Those of us with ketchup in our blood, the ones who rose through the ranks and were turned on in a competitive way, had a saying: Never be satisfied. And we weren’t. This statement spoke volumes about McDonald’s culture. We were always looking to beat yesterday’s sales, cut energy expenses, increase our customer counts and lower costs to the stores. We were driven to be faster, cleaner and better. The best of us were always on the lookout to exceed expectations.
Ray Kroc, the founder and builder of McDonald’s Corporation, knew from the very beginning that high standards would set the company apart, as he told the McDonald brothers on Dictaphone tapes from the late 1950s: “Our policies, our sound way of doing things, is paying off. And we have the respect of top-notch people. I now know of four 15¢ hamburger deals, being Henry’s, Carroll’s, Chef Burger, and Golden Point. And heaven knows how many more there will be. And they are going to be run loose as a goose. Those fellows are going to do any doggone thing they want to do, and the owners of the name are just going to let them do anything they want to as long as they are getting money out of it. It will be survival of the fittest. And I am just as sure as I am sure that I am dictating this sleeve that we are going to be at the top of the list of the fittest.”
Read more.
Photo: Adam Berry / Bloomberg News.