The General Manager's Iceberg Theory

Happy November,

No I am not celebrating winter by talking about huge floating mountains of ice.  I am certainly NOT writing about the titanic and the unsinkable Molly Brown or even wonder how or why it won an Oscar? What i want to talk about is those Iceberg's you have in your restaurants.  My simple point is this: Most icebergs only show 10% of thier mass. The rest of the iceberg (90%) lie under water. You would need a submarine to see the whole picture.  In other words that 10% is enough to sink you.  You would have to eradicate the entire mountain of ice not to sink.

Ok..so what does this have to do with running your restaurant?  So lets give a simple example that happens to restaurants all over the United States.  It is the middle of your shift on Thursday night and all of your front of the house employees are complaining about not having enough silverware.  You just bought a ton on the first of the month.  Servers blame Bussers, Bussers Blame Servers for not Pre Bussing their own tables,  Both blame the Dish Washer.  Your managers want them to dig the dumpster for not paying attention.  This happens periodically and it never changes.. For the time being you have been running up against the tip of the Iceberg and it is winning because you have not dealt with the entire issue.  Guess what? You have ten other ones out there lurking waiting for you to step in it.. Lets reduce it..  Address it as a system issue. Look at the entire picture: You have no procedures or systems to reduce silverware loss. Your communication and Manager Development is lacking.  Your ordering systems and Declining Budgets are missing. Now you see the whole BERG.. And its you Because the Buck stops here!! Accountability begins with you..

As the GM of your restaurant you are the both the problem and solution. As the problem you only recognize that you are out of silverware once again. If your only solution is to go to Smart and Final for silverware and wash repeat and rinse then you are the problem.  If you see the rest of the iceberg as a system issue and lack of leadership and communication by YOUR team you have taken the first step.  Every issue you have in your restaurant is due to a lack of leadership or failure to adhere to systems and people development... Think about it.. Guest Service issues (Training Systems and Development), Produce Issues (Food Cost Systems, Ordering and Shelf Life Systems), Labor Issues (Management Development and Labor Systems).

Restaurants in general are loaded with tons of moving parts and problems are a by product.  If you can grasp the Iceberg Theory in management you will thrive.  I am hoping you are a champ and not a chump because if you are the Iceberg you wont last.  With that said... Happy Thanksgiving!