How do you build a company that people want to work for?
That’s one of the questions chef and entrepreneur Erin Wade tackles in Mac & Cheese Millionaire: Building a Better Business by Thinking Outside the Box. Wade shares her journey pursuing her passion from corporate law to running the mac & cheese restaurant Homeroom, and shares practical and entertaining anecdotes for creating a thriving company culture with meaning, purpose, and connection. Each chapter is devoted to a specific value, providing a clear roadmap for aligning your work with your values.
“I’d never experienced the kind of leadership I wanted to emulate at work in my life, so I had to ask myself what my values were and try to build a company around them,” Wade said. “I’d experienced a very masculine work environment based on competition and individual success, and that didn’t resonate with me. So I spent over a decade figuring out how to create something different that felt like me: a company based on collaboration and group success. I think there are a lot of people out there for whom the traditional model doesn’t work, and if so, my book offers them guidance on doing it differently. But even if my paradigm doesn’t fit them, I hope my story inspires them to keep trying to figure out what does.”
What are some of Wade’s strategies for creating a unique culture based on greater meaning and purpose?
“The secret to creating a more meaningful and purposeful workplace culture is to focus on collective success. Collective success is making decisions with the aim of maximizing the positive impact on employees and customers, not just the company’s bottom line. Most corporate decisions are focused on financial outcomes – for example, whether to open on holidays depends on whether it will be profitable. But the same company might make different decisions or change their decisions if the goal was to maximize the benefits for all stakeholders.”
In the clip above from The Knowledge Project Podcast, Wade talks about his journey, and in the excerpt below he expands on the theme of conflict resolution.
Encourage open communication to bridge the tricky work-life conflict
“I think we should close down this Fourth of July,” Diego said. “I want to have a barbecue with my family.”
“I think we should stay open,” said Jose, a kitchen worker who was at the meeting. “Most of the people in the kitchen need to earn money each day. Our families depend on it.”
As the conversation devolved into a conflicting argument, I asked myself: What matters most? Revenue? Profitability? Work-life balance? Employee compensation? Guest satisfaction? Public perception? Having a system in place to measure all the things we value was extremely helpful, but we also needed a consistent way to use the data we collected to make decisions, especially when they were at odds with one another. I found myself thinking about what kind of team we wanted to be. Are we just playing each other or are we in a bigger game?
“What if everything mattered?” I asked. “What if, instead of pitting one group against another, we considered all groups at once?”
“What do you mean?” Diego asked.
“What if we tried to maximize the success of the whole group by giving equal weight to the needs of not just our staff but also our guests and the business itself, and then we could measure that and make decisions?”
I drew a Venn diagram on the board with three concentric circles and an overlapping area in the middle.
“What I want is for you to make the decision to land right here,” I explained, pointing to the center, “and not just in one particular area.”
“Can we just split into groups and do a little brainstorming,” Cal asked. “What if we split into groups representing our team, our company, our customers, and we all brainstormed together and presented what our group’s needs were?”
“That’s great,” I said. “What do other people think?”
The group nodded in agreement. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s get to work.”
Cal divided the entire team into three groups and sent them out to different parts of the room to work together. The goal was for each team to put themselves in the shoes of the group they were representing (employees, company, customers) and brainstorm as thoroughly as possible how to best meet the needs of that group alone. As everyone began working, chatter in the room grew louder and occasional laughter could be heard. I was not included in the groups, but walked up to each group and overheard the discussions. Some staffers worked hard on this exercise, staying within their shells and truly focusing on the needs of those they represented. Others seemed to have a hard time seeing beyond their own personal desires and continued to insist on doing so despite instructions. After about 15 minutes, Cal called time and called all the groups back to the table to share what they had come up with.
“Dre, why don’t we start with the customer?” Cal asked.
“Of course!” Dre responded. “Our group tried to put ourselves in our customers’ and community’s shoes, and it was clear that from our customers’ perspective, it was essential that Homeroom be open. Macaroni and cheese is a great holiday food, and it’s hard to imagine why our customers would be concerned about us being closed. Also, would we be OK with doing something special to make the holidays more joyous?”
Cal wrote Dre’s main points on the board under the heading “Customers” and called on the next group.
“Hello,” said Mick. “My group reached out to employees, but we got mixed results. First, we had the employees in our group vote, and half of them wanted to work on the holiday, and the other half wanted to take the day off. To be honest, it was pretty hard to know what the company should do when making this decision from an employee’s perspective.”
“Interesting,” Cal said, “But I think we’ll have to take a stand in this exercise. Is that possible?”
“Well, I thought the best solution would be some kind of compromise, like opening for half a day instead of the whole day, or making all staff volunteers, or introducing holiday pay.”
“Thanks everyone,” Cal said as he wrote the points on the board, “Well done. Next!”
Felicia rose from her seat and walked to the front of the room, “My team approached this from a business perspective. We found this a bit difficult because we weren’t really sure what the business’s interests were. If our only goal was to make a profit, it seems reasonable to be open for one day. But is making a profit the only interest of a business? Erin, I’d appreciate some clarification.”
I stopped.
“In simple terms, the company’s profits lie in sustainable profitability. Opening over Christmas will mean good sales and profits, but it’s not sustainable profitability. I think the impact on staff morale will be huge and it will be harder to retain top talent and provide a good experience on the day. In the long term, it will reduce profitability.”
“So, putting it all together,” Cal said, pointing to the center of the Venn diagram, “collectively, we should be open on Independence Day because it’s in the best interest of our company, our community, and our staff. And to maximize the positive impact on all of these, we could decide to put volunteers to work, implement holiday pay, or adjust employee hours. And then we’re going to plan something special for our community, whether it’s food or a special event, to amplify the positive impact on our customers over the holidays.”
Adapted with permission from the publisher, Wiley, from The Mac & Cheese Millionaire: Building a Better Business by Thinking Outside the Box by Erin Wade. Copyright © 2024 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. This book is available wherever books and e-books are sold.
