Welcome to the Week: The Power of Details

This past Saturday night, with my wife out of town on a girls trip and my kids spending the night having dinner with my in-laws, I had some time to catch up on some shopping at the mall; a rarity in my world. Hungry for dinner and with a free entree from some promotion, I decided to grab a Chipotle Mexican Grill bowl. I got in line as I did so something caught my eye….

Take a moment to look at the photo above captured during this experience. In it, you'll notice a team member engrossed in his phone, seemingly oblivious to his fellow team members and customers. ?

Above him is the menu board for a new dish, Chicken Al Pastor. On it, there is a hand-written note, saying, "Do Not Have, thanks.” As I proceeded through the line they also told me that they did not have any vegetables. When I asked why, they said "they shut the kitchen down so they do not waste them." It was 6:30 and they closed at 9PM FYI.

This snapshot paints a compelling story. This is not a small brand. This is a fast-food chain, who has grown from $13.6B to $54.4B in market capitalization?over the last 5 years and may be losing their way with respect to to the details. I suspect that these will eventually catch up with them.

CEO Brian Niccol Is overseeing through his vast team, thousands of locations and employees and the question becomes what values, processes and training are in place to ensure that the customer experience is optimized? I suspect that if Mr. Niccol made his way to this Chipotle, it would be immediately corrected.

This is one of the most challenging aspects of running a brand. We have a vision for what the team member, customer and product experience is to be like and when that is not executed to our standard, how do we improve? To me, it all comes down to creating a brand and culture of excellence where the team continually feels psychologically safe to elevate their issues and leadership creates the right forum for the team to be held accountable.

It Wasn’t Just Jordan

During the 1982 NCAA Championship, Michael Jordan, then a freshman at 美国北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校 , sunk a game-winning basket against 美国乔治敦大学 The Tar Heels won 63-62, and that shot was heralded as one of the greatest in the history of college basketball.

While many remember Jordan's shot, few know the nitty-gritty that preceded it. With 32 seconds left on the clock, North Carolina's coach, Dean Smith, called a timeout. During this brief respite, he drilled into his team the importance of the ensuing play—each player had a role, every move was calculated, and every detail mattered. It wasn't just Jordan's talent that won the game; it was the attention to detail in those crucial seconds that orchestrated the win.

The Detail You’ll Never See in Your iPhone

Consider Apple Computers , a company known for its meticulous design and user experience. One instance that underscores this obsession with detail is the story of Steve Jobs insisting on redesigning the iPhone's circuit board simply because he felt it didn't look good. Nobody would see it, but it mattered to him. It was this level of precision and attention to detail that turned Apple into a global tech titan.

Choices We Make

We all have a choice every week on how we execute details, big or small. It's these choices that compound over time to shape our reputations, influence our relationships, and ultimately define our lives. Do we help with one more detail at home? Do we send that extra note of thanks and appreciation?? Do we do our best to make each product, environment and experience for a customer the best it can possibly be?

Throughout your week, take time to scrutinize the details—proofread that email one more time, look for opportunities to surprise and delight in every experience and perhaps most importantly, be present in the moment. These may seem like small things, but they can be transformative. You will never be perfect, but if you strive for perfection you will achieve excellence.?

At Fitlife Foods , we invest thousands of dollars and literal months to launch a menu item. 50% of the menu items we taste will never even make it to the customer. It’s about getting the details right and learning from mistakes.?

Are we perfect, absolutely not, but we are always striving for perfection and this is where our guarantee comes in handy. If everyone knows the guarantee (100% guaranteed, love it or it is on us), then it serves as a strong blocker when things inevitably go wrong or a team member has a mis-judgement to hang out on their phone ignoring others or to put up a homemade sign letting customers know that they are out of a product... which happens a lot in business.

Remember, the devil isn't the only one in the details—excellence resides there too.

Have an amazing week. Feed Your Journey!

David