What Can We Learn From Waffle House?

What Can We Learn From Waffle House

It Might Surprise You!

By Jim "Gymbeaux" Brown April 27, 2015

It's Sunday morning and I was on my way to stop by the local Sams' Club to pick up a birthday cake for my daughter's birthday.  Sams' did not open until 10:00 and it was 9:20 so I stopped at the Waffle House on Brownswitch Road in Slidell, Louisiana for breakfast.

A word of explanation is in order.  Many years ago I learned a valuable lesson and that is to imagine that everyone you meet has a tattoo on his or her forehead that reads - WCILFTP?  And HCIMTPFI?  What do they mean?  What Can I Learn From This Person?  And, How Can I Make This Person Feel Important?  It is a two-way street no matter how you look at it.  You can learn something from both the best person as well as the worst person in the  world and you can always make someone feel important.  This morning as I entered this particular Waffle House it was no different but I got far more than just a breakfast.

As I entered I took one of the two remaining open seats in the restaurant; it was a counter seat.  As I waited to be served I did a quick head count of customers - 29 including me.  I also did a head count of the employees - 9 including the one serving me.  My Waffle House lesson started the moment I walked into the restaurant when at least three of the workers welcomed me to Waffle House.  When was the last time that happened to you when you entered any business of late.  #1WDIL - What Did I Learn?  It takes only a second to be cordial and welcome people to your place of employment whether it is your job or not.  Being cordial is EVERYNE'S job!

I took my seat and immediately someone again welcomed me and ask how they could serve me.  I placed my order that included coffee and the coffee was almost immediately placed in front me.  #2WDIL?  Promptness, and be polite no matter how busy you are.  #3WDIL?  The nine workers were all extremely busy but they all without exception seemed to have two gears - one was full out keep busy.  The second gear was almost full stop as they would not only stop their physical activity, they would also stop their mental activity as they came face to face with their customers.  They would slow to a stop and smile and ask how was the food, is there anything else they could get for their customers and may they warm the coffee.  Then it was full speed ahead again.  In other words, take time to smell the roses and treat everyone like they are the most important person in the world at that particular moment (even if they are behaving like a jerk).

While waiting for the food, I could not help but notice that they all spoke in code.  The servers would verbally send their code to the cooks who immediately coded the order by placing a plate or a bowl on the work area and then place something on/in the plate/bowl that signified exactly what the coded order meant.  Everyone knew exactly what they were doing and everyone waited for their turn to speak.  #4WDIL?  The importance of training.  Everyone and I do mean everyone, knew exactly what was going on even though I didn't.  #5WDIL?  When everyone is properly trained, the orders were properly prepared.  As stated, there were 29 customers on this Sunday morning and I did not hear any of them complain that their order was improperly completed.  #6WDIL?  Accuracy of service IS EVERYTHING!

Wait, it gets better.  If you have ever been to a Waffle House you know that the area in which the servers and cooks work can't be much more than 6 feet wide.  In this area these nine people did not once bump into one another.  #7WDIL?  If you know what you and your team are doing, space is not all that critical as long as you respect what others are doing.  Speaking of that, my server as stated would be going 100 mph but suddenly stop and ask if there is anything I needed.  She would then go about her business and that business was not just waiting on her customers, it also may involve washing dishes, cleaning counters/tables and even sweeping the floor all the while greeting customers both coming and going.  #8WDIL?  You may have a job description but customer service is Number One for everyone and there is nothing above or below your job description that if it needs to be done, is done by everyone and not ignored.

It was then I realized that of the nine workers I did not notice any one of them appearing to be a manager although I am sure one of them was.  #9WDIL?  Teamwork is everything!  When everyone does their job and a little bit more there is no need for a manager to be constantly looking over everyone's shoulder.  Being in charge is not a title, it is an attitude.

What about the food you ask.  Good question.  It was as expected; it was hot, it was tasty and it was served in a reasonable time.  Again it was as one would expect from Waffle House.  #10WDIL?  Customer expectations must be served and maintained if you want to maintain your reputation; good or bad.  Sadly some customers come to expect certain things and never fully appreciate exactly what goes into making the experience "as expected" even if that expectation might be exceptional and therefore unto itself non-memorable.  Think about it.  Do you remember a good meal and/or service, or do you remember a bad meal and/or service?  What is important is that as a worker, did you do your best to make that experience exceptional?

Then came the surprise that made me smile.  One of the other servers stopped in front of me and leaned over and with a sly smile said, and I quote, "We need some entertainment in here; I'm going to create some havoc!"  There is fun-loving havoc and there is horrible havoc.  I know she fully meant the fun-loving kind.  Sadly, I had to leave and could not stay to see what her idea of havoc meant - my loss for sure.  #11WDIL?  Have fun while you work, it is much better than the alternative.

Sunday morning at Waffle House; only 25 minutes of my time.  You can learn something from everyone and every situation you encounter IF ONLY YOU PAY ATTENTION!  I think I tipped my server 90% this particular morning  because the lessons I learned this morning were as good if not better than any sales training I can recall given it was for only 25 minutes.  And finally #12WDIL?  It doesn't matter if your customer is paying attention to what you and your team is doing - give it your best; SOMEONE IS ALWAYS PAYING ATTENTION.

1962 COMMUNIST GOALS

COMMUNIST GOALS (1962)

FROM "THE NAKED COMMUNIST"

BY W. CLEON SKOUSEN

NOTE:  The EMBOLDEN items are, in my OPINION, already have been accomplished or are well on their way to being accomplished.  Keep in mind that my OPINION is based on the 2014 World and these goals were written about in 1962!  Of course my OPINION could be wrong, that is for you to decide but I believe in my OPINION and that is the reason I prepared this list from the above book.  Deny these things have happened or are happening if you will; I believe them to be so!  (35 of the 45 are completed or being developed!)

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U. S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet Satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China.  Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the Germany question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the U.S. has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.  (Simply don't know if done)
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind.  If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as one-world government with its own independent armed forces.  (Some  Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as Moscow.  Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent office.  (Simply don't know if done)
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools.  Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda.  Soften  the curriculum.  Get control of teachers' associations.  Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.  (Surely not "all" but most)
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.  (Attack on Wall Street ring a bell)
20. Infiltrate the press.  Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policy-making positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression.  An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." 
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums.  "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive meaningless art."  (Crucifix in urine ring a bell)
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion.  Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a world-wide basis.  (This one bothers me the most since our current president, President Obama, has said this very thing!)
30. Discredit the American founding fathers.  Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man".
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of "the big picture."  Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture-education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.  (Abolished in 1974)
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies.  Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution.  Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents.  Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use "united force" to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.  (Not specifically "internationalized" but U.S. control was given up by President Carter to the government of Panama.)
45. Repeal the Connally Reservation so the U.S. cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over domestic problems.  Give the World Court jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.