Executive A illustrates the importance of communication that continually reinforces the aim of the organization. Every forty-five days, all-employee meetings are held where they talk about the accomplishments they had as a company and new developments for customers. For example, they created a part for a company that makes LED systems for motorcycles. In the meeting, Executive A showed the employees a picture of the part they made and then showed a movie of a motorcycle with lights flashing, and he said, “Your hands made this possible.” That way they can tie their work back to something significant.
Executive A said, “Our objective is to please customers in a way that is a reflection of what God has called us to do.” He added that whether somebody is a Christian or not, they need to understand that what the company does is a calling. The intent is to give the client exactly what he or she wants. The company is organized to react fast to customer needs. Nobody there takes customers for granted; it is unacceptable. The first question in management review meetings is, “What customers are not happy?” then they discuss the reasons and do everything in their power to make them happy. Every customer wants to have parts that meet their requirements. A detailed design conversation must take place to learn the customer’s requirements. Executive A said, “If I asked what the requirements are? Some people do not know what they do not know. Most of us do not
know what we do not know.” He illustrated, as a company, they come to some
understanding of what is vital to the customer and what is going to work in that application.
There is a difference in managing people and leading people. At its simplest form, management is about doing things well, and leadership is about doing the right things. Executive B explains that his challenge is less with management because of the people they have attracted; rather, his greatest fear is that they are not doing the right things. He said, “They will do things well, but the leader’s role is to make sure they are doing the right things.” Whatever part of the organization that leaders are in, it is their role to provide the clarity to team members. Executive C said, “You must cast the big picture vision that this is what we are trying to do, but you must provide that vision of the roles and here is your job and your assignment. This is what you are expected to do and here are the boundaries.”
Executive E was asked how they know that they are improving every day and responded that it is linked to leadership. He discussed the approach of monitoring processes, which starts with consistently reviewing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) so that the team can ensure they are not going backward while also ensuring they can track the progress of improving in every area. He emphasized that leadership can be on display by trusting the team to be accountable for the KPIs, instead of him “being the bottleneck or the lid of the organization.” Executive E’s approach is to empower others:
“Get out of their way and let them do what they do best and then giving them the power to improve the process themselves instead of everything coming back to me.”
As part of the Chick-fil-A aim to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with them, many Restaurant Operators offer programs that help to enrich their communities. For example, some Operators partner with neighborhood schools to distribute the Core Essentials character education program that encourage children to develop positive values, and many implement fund-raising efforts in which Chick-fil-A products and merchandise serve as student incentives.
Principle 3. Stewardship: The aim of the system is based on values, not short- term returns. To Executive C, stewardship is the realization that “it is not yours, that you are taking care of it.” The way he views it, they are to steward the restaurants, tables, equipment, employees, and the communities. They are to be stewards of all those things that God has given them in a way that has a positive influence on people in a caring way.
Executive C views his business “as a place to serve others.” In fact, he added, “few people know this, but our service model is based on Matthew 5:41: ‘If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.’” Chick-fil-A calls it “Second Mile Service.” The aim is to go above and beyond what customers expect.
Executive E makes it clear that everyone understands the aim and that it is based on a value proposition. For example, “Everyone here wears a wristband with Colossians 3:23 on it as a constant reminder of why we are working.” The verse supports the heart of the mission, which is to “keep customers comfortable, save them money, do it better than anyone else and honor God.” When there is the perspective of trying to glorify God in everything one does, it gives ultimate meaning to work. He said, “I can be vacuuming this floor, and it can be a form of worship if done to the best of my ability for God.” Vacuuming a floor can have just as much meaning as closing a multi-million dollar deal or going to church on Sunday, if it is done for the Lord and not for men.
The corporate purpose or aim of Chick-fil-A, Inc. is “to glorify God by being faithful stewards of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” Executive B states it is in the DNA of the
organization. He adds that Dan Cathy, CEO, points out that the purpose statement does not say anything about selling chicken. The restaurants are the platform for influence. He says, “We do not have a standard pulpit. We have a pulpit that is twenty feet long, the length of the counters.”
The aim for Chick-fil-A is to value people over profits. Executive C makes it clear that this includes all people: customers, suppliers, and employees. With this values-
driven approach, complexity of the system is reduced because Operators are not driven by the need for power, influence, or recognition. In fact, it is not tolerated.
The aim is clear. Executive D said, “Our mission is to provide exceptional public service. How do we do that is by focusing on our mission. . . . In any police department, two-thirds of the calls have nothing to with crime, it is all about service.”
The calls are about somebody in an accident, lost, or in distress about something unrelated to crime. “It is just helping people.” He said, “If you go to any police department in the country, a third of the volume is crime related, and two-thirds are service. We have to be good at both but especially service.”
Theory of Variation
The following section profiles the theory of variation. The information contained in this section focuses on the nature of variation and how an organizational system
operates. It includes an understanding that life is variation, as well as knowledge of the difference between a stable and an unstable state, knowledge of the difference between common causes of variation, knowledge of the effects of the system on the performance of people, and the implications of all this for management.
Principle 4. Integrity: Learn to listen to the process and the system for