A short YouTube monologue by Donald Burns arguing that a restaurant's foundation is its culture. He identifies three foundational elements—strength (assessed via behavioral profiles), core values, and mission—and warns that without them restaurants cannot scale or sustain success. He also contrasts brand (guest perception) with culture (team perception).
Foundation is culture. If you have a weak foundation, you cannot build a very high structure. But restaurants do it all the time. They have this great idea, this great menu, and they build this huge thing, but they don't have a solid foundation. And then they wonder why they can't scale it, or it all comes crumbling down upon them because they do not have a solid foundation. If I had to break down foundation into three elements, it would look like this foundation is basically your strength. And I use a lot of behavioral dynamic profiles, behavioral assessments. I look at core values, and also I look at your mission. These are your foundational element. Without them, you know, you're basically lost. What's the difference between brand and culture? Brand is what your guests say about you. Culture is what your team or your staff says about you. That's why it's so important.
If your restaurant only works because you work 80 hours a week, it doesn't work.
