We all have a lot to learn from this outstanding Management System that has produced the most millionaires in the history of mankind. In this series of articles we will be talking a lot about a few people who have been the heroes in this story on the continuous making.
The kind of thinking that has made this powerful business so unique is open for everyone to see, learn, and replicate, but for some reason it has not permeated our industries as it should have.
How did McDonald's Get There and You Can Too!
Some of the peculiar characteristics of McDonalds that has kept them in their very special respected niche are just “Common Sense.” Of course we have said a number of times that Common Sense is the Least Common of Senses. Perhaps these business management principles seem so primitive and plain that our “advanced” mindset rejects them.
In the many years I have been into Management and Leadership Learning, Training, and Coaching, hundreds of people, mainly top managers have been emphatically opposed to some of these principles. Let us take a look at some of them…
Transparency of The McDonald's System
I could not find a better word for this basic condition that demands from all of us involved in a business, whichever our role, to display and share everything with everyone in the enterprise. The fact that the whole organization comprised of owners, franchisees, suppliers, and employees from all levels meet in gatherings of thousands to discuss all kinds of business issues, and they all treat each other with friendship and respect, is a clear show of that transparency.
Honesty-Integrity-Commitment
These original core values established more than half a Century ago are the solid foundation of McDonald's. Something quite common still these days at McDonald’s is the “handshake” deal confirmation. Numerous “non-contract” commitments which have bound their people, suppliers, and franchisees for decades speak out loud about the mutual devotion to the core values of this miraculous business phenomenon.
Franchisees Want to Join McDonald's
Every year, more than 7,000 applicants ask McDonald’s for an opportunity to have a restaurant of their own. Only 1% of them comply with the strict rules.
That is some natural selection system if I have ever seen one.
