Donald Burns recounts a Vegas anecdote where a motivational speaker distilled a key idea: "Knowledge isn't power, it's potential; applied knowledge is real power." Burns applies this to restaurant management, arguing that tools (checklists, software) are only half the solution — deliberate application and execution are the other half.
So I was in Vegas a couple months ago. This guy was a great motivational speaker. He's talking about success, and I'm really into it. And then he says three words. Actually, he did it more like Moses dropping the Ten Commandments. Down he goes. I said, you know, that's Knowledge isn't power, it's potential. Applied knowledge is real power. You know, you can have all the great stuff in the world, but if you don't apply it, it's kind of useless. Have you ever heard people throw out this one to you? You know, you just need the right tools. Here's what you need, man. You need a new checklist. If you have a new checklist, everything will be fine. In your restaurant, where people say, what you need is a new software system, that's what you need. It'll fix all your problems. In your restaurant, those things are half the battle. Tools are half the battle. Application is the other half. You have to apply it.
If your restaurant only works because you work 80 hours a week, it doesn't work.
