3/13/2013–Whether it was Clausewitz’s or Napoleon’s technique, it applies to management as appropriately as it does to battle.
The latest example of “mass at the point of decision” is my kitchen shift yesterday. My “point of decision” is the front of house. I am effective when I can spend time developing skills used in that area of the restaurant. I can schedule my day such that FOH priorities get done first. I am available for my FOH staff if they need any questions answered. I can move the ball forward on any projects I’m working on.
On the flip side, when I’m in the kitchen I am relearning skills I’m not interested in developing. I lose a day’s worth of time I could’ve spent doing FOH priorities. The BOH staff asks questions I’m not able to answer. Most importantly, we are a manager training store so there are MITs who need to learn the most effective behaviors from the CM. Spending time working in the kitchen, for me, is like if Napoleon would’ve sent 1/14 of his army to the secondary battle. Were I planning to be a partner, I’d benefit greatly from CM experience. However, I’ve almost concluded I will not be a partner.
The next step is to refine further my point of decision. I need to speak with my current RDT to see if I have a shot at the position. I need to also research boutique consulting firms to learn what working there is like. I need to develop skills in MS Excel. These are the constituents of “mass” in the strategy. They are the behaviors I will do to move me toward my goal–to help independent restaurateurs succeed. Being able to work as a line cook is not the sustainable competitive advantage I’m going to need. A valuable tool, yes, but not worth the opportunity cost of not working on FOH skills.
QOTW: “We’re trying to run flea flickers but we aren’t even blocking properly.” -JD
?FNW: Have any interviews been set up? No-3/21
10/26/2017 review: It’s very likely I was missing something here. If I really wanted to be prepared to consult independent restaurants, I probably would need to have a pretty good familiarity with the kitchen operations. I wrote this the day after a kitchen shift, so I’m guessing I was just not taking time to zoom out and recognize the benefit of that experience. I’m also tempted to say I was missing the benefit to the overall team by getting some exposure to the back of house (BOH). However, I don’t remember the exact circumstances–was I covering for someone? Was I working one shift per week in the kitchen as an experiment?
Whatever the reason, mass at the point of decision was not the correct analogy to make. Rather, I think a better military analogy would be that I was preparing to become a sniper, but had to spend some time working with pistols. While I would eventually spend almost all my time in the front of house, I was not at the advanced level that allows me to totally ignore learning kitchen duties. No matter–I now know it was all valuable experience.