If Steve Jobs was the CEO of a restaurant company vs. a software company, what might he have done? 10 commandments Steve Jobs had for his companies you can apply to your restaurant:
- Go for perfect.
- Tap the experts.
- Be ruthless.
- Shun focus groups.
- Never stop studying.
- Simplify.
- Keep your secrets.
- Keep teams small.
- Use more carrot than stick.
- Prototype to the extreme.
If Steve Jobs had used his 10 commandments in a restaurant company, what would that look like? Would McDonald's have a large rival? Would the buzz be around the next secret recipe?
- Note that the commandment is "go for perfect", not "be perfect".
- Think about if you have the ability to kill a project off that you had invested heavily into. How long do you hang onto the old thoughts or ideas even when it becomes apparent they will not work?
- Shunning focus groups sounds almost the opposite of what "should be". Don't we want to have feedback and comments? If you only create what others will say is satisfactory, you remain so.
- I love "never stop studying" since my mantra is "Knowledge empowers so learn and teach."
- When you hear "simplify", what is conjured up is "easier" or "faster". Possibly you think of simplify as "less work". All very attractive thoughts for most people but it is difficult to simplify.
- To keep secrets in a world that is transparent is again a reverse. Is it possible that the better path in a transparent world is to work even harder to keep the secrets? When something appears to be as common as water, who cares?
- Of course "carrots are preferred" you will say. Not all companies rely on the carrot. Sticks are cheaper and get very quick results.
All in all, if the company called "Apple" was instead a restaurant business, don't you believe that many restaurateurs would be out of business?
The story Steve Jobs tells in the video below is what I call:
"Quite School, Get Fired, Face Death".
What would have happened out of college if he had worked in a restaurant instead?
As you write your own 10 commandments,
the dots will connect if you pay attention.
