“The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented.” Dennis Gabor
I recently had the good fortune to catch-up with a friend and breakthrough Montreal restaurateur. I shared with him our approach to business strategy and asked him what he felt his organization’s success was attributable to.
His response, without hesitation, was awesome. It went something like this:
“We knew from the get-go that unbelievably delicious food - of the highest quality, set in a well-thought-through dining environment - were musts. Table stakes. But in the end, with these as our only drivers, we were not bringing something unique to the market. So my partners and I, through reflecting on our own experiences in the industry, came to the value of equity.
We believe the future of our industry is one where an equitable experience between patron, team, and owner comes to life. There’s so much hierarchy in the industry; we asked ourselves, what if we can find a way to unite all participants in an equitable experience?
The focus has been on our team - fair pay, benefits, a commitment to open conversations, and more. It’s worked. This philosophy has created a much deeper sense of ownership; the team believes they can grow through and within our culture. And it offers the business a much more scalable model to build from, which impacts all stakeholders - from patron, to team, to shareholder.”
In essence, he attributed his success to the idea of ‘Culinary Equity’, and circling back to the opening quote of this post, it's an incredible narrative that has "invented"
his organization's future.