Simple Excellence
Recently, I was watching Gordon Ramsay’s show, Kitchen Nightmares. He was invited to the Bel Aire diner in New York to help two brothers turn around the restaurant their parents left them. His first observation comes when he sits down to order from their multi-paged menu. He comments that there are too many items on the menu (over 420), and many items don’t belong in a diner to begin with.
What Ramsay has identified is an important concept for leaders: no one and no organization can do too many things with excellence. If we try to have many points of focus, we don’t actually have any focus at all. This leads to a lot of average results and no extraordinary ones. Also, we (people and organizations) all have a sweet spot. While we may have to stretch from time to time, getting too far from our center creates higher risk with low reward.
Leaders must constantly fight against the natural tendency people and organizations have toward addition. We like to add processes, people, items, and options. It is a constant battle to reduce in order to just stay even. Author, speaker, and coach Bob Goff suggests quitting something every Thursday. That’s good advice, but, more specifically, we need to streamline, focus, and execute.
Business is complex. Communities are complex. People are complex. We don’t need to add any more complexity to the world. We need to streamline. At Bel Aire, the first thing Ramsay did was reduce the menu to 40 simple, delicious, comfort food items. Simplicity acts as a beacon of clarity amid the complexity that is all around us. When we simplify processes, communication, and decision making, we give our teams a clearer perspective to navigate the challenges.
It is difficult to focus when there is a lot of noise. Studies have shown that people exposed to audible noise above certain levels have reduced mental capacity and performance. This is a mental reality as well as a physical one. With the simplified menu at Bel Aire, Ramsay freed the kitchen staff to focus on a fewer number of items and do each one well. When we avoid spreading ourselves thin across too many projects or priorities, we can concentrate better, effectively allocate resources, and have a higher chance of success.
“Execution without strategy is chaos. Strategy without execution is a pipe dream.” (Bill Hornblower) Once we have simplified our processes and brought concentrated focus to our objectives, it’s time to execute. At Bel Aire, Ramsay had simplified the menu and brought focus to a reduced number of “projects,” but the kitchen and front of house still had to get it done. Execution requires efficient deployment of resources, faster decision making, and rapid adaptation to changing circumstances.
There are many examples of organizations that do one (or a few) things and do them exceptionally. There are also many examples of organizations that do a lot of things well, but none outstandingly. If we want to set our teams up for success, we must remember that excellence is simple. When we streamline, focus, and execute, we give ourselves and our team the greatest chance to make a difference and live the Bison Way.