A short motivational talk by Donald Burns (YouTube) about how pervasive negativity in restaurant teams undermines culture and management. Burns argues that negativity persists because leaders tolerate it, making them complicit, and that this is a common but unnecessary problem in the industry.
What would I hear if I sat down in your dining room for an hour on a busy night and just listened? Would you be surprised and shocked as to what toxic things your team says to each other and about the guests? Or would you say it didn't surprise you? If the negative energy from your team doesn't shock you, then you, my friend, are an accomplice to this crime. You didn't say anything, and you unknowingly gave it approval. 80% of the restaurants in your market operate just like this, and they don't realize it. They just think that's. That's just how the way things are. Which, honestly, is the biggest bunch of BS out there. Negativity in your restaurant only exists because you allow it. And that's exactly why most restaurant cultures suck. Not because they are that way. It's because they choose to stay that way. Now, that statement there is both sad and liberating. That negativity is eating away at your culture and making it hard for you to get control of your restaurant. Just because that negativity does not want to let go.
If your restaurant only works because you work 80 hours a week, it doesn't work.
