If you were just coming to this blog without reading it last week, you would want to go here to read part one before jumping into this one.
Good people make all the difference.
There is a tremendous turnover rate in the restaurant industry. Even though I have only been working in my kitchen for three years, I have probably worked with hundreds of people. We are a bigger restaurant, so some turnover is expected. However, it is a very different culture from a place like a school where it is common for people to work for over a decade there. In the restaurant, I have worked with all types of people. They can make or break an individual shift or even the will to want to work in that industry. Good chefs that reward hard work and have an eye for quality keep good line cooks who do the job safely and correctly. Good managers take it upon themselves to fix what is broken and not point fingers. Good line cooks keep the machine going smoothly, reducing stress. Some shifts can feel meditative when everyone is in the flow, while others just seem to fly by.
It goes without saying that when people are incompetent, resentment grows exponentially. The trope of the chef screaming at their line cooks might be a reality in some kitchens. Anyone with a shred of self-esteem is getting out of there as quickly as possible. Bad managers ruin the organization's culture, and the place can fall into shambles seemingly overnight. Bad line cooks cost the restaurant money by going too slow or not understanding the correct timing. If a ticket has a salmon (ten-minute cook time) with a cheese curd (one minute cook time), and the fry person drops the curd as soon as the ticket rolls in, be ready to throw the cheese curd away by the time the fish is done. Bad line cooks can also make a ten-minute ticket time three times longer, which makes the patron angry, which means the server loses a good tip, which makes the server angry. Now no one is happy.
The people you work with as the athletic director can make your job a breeze. They can also stress you out. Good coordination between IT means rosters are updated frequently, payments are collected promptly, and communication with parents feels seamless once the systems are implemented. Good coaches are the lifeblood of any program. While the AD might be like the head chef of the athletics program, the coaches are the line cooks getting the work done. Head chefs usually get the credit, and the line cooks go unnoticed. Thankfully, restaurants and athletics work opposite each other regarding who gets the credit. A good AD gets little recognition when things go right. The coaches do, which is fine. When things are not going right, the athletic director is in the spotlight to make things right.
Do Not Put Off Something That Could be Done Right Now
Benjamin Franklin was one hundred percent right in the case of athletic directors and kitchen workers. As an athletic director, if you want any chance of keeping up with all the scheduling and emails, tasks must be done as soon as possible. If they are put to be done later, there is an excellent chance they will not be done. And it will always come back to bite you in the butt later. It's pretty embarrassing to have a whole team with their parents come an hour early to a game that was rescheduled. The Ben Franklin quote also applies to the kitchen, except it’s framed as, “If you can lean, you can clean." In the restaurant industry, the cleanliness of the facility can make or break your establishment. However, cleaning is the least fun thing about the job, and everyone tries to avoid it if they can. However, one lousy health inspection could be fatal. So it's better to schedule what needs to be done and just get it done. Then, when the restaurant is slow, the cooks can get to the cleaning list instead of standing around and not doing anything.
When Things Feel Overwhelming, Do the Easiest Thing First
Coming into the office with a mountain of emails that all require responses, ranging from schedule conflicts to arguments between players, can feel overwhelming. A natural reaction is to want to bury your head in the sand. The same feeling happens when the kitchen is getting slammed. I’ve had my share of super busy shifts, but some will always stand out. I remember them starkly because there is this moment when everyone just stops. All eyes go to the ticket machine or the screen, and there is a collective feeling of disbelief at the number of orders that just came in. Everyone reacts a little differently. Some people get really quiet and look like they are going to cry. Others start shouting obscenities. There is always someone who starts hysterically laughing. So, what breaks the spell of despair? Getting the easy stuff done first and then focusing on the food in chunks systematically. Make sure every solo appetizer is getting out on time, and go one table at a time until the screen is clear. The same thing goes for attacking your to-do list in the AD office. Getting the easiest things done first can generate momentum so you can tackle the bigger stuff that requires more attention and energy.
Systems are like recipes.
Most people don't realize all the cooking that happens behind the scenes. Before working in the kitchen, I thought everything was made from scratch as soon as the order rolled in. While I wasn't one hundred wrong, I didn't realize that so much cooking and preparation happens before the day even starts. Some cooks show up hours before the restaurant opens to mix sauces, smoke meats, mash the potatoes, cut the fries, fry the chips, etc. The prep cooks must follow the recipes, so the product is consistent from batch to batch. Being a prep cook is not art; it's science and consistency. The loyal patron expects their dish to be as good as the last time they got it.
Line cooks also have a system or the order to put the prepared ingredients together for the finished product. They also know when to start a particular item when there are other items on the same ticket. Those systems keep the kitchen working efficiently. However, being a line cook involves an element of art too.
The plate needs to look beautiful and appealing. I have heard an expression that someone tastes the food with their eyes first. For the plate to look impressive, the line cook needs to use the system they know and make little adjustments, so the finished product looks impressive.
Being the AD and coaching is no different. A good coach has an overall system and guiding philosophy for running their program and team. Every year is a little different. We need the nuance to make the minute changes necessary to stay successful year after year. Sometimes a dish needs a little dash of salt. Sometimes a team needs an extra pep talk before a game.
If you bear with me, I have one more metaphor. Being a good AD is like driving. All cars are the same with a wheel, gas, and brake pedal. However, the driver constantly makes little movements with the wheel to keep everything on track. Sometimes the program needs to be slowed down, or sometimes it’s time to put the pedal to the metal. In the end, the driver (AD) wants the passengers (coaches, players, fans) to have a seamless, comfortable, enjoyable ride (season). If they don't realize you're driving, you are doing a great job.