Page 184 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s

time with Ray, and in their ease, they listened to him, and as
many have confessed, became believers in the system.
In talking with Willis Smart, a former McDonald’s regional
vice president, and now an operations vice president with
Dunkin’ Brands, he mentioned to me the importance of telling
stories. “The storytelling that goes on because of the unbeliev-
able history of the organization at McDonald’s really does set
the culture. If I’m starting today, I don’t know if I could ever
have the same emotional attachment to it that I developed over
the 30 years I worked there,” he said, adding that the rich story -
telling that has become part of McDonald’s folklore bridges the
gap for those entering the system in the post–Ray and Fred
years. Willis continued: “The moral of it was [that] when you
tell stories, this stuff is real, this stuff really happened. The crazy
things, all the way through to the fabulous opportunities.”
The idea of storytelling and legacy building, handed down
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from generation to generation within an organization, is not
unique. From the Sam Waltons in retail, to the Lee Iaccocas in
auto manufacturing, to Walt Disney, Vince Lombardi, and
Henry Ford in other industries, there are thousands of stories
and legends that are passed by each successive management
team within an organization. That folklore becomes part of the
culture of the company. Most of the stories are based on some
real-life incident, which in most cases happened many years ear-
lier, and most have been somewhat misstated a bit by now, but
they serve to pass on corporate values. But the stories that cir-
culate often stem from employees, and sometimes these stories
aren’t always good—some can be downright cruel. That’s one
reason why many an executive has used the “grapevine” for the
distribution of information, as a tool rather than as a defensive
action. The method couldn’t be simpler. Share a positive mes-
sage in the group—and watch it spread. And you should, as any