few miles here in the South and there’s a reason for that. It is a beloved place and not just among the stereotypical audience one might suppose. Watch this clip from his Parts Unknown show in which Anthony Bourdain discovers the wonders of the place and you’ll see how even chefs respect it. As the clip hints, there are few better places for one to land having been a little overserved and possessing an appetite.

Photo courtesy Nick Gray

What can any of us learn from this? A few things, I think. First, consistency. You can say you don’t like the food but you can be sure that whenever or at whichever Waffle House you order it from you’ll get the identical dish. It is consistent beyond belief, including how each dish is plated. That’s hard for a single restaurant to do all the time. To have over 2,000 places doing it is pretty unbelievable.

It is efficient. There is a code for servers and cooks involving placement of jelly packs, butter, and other condiments on the plate that allows cooks to work on many orders simultaneously without messing anything up (check out the photo).

It is clean. One might think that a place open 24 hours a day would begin to get a little worse for wear. Not a Waffle House. They are constantly sweeping and cleaning. I think we’ve all experienced something “off” at less-upscale restaurants. Dirty silverware, food residue on a plate or a grimy floor. Not here. I get that your business might not be serving food, but a sense of order reflected by attention to detail is a trait your customers want, something the constant cleaning provides in this case.

It is transparent. Because the kitchen is open, you can see the wonder of each order being made. It instills a feeling of confidence since the kitchen has nothing to hide. The eggs are fresh (I’m told the chain uses 2% of all the food service eggs in the country), not powdered and the other ingredients are clearly fresh as well.

It is personal. Because every plate is cooked to order, it is made exactly the way the customer wants it.

It isn’t vanilla. What I mean by that is that it has its own style and even its own language. Where else can you go and order something smothered, chunked, covered, diced, and several other ways as one can with Waffle House hash browns?

Finally, it is reliable. It’s always open, so much so that there is an unofficial “FEMA test.” If the local Waffle House is closed, a location is undergoing some sort of disaster which may require FEMA intervention.

Each one of the aforementioned qualities is one our own businesses should possess.  Ideally, they have them all. Does yours?

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November 22, 2017 · 9:02 am

Thanksgiving Again

This was the post I wrote back in 2008 around this time. Way back then I guess I hadn’t really tried to tie everything into a business theme as I do now. It’s just a reflection of how my family enjoys the routine and repetition of the day. 8 years further down the road, I realize that there is a good reason why having the same thing every year is a wonderful thing. Just about everything else I wrote about in the piece below has changed. People have moved and one has died. Houses have been sold and others have been bought. The kids are all grown now and are working and the rarity of everyone getting together has increased.

If there’s a business lesson in all of this, it just might be to appreciate the familiar moments and not to complain too loudly about routine. Rest assured that there will be enough chaos and change for everyone along the way. Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo by Gabriel Garcia Marengo

My family loves Thanksgiving.  For the most part, so do I.  The entire family getting together is not something that happens with great regularity anymore – grandparents winter in Florida, kids are in college or living their own lives, brothers and sisters and other relations have busy schedules too.  So when 20 or 25 of us can pile into one location, it’s special, and each gathering is unique.  Except for one thing.

Thanksgiving’s menu in my house is something that descended directly from the Pilgrims.  It is etched in two tablets made from the skin of the original bird (and we can have the discussion about whether that bird was in Plymouth or in St.Augustine another time).  Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and apricots, cranberry mold, cranberry bread, veggies, stuffing and gallons of gravy are pretty much it.

I cook every year and love to do it.  Except I can do it in my sleep at this point. I am under strict orders from all parties NOT TO FOOL (they use another word) WITH THE MENU.  The only choices I get to make are what kinds of stuffing and which veggies to serve.  But I don’t, really.

One year I caused a huge ruckus by announcing in advance (mistake) that I would be frying one of the birds (we usually have two).  The discovery of a cure for cancer would have caused less of a ruckus.  Of course, now a fried turkey is mandatory.  Another year I made four dressings – one a cornbread and andouille, one a sausage and herb, one an oyster, and one a vegetarian version that was very traditional.  Of course, only the last one was eaten up.  No more oysters (and don’t even start the discussion about that’s what the Indians ate) in the damn dressing and leave that andouille stuff south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Another year, I slow cooked the green beans with bacon.  “Darling, do you have any less cooked?  I’m not sure I know what I’m eating…”  Another year I served carrots with a tangerine glaze.  The next, I was berated for not serving carrots.

I’m writing this now because there are only two weeks to go and my Mom is asking if I’ve shopped yet (Mom is always ready well in advance).  I tell her I haven’t shopped because I haven’t planned the menu yet but who am I kidding?  The menu was done years ago.  I don’t have the heart to tell her I’m roasting the other bird in a Caja China and not an oven and that I’m seriously considering bringing back the cornbread thing.  But I’ll cook them whatever they want since having the family all together is more important to me than my exercising my chefly prerogatives.

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