AIG pays more bonuses!! Before you light the torches and get the rope....

AIG, the poster child for financial negligence, announced today it is preparing to pay out $235 million in bonuses to 400 people in its Financial Services division. The same AIG that has received over $180 billion in federal bailout money over the past year, and the same AIG whose collapse nearly crippled the global financial markets. Unbelievable! Unconscionable! Blatant arrogance and greed, and a slap in the face to every taxpayer in this country! Light the torches and get the rope!

But let’s wait a second before we start stringing people up, and take a deeper look at what is going on at AIG. Are they truly this irresponsible?
I have an acquaintance that works with AIG, and this is what I was told. The Financial Services division at AIG is those people who sell insurance, IRAs, investment products, etc. They are NOT paid employees- they do not get company paid benefits, insurance, 401K, or any of the other valuable and expensive benefits that Americans are only now realizing the importance of. They are independent contractors, who are paid commissions and bonuses only on revenue they bring to the company.
What? People being paid only on performance? Well too bad, their company is in the ditch, they should not get their paychecks, even though they exceeded their goals!

I had some very interesting conversations yesterday in a meeting. The first was whether casinos had the right morally and professionally to take tips from casino workers and give a portion to management. On one side, if blackjack dealers make all the tips, and make far more money than the managers, no one ever wants to be a manager. Obviously there is a need for managers. The floor managers and pit bosses certainly have a hand in creating the atmosphere where dealers get tips, so they should get a portion, correct? That was my point. The person I had the conversation with had the opposite view. “Why should a dealer have to give the tips he made to someone else? How is that fair? The casino should step up and pay managers more if that is a problem. This isn’t socialism. Why should the successful people have to support the others?”

Another very valid viewpoint. It is a very narrow fence to be walking on, and one the government is facing on a much larger scale right now. Millions of people unemployed and getting unemployment benefits. Companies like GM are going bankrupt and getting billions in federal aid to stay afloat. Who is paying for that? Why, you are. Your tax dollars at work. If you are working and paying taxes, you are subsidizing the 10% of the working force who are unemployed, as well as the billions of dollars in federal bailout money. And all of those attorneys on TV who are telling you it is okay to file bankruptcy and stiff the evil banks that loaned you money in good faith forget to tell you that every dollar you don’t pay them makes it tougher for them to stay in business; and if companies don’t stay in business, where exactly are you going to work? How does our country support itself?

Is the government morally obligated to support the citizens in times of need like this? Some say yes, some say no. Is the government putting itself in the impossible situation of trying to support both industry and the public with more money going out than it can possibly bring in? Absolutely. Again, it is a very thin line with no easy answers.

The second discussion I was involved in was around capitalism. What is it? The definition in the discussion was the difference between what an employee makes in wages and the dollars his work produces. The difference in dollars is what allows business to make profit, grow, and create more jobs; which in turn allows more companies to make profit, grow, and create more jobs, and so on. It’s a circle of life kind of thing. In this pure form, capitalism is what allowed America to become the power it is. No other country in the world has ever given its people such an unfettered opportunity to create wealth and opportunity. Given that opportunity, Americans have reshaped the world and its economy over the past 100+ years. Capitalism is not a bad thing.

Which brings me back to AIG. AIG, from what I understand, is paying bonuses to the people that are actually bringing in revenue, making a positive contribution to the company’s bottom line, and hitting their financial goals. The agreement they have with AIG is that if they achieve their goals, AIG will incent them accordingly. So in a company that lost billions, we are going to create a national uproar because they are rewarding 400 people that are actually doing their jobs and helping turn the company around? We are going to penalize the people who are helping to slow the economic free fall AIG has been in? We are going to take the money they earned by doing their jobs and support people who didn’t? That is another slippery slope, and it is against the principles Americans have supported for 233 years.

Do I know for sure that these AIG employees all were top producers who deserve their bonuses? Absolutely not: I don’t know that. And if they aren’t, then that should be looked at very hard. But I do think that we should avoid the alarmist, sound bite headlines that we are barraged with and look a little deeper before we break out the tar and feathers. We might actually find some new seeds of growth in the economic waste land we are in.

We're Out of Hot Dogs...Again! A case study of faulty management decisions.

“Last week after a game we had to throw away 23 hot dogs and 7 hamburgers. That is too much. So here is the new policy…” And so it began. Has this happened in your business? A relatively small issue that your management team decides is a major crisis, and they overreact with a series of new policies that tie your hands and ultimately cost you- and them- bottom line profits? Well, you aren’t alone. It happens at concession stands also. Here is a case study of a management team that has focused on the process rather than the results, and by doing so has moved away from their value proposition and what their customers really want.

The old process: Hot dogs are steamed 50 – 75 at a time before the game, wrapped, and put under the heating lamps for customers to self-serve. As they get low, the volunteer staff will open more packages, put them in the steamer and wrap the hot dogs as needed, with an eye towards not running out, nor having too many out there for too long. It takes a bit of practice, but for the most part, we don’t run out of prepared hot dogs for any length of time, nor do we usually have too many of them wrapped for too long getting stale. Hamburgers are cooked by the chef. He will typically cook about 20 ahead of time, and keep them in a heated pan au jus to keep them fresh, but prepared, and within health department guidelines. There are typically 4-5 burgers prepped on buns with fries ready under the heating lamps for customers to grab when they come in. When the prepped burgers are gone, it is quick work to put more out.

The old results: Customers can usually get what they want quickly and get back out to the game. Sometimes the burgers and hot dogs sit a bit longer than you would like, and get a bit stale or dry. But consider that this is a concession stand at the ball game, not The Ritz. Our value proposition to our customers is to offer them fast food fast, and to keep the lines moving so they can get back out to the game. Our customers do not want to spend 15 minutes in line to get a beer and a burger.

The issue: At the end of a game, we had 23 wrapped hot dogs and 7 prepped burgers that had to be ‘spoiled’, or thrown out. They are marked down, and taken as a loss. Obviously, in a business you do not want to waste inventory. It is an unnecessary increase in your bottom line costs, and your procedures need to do everything possible to keep those losses from happening. It is something management absolutely needs to keep an eye on. But as with any business, care needs to be taken when making changes in procedure. Activities need to be thought out to the end, to make sure there are not unexpected results. Which is exactly what didn’t happen here. Because of one night of misjudged demand that led to spoils, a knee-jerk policy change was made with no thought to the effect it would have on the team’s performance and results. And worse, no thought was given to the bottom line profits and customer satisfaction.

The policy changes: Now only the chef can put hot dogs in the steamer. The volunteers are not to touch the hot dogs until they are cooked. Ostensibly, this is because the chef is the only one capable of judging the need properly. The chef can only cook 4 hamburgers at one time. No more pre-cooking the burgers.

Expected Outcome: The expected result of these changes was to have fresher food, and limited spoils. Customers will be happier with the freshest food possible, and the amount of food being spoiled will be limited. Birds will sing, and the forest animals will frolic in happiness, and all will be right with the world.

Reality Bites: There were a few glaring holes in this strategy that management didn’t consider, that the staff all saw coming. Here is what happened: We started of the night with only 25 wrapped hot dogs, and 4 cooked burgers. The gates open at 6pm. By 6:15, we have no wrapped hot dogs left, and no cooked hamburgers. The chef has put new dogs in the steamer, but they are 10 minutes from being done. He is cooking burgers, and they are 10 minutes from being done. We have a line of customers waiting for hot dogs and burgers. There is limited space, so the people waiting for hot dogs and burgers are milling about, and the people who just want drinks, beer, or pretzels can’t get in to place their orders. The line is out the door, and customers are not happy.
At 6:25, we have cooked hot dogs, and we hurry to wrap them. The burgers are cooked, and the chef is serving them, but now many of the customers want special orders: no onions, extra cheese… All this just slows down the process further. Eventually, we get it together as best we can, but there continue to be issues than can’t be solved. If the chef has to go in back and stem the hot dogs, he isn’t cooking burgers. And if he can only cook four at a time, he is always backed up, and can’t get to the hot dogs. There are a group of volunteers that can easily handle the hot dogs, but aren’t allowed.

The Results: Management saw a problem- and that much spoiled food is certainly a problem- and made a decision to fix it. But the change was poorly thought out. It disrupted the team’s ability to serve their customers, overburdened the chef, and underutilized the volunteer staff. The workers were unsatisfied, and the customers, forced to wait, were also less satisfied. On paper, however, it looked like a success to management. There were 2 hot dog spoils and no hamburgers. So, what was the true result of this change? Success in the lack of spoils, or failure because of the slowdown in the process?
It was a complete failure, though management doesn’t get it. Though there were less spoils, management has moved away from their value proposition; Fast food fast. Customers are dissatisfied, and the workers are unhappy. The intangibles are how many customers didn’t come to us because of the poor service, but all that management sees is what is on the paper; less spoils. But here is the real loss, which I tried hard to explain to the line manager. I figured (conservatively) we lost 20 hot dog sales and 5 hamburgers over the course of the night from people who didn’t want to wait and went to another vendor. The manager said to me “that is the same amount as what we had to spoil the other night. Tonight we didn’t waste the food, and we can sell it tomorrow!”

Really?

Here is what I wrote down for him. 20 hot dogs, 5 burgers, net cost $1 each. Buns, extras, total net cost $30. Burgers, sales price $5.50 x 5 = $27.50 gross sales. Hot dogs, $4 X 20 = $80. Total gross sales lost, $107.50. Net sales lost, $77.50. On an average of $5,000 per night in sales, this is a 1.5% loss of profit. He looked at me like I was from another planet. “It’s only $77 dollars!”
Only $77 dollars, times the three stands that they operate. Times the 50 games left in the season. This adds up to $11,625 in profit gone, with less customer satisfaction, and unhappy employees. But the spoils are down. I’m just a volunteer, so I let it go. It’s not my business to run. Maybe at the end of the season when they are scratching their heads to figure out why profits are down, they might figure it out.

One, two, three strikes you’re out!

Let me start by saying that I've never been a huge baseball fan. I follow it, like I do many sports, and if asked I could tell you who the good teams and players are. But as for the game itself, I'm not overwhelmed. I fulfilled my obligatory duty as an American Boy and played two years of Little League, but baseball and I parted under mutual consent- we were both okay with me finding other sports to play. I've never really looked back and wished for more out of baseball, it just wasn't that big of a deal for me.

That obviously isn't the case for many people, though. I know lots of folks that live and die with their favorite teams, and identify with their home states and cities by their baseball team more than any other facet. My father-in-law is a huge Yankees fan, and can recite statistics from all their championship seasons in the past 50+ years. My next door neighbor is from Chicago, and a huge Cubs fan. Not so many championship memories for him though, but he is a fan none the less. And on it goes. I'm sure you know some rabid baseball fans also, they are out there...everywhere. But why is that, exactly? What is it about baseball, more than any other sport in America, that seems to have this significance in people's lives? I think that yesterday, I started to understand a little bit.

In my continuing career at the concession stands at the AAA ballpark, I worked the Memorial Day game yesterday. It was an afternoon game, and there was a good crowd; lots of families, grandparents, kids, all out for a nice day at the park. It was pretty typical for a weekend day game, at least for me.

But as I talked to customers during the game, I found out typical really didn't describe it. Calling it just a baseball game would be like a sketch, as black and white as the letters you are reading, with 9 men playing for each team, 9 innings, 3 outs per side per inning. The color was provided by the people who attended.

I met a Dad who was taking his son to his first baseball game. The boy, who was probably 8 or so, didn't realize that this was a big deal. But it was for the Dad. The boy wanted a hot dog, candy, drinks ,the whole works. "No son", said the Dad patiently, "first we get peanuts and crackerjack". "Why, Dad? I'm hungry."
"Because, that isn't what we do at baseball games- we get peanuts and crackerjack first."
"OK."
The boy was a bit puzzled, but having peanuts and crackerjack wasn't like carrot sticks or something really bad, so he went with it. "His first game?" I asked the Dad. "Yep!" He said proudly, and you could see in his eyes that somewhere, many years ago, his Dad had gone through the same ritual with him."Have fun!" I said, "and I will see you for hot dogs later."

Not long after a very nice woman, probably in her early sixties, came up and asked for a beer and hot dogs. "Are you having a good time today?" I asked her. "Well," she said, and she started to cry. She told me that she was there with her husband's father, who was in his 80s. He had terminal cancer, and had maybe 3 months to live. This was going to be his last baseball game. He had taken her husband to many games growing up in St Louis as a child, and they wanted to go to a game one last time. He had felt well enough to go, so here they were.
"So this is a very good day, then, isn't it?" I asked her. "Yes," she said, "it really is." She smiled, got her order, and I had one of the teenage helpers carry her food and drinks down. She came back a few times during the game, for more beers, and more snacks, and was happier and happier every time. It was a good day for that family. Maybe one of the very best days. And I know it will be a memory that gives them strength in the hard days to come.

During the seventh inning stretch, to honor the veterans for Memorial Day, they had a woman sing "God Bless America". I was at the home base grill for the day. Right in front of me, behind home plate, a group of 25-30 Vets, representing from what I saw, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, all rose and sang right along with the singer, word for word. Do you know all the words to "God Bless America"? I'm embarrassed to say that I don't, not all of them. These Vets did. And it meant something to them to be at the ballgame on Memorial Day to sing it. I know it meant something for me to be there to hear it.

So it was an interesting and meaningful day at the ballpark. If I think back to my childhood experiences around baseball, I can tell you that likely as not, if I hear "One of These Nights" by the Eagles, or "Sister Golden Hair" by America on the radio, I will get an image in my head of baseball practice in late summer of 75, chewing on stalks of grass, standing in the outfield catching fly balls with my Hank Aaron Special Edition 715 home run mitt. Interesting. I spent thousands of hours more time on the court hoping to be the world’s best (and at the time, the shortest) world class point guard, but I can't tell you any songs that remind me of it, or a special basketball I had.

I’m not expecting that I am now going to become a huge baseball fan. But I feel like I get it a little better why going to a baseball game can mean so much to people. But maybe there is more to baseball than just the game after all. It isn’t just the game; it is a thread that runs through people’s whole lives, from generation to generation.

$1 Beer Night: A Sordid Tale of Supply and Demand

It is 9:03 PM. My shoes are soaked with Michelob Ultra. I have just told about 25 pseudo-baseball fans that I can no longer serve them beer this evening, and it has caused a near riot in the Third Base Grill. The police officer who patrols this side of the park is nicely asking the mob to leave. They are grudgingly vacating their spot in line, giving up hope for that one last beer...

How exactly did we get to this? (cue the swooshy "Lost" going back in time sounds....)

5PM. I arrive at the ballpark, full of innocent enthusiasm for my first $1 beer night at the ball game. Sounds like fun! Should be good tips, it is a nice 80 degrees, everyone should have a lot of fun!... Time to get in, wrap some hot dogs, prep the nachos, and of course, get the 12 oz beer cups out- no 22 oz beers for dollar beer night.

5:38 PM. First hint of trouble. Bud Lite lines are frozen. No problem, says the beer guy, we can unfreeze them in plenty of time. I naively believe him.

5:45 PM. Beer night pep rally/team meeting. It will be busy, but we can handle it, rah rah! Even though our sign says we ID everyone who appears under 30, the policy is that everyone gets carded. Each customer buying beer must also be wearing a pink bracelet they received at the ID station outside. And then I ID them again, and every time they come in all evening. Well, this should be interesting...

6:00PM. The gates open, and the crowd starts trickling in. The first few customers come in, and I have to send them outside to get the bracelets. No big deal. They come back in, and I ask them for ID. "But I just showed them ID to get the bracelet!" Yes, I know. "So why do I have to show it again?" Because that is what we have been instructed to do by the management. I will ask for your ID every time you come in tonight, so please have it with you.
Customer are puzzled, but it's dollar beer night, so they get a couple of beers and head on out. It is a bit slower than I expected so far. I'm thinking that it won't be all that busy tonight- after all, it is a Thursday night- how busy could it be?
I notice that the smaller beer cups tend to foam up quite a bit, and it is tough to get a good pour with no foam. Hmm. no biggie. Bud Light is still a bit frozen, and frothy. They will get it fixed. No problem. I whistle a happy tune, and the bluebirds sing...

6:38 I am an idiot. There are people lined up out the door like it is the day after Thanksgiving and Wii's are on sale for twenty bucks. I have two taps for Bud Light, and neither will pour. Everyone wants Bud Light. Michelob Ultra pours, but it is so frothy that you get half a cup of foam regardless how carefully you pour. Same with Bud, but that doesn't matter, because no one asks for it. Half the people have not gotten bracelets yet, so I have to send them out to get them- Yes, you can come back to the front. Yes, you still have to show ID, even though you have a bracelet. Because the park management has asked me to.

Yes sir. I can see your USS Kitty Hawk hat. Thank you for your service to our country in the Korean War. I need to see your ID. Born in 1930. Yes sir, I can serve you a beer now.

6:54 PM. No, I can only sell you two beers at a time. No, you can't drink two here, take two to go and pay for four.

7:02 PM. Do I really think you are under 21? I'm not paid to think. Clearly. All that grey hair could be an elaborate makeup job.

This has quickly devolved into the college kegger from hell. (Not that I expect any of you out there went to a college kegger, I'm sure I never did.) A majority of the crowds are college aged kids. I am pouring one beer after another, non-stop. The only way to quickly get a beer poured, because of the small cups, is to let the foam run over until there is beer all the way to the top. This means the beer runs off the counter and onto my feet. Should have worn waders.

7:23 PM. Bud Light is working! The people rejoice! The people are rejoicing because they are all buying beers by the twos, and they are all coming in for their 2nd or 3rd time.

Michelob Ultra has developed the nasty habit of spraying all over the place on a whim. I have been doused a few times now. The crowd finds this endlessly amusing.

One enterprising group of college guys have somehow stuck their IDs to their foreheads so I can check them quickly. I'm comforted to know the future of our country is in their hands.

7:38 PM. Line out the door. Bud Light has frozen up again, and the tech is trying to fix it. Ultra is empty, and they are putting a new keg in. No one wants Bud. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I tell the customers that the tech changed the Bud line with the Bud Light line. They actually believe me. I serve everyone Bud, no matter what they ask for. The Crowd Rejoices!

8:12 PM. ID On Forehead Guys come in for what has to be the 5th time. One of them does not have his ID on his head and I ask him for it. He feels his forehead, and the ID is not there. After crawling around on the floor in the line for a few minutes, he finds it. Crisis averted.

8:30. Drunk College Guy #27 is bumped by his buddy, Drunk College Guy#28. DCG #27 immediately spills one beer all over himself. Pretty darn funny. He spills the other one I have just handed to him all over me. Not nearly as funny. I realize that if I were to somehow get pulled over on the way home, there is virtually no chance I won't be going to jail, because I smell like a brewery.

8:45 PM. It is the top of the 7th inning. Over the PA they announce that beer will no longer be sold after the end of the seventh inning. You can practically feel the stadium vibrate from all the feet heading up the stairs for last call. I understand now what Mufasa must have felt like in the Lion King when the wildebeests stampeded.

The whole vibe of the crowd has now changed. They know they are running out of time to get their 10th or 12th beers, so where they were reasonably patient before as I tried to get them a decent cup of beer with no foam, now there are half tanked guys back in line screaming at me to "hurry up! How long does it take to pour a @##%% cup of beer! It is now beginning the bottom of the seventh. 3 outs left before beer is cut off. Panic is setting in. I'm pouring as fast as I can, but there are still 20-30 people in line....1 out.....more beer..... 2 outs...3 outs.. and that is it. Management hollers in "TURN OFF THE TAPS! NO MORE BEER!

There are literally howls of protest. The people at the front of the line are livid. I get to watch all the stages of beer addled grief: Shock & denial; pain; anger and bargaining (LOTS of bargaining...just ONE more...pleeease?)..all the way through to the bitter acceptance that there is no more beer- with a little escort from the police department. We are finally done..

I'm sure that somewhere in here there are some really good management lessons, but I'm too tired to go through it. I think I will go home and maybe have a beer. But it won't be a Michelob Ultra.

Don't Piss Off The Cook!!

"Don't piss off the cook! Why would anyone ever want to piss off the person who is cooking their food?!!" That is what our cook said to me (with great feeling) during the game a few nights back. And I had to agree with him- and not just because he was an angry guy brandishing a large knife, though that may have had a small effect. But let's back up a bit.

It is a Saturday night with a big crowd; a nice warm evening, and lots of people have come to the ballbark for the game. We know it is going to be busy, so going into the evening we are preparing as best we can- wrapping 100 hot dogs before the game, 2 cases of nachos prepped, extra soft pretzels ordered, extra staff on to help with the rush. But there is only so much you can do, because no one wants cold or stale food, and after the first big rush, we were working fast to keep up with the orders. That is when the problem starts.

We have run out of prepared burgers, so our cook is frying more burgers up on the grill, and one of our teenage helpers is prepping the buns and condiments. A couple of college age kids are waiting impatiently for their burgers. "C'mon man! We're missing the game! How long does it take to make a flippin' burger?" and "How come you don't have them made already! You know people are going to be in here wanting them!" The cook is ignoring them, as he has heard it all before, and doesn't really get rattled. I talk to the guys: "relax guys. you would rather have hot burgers than ones that have been sitting here for an hour cold. It will be about 5 minutes." That mollified them for at least, oh, 30 seconds. "C'MON dude! This is BS! You got 30 people in line waiting and you can't even get burgers cooked! What's your problem, man?!"

THAT got the cook's attention. He whips around from his grill, "what did you say? Do I come to your job and tell you how to do it? You think you can come back here and cook these burgers quicker?" Time for me to step in. I tell the cook to finish up the burgers, and I face the guys. "Look- you fussing about this isn't going to make the burgers get done any quicker. I apologize for the wait, but it is busy and we are working as quickly as we can. There are 2 other grills if you want to try to get a burger there instead."
"But then we would have to wait in line all over again."
(Now you've got it, Einstein)
"Yes, you would. It is your choice. If you choose to wait here, please be courteous and let us get you and everyone else waited on as quickly as possible."

I turn back to the cook, who is still ready to carve out their spleens with his cutlery. Quietly to me he says "do they know what I could do to their food before I could give it to them? I could -...". OK, we will edit that part. You really don't want to know, do you? Trust me on this one. Of course, it didn't happen, and the burgers were done, we got through the rush more or less intact, and the cook settled back down to his normal happy self.

But in every business you work for, there are always 'cooks', aren't there? The people who do the real heavy lifting that make your business run. They are also the people who probably make less money, get recognized the least, and catch the most heat when things go wrong. They are taken for granted every day because we tend not to notice them because they always get the job done quietly and efficiently. Unless things go wrong. Then it is all too easy for a manager to jump in and start affixing blame.

In my banking career the 'cooks' were the input clerks and the loan funders. The two most critical jobs in the business- getting applications input, and getting the loans paid out to the dealers. When things got crossed up there, the customers were on the phone. These people are among the lower paid employees in the business. They work very hard, they do a great job, and the only time you hear about them is if something goes wrong. When there were problems, it was usually beyond their control; bad applications, bad loan packages. But people want their burgers NOW, so they would get the grief.

As a manager, I always tried to recognize this, and look for the breakdown in the process rather than figure out who to blame. If the process is efficient, a lot of these situations can be avoided. And sometimes the line is too long, and you just have to deal with the customers who have to wait in line. It is just a function of being in business. Your resources are deployed for certain parameters of business. When business exceeds that, you just have to muddle through, and when it is done, see what you can do to improve the process to meet your customers', and your employees' needs, so you do a better job next time.

Well, we got back ahead of the customers at the grill, and by and large it was a successful evening, and eventually it slowed down, and I got to take my meal break. I have to admit., though, when I had the cook make me a burger, I casually stood around and watched him. Not for any particular reason, mind you, not at all. Just those words in my mind..."Don't piss off the cook....".

Next up, a sordid tale of supply and demand... Dollar Beer Night.

Back To Basics!!

Well, in these dark economic times, sometimes you have to take a step back, and go through a new door to a new path.

And sometimes, you get knocked on the head and pushed....

Either way, in today's Brave New World, whether you choose to or not, you may have to reinvent yourself and go a whole new direction. That is what I have faced this year- 18 years in an industry - RV, Marine, and Auto lending- that is now in tatters. No new jobs, most lenders bailing out as fast as they can, and no new companies expected to jump in for a couple of years. What to do now?

While I am looking for the Next Big Opportunity, I am doing a bit of this, and a bit of that, to keep from going crazy and out of my wife's hair. This week's adventure has been volunteering at the concession stand at the local AAA baseball team games to support my daughter's soccer. Yes, I'm living the dream. I have got a fair amount of ribbing from friends... "from National Sales Manager to 'would you like fries with that?' way to move up!". But hey, it is something to do, and I have to do something to fund my daughter's soccer habit- "Dad, the new Nike Vapor cleats are out, and I NEED them, they are only $225! Pleeeeeese!"

So, armed with my health card and a bit of trepidation, I have begun my career at the Third Base Grill. And what have I found? After 18+ years in professional organizations and executive roles, I found that the issues are exactly the same ones I faced running a $750 million business.

Staffing and Personnel:

First- it is all about people. You have to have the right people in the right place to be successful. 8 volunteers, some with experience, some teenagers with no experience, 1 cook who doesn't want a bunch of rookies destroying his kitchen, and one older lady who is sure she knows how to do everything better than everyone else. So the first management issue of the day is deploying your resources in the most efficient way to maximize their skill sets. "Teenagers, you get the drink cups and wrap the hot dogs. Yes, you must wear the gloves when you touch the food- I don't care what they look like." Louis, while a very nice, competent, and hard worker, doesn't speak English so well, so he can't really be a server- fill up the candy racks and the pretzel racks.... and so on...

Supply and Demand, and Market Conditions:

It's Opening Night! How many people are going to be here? How many hot dogs do we need? You don't want so many that they get old and cold, but having 30 people impatiently waiting for dogs after the second inning because you ran out and it is going to take 10 minutes for them to steam. Now the pretzels are gone, too. Quick, get more from the warmer... There is a huge ebb and flow, from chaos before the game to calm, to rushes between innings. Preparing for the rushes by completing the necessary tasks during calm times is critical to the team's success. Proper planning for the 'market conditions' and time management skills are a must, if you want to keep Bob, Mary, and their 2.5 kids up to their eyeballs in hot dogs, licorice, pop corn and cold refreshing drinks.

The Best Laid Plans......

Everything is ready, the staff has their game faces on, the gates open on a beautiful 75 degree evening in Las Vegas,.... and the beer lines are all frozen up. The beer won't pour, or if it does, it is 2/3 foam. OK, this is bad. NO BEER?! Near riot ensues. Get the maintenance guys NOW, before the natives get agitated and begin plundering the gift shop next door! Moral: You can never account for outside influences on your business- you have to be able to solution quickly, and keep your customers happy while you solve the issues. The old addage is true- how you handle adversity with customers is at least as important as how how handle the good times.

So, I survived day one at the Third Base Grill... and I had to go back to the basics, and found the keys to successfully running a business are the same from a multi-million dollar business to a concession stand. It is a great learning experience.

Next blog: Don't Piss Off the Cook!!!