This weekend, I watched a documentary about the band Nickelback, which was eye-opening.  We all see the final product, but we rarely see what it took to get there.  The five to ten years of grinding it out in dive bars, playing to drunks, and traveling in a cramped mini-van hooked up to a Uhaul.  Most bands, athletes, movie stars, and ENTREPRENEURS have stories behind them that would shock us all. 

And to go along with those success stories are also the failures.  The people who didn’t take it seriously enough.  Who didn’t grind it out long enough!  Who quit too soon, or who didn’t go deep enough into what it takes to create something special.  

Then, as I sat on my back deck this morning to work on my to-do list, this song came on by Seal.  As I listened to it on REPEAT for maybe 30 minutes, I thought about the hours, days, weeks, and months Seal and his team probably spent listening to every note to make that song what it is. 

Then I thought…

OH SHIT MATT, ARE YOU?!

It hit me: have I stuck in the kitchen too much? Should I be looking at our product more deeply?  The answer to that question is always YES!

I realized I was the restaurant owner not paying attention to the basics, like the flower pot in front of my store filled with garbage, like below.

I think I am.  Looking around at our company and our products, I realized I’d not gone deep enough.  I’ve not eaten our cooking, or at least every item on the menu.  

So, with that, I’ve redefined what my weeks should look like.  I asked myself, what should I look at every day and every week? What are the KPIs for my efforts to make sure my team helps us get where we need to go?

FYI, click below to see a real-life example of how we all sleepwalk through out businesses some days.