On Purpose.

Working Through Conflict: On Purpose

For years I have been working towards a flat company, which in many ways we have made great strides.  Then in November, Scott, our operating partner in Crystal Lake moved on to work for the Northern Illinois Food Bank and we decided not to replace him with another operating partner and instead support the team to run the restaurant.  This was my big chance to really get flat. 

I could probably write a whole book on how this works.  Oh wait, I did!  A Slice of the Pie will be coming out in September preorder your copy here: http://www.amazon.com/Slice-Pie-Build-Little-Business/dp/1591844584/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331140754&sr=8-1

For now I will just share one essential process. 

How does the team work through conflict and problem solve systems and processes?  A Safe Space meeting to herd up the Moose and get ‘em out!

We have a communication tool we call Safe Space (copyright Rudy Miick) that we teach day one in orientation and use every day that has 8 bullet points.  One of those bullet points is “moose in the room”.  Imagine there is a server in our restaurant who has stepped up to the huge responsibility of writing schedules, and as you might guess the transition and new learning for this server isn’t perfect.  Well that is the scenario that happened here (and could happen in any company), and a few of the servers found themselves talking about the misses they were experiencing,  which was now becoming a “moose in the room” (definition of moose in the room is similar to what many call elephant in the room.  It is that big stinky issue that everyone smells and knows its there, but no one wants to address it) for the service team.  In our culture the next step in creating “Safe Space” is to squash that moose!  So the team called a meeting for anyone who wanted to attend, and as the memo said “bring your moose”.   No managers, no bosses, I only showed up to take pictures.  The woman in the white top sitting down on the left is Alex, the schedule writer, and she also facilitated the meeting with great success.

The servers felt heard, they brought out their moose, big and small, and it was done with dignity and respect, through all of our values…and in less than an hour.  Perhaps some people felt uncomfortable to start, and that is ok, because the result is a culture of “Safe Space” .

To me this is what I call success in building a business of business people.  The team has the tools the need to run the company and be their own bosses, holding each other accountable, because they care, and expect to be the best.  It is not perfect, and this is a another great example of why we don’t need managers if we are brave enough to build a flat company and trust the team to be high performers.

Every Organization Needs a Basement: On Purpose

I just finished giving some executives of a local organization a tour of Nick’s Pizza & Pub in Crystal Lake, and I noticed that I keep getting this surprised look on people’s faces when I get to that part of the tour when I say, “Let’s go to the basement now.” After we have already walked the main floor of the dining room and then through the Heart of the House (our kitchen) and covered a lot of space, people are stunned there is even more. What I realize is that it’s not just more; the basement is literally under our building, supporting everything we do. 

Then we walk down the stairs, and there lies our training certification charts covering a whole 8x8” wall, and our fiscal huddle boards covering another 8x8” wall. Then on another foundation wall is our communication tool, “safe space” and our “Leading with Purpose” tools—like Karpman’s drama triagle, Patti Wilson’s coaching model, Issue-P&V-Solution model, Be-Do-Have model—just to name a few.

Then I take the group for a walk into our underground tunnel the connects our two basement spaces. Painted on the foundation walls and guiding us on our journey through the tunnel is our purpose, and each value has its own section of wall.  I always feel a great sense of gratitude for our team as I look at all the names signed on the wall under all the different values and purpose, as if each individual had their own special contribution to supporting the success of  us living our values in their own way.

As we finish the tour and walk up the stairs to the main level, I asked these gentlemen, “What is in the basement of your organization?” What tools do you have to support the success of your business? Every organization should have a basement.