Clever Geek Handbook
24 February 2026

Improvisation, Inc.

Recommendation

Robert Lowe provides a hands-on guide to using the techniques of improvisational theater to increase spontaneity and creativity in the workplace. He shows how to use these "improv" techniques to improve communication, break down bureaucracy and help people in your organization express their talents. He includes many examples, including guided visualizations, fill-in questions and exercises, along with personal stories and accounts from his workshops. While some of the tips on creativity and visualization will sound familiar to those who know self-help literature, Lowe’s background in theater and improv makes his approach fresh. BooksInShort recommends this book as a useful guide for top managers and for anyone leading or working with a group or team. Here’s why the show must go on.

Take-Aways

  • Improvisation - that is, the techniques of improvisational theater, or "improv" - can improve your business environment.
  • You can use improv techniques as an exercise or training event.
  • Using improvisation can improve people’s creativity and help them adjust to change.
  • Improvisation’s two basic qualities are spontaneity and playfulness.
  • Playfulness and spontaneity can help your company avoid rigidity.
  • When you improvise, use the tools and resources you have on hand without thinking about the results you expect.
  • To use improvisation, you must open the doors to your own creativity.
  • You must be completely "in the moment" to improvise.
  • To improvise, you must be completely honest with yourself and with at least one other person.
  • You must improvise in public, such as when you participate in games or trainings.

Summary

Improvisation: Purposes and Principles

Improvisation uses the activities of theatrical "improv" to improve your business environment. You can use these techniques as an exercise, training event or organizational development tool. They can improve creativity, add to your presentations, help develop spontaneity and increase communication skills. These techniques are useful in training and in promoting learning. They can help you resolve conflicts, solve problems, engage in strategic planning, build teams and reduce stress.

“Play is a necessary element in organizational development. If there is no ’play’ in the organization, it will be too stiff to work well in a changing environment.”

Improvisation’s two basic qualities are spontaneity and playfulness. Through the many games you play as a child, you develop behaviors that help you work with others, follow rules and solve problems. These qualities also can help develop your organization. If you don’t have enough play in your company, it will be too rigid, and so will the people in it.

“You must learn to become completely honest with at least one other person.”

Play contributes to communication and to developing people. Improv helps introduce, or reintroduce, and enhance playfulness you and others in your organization may have outgrown.

Break Patterns and Promote Change

Normally, life is full of patterns - in nature, the human body and our social structure. Rules and norms shape culture, dictating how we act. Patterns govern business life at every level.

“Playfulness is a powerful element in the communication process. Play and playfulness enhance our organizations and help us to develop into people.”

Improvisation can help break those patterns, or lead people to reexamine them. Though resistance to change is natural, improv can help you and your organization accept change - and confront any resistance to change that erupts due to people’s unfamiliarity, misconceptions, disbelief and fear.

But improvisation techniques also can help you become familiar with new ideas, avoid misconceptions, correct beliefs and get over fear. Improv will help you look for patterns that you can and must challenge, and it provides safe ways to do so without undermining the system as a whole. With this approach, you can handle change effectively in positive ways.

The Nature of Improv

Improvisation involves making use of the tools and resources you have at hand, without reference to the results you expect. You involve yourself in the unforeseen. You participate in an act of creation. It is a skill you can use when your usual plans, tools or resources fail.

“You must put your work out for public view.”

While people often use the words "improvisation," "improv" and "the improv" interchangeably, they are different in that:

  • Improvisation uses techniques to generate creativity, communicating, learning, growing, exploring and to teach people "to think quickly and with delight."
  • Improv is the method that you use in an improvisation process or exercise or idea.
  • The improv is the special state of consciousness that you experience spontaneously when you use an improv technique.
"All who come to the improv can find some insight into living, working, producing and playing more fully, spontaneously, openly, effectively, sweetly and gently, powerfully and completely.

Exploration is an essential component of improvisation. Try the "Word for Word" exploration game, in which you learn to snap your fingers on alternate hands as you speak each word in a question. The purpose of this exercise is to help you refrain from answering questions automatically. Try doing this with at least three questions. Try to come up with several answers as you do so.

“The improv is a very useful tool for introducing, enhancing or reintroducing playfulness we have outgrown.”

As another exercise, get very relaxed and make a list of seven ways you would like to develop your creativity. Then, pick several areas and ask what you have to do to grow in each one.

Fundamental Principles of Improvisation

Improvisation rests upon four fundamental principles. First, you must be completely in the present moment so you can learn and change. You must open up your own mind and spirit.

“Improvisation provides a mechanism by which we can practice challenging our patterns without breaking the machinery. It provides a system with which we can practice handling change in positive and effective ways.”

In fact, this principle is probably the only absolute requirement. You can regard everything else as merely a guideline, suggestion, idea or technique. First, you must open the door to others to be able to communicate with them, so you need openings to learn or teach anything new. Thus, start by creating an open mind and spirit. Then, strive to become completely aware of the present moment, so you can work and act in present time.

“Opening doors between people is a key to communication. Before we can learn or teach anything new, we must have openings.”

To be in the present, get relaxed. Then, release the past. Think about what has happened to you in the last few moments, in the last 15 minutes, in the last hour or two, of the past day, of the last week, and so on - going back over the last five years, 10 years, to when you were a small child. Next, release the future. Think about what you will do now, then over the next couple of hours, tomorrow, next week, and so on - into the next five years, 10 years and into the next generation. Finally, explore the present by paying more attention to whatever you perceive from all of your senses.

“After creating an open mind and spirit, you must strive to become completely aware of the present moment.”

You must strive to become completely honest with yourself. This means you must recognize your own motives and motivations. You must look at the world with "true eyes," so that you see things you may not want to see - such as information about yourself that you would usually ignore. Open yourself up to the world’s wonder, delight, kindness, compassion and other positive, joyful qualities.

“You must strive to become completely honest with yourself.”

You must learn to become completely honest with at least one other person. Although you can’t be completely honest with everyone at all times in your life, being honest and open with at least one other person is a way to further your personal development and to correct your errors. Examples of such honesty include the Catholic confessional and 12-step programs. You also can turn to a confidant such as a spouse or best friend. The more people with whom you can be completely honest, the better. This honesty will make you happier - and you will have more to share with others, too.

“Improvisation is more than a free-form, free-for-all. Mental preparation is required. You need to know your audience. You must know what you want to accomplish. There is even planning to do.”

You must put your work out for public view. While improvisation requires thought and personal exploration, you must act in front of others, participating in exercises with the outside world.

Improvisation Techniques

Improvisation is not just a free-form free-for-all. It doesn’t mean you make up things as you go along. You must start with mental preparation. Know your audience, and know what you want to accomplish. You must plan and train, so you can make use of the communication, and community, that you evoke.

“Making greater connections with people is a primary product of the improv path - actively exploring the uses of improv techniques, theories, principles, ideas, suggestions, exercises, games and tools.”

Improv also means using all of the senses - seeing, hearing, listening, touching, tasting and smelling. Seeing not only involves what you see around you, but your internal vision (mental pictures, symbols, recognition and memory). Hearing means listening to your internal voice.

Improv also helps activate the senses of touch, smell and taste, and it will attune you more to your surrounding space. It even will help make you more aware of the spiritual sense - the invisible sense of connection that links us together.

To build a good communication environment with a group, have participants mill around, making short statements to one another. First, have everyone respond with, "Yes, but..." Then, try the same process, saying, "Yes, and..." This will help to create a more positive, open environment that promotes listening, cooperation and being in the moment.

Greater Connections

You can apply improv techniques in the workplace in a number of ways, including developing awareness of patterns, exploring fear, and tapping into feelings and emotions. For example:

  • Make greater connections with others - Use improv to help solve problems, enhance learning and implement leadership objectives and initiatives.
  • Recognize patterns - Improv can help you see how you are all bonded and in this together.
  • Explore fear - You can use improv techniques to encourage people to open up about their fears, better face them and put them aside.
  • Explore and express your feelings and emotions - Write down your feelings, and how different parts of your body feel in the present moment. Make a list of all the emotions you can name. Practice complete relaxation through balance and stepping exercises.
  • Explore the use of language. Looking at both body and verbal language will make you more open and aware, too. Try playing with words, and notice if any differences exist between your internal and external language.
  • Use laughter to improve communication - Laughter promotes relaxation and brings people together. Look for things to laugh about.

Applied Improv

When you use improv methods, consider the number of people with whom you work, and the way people form into groups in your organization. The size, shape or spatial configuration of the group plays a part in how people interact. Avoid putting people in physical settings where they are uncomfortable or beyond their level of ability. Yet, when you challenge their comfort and ability within limits, you promote creativity.

In improv games, two-person activities (especially when others observe) will feel most personally risky. However, when you divide people into pairs working together, feelings of risk will diminish. Often, getting people together in a circle will help participants feel safer. But if the circle has six or fewer people, it may feel too intimate to work well. Experiment with groups of different sizes.

"The improv manager must stand up in front of others and engage them in the exercises. This is the core of ’participant-centered training’ and of participant-centered change and development." Start with an opening exercise that helps the group warm up and creates rapport. Using physical activities are especially good. Ask people to create paper balls, and toss them or juggle them. Hold a scavenger hunt, where groups look for different items.

Then, use games to promote communication, playfulness and group bonding. In "Word for Word," people take turns answering a question individually, offering a word in sequence to make a sentence. In "Babble," people create sentences or otherwise express different emotions, such as being angry, sad, confused and so on. In the "Four-Square Matrix," participants create a playing space with four distinct areas, and assign an emotion to each area. Then they stand in the squares and have a conversation based on being in the different areas of emotion.

You can use more advanced games like storytelling, "Emotional Blow-Up," "Freeze-Tag," "Headlines" and others in which participants tell stories or act out various situations. These games increase creativity, spontaneity, openness, playfulness and other positive qualities.

About the Author

Robert Lowe is the founder of Improvisation, Inc., an educational consulting firm specializing in the use of improvisational theater techniques for organizational development. His clients include AT&T, Georgia Pacific Corporation, the Government Services Administration and the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Lowe has been a teacher, director, player and observer for more than 20 years.

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Improvisation, Inc.

Book Improvisation, Inc.

Harnessing Spontaneity to Engage People and Groups

Jossey-Bass,
 


24 February 2026

Stop Self-Sabotage

Recommendation

Never has the saying “You are your own worst enemy” taken on more meaning than in this analysis of self-sabotage. Clinical psychotherapist Pat Pearson takes a close look at how people prevent themselves from achieving abundant success and happiness. She explains that individuals set “Deserve Levels” for every aspect of their lives. If they try to exceed these self-imposed limits, they become conflicted and often undermine their success with various self-sabotage strategies. Ultimately, if you don’t believe at your very core that you deserve something, you won’t allow yourself to have it. You’ll lose weight just to gain it back, fail to develop an intimate relationship or get fired from your dream job. If you feel you are constantly falling short of getting what you want, BooksInShort recommends this book to you. Its systematic advice, self-tests, transforming exercises, concrete action recommendations, self-affirming strategies and real-life examples will help you smash your “internal glass ceiling.”

Take-Aways

  • People sabotage themselves when they are conflicted about their goals or feel unworthy of success.
  • Your “Deserve Levels” are self-imposed limits that reflect your unconscious and conscious feelings of worth.
  • You create Deserve Levels for every aspect of your life, based on your “beliefs, self-esteem, self-confidence and permission from your past.”
  • Elevating your Deserve Levels requires awareness, understanding and a desire to change.
  • Five “sabotage strategies” can keep you from reaching your goals.
  • They are “throwing [success] away, settling for less, resignation, fatal flaw and denial.”
  • By changing your ingrained reactions and beliefs, you can achieve new, positive results.
  • Create a positive inner dialogue and express your unresolved emotions.
  • Avoid “Drama Triangles” in your relationships by participating equally, asking others to reciprocate, stating firmly and clearly what you don’t want to do, and setting boundaries.
  • Learn to feel deserving of all life has to offer by loving and nurturing yourself.

Summary

You Deserve It!

Everyone self-sabotages. Some people continually form unhealthy relationships. Still others underperform at work and create problems. Although people don’t deliberately engage in these behaviors, they are thwarting themselves nonetheless. If you are stuck in a self-sabotaging pattern, you can take steps to break free. Start by understanding why you keep yourself from getting what you want most. Become aware of your “Deserve Levels,” which dictate what you think you are worthy of in life. You set them in every area of your existence, including your casual and intimate relationships, your career and your health. Four factors determine your Deserve Levels:

  1. “Beliefs” – You developed your belief system during childhood. It is a compilation of your experiences and the messages you received from your family, friends, teachers and religious leaders, and from everything you read or watched. You form separate beliefs for the various aspects of your life, including faith, career, family, success, health, and so on. Some of your beliefs work to your advantage, but others hold you back and restrict your Deserve Levels. Avoid thoughts like “I have so much that I shouldn’t want more,” “Everyone else deserves it but not me” or “I haven’t earned it.”
  2. “Self-esteem” – People often consider the words “self-esteem” and “self-confidence” to be interchangeable, but they are actually two different concepts. Self-esteem is “unconditional acknowledgment for your own worth and lovability.” Your self-esteem benefits when you receive love just for being you, a special and unique individual.
  3. “Self-confidence” – Self-confidence is “conditional acknowledgment for your performance.” You gain self-confidence when people you love and respect admire you for something you have done, such as play the piano well or hit a home run. You can have high self-esteem and low self-confidence – or vice versa – simultaneously. Either inequity will negatively affect your Deserve Levels.
  4. “Permission from your past” – During your childhood, your family members and role models either granted or withheld their “permission for [your] success” through the messages they communicated and the way they behaved. Maybe your mother cautioned you against wanting too much, or your father encouraged you to succeed in one area but discouraged your growth in others. By age five, you had a firmly embedded “permission system” that continues to dictate your adult behavior. Challenge such ingrained thinking and develop an “adult permission system” that will allow you to surpass your self-imposed limits. For example, Brittany is an entrepreneur who found that she could never make more than $60,000 per year, even though other professionals in her field brought in much more. During therapy, she realized that she was unconsciously afraid to earn more than her father did. When she became aware of this obstacle, she called her father and confirmed that earning more than he did would not affect his love for her. Obtaining his permission enabled her to earn $150,000 the following year.
“All of us struggle with some wound that separates us from all that we can be, do or have.”

Self-sabotage occurs when you unconsciously enforce your Deserve Levels and thus limit your growth. Remove the roadblocks that keep you from your desired path by recognizing that you are worthy of success. Through awareness, understanding and a desire to change, you can elevate your Deserve Levels and increase your chances for happiness.

“Fear: The Fatal Attraction”

Fear plays a leading role in self-sabotage. When something bad happens to you, you fear that it will happen again. However, the more you worry about it, the more you “make [it] real.” For example, Chris is an actor who dreaded rejection. Whenever he received a callback for an audition, he would become so apprehensive he would drink too much the night before. As a result, his audition performance would be subpar, and he would experience the rejection he feared. Do not give in to your fear. Avoid negative language like “I can’t” or “I’m not good enough.” Instead, use positive phrases, such as “I choose,” “I’m worth it” and “I can handle this.”

“Sabotage Strategies”

Five sabotage strategies prohibit you from getting what you want in your personal and professional life:

  1. “Throwing it away” – Why are 78% of National Football League (NFL) stars broke, divorced or out of work within two years of retiring from professional football? Most fall victim to the “postachievement” tendency to throw success away. They made more money and attained more notoriety than they expected, and that made them “uncomfortable.” In response, they unconsciously sabotaged themselves. Examples of this “I can get it, but I can’t keep it” sabotage strategy abound. Take Oprah Winfrey’s struggle to remain thin. Every time she loses weight, she puts it back on again. In 1992, when she accepted a Daytime Emmy, she weighed more than 230 pounds. Her very public struggle illustrates people’s instinct to destroy success they don’t believe they deserve. If you don’t feel you are truly worthy of something, you will destroy it once you get it.
  2. “Settling for less” – In this sabotage strategy, people stop themselves just before they reach their goals. This behavior can be difficult to pinpoint because settling for less can disguise itself as selflessness. However, if you don’t believe you deserve to have everything life offers, you’ll always give up just inches before you reach the finish line. For example, in 1988, Senator Gary Hart was leading the race for the U.S. presidential nomination when a scandal ruined his chances. Hart had goaded the press to “put a tail on” him because he was so sure they could not get photographic evidence of his alleged womanizing. A photographer who did follow Hart took a picture of him on a boat with beautiful blond model Donna Rice on his lap. When the photo hit the media, his chances of being elected president disappeared. Hart’s inner turmoil caused him to sabotage his chance for success. Chronically falling short of your goals is an indicator that you might be a victim of this “preachievement” sabotage strategy.
  3. “Resignation” – People who use the resignation strategy drop out of the race before the starter pistol goes off. This type of sabotage occurs when your self-talk is so negative and defeating that you give up before you even try. A classic example is failing to initiate a conversation with an attractive stranger because you assume that all relationships end in heartache. However, your Deserve Levels will remain low if you don’t learn how to ask for what you want. When you make a request, assume you will receive a positive response. If you don’t get one, continue asking until you get the desired answer. Be precise and specific in your request. Instead of saying, “Let’s get together sometime,” ask, “Would you like to get together this Friday?” Learning to free yourself from unnecessary guilt is another crucial skill. If you cause someone pain, feeling guilty is appropriate. However, most people feel guilty for problems that are not their fault. Learn to differentiate between the two. Absolve yourself of undeserved guilt.
  4. “The fatal flaw” – Sometimes people’s lives may seem to be on track, but then they suddenly derail in spite of outward appearances. These individuals may be sabotaging themselves by failing to combat a fatal flaw. Fatal flaws take many forms, such as “perfectionism, procrastination and narcissism.” Perfectionists strive for unattainable goals and feel stress and anxiety as a result. They may become inflexible and even lose the joy of accomplishment. Procrastinators have mastered the art of doing anything and everything except what they need to do to help themselves. And narcissists often allow their deep desire for admiration to guide them toward destructive behaviors. In a famous example, former president Bill Clinton’s narcissism and perfectionism led to his secret affair with Monica Lewinsky. His feelings of self-importance and his need for admiration deluded him into thinking that the rules didn’t apply to him. Yet when his affair was discovered, it shed an unflattering light on his “hidden life.” Other types of fatal flaws include addictions and uncontrolled anger. Examining your behavior for these and other fatal flaws is a crucial first step in stopping this form of sabotage.
  5. “Denial” – Everyone is in denial about something, be it health, weight, relationships or work. People use denial to avoid thinking about unpleasant matters in their lives or to dodge unwanted emotions. Minimizing issues, rationalizing poor choices or behaviors, blaming others to avoid assuming responsibility or doing nothing are all forms of denial. Denial enables people to evade their problems instead of dealing with them. For instance, actress Winona Ryder was arrested in a high-end store in Beverly Hills for shoplifting more than $5,000 in merchandise. The press soon revealed that for three years, Ryder had been battling an addiction to painkillers. Such addictions cause people to neglect “personal responsibility” and deny the reality and extent of their problems.

“Deserve Breakthroughs,” “Self-Talk” and “Self-Release”

Self-sabotage is a response to “unconscious conditions set in motion by your beliefs from your past.” When you understand that you can change your ingrained reactions and belief system, you can achieve new, positive results. You will begin to think, “I deserve better.”

“When we face our own fears and practice the techniques of change, we can stop sabotaging our hopes and dreams.”

People constantly engage in ongoing dialogues with themselves, mostly on an unconscious level. Your positive and negative self-talk affects how you feel. Your unconscious mind does not distinguish between “fantasy or fact,” so if you are repeatedly telling yourself negative statements, your unconscious mind will eventually believe them – even if they are untrue. Examples of sabotaging self-talk include thoughts like, “I’ll never get that promotion,” “He would never be interested in me” or “I just can’t lose weight.” By changing your inner dialogue, you can change your reality. Begin by recognizing negative self-talk and forcing yourself to stop. Replace it with positive thoughts.

“Your history is written deeply into your psyche.”

Follow these four steps to create “Deserve Affirmations”:

  1. Use the words “I choose,” not “I am.”
  2. Truly believe your affirmation as you say it.
  3. “Feel good when you say it.”
  4. Ensure that your statement has a “positive focus.”
“Far from being a sign of weakness, asking for and receiving support from others is part of being a deserving, strong and self-sufficient person.”

Positive self-talk will set good things in motion, but you must follow it up by addressing your “unresolved feelings.” Many people grow up in families and cultures that expect them to repress negative feelings such as fear, anger, disappointment or sadness. However, suppressed feelings can cause anxiety, depression and even physical symptoms such as fatigue, ulcers or backaches. If you can learn how to express your feelings effectively through self-release, you’ll become emotionally healthy.

“The Drama Triangle”

Good communication builds strong relationships. Unfortunately, the Drama Triangle entangles many people in the roles of “rescuer, victim or persecutor.” Rescuers give too much and sacrifice their own needs in the process. Victims want other people to fix them and take responsibility for their problems. Persecutors are fed-up rescuers. Avoid the Drama Triangle by taking these steps:

  • Be an equal partner in your relationships. Don’t expect others to do all the work.
  • Ask people to reciprocate.
  • Be firm and clear about things you don’t want to do.
  • Establish your boundaries and stick to them.
“Life is meant to be full and abundant. There’s enough sunlight, air, hope and love for everyone.”

Finally, learn to love yourself. As simple as this may seem, it is very difficult for people who are used to self-criticism and self-sabotage. Forgive yourself for your mistakes and shortcomings, and give yourself the same love and respect you so willingly give to others.

About the Author

Pat Pearson, M.S.S.W., is a clinical psychotherapist with more than two decades of experience. She is also a motivational speaker and the author of You Deserve the Best, Reclaiming the Fire in Your Heart and Party with a Purpose.

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Stop Self-Sabotage

Book Stop Self-Sabotage

Get Out of Your Own Way to Earn More Money, Improve Your Relationships, and Find the Success You Deserve

McGraw-Hill,
 


24 February 2026

Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald's

Recommendation

Every day, McDonald's serves food to nearly 50 million people in 30,000 restaurants worldwide. It owns about half of the globally branded, fast food restaurants outside the U.S. In India, you can order a Maharaja Mac with two lamb patties. New Zealand’s Kiwi Burger has a slice of beef and a fried egg. In Uruguay, the egg on the McHuevo burger is poached. With annual sales at the typical outlet averaging more than $2 million, many franchisees have become millionaires. In fact, seven out of 10 current McDonald’s executives began as restaurant “crewmembers” and built their careers through the chain. Ray Kroc, who made McDonald’s the world’s largest fast food company, once said he didn’t know what type of food it would be selling in the year 2000 (he died in 1984), but he was certain that it would be selling more of that food than anyone else. Author Paul Facella worked at McDonald's for 33 years. Albeit with the attitude of a fond insider, he details its history and philosophy, and the lessons he learned from the legendary Kroc. BooksInShort relishes serving up this primer on McDonald’s – and in some sense, America’s – way of doing business.

Take-Aways

  • Ray Kroc built McDonald’s in 1955.
  • In 1966, McDonald’s had around 800 restaurants and more than $200 million in annual sales. By 1999, it had nearly 30,000 stores and more than $40 billion in sales.
  • McDonald’s lives by the “QSC” principle: “quality, service, cleanliness.” Kroc quickly shut down any branch that did not meet the QSC standard.
  • This philosophy and its corporate standards have made it the world’s largest restaurant company.
  • Kroc refused to take kickbacks, even though they were standard when he started in the restaurant business.
  • Kroc instituted handshake deals with suppliers, an approach still in effect today.
  • He made his kitchens into “fishbowls,” so customers could see how clean they were.
  • McDonald’s operations depend on a “three-legged stool”: “corporate, suppliers and franchisees.”
  • Corporate staff members learn from taking field visits to McDonald’s restaurants. The visits also keep managers in touch with customers.
  • McDonald’s operating philosophy and core values would work well for any business.

Summary

The Big Mac: It Certainly Is That

Paul Facella’s career at McDonald’s began in 1966 at store number 768 on New York’s Long Island. At age 16, he started as a member of the kitchen crew. At the time, McDonald’s had 862 restaurants and $219 million in sales. By the time Facella retired from the company’s management 33 years later, it had 28,707 stores and more than $40 billion in annual sales. No other restaurant organization in the world can match its amazing growth rate or sales figures. McDonald’s, known for its iconic Golden Arches and its famous Big Mac hamburger, is one of the world’s most recognized brands. McDonald’s proud advertising message, “billions and billions sold,” shows how well its marketing works. At heart, the business operates with clear, elevated principles, including its touchstone: “QSC” – “quality, service and cleanliness.”

“McDonald’s system did a lot right – a whole lot right, again and again, year after year.”

The company built its international franchise on seven “leadership principles”: probity, strong interpersonal bonds, high quality, leadership, valor, communication and acknowledgment of its top achievers. These touchstones continue to mold the way the company operates:

1. “Honesty and Integrity: All in a Handshake”

During the mid-1950s, when Ray Kroc began building McDonald’s, kickbacks – bribes from suppliers to get restaurants’ contracts – were standard operating procedure in the food business. Even though kickbacks benefited restaurateurs like Kroc, he refused to play this dishonest game. He took a much different tack. He established handshake deals with suppliers instead of using complicated contracts filled with legal fog. Many McDonald’s suppliers are second-generation and even third-generation firms that still work with the company on the basis of a handshake.

“The promise to do right by the operator in order to best serve the customer was a given within the company.”

Kroc made sure that all his restaurants were totally transparent, with “no walls,” “no doors” and “fishbowl” kitchens. He wanted customers to see everything inside the entire restaurant. Does McDonald’s “We have nothing to hide” approach pay off? It seems so. Annually, 7,000 prospects apply for McDonald’s grueling, owner-operator training program. The company selects only 70 or so to join the “McFamily,” as it is known among employees. All McDonald’s managers learn:

  • Always treat people in a fair manner and with utmost respect.
  • Lasting partnerships are not based on quick profits, but on honesty, trust and integrity.
  • Run from anything illegal, immoral or unethical.
  • Your customers are your kings and queens. Treat them as such.
  • To build trust, be open in all your operations and dealings with others.
  • Make your word your bond. Deliver what you promise.
  • Be a good corporate citizen.

2. “Relationships”

McDonald’s treats the need to form strong relationships as a nearly sacred concept. Honorary Chairman Fred Turner characterized McDonald’s corporate relationships as a “three-legged stool,” made up of staff, suppliers and owner-operators. Each group thoroughly depends on the other two and cannot stand without them. Case in point: In 1959, McDonald’s was almost broke due to a real-estate transaction that had backfired. Someone had pocketed funds the company needed to construct new stores. Suddenly it had to come up with $500,000 it did not possess or face the possibility of bankruptcy. To protect McDonald’s, its suppliers, including Honey Hill Dairy, Interstate Foods and Continental Coffee, quickly kicked in the money.

“Ray Kroc never graduated from high school. Most of the executives in the early years and throughout the history of the company had a remarkable lack of formal education.”

McDonald’s maxim that its owner-operator licensees are “in business for themselves, but not by themselves” typifies the company’s support for cooperative relationships. Additionally, McDonald’s is not a highly centralized organization led by elite executives who confer only with each other. At McDonald’s, everyone is on a first-name basis. “This company is made [up] of 3,000 presidents,” said Frank Behan, former senior vice president. Relationship realities include:

  • Your organization cannot survive without its stakeholders. Treat them like gold.
  • Know your co-workers and what is important to them.
  • Make your co-workers your friends and they will do anything to help you.
  • Competition between colleagues is self-defeating. Teamwork is more productive.
  • When you mentor others, your investment in them becomes far more valuable.

3. “Standards: Never Be Satisfied”

McDonald’s executives who came up through the ranks are known as people with “ketchup in their blood.” They operate with a single staunch standard: “Never be satisfied.” Ray Kroc instituted this philosophy from the beginning. McDonald’s common lore includes this story from its early days: Kroc went to an immensely popular branch that did not meet the company’s high cleanliness standards. He drove to the restaurant and saw customers who wanted to order food waiting in a long line that snaked deep into the parking lot. Kroc jumped up on an outdoor picnic table. “I’m Ray Kroc. I own McDonald’s,” he shouted to the surprised patrons. “This restaurant doesn’t meet our standards. It’s terrible and I am embarrassed, so I am closing the store.”

“It’s not what you do, but the way you do it.” [ – Ray Kroc]

Displeased with the quality of the food at another restaurant, Kroc ordered the manager to cut his prices. “Your food is not worth anything,” he said. “It doesn’t taste good.” Every McDonald’s employee must meet specified QSC job standards and each manager must fulfill QSC store standards. At the typical McDonald’s, employees wash the windows and garbage bins every day, inside and outside. They try to keep the bathrooms perfect and the stainless steel kitchen equipment shining. Kroc believed that no matter how well you do things, you can always do them better. This remains a guiding principle at McDonald’s, as do these concepts:

  • “Good enough” is never good enough.
  • Build your organization’s strengths and minimize its weaknesses.
  • Fix your problems. If you don’t, they will just get worse.
  • Promote only those who strive for the highest standards.
  • The standards you set become the air your staff and customers breathe.

4. “Lead by Example”

Facella did not meet Kroc until 1978. By then, Facella was the director of McDonald’s New York operations. Kroc, who was visiting from corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, wanted to take Facella out to dinner. Kroc picked him up in a shiny stretch limo to go to 21, a celebrated New York restaurant and former glamorous speakeasy. When Facella got in the limo, Kroc told him to call him “Ray.” Facella started to sit in an uncomfortable “flip” seat behind the limo’s front bench. “You are my guest tonight,” said Kroc, waving Facella to the plush back seat. “I’ll sit there.” After dinner, Kroc took Facella on a tour of 21’s famous basement, which has a “secret door” that concealed the restaurant’s liquor supply during Prohibition. Facella never forgot Kroc’s graciousness. Kroc gave the young midlevel manager a role model to emulate. Lessons to learn:

  • Your employees judge you by your actions, not your words. Act accordingly.
  • Stay close to your customers so you understand them.
  • Visits to the field are the best moments to teach your organization’s expectations and values, and to observe what is going on in your company outside your office.
  • The promotions you make demonstrate the qualities you value and expect.
  • Philanthropy is not just good business. It is also the right thing to do.

5. “Courage: Telling It Like It Is”

During the 1980s, the U.S. Army offered McDonald’s an incredibly lucrative, one-of-a-kind business opportunity: to set up restaurants on all army bases. Through this McDonald’s would have substantially expanded its operations and sales. At the same time, it could have made McDonald’s the restaurant of choice for thousands of young soldiers who might continue to patronize it in civilian life. After much thought, then-CEO and Chairman Fred Turner turned down the deal. Why? Because the Army planned to supervise the individual McDonald’s restaurants. This ran directly counter to McDonald’s model of individual franchise owner-operators who uphold its vital QSC standards. In business, as in life, it takes courage to do the right thing. Turner did the right thing. Maintaining the company’s standards meant more to him than profits. He knew:

  • You know when something is wrong. Don’t choose that path.
  • Strive for what is right, even if it shakes up the status quo.
  • Playing it safe is no way to conduct business. The world rewards risk takers.
  • Welcome challenges, no matter how difficult, so you and your company grow.
  • Be straightforward and truthful.

6. “Communication”

From 1967 to 1973, McDonald’s underwent massive decentralization. Instead of looking to Oak Brook for direction, owner-operators now would turn to their regional offices. Decentralization greatly improved internal communication. Under the old system, owner-operators would call Oak Brook with questions and concerns, skipping their regional offices. Then Oak Brook executives had to call the appropriate regional office for its perspective. That was inefficient. Now, McDonald’s regional offices can make their own primary decisions about acquiring and developing land, licensing and other matters. The information flow is better and the company can operate much closer to the ground, where the customers are. The communication lessons are:

  • Communicate your goals and objectives so employees understand them.
  • Open direct communication between your stakeholders and your decision makers.
  • Be proactive in your communication. Never let harmful rumors fester.
  • “My way or the highway” is a dumb way to do business. Use feedback, employee involvement and occasional compromises to create a better route.
  • Make employee gatherings opportunities to promote openness and respectful debate.
  • Never make business debates personal. Show respect for everyone’s ideas.

7. “Recognition”

Microsoft knows software. MGM knows film. And McDonald’s knows hamburgers. But it also knows recognition. McDonald’s annually gives 23 special awards to licensees, suppliers and, of course, employees. It also gives out numerous regional and zone awards. The awards are substantial and the presentations often involve the honoree’s relatives. For instance, when McDonald’s honored David Delgado for his activities in a national Hispanic organization, he recalls, “Ed Schmitt, then the president of the company, came down to our area and congratulated me in front of the whole floor.” Delgado also received a week’s vacation at the company’s plush Lake Geneva corporate retreat. Delgado says that his recognition “encouraged other people to join organizations as well.” This demonstrates that companies should:

  • Reward workers whenever possible.
  • To inspire employees, praise good performance in public with their families present.
  • Designate a high-profile area of the workplace to acknowledge good work. Routinely update it.
  • Send handwritten notes to employees about their good work. Such messages can have as much positive impact as a gift or money, indeed, sometimes even more.
  • Still, make performance awards as meaningful as possible.
  • Set up an awards budget and don’t be cheap.
“We take the hamburger business more seriously than anyone else.” [ – Kroc]

McDonald’s standards, values and principles are universal. They work for McDonald’s. They can also work for your firm. McDonald’s leaders always set their sights as high as possible. That is the best way – and, according to McDonald’s, the only way – to become a true market leader.

About the Authors

Paul Facella spent 33 years at McDonald’s, advancing from crewperson to regional vice president. He learned about business directly from McDonald’s founder, the legendary Ray Kroc. Adina Genn is a journalist.

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Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald's

Book Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald's

The 7 Leadership Principles that Drive Break Out Success

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