The Case of the Shattered Coffee Pot in the Ice Machine

It was a hot summer Saturday back in 1987. I had recently been transferred to the North Rangeline (North) McDonald's Store. I was moved there because I had earned a reputation as a powerful motivator and great teacher. And, to put it simply, North needed that -- desperately. On my third Saturday there (a scorcher), we were just finishing the breakfast rush and getting ready to transition to lunch (always a chaotic time). One of the employees came running over to me with a cup full of ice (she was about to fill a drink order for the drive thru). She frantically pointed out the quarter-sized piece of glass in the ice. I quickly checked our ice machine and saw the remnants of a shattered glass coffee pot. One of the crew had done it. (Luckily, this was our first soda of the day so no customers were affected.)

The first thing we had to do was shut down the machine and pull all of the ice out of the ice bin stations in both the drive thru and the front line. Those had to be thoroughly and carefully cleaned. I pulled out petty cash and sent an employee to the grocery store to buy up bags of ice. I called other McDonald's nearby and arranged to have an employee come by with plastic bins to collect some ice. Once the immediate situation was taken care of, I knew that I had to handle the more difficult part of it: taking care of the employees who did it.

Although there were no witnesses, I had a strong suspicion of who had done it, as did all the other employees. There were three employees who were extremely disgruntled and unhappy. They were also the three most knowledgeable and potentially best employees that I had ever worked with. I sent them on break together to give myself time to collect my thoughts. I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back to the break room. As I entered the break room, they all looked up at me, expectantly and not without some hostility. I asked them if they would mind if I sat down with them for a minute. I could tell that was not what they were expecting! Then, I asked them if they'd be willing to talk for a few minutes and I assured them that I would add that time onto their break time. Then I said, "I wonder if you guys could help me out. About what just happened with the ice -- to me, that is a clear symptom of what's going on in this store. You guys have been here a long time, you know the store and you know your jobs. What do you think the real problems are?"

About 15 minutes later, they stopped talking. I had taken notes. I summarized the points they had made (for the most part, they were all valid) and then I said "Thank you for taking the time to be so upfront with me. I am going to work my hardest to bring about changes. I am going to work my tail off to make things better. I won't be able to do that overnight, but I will work to bring about changes as quickly as possible. I hope that you will be with me in making these changes." Then I stood up and said "So, I'll see you up front in about 20 minutes or so?" All three stood up and said "No, we will go back with you now."

In all the hard work that was before me, these three employees worked as hard and as loyally as anyone else. The fact that I listened to them spread throughout the store, among all the different shifts, and I became the manager that people trusted enough to talk to. That was essential. I needed to hear what was really going on. Of course, I also had to do something as well, otherwise I would have lost that trust. Together we turned that store into a place where employees worked with pride. Within three months, we turned the reputation of the store around. As a direct result of my hard work at North, I was awarded the opportunity to become a Store Manager at another nearby McDonalds. I gladly welcomed that challenge. When I announced that I would be leaving and going to the other store, about half of the employees at North put in their request to be transferred to the store I was going to (and, the same thing happened at the Main Street Store (the store I had been at before North)!). Sadly, the regional supervisor limited the amount of transfers I could accept. One of those that wanted to transfer -- and one I accepted -- was one of the women who, I believe, broke the coffee pot in the ice machine. From that day on, she was one of the best and most loyal employees that I ever worked with.

Manage the results, not the actions

The older I get, the wiser my parents get. I've come to realize that my Dad was a master teacher and motivator. Whenever I had some new skill to learn or job to do, my Dad would explain it (and why it was important), he would explain the result or outcome we wanted, he would demonstrate how it was done, he would watch me as I did it, he would provide feedback on my performance, and then, when I looked liked I had a handle on it, he would walk away and leave me to do my job. Of course, he always said, "If you run into trouble or if you have any questions, just come get me." By walking away, he turned the responsibility of the outcome over to me.

When I was first became a store manager at McDonalds back in the 1980s, other store managers warned me that since I was working with primarily kids, I would need to become a micro manager; I would need to be looking over their shoulder every step of the way. This didn't seem realistic to me. How could I be looking over everybody's shoulder all the time?

I didn't want to manage actions; I wanted to manage results. I trained my team as my Dad had trained me. Confident that they knew what to do, how to do it, and the result we were looking for, I walked away. Well, I walked away to the front line where I had a birds-eye view of the results: I could see the product, I could see the service, I could see and interact with customers. If there was a problem (which was rare), I knew it almost instantly and could deal with it immediately -- usually well before it reached a customer.

It isn't simply a coincidence that I had the lowest employee turnover, the highest PAC (profit after controllables), and tremendous customer loyalty. Best of all, to me, is that we had an environment where my team got to shine. One of the best compliments I ever received was from a 17 year-old young man who had worked for me for over a year (he was a star performer!). One day he told me, "You're the only adult I know who trusts me to be responsible. That's why I love my job."

Who Says You Can't Herd Cats?

In the evening, I like to sit out in my backyard and read for awhile. I generally take two of my cats, Boo and Scout, with me. All is well (they love being outside!), right up until the time when it’s time for us to go in for the evening. I have to round them up. Typically this involves me chasing them or crawling around in the planting beds. Once I catch them, they growl and hiss and, in general, let me know that they are not pleased with me.

Tonight, however, was different. It was a long day and I didn’t feel like participating in the usual evening spectacle. I went upstairs, grabbed the little bag of cat treats and shook the bag from the top of the stairs. Both cats came running at top speed and gave no argument about coming in. Why didn’t I think of this before?

The cats reminded me of a few important steps to affecting change:

1. Decide that you will no longer participate in the spectacle.

2. Decipher and understand the competing motivations of others. This isn’t quite as simple as "What does the other person want?" The cats wanted to stay outside! Their competing motivation was that they also wanted the treats. Tonight they wanted the treat more than they wanted to stay where they were.

3. A key to getting people to change is to get them to want something new more than they want to stay where they are. My mother was a hard-core smoker for 50 years. Last June, her doctors told her that she had a choice: she could continue to smoke. If she chose that she would be dead within a few months and most of that time, she would spend in the hospital. Or, she could quit smoking, have more time with her family, and spend most of that time at home. She quit that day.

Certainly, these are not all the steps of change, but, most likely, change won’t happen without these three. As for the cats, well, as Scarlett always said, "Tomorrow is another day" and I’m sure they are busy plotting their revenge.

Live in a way where you never have to hide from the truth

My mother, like most mothers, seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She ALWAYS knew what we were up to. As we've grown up, my sisters and I have often joked about how we could never get by with anything. In April, when Mom passed away, we talked about how Mom would be always watching over us. My one sister joked, "Boy, if we thought it was tough to fool her before, now it will be impossible!"

It was a comment made in passing and intended to lighten the grief, but I've thought about it over the past several weeks. What I've realized is that I am proud of my life and the choices that I have made. If Mom is looking down and watching over me, I am not afraid of her seeing me as I am.

Somewhere along the way in my life -- I think it was around my early- to mid-thirties -- it became very important for me to live in such a way where I would never have to be afraid of the truth. I've seen others who are constantly "hiding" something from someone. I watch at the energy that consumes. It's a waste. It diminishes their potential.

A number of years ago, I saw a marvelous speaker, Roger Anthony. Roger is a very well spoken, intelligent, and smartly-dressed man. About half way through his presentation, he said he was warm and was going to take off his suit jacket. When he did, he revealed a very tattered and torn shirt that had a number of big stains on it. We all gasped! He then asked if any of us had known what his shirt looked like. Of course, none of us did. He then said, "But there was one person who did, right? There is always one person who knows the truth. In this case, that person was me. I knew what was beneath my jacket." He went on to say that when we are hiding behind those false jackets, we can't truly be ourselves because we are spending so much energy covering up the truth. It was a powerful visual that has stayed with me.

What then allows us to live in truth? I think that there's a lot of things that go into that, but for me it is knowing my values, my principles, what I believe in and having the courage to stand for those things even when I am faced with unpleasant consequences. I don't get to control the consequences, only my choices. What I have found is that as long as I am making choices that are congruent with my values, I can face any consequence. However, if I were to make a choice that was not in line with my values, I don't believe I could face myself in the mirror. I would never want to feel the need to hide from the truth or to hide from myself. For me, I believe that would be the biggest loss of all.

Staying focused when thousands are cheering against you

I love tennis and I've been watching the French Open. Like many tennis fans, I am truly amazed by Roger Federer and his amazing tennis talent. What I find to be perhaps even more amazing is his ability to manage his emotions. Today he played a Frenchman in the semi-finals and, not surprisingly, the crowd was behind the Frenchman. I could feel myself getting upset for Federer yet he remained calm and focused.

The other thing I notice about Federer is that in his post-match interviews, he is able to give incredibly accurate analysis of the match. He is unafraid to say where he struggled and he is not ashamed to say where he played great. And, he does this without any sort of arrogance; it's just a matter-of-fact analysis of the match. I've seen other players who have played a great match and yet in their post-match interview, they say that they "got lucky" or "managed to put some points together." I wonder: do they really believe that or are they afraid that they might come across as arrogant? There is nothing wrong with luck; however, if we think that we only win or do well when we are lucky, we are mentally chipping away at our own optimism and confidence. I am sure that Federer will accept all the luck he can get while he plays Nadal in the final; however, he is not relying solely on luck. It seems as though Federer has an exceptional ability to assess the game dispassionately and analyze what he has done that works, that hasn't worked, and what he simply needs to next.