Look around you and try to dissect those businesses and individuals who are successful at what they do. Chances are, these are the players who refuse to lock themselves into the groove of always playing it safe. Playing conservative may win an occasional baseball or football game, but it rarely inspires the players, coaches, or spectators. Everyone enjoys winning, but that exhilarating feeling that comes from pushing the envelope is even more thrilling. Sometimes the risk doesn’t pay off, but eventually it may and that’s what draws attention, attracts high energy people, brings people to their feet, and inspires investment.
Short passes and a methodical running game may lead to a win, but it will always be that 40-yard pass into double coverage that brings people to their feet and feeds the roar of the crowd. It’s the same with nearly everything in life, especially businesses that provide a product or entertainment service. Disney’s It’s a Small World Ride is great for parents and young children, but it will always be Space Mountain that people talk about, get butterflies in their stomach about, anticipate with excitement and a little fear, remember, and talk about with friends and family, and it’s what will bring people back time and again. It’s no different in great restaurants.
Chefs know how to play it safe; cooks understand what it means to stick to the basics, and many customers do like to embrace predictability. There are chains and high-volume restaurants that built their reputations on being predictable and consistent – it’s what they preach as the path to success. Ah…but when did predictable ever inspire, excite, invigorate, and bring people to their feet? Deep inside, people want to experience that quarterback throw a 40-yard pass, the batter power hit a grand slam homerun, and a chef create an incredibly different, beautiful, delicious dish that changes the way people think about a plate of food. It becomes more than “let’s win this thing”, it’s all about knocking people’s socks off with WOW!
Okay, so now that I have either inspired you to push the envelope or turned you off to the thought of risk taking, here’s the real story: playing it safe and swinging for the fences can co-exist, in fact – they must.
The quarterback who throws the 40-yard pass completion is able to do so because he respects the fundamentals of the game, the body motion it takes to push that kind of energy to the ball, and a keen eye for reading defenses and finding an opportunity with at least a 51% chance of success. The batter that powers a baseball into the upper decks with bases loaded has spent a lifetime concentrating on stepping into a pitch, slowing down the 90 mile and hour fastball so that he can time his swing, holding the bat properly and knowing how to push his body’s energy at the point in time when the bat and the ball connect. The fundamentals, the safe part of playing the game is always front and center. What they do with the fundamentals is what it takes to swing for the fence.
The most creative, thrilling, energy packed, inspired chefs can shake things up BECAUSE they eat, drink, and sleep the fundamentals, the SAFE part of cooking. Keeping your feet firmly planted in those fundamentals allows for the disciple to shake things up and do things that bring people to their feet, create a buzz, and pull in guests who wonder “what’s next?”
Are you still looking around to find those examples of success and analyzing them? Make your list and I am confident that you will find safe restaurants filled with dependable employees who do their jobs well but rarely jump up and down and proclaim that they love what they do and are excited to be at work. You may find restaurants that have been around forever and have built a loyal return customer base and yes this is important and comfortable. These are restaurants where everyone can trust that things will always be as they were, where menus rarely change, where cooks are so adept at what they do that, they could probably function with their eyes closed, where chefs have the same checklist every day, and accountants can depend on a consistent bottom line from fiscal period to fiscal period. Is there anything wrong with this? ABSOLUTELY NOT, this is what colleges prepare graduates to build, CEOs earn their salaries to protect, and a significant percentage of restaurant guests expect: “I love that shrimp dish at my corner restaurant. I’ve ordered the same thing every Friday for the past ten years!” Kudos to all involved – you did it! But do you bring people to their feet? Are guests pausing their conversation to look at the plate of food in front of them and say, WOW? Are your line cooks bouncing from foot to foot awaiting the chance to dive into that new dish they helped to create? Are chefs investing countless hours working with new, exciting ingredients trying to create another inspiring menu that people are talking about with great interest? Isn’t there room for both the comfortable and the exciting?
Spectators want their team to win, and they respect that methodical approach towards playing it safe and being consistent, but they sit on the edge of their seats throughout the game waiting for that knock your socks off, unexpected incredible play. They come to the game to be thrilled, surprised, and energized. Shouldn’t your restaurants guests have that same opportunity?
It will always be the fundamentals that drive a restaurant’s success or a team’s winning record, but at the same time, it will be those moments when the quarterback throws a risky downfield pass or runs on 4th and 14 for that elusive 1st down to keep a drive alive that energizes EVERYONE and sets the team or the restaurant apart from the pack.
“Here is our fundamentally solid menu with flavors that you expect and presentations that are familiar but let me tell you about these exciting features that our chef and cooks are thrilled to prepare for you. Now, what can I get for you?”
PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER – RESPECT THE FUNDAMENTALS
AND ON OCCASION – SWING FOR THE FENCES
Harvest America Ventures, LLC
Restaurant Consulting
www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG
(Over 800 articles about the business and people of food)
CAFÉ Talks Podcast
https://cafemeetingplace.com/cafe-podcasts
More than 80 interviews with the most influential people in food
Harvest America CUES BLOG 
Leave a comment