Good Morning Friends! Here are my 5 Things to Consider this week!
A quick note – I just finished archiving all my previous 5 Things entries and they can be found at www.mikeysorboro.com. In the future, I plan to make these much more searchable, but for now they’re all posted chronologically.
Culture – What is our competition? This may sound a little…proud, but one reason we aren’t swamped by our competition is because what we do is hard and we do it better than everyone else. I truly think the things we’re doing, especially in the pizza realm isn’t being done anywhere else in the world. Our unique blend of experience, product, culture, humor and connectedness to our communities sets us apart from almost every other pizza place I’ve seen. I often ask the question, “if an announcement came today that a place was opening up that was seriously going to challenge our place in the market, what would that place look like?” This thought exercise challenges us to think about where we could and probably should improve. The fact is, we haven’t had much competition because we came out strong and have continued to build an amazing company, both externally and internally. We’re not bullet-proof though and the minute we think we can let our guard down is the minute we get our lunch eaten by somebody willing to challenge us. We will always embrace change because change is progress and progress is growth. It’s part of our culture.
Leadership – Communication is always one of the weakest spots in any organization. Ours is no different. Communication, or lack thereof, is generally ranked as the most frustrating part of people’s work life. The breakdowns can come at all angles; top down, bottom up, and side to side. A clear and intentional flow of communication between all parts of our business is critical and often times there is a gap between what is intended and what is actually happening on the ground. There are countless ways to try to remedy poor communication; newsletters, videos, emails, bulletins, etc. Some are effective, but only if they’re viewed, seen, watched or read. Another thing to consider is our “organizational noise,” or the things our Piesans and co-workers hear. Organizational noise is often the main form of communication our crews get. The fact is, people talk. There is no stopping that and they mostly talk about the things that occupy their time the most…work. No matter what form of communication we choose, we must remember this fact, IF WE DON’T GIVE THEM THE STORY, THEY WILL MAKE UP ONE ON THEIR OWN. Gossip is a disease in any organization, it’s unavoidable, but a clear message of intentions, instruction or explanations is the most effective way to combat gossip. We choose to be transparent with as much as possible in our organization, because our Piesans and crew deserve to know what’s going on. Communication is, and always will be, the thing we strive to be the best at and our job will never be done.
History – The Weekly Updates. In our constant effort to make communication the best it can be, about 3.5 years ago, we started doing these little weekly videos to bring everyone up to speed on the goings on at Late Night Slice. Originally staring Heidi and Jason, these early episodes were over 6 minutes long and weren’t all that exciting. But over the years we’ve come a long way and our current weekly updates are one of my favorite thing we do as a company. The most important two elements of our weekly updates are consistancy and content and we do both of those amazingly.
Motivation – “Competition is always a good thing. It forces us to do our best. A monopoly renders people complacent and satisfied with mediocrity.” – Nancy Pearcy
What I’m Reading or Watching – Rachael and I just started watching the HBO documentary series, McMillions. It’s about how the McDonalds Monopoly game was corrupted over the years back in the 90’s. We’re just two episodes in, but it’s super interesting and pretty crazy that this almost became an arm of an organized crime ring. Someone from the inside was taking all the million dollar winners and handing them out to friends and family. I’m not sure how it’s going to all play out, but so far, so good.
Baby Update – It’s not my job to protect William from everything, it’s my job to prepare him for anything. I’m certain this has been written about by someone somewhere, but it’s been on my mind since the little “cry session” we had last week. I’ll call it The Countertop Incident. I was letting the little dude crawl (kinda) across our hard, granite countertops one morning and I just kept thinking, “This isn’t smart, he’s going to hurt himself and I should not be doing this… Cue the crying baby. Now I could have (read: should have) not let him wiggle around on the hard countertop because more than likely he was going to hit his head…and he did. Learning the equation that hard surface + head = hurt is preparing him for other hard things in life…literally and figuratively. The same goes for steep staircases, plastic bags and thin ice. I’m parenting! (CPS took his baby!)
Thanks for reading! Like or hate any part of this? Let me know! I really value your feedback.
Have a great week!
5 Things to Consider Archive 