Mindset: 8 British Men In A Boat.
I’ve always been a fan of sports. Pretty much any sport really and I’ve always been fascinated by the synergies between sports and life as well as sports and business…heck even sports and relationships.
I can’t remember who told me this one sports story but it has stuck with me for a very long time and I pull it out quite often when speaking with clients, or friends, or even speaking myself.
The story goes that Great Britains men’s rowing team hadn’t won a gold medal at the Olympics since 1912. Year after year the Brits were left disappointed as they couldn’t seem to bring together months of training to perform on the big day to compete for gold. However in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympics all of that changed.
The British team fundamentally changed the way they approached every single aspect of their lives (individually and collectively) and therefore the preparation for the Olympics. The team all bought in. All 8 men decided to constantly ask themselves “Will this make the boat go faster?”. This simple yet powerful question which became their North Star allowed them to stay so focused and committed to the task that nothing would get in their way.
In an effort to win a gold medal after 88 years of being shut out of a gold the British team was committed to ensuring their actions brought them closer to winning gold. Can you just imagine what this involved? Their nutrition would have been impeccable. Physical training would have been extremely well thought out and strategic. Their mental game would have had to have been strong as well. And can you imagine their commitment to teamwork? It is 8 men all in one boat working toward one goal.
I don’t know about you but stuff like this gives me goosebumps and gets me absolutely jacked up and motivated to get going.
So what does all of this have to do with the hospitality industry at the moment?
To be honest, everything.
We are in a incredibly tough time at the moment, I’d almost liken it to not winning the gold medal after trying for 88 years. But with challenges comes incredible opportunity and this is not only true in business but in life as well. The beauty is in what we do with this opportunity. The action we take.
For the most part I’ve seen restaurants all over the world scrambling to figure out a way to make things work during these completely unheard of times. And for the most part there has been some pretty good efforts to keep things moving in the right direction. However as someone who doesn’t own a restaurant (cafe, bar or hotel) and who is watching this from the outside (somewhat) it seems to me there is a big disconnect.
Essentially it is as if as an industry we are an 8 person rowing team and every person on the boat is doing something different and one guy is even asleep. This just doesn’t and won’t work. Not now, not 5 years ago and most definitely not in the future.
There needs to be a true buy-in, if not from the global hospitality community (that could pose some challenges but nothing is impossible) but at the very least a buy-in with the neighbouring businesses in your area, ideally the whole country. To date however what we have seen is action in little pockets with perhaps a few collaborations such as the gang from Say Mercy in Vancouver teaming up with Fable and Belgard Kitchen. But for the most part the boat has been a mess and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it take on water at some point here.
So while it is easy to call out what is missing in our industry at the moment and what isn’t helping the boat go faster I have a vested interest in seeing this boat absolutely cruise. With that in mind I am going to releasing THE 5 THINGS RESTAURANTS NEED TO BE DOING RIGHT NOW through the podcast (and youtube) in the hopes of offering up some tools you can use in your business (and life) to get back on track and be completely focused on making that boat go faster.
In the meantime, keep your head down, keep working hard and don’t be afraid to hop in the boat with some friends to ultimately move this industry boat forward a lot faster.
Brad
