Creating a Culture of Collaboration

Choose Worthy Rivals

In Infinite Game, Simon Sinek calls a company whose strengths reveal your weaknesses a worthy rival. Learning from that company helps you see where you can improve.

This reminded Will Guidara of dinner at Thomas Keller’s Per Se in late 2006. The meal was exceptional, but the ordinary coffee stood out because everything before it had been so good. The coffee deserved the same care as the food.

Tap Into Their Passions – Then Give Them the Keys

Guidara put Jim Betts in charge of coffee at Eleven Madison Park. This started the ownership program, which gave employees responsibility for areas that interested them. Leo Robitschek then took charge of cocktails and later became a leading mixologist.

Instead of ordering coffee in bulk and treating it as an afterthought, the team began preparing it carefully. They also taught guests about the coffee they served.

Find the Win/Win/Win

Employees chose whether to take part. They needed curiosity and enthusiasm, but they did not need expertise to get started. They received mentoring and projects they cared about. Guests had better experiences, and the business improved because its leaders no longer had to come up with every improvement themselves.

“It Might Not Work” Is a Terrible Reason Not to Try

Leaders limit their own growth when they keep responsibility for themselves because training someone takes time. Giving someone responsibility before they feel fully ready often encourages them to work harder because they want to show that the leader was right to trust them.

Let Them Lead

Everyone could lead the pre-meal meeting, including junior employees. Teaching helped them understand the subject better. Speaking in front of the group gave them practice sharing their enthusiasm and explaining their purpose to colleagues. As they led more meetings, they began acting like leaders in other parts of their work, too.

Listen to Every Idea

Employees need to know that their suggestions are always welcome. A weak first suggestion can lead to a better one. Dismissing it may stop employees from developing an idea that could be useful.

Excellence is the Culmination of Thousands of Details Executed Perfectly

At Eleven Madison Park, Guidara realized that his unusually close attention to detail was a strength. It helped him work toward excellence by making many small improvements.

British cycling coach Sir David John Brailsford’s approach illustrates the aggregation of marginal gains: improving many things by 1% adds up to a larger improvement. Making the whole experience perfect may be impossible. But people can get many individual details exactly right, which brings the whole experience closer to perfection.