You Must Like Flies

Around 1975, Bill Marriott walked my operation with me at the Philadelphia Marriott.

At the time, I was the Director of Food and Beverage. As we walked, Bill gave me constant feedback from his perspective on my operation. He checked for cleanliness everywhere we went in the hotel. He checked the inventory records; and for all of you old timers at Marriott, he checked the breading charts very carefully.

We eventually ended up at the loading and receiving dock in the back where the trash compactor was located. It was summer, and there were a lot of flies around the dumpster. Some of those flies were making their way into the back corridors of the hotel, and of course, eventually finding their way to the restaurants upstairs.

Mr. Marriott turned to me and said, "Lee, if you have flies in your operation, it is because you like flies." I will never forget that moment and that lesson.

What he meant, of course, is that you can get rid of those flies if you want to. You can order an enclosed dumpster. You can wash down the dumpster as many times a day as it takes so no flies will be there. You can install different insect control devices in that area. You can put fly fans on the loading dock doors, and on and on. Even if you have to buy 100 fly swatters and issue them to the employees with a quota each day, you can have an operation without flies.

How does the lesson about flies apply to you? It's not about the flies.

If you have rude employees, you must like rude employees.

If you have poorly trained employees, you must like poorly trained employees.

If you have poorly groomed employees, you must like poorly groomed employees.

If you have under-performing managers in your business, then you are an under-performing leader.

From this one lesson given so long ago by a leader who cared and was able to communicate in a common sense way, I have always made sure I did not have flies in my operation.

It was a lesson about personal responsibility and attention to detail. It was about not underestimating what you as an individual can accomplish.

Make a list of the fly problems in your life that you are not dealing with.

The problem with flies and other problems we don't deal with is that they multiply. One fly today, ten flies tomorrow. One poorly groomed employee today, ten tomorrow. One poor habit today, ten more next week.

You get rid of flies the same way you got them in the first place--one at a time.