“I get flack for saying [when I visit a college and give a speech], “This is a nice college, but the really great educator is McDonald’s.” They hate me for saying this and think I’m a slimy creature. But McDonald’s hires people with bad work habits, trains them, and teaches them to come to work on time and have good work habits. I think a lot of what goes on there is better than at Harvard.”
When I was a management trainee, my training manager abandoned me (physically left). I was two people short, meaning I was dealing with drive through (taking orders, filling orders, and taking money) and making the food. The dude at the fry station, it was his very first day. Oh, and it was lunch.
I made a mistake and the customer contacted the franchise owner about it. I'm guessing she yelled pretty loud because I lost my position, even after explaining what happened.
Actually, I don't know what the lesson was.... needless to say, I got out of there. I don't miss being a teenager.
The whole thing still bugs the hell out of me, like I somehow went up against three destructive forces and I still can't make sense of any of it.
We both worked at McDonald's in high school when it was difficult to get a job there and they ran a very tight ship. It was the hardest job either of us every had. We had to do everything: cook, clean, take care of every customer, make sure everything was in place and everything was properly scheduled. We had to smile the whole time, and when everything was done, we had to come back and do it all over again the next day.
We may have complained how hard it was back then, but now we both realize how valuable those work habits would be in every single job either of us has had since. The lessons easily apply to any start-up.
Now if I could only get a hot Big Mac without making it myself.