Harvest America CUES BLOG

When you walk into your kitchen today, what do you see? When you watch finished plates slide down the pass ready for service, what do you see? When you walk through the dining room and observe service and interactions between staff and guests, what do you see? When you look in a mirror and assess your own performance, what do you see? Is the pursuit of excellence evident? Is the kitchen focused and serious about exceeding guest expectations? Is there pride in the execution of each plate and are servers charged up to present your food to each and every guest?

Greatness is a choice that we all make, as is mediocrity. Good, as stated by Jim Collins in his award-winning book: Good to Great, is the enemy of great. When we accept “good enough” as our benchmark then we have relegated our ability to strive for excellence to the grasp of mediocrity.

The desire to be great is not nearly as important as the willingness to do the work to get there. It starts early in life and touches every aspect of who we are. Greatness and the intent to get there is not, nor can it be, selective. We can’t really choose to be great at grilling steaks and careless about the vegetables that accompany them. We can take impeccable care of our chef uniform and careless about washing our hands for 20 seconds. You are either in the pursuit of greatness, or you aren’t. It’s that simple.

Greatness is a way of presenting yourself, of functioning day-in and day-out. Greatness and the attitude that accompanies it is a way of life. If you are great with plating your food, then you are likely great at so many other aspects of your life. It is the pursuit that becomes a habit – how it is applied will continue to expand.

Is there a connection between greatness and obsessive behavior? Probably. Are there examples of people who are great at one thing and not so great at others? Absolutely, in fact most great people fall into this category, but it never prevents them from pursuing greatness in everything they do and putting in the effort to improve. This is why greatness is almost always accompanied by self-critique. Great performers are hard on themselves when they can’t apply that same level of excellence in other areas. The great always wants to be great at everything. They can’t have it any other way.

So, maybe it’s understandable why some choose to shrug their shoulders and step firmly on the path to mediocrity. On the surface, it’s so much easier. Excellence takes commitment, passion, knowledge, practice, and damn hard work.

Ironically, there are both upsides and downsides to a pursuit of greatness. On the road to excellence there will be plenty of times when you stumble and fall, when excellence is not reached and where a feeling of failure starts to creep in. Patience is a virtue that those who seek to be great rarely possess, but if they remain committed, this feeling of failure will pass, and the pursuit is strengthened.

Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach once stated that: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” Now, his players knew him to be tough, demanding, focused, and unrelenting when it came to preparation for a game, but they all loved who he was and the drive that kept the team pushing forward. It’s the attitude of wanting to be great that determines whether it will be within your reach. Simple as that. You have a choice to be great or good, to strive to be all you can be or to submit to mediocrity. It’s true in the kitchen and it’s true in every aspect of your life.

When I walk down a main street in any town I am always surprised by the dichotomy of commitment to excellence. Some stores have sparkling clean windows, and others find cleaning them not worthy of their time. Some have professionally printed signage and others find a magic marker and irregular print to be just fine. Some sweep their sidewalks while others complain that the village is not doing it for them, and some are oblivious to overflowing garbage cans, while others make sure that a customer never encounters a piece of trash. It’s all a choice and the choice speaks volumes for your reputation, your opportunities, and your success.

So, what did you see when you walked in your kitchen, viewed those plates of food in the pass, and observed the interactions between service staff and the guest? Was it a commitment to greatness or was mediocrity creeping in? Look in a mirror and make the choice, pass it on by example, have high expectations of the people around you, and create an environment where greatness has a chance.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER – REACH FOR GREATNESS

Harvest America Ventures, LLC

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