This is an old book which is first published in 1977 and that was before I was even born!!! Nobody though can argue that the lessons and wisdoms by Ray Kroc is out of place in the modern world. In fact, the book is an apt reminder that we need to put in hard work and persistence in all our ventures as the title of the book "Grinding it out" suggests. We can certainly agree that it seems that everyone is only interested in quick ventures and the old fashion way of working hard and "grinding it out" seems to be out-of-fashion. Ray Kroc is certainly inspiring as he starts working on his McDonald ventures at the age of 52 where most of us are probably planning for our retirement. Well, he certainly did not retire at age 55 or 60 and in fact continued working actively (not just as a figurehead) until he died of heart failure on January 14, 1984 at age 82. Reading this book is so easy (in fact, I completed it in Senai Airport while waiting for my flight home) and just by reading his book you can feel the passion and energy of the man who brought us perhaps the most recognizable restaurant chain in the world and also a place which most of us have fond memories of. And by coincidence that I have just completed reading the book on Google prior to this, I find that the success of both organizations can be attributed to one single powerful factor: The power of open collaboration. Both Google and McDonald are receptive to ideas from its users/advertisers (Google) and customers/franchisees (McDonald) and it is through such exponential source of ideas and acting on those feedbacks which enabled both companies to grow exponentially. This book is certainly one of the must-read books which a father passes to his son to learn important life lessons as well.
The following are some excerpts from the book which I hope you will find useful (Words in blue are mine):
1) A little bit of luck helps, yes, but the key element, which too many in our affluent society have forgotten, is still hard work - grinding it out.
2) "As long as you're green you're growing, as soon as you're ripe you start to rot."
3) But you have to take risks, and in some cases you must go for broke. If you believe in something, you've got to be in it to the ends of your toes. Taking reasonable risks is part of the challenge. It's the fun." (You got to have such spirit if you wish to be an entrepreneur)
4) A good executive does not like mistakes. He will allow his subordinates an honest mistake once in a while, but he will never condone or forgive dishonesty.
5) But perfection is very difficult to achieve, and perfection was what I wanted in McDonald's. Everything else was secondary for me.
6) I believe that if you hire a man to do a job, you ought to get out of the way and let him do it.
7) A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team, it makes the most of every crew member's talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service.
8) You must perfect every fundamental of your business if you expect it to perform well.
9) He has a narrow vision that allows him to see income only in terms of cash in his register. Income for me can appear in other ways; one of the nicest of them is a satisfied smile on the face of a customer. That's worth a lot, because it means that he's coming back, and he'll probably bring a friend. A child who loves our TV commercials and brings her grandparents to a McDonald's gives us two more customers. This is a direct benefit generated by advertising dollars. But the begrudger has a hard time appreciating this - he wants to have his cake and eat it too. (Remember to always think long-term)
10) The begrudger regards competition with envy. He wants to learn their secrets and, if possible, undermine them. He'll often go out of his way to give the competition a bad name. (Don't be a begrudger!!!)
11) My way of fighting the competition is the positive approach. Stress your own strengths, emphasize quality, service, cleanliness, and value, and the competition will wear itself out trying to keep up.
12) "Listen, Harry, you don't know me, so I am going to forgive you for that," I said. "But let's get this straight, once and for all. I want nothing from you but a good product. Don't wine me, don't dine me, don't buy me any Christmas presents. If there are any cost breaks, pass them on to the operators of McDonald's stores."
13) I maintained that authority should go with a job. Some wrong decisions may be made as a result, but that's the only way you can encourage strong people to grow in an organization. Sit on them and they will be stifled. The best ones go elsewhere.
14) I believe that less is more in the case of corporate management; for its size, McDonald's today is the most unstructured corporation I know, and I don't think you could find a happier, more secure, harder working group of executives anywhere.
15) There is a cross you must bear if you intend to be head of a big corporation: you lose a lot of your friends on the way up. It's lonely on top.
16) "Hell's bells, when times are bad is when you want to build!" I screamed. "Why wait for things to pick up so everything will cost you more? If a location is good enough to buy, we want to build on it right away and be in there before the competition. Pump some money and activity into a town, and they'll remember you for it." (If you are confident in your product and have carried out the necessary homework, one should be brave when others are fearful. Sounds familiar?)
17) "Nothing recedes like success. Don't let it happen to us or you."
18) I believe that if you think small, you'll stay small. (Remember to think big! And put actions into the thinking otherwise thinking big alone is also known as day dreaming!)
19) But of course, where McDonald's is concerned, I favor the high side. Fred Turner does, too, and I like his thinking on it, which is that business will expand to tax the facilities provided. In other words, if you have a few extra feet of griddle and an extra fry station, or if you install one more cash register than existing business requires, you'll be challenged to put them to use.
20) There is a common fallacy that money will solve problems. It won't. Money creates problems, and the more you have, the bigger the problems, not the least of which is how to spend it wisely.
21) "I believe that if two executives think the same, one of them is superfluous." (Don't get yes-men in your team)
22) ...... getting out of the kitchen if you can't stand the heat. (Quote from President Harry Truman on pros and cons of every profession. Complaining about it won't help one bit!)
23) "Press On: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
24) You have to learn to know the joy of "working and being let work."
25) Achievement must be made against the possibility of failure, against he risk of defeat. It is no achievement to walk a tightrope laid flat on the floor. Where there is no risk, there can be no pride in achievement and, consequently, no happiness. The only way we can advance is by going forward, individually and collectively, in the spirit of the pioneer. We must take the risks involved in our free enterprise system. This is the only way in the world to economic freedom. There is no other way.
I just Googled it and found that at the end of 2016, there are actually 36,899 McDonald's in the world! At the time of writing the book, there are about 4,177 stores at the end of 1976 and Ray Kroc was thinking of 10,000 even then. I guess even he may be surprised how much it has grown since then but this is testament to the organization which he has left behind that it has continued to grow at such phenomenal rate even when he is no longer around. The legacy which he left behind affects the entire world and we possibly will never see another Ray Kroc in our lifetime and for that, we have to appreciate the tenacity and foresight of the man who gave us the golden arch restaurant.
24) You have to learn to know the joy of "working and being let work."
25) Achievement must be made against the possibility of failure, against he risk of defeat. It is no achievement to walk a tightrope laid flat on the floor. Where there is no risk, there can be no pride in achievement and, consequently, no happiness. The only way we can advance is by going forward, individually and collectively, in the spirit of the pioneer. We must take the risks involved in our free enterprise system. This is the only way in the world to economic freedom. There is no other way.
I just Googled it and found that at the end of 2016, there are actually 36,899 McDonald's in the world! At the time of writing the book, there are about 4,177 stores at the end of 1976 and Ray Kroc was thinking of 10,000 even then. I guess even he may be surprised how much it has grown since then but this is testament to the organization which he has left behind that it has continued to grow at such phenomenal rate even when he is no longer around. The legacy which he left behind affects the entire world and we possibly will never see another Ray Kroc in our lifetime and for that, we have to appreciate the tenacity and foresight of the man who gave us the golden arch restaurant.
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