If It Ain’t Broke, Fix It Anyway
Posted by estiator at 11 June, at 06 : 46 AM Print
MANAGING FOR SUCCESS by CONSTANTINE N. KOLITSAS Business Coach
I HATE the old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (and not because it’s grammatically flawed). In it, I hear a call for inflexibility, an unwillingness to accept change and a general apprehension of an uncertain future. The last of these can signal a paralysis or, at best, inertia in confronting change within the industry. I’m thinking that as you read, you’ll agree that none of this is a good thing.
Sure, if it was up to me, I’d wave a magic wand and keep everything the same forever; frozen in time (and with it, my own aging process). But as the ability to stop time is still not within my set of skills, I’ll have to accept that, like it or not, things change. My personal ability to adapt to said change and to grow will define whether I’ve made myself obsolete or have grasped the changes, applied my decades of experience to the current realities, and figured out how to leverage that experience and the skills that have come with it to profit from the changes. Or, to put it another way, whether or not I’ve made myself obsolete or stayed relevant.
When I come across it, I don’t ask myself if a change is good or bad, because, truthfully, it doesn’t matter. Almost always, it’s not within my control. And because success is my goal, and because I’m not interested in defending my ego against a losing proposition, I am going to embrace the change and do what I need to do for the good of the business.
The first secret to navigating change, then, is to recognize that it is happening. Constantly. Even as you read this. And here we must accept that the old adage begins on a false premise – “If it ain’t broke” is, in fact, a denial of change. It may not be broken, but it’s not the same. If you wait until a situation is actually broken, you’ve lost the game. So, let’s accept the notion that it’s all going to be broken in some nottoo-distant future. And let’s fix it before it breaks.
In a restaurant environment, there are many areas where growth and progress are stymied by an unwillingness to adapt new systems or processes. “Because this is how we do it” is an answer I encounter repeatedly as I meet with clients that are seeking solutions, yet inexplicably resist implementing those solutions because “it’s been working for me this way for twenty years”.
Eating habits change, generational priorities change, demographics change, spending habits change, competitive landscapes change, and, heck, even traffic patterns change. And despite the changes, there is only one way to do things, and that “way” was established more than two decades ago when everything was exactly the same as it is today. You hear it, don’t you? It sounds ridiculous.
So, when we talk about an “old way” of doing things, about something that’s not broken but still should be fixed, what exactly are we talking about? There is, of course, no one answer, but rather, a range of possibilities. Within the restaurant environment I would take a hard look at every system and process and try to understand if it is still effective and efficient. Among them: Order processing methods (dupes vs. POS system vs. online ordering); quality control (is someone stationed at expo and does that person have the authority to redirect a line cook who puts out an unacceptable plate?); does your labor model set you up for the requisite level of customer service; is your inventory process a waste of time or is it being properly utilized to drive food cost improvements; are you leveraging technology platforms to market and promote your business… the list is endless
Constantine Kolitsas is the president of CNK Consulting, a Restaurant Consultant and Coaching business. He can be reached at 203-947-6234 or at ckolitsas@gmail.com.
