Feeding Our Flywheel
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One of my favorite business management books is Good to Great by Jim Collins. All of our corporate employees are required to read it and then read it again every year. The reason behind my passion for the principles in this book is simple; they work. One of the concepts that hits home is the Flywheel Effect. Its genius lies in the simplicity of the theory.
A flywheel is a substantial wheel that requires enormous power to move. You can push and push with very little movement. Continue pushing and the flywheel manufactures force and in the long run it begins to turn on its own. Basically, it starts feeding its own results and the momentum only continues to build. Collins points to the turning as the instant at which an organization goes from great to awesome or when things really get rolling.
The flywheel idea gives clarity to classic business concepts that lead the way to great results and continued momentum. In Good to Great, Collins dives deep to detail the flywheel effect in companies as varied as Abbott Labs, Kroger and Wells Fargo. The concept applies to any industry, even the barbecue business. It’s all about building force, energy, momentum….passion!
New ideas are great and we are constantly innovating but sometimes a back to basics mindset creates results that build. My flywheel is Dickey’s Barbecue Pit. My job is to push results as fast as possible while maintaining authenticity. In today’s fast casual industry it’s not the largest companies that are successful but the fastest and most nimble. At Dickey’s, we’ve put our shoulders to the flywheel moving forward gradually but consistently picking up speed.
This continued result has built the success of our brand. It started with perfecting our recipes and guest experience in local stores, growth throughout Texas and continues daily through franchise expansion across the country. My commitment is to improve something about our brand every single day. We build new locations, wow new guests and find efficiencies that all move our flywheel.