Change Can Be a Bear
I have joined the millions of people who have watched The Bear and there’s a reason it’s so popular. It’s really well done, from the writing to the performances to the blocking of complicated scenes in a very tight kitchen. There’s an intense, frenetic energy as Jeremy Alan’s Carmy tries to turn around his late brother’s local sandwich shop. He inherits the lunch spot and returns home to Chicago after traveling the world and earning a Michelin star in a fancy restaurant in New York.
He inherits not only the restaurant but its long-time staff who have various reactions to the changes Carmy tries to implement to bring the restaurant up to what might be the bare minimum of health, safety, and quality standards. Carmy and his right-hand Sydney know what the restaurant can look like and have to take a group of employees who have been doing their jobs for years, decades in some cases, and help them see what is possible. As I watched the show, I thought about how changing an organization can run into so many obstacles when trying to change behavior and culture.
Invest in your employees’ development
Give freedom within the parameters of the new model
Everyone can fit into the new culture if they choose to
Invest in Development
Tina is one of Carmy’s biggest challenges. She refuses to wear the new apron, refuses to call Sydney “chef”, and actively sabotages Sydney’s prep work. She often reminds Carmy and Sydney that she’s been doing her job for decades and they don’t have anything to teach her. As the changes Carmy implements start making things work more smoothly in the restaurant, Tina begins to see the light and gets on board. Carmy then decides to send her to culinary school and her eyes are opened to how a kitchen can be run and what she can truly do if she is willing to accept some guidance. As she begins to see the bigger picture, Sydney promotes her to sous chef and they become invaluable to each other.
Give Freedom, Set Boundaries
Marcus is the underused pastry chef who is all about creativity and new things. He is so tired of making the same desserts every day and is so excited to be given free reign that he spends hours educating himself with videos and experimenting with all kinds of desserts. However, he gets so wrapped up in playing that he sometimes forgets to make sure he’s got desserts ready for daily service. Carmy has to remind him that there’s a place for having fun, but the regular work still has to get done. Not all employees want the freedom of experimentation. When you have some who do, that means there is something in them that needs that creative freedom in order to feel motivated and engaged. Those are your innovators and the last thing you want to do is squelch their creativity. Encourage them and help them thrive and keep accountability mechanisms in place to ensure that the “regular” work gets done as well.
Everyone Can Have a Place
So many times, an employee’s resistance to change is rooted in fear that they don’t have a place in the new world their leaders want to build. This was Ritchie, the front counter guy who was the face of the restaurant. He knew everything, everyone, knew how everything worked, and he was actively opposed to everything Carmy wanted to do. His biggest fear was about where he would fit into the new system. Would he have a place at all?
Carmy answered this question by sending him to the finest restaurant in Chicago to shadow their head of staff. He’s asked to wear a suit and tie every day and show up on time. He reluctantly agrees and as he watches what goes on, he begins to understand what hospitality looks like in a high-end restaurant and how it’s not just a job but it’s really his calling. He learned how he could take what he loved to do and turn it up to 11 and make the restaurant stand out from their competitors.
As the executive chef, Carmy noticed what each person did well, and showed them where they would fit into their new roles by upskilling them and reigniting their passion for their work. He made sure they had the freedom to experiment within the parameters of the restaurant mission and he made sure they all found their place in the new format.
Of course, it’s TV and everything works out beautifully. In real life, there is a lot more to change management, but the principles here still stand. Investing in your people to help them learn the new behaviors you want, giving autonomy, and helping them see their place in the new system will make the change go more smoothly.