What an egg sandwich taught me about growth

Reader,

I live in a small canyon in the mountain range just south of Boulder, Colorado. For years, I worked in downtown Denver and made the commute each day to the city.

On my drive, I’d often stop for breakfast and coffee at our local shop. But instead of being a treat, it was usually a test of patience.

1:1 thinking.

The exchange went something like this:

The worker to the customer in front of me: “What can I get you?”
“I’ll have an egg, ham, and cheese, please.”

Then the worker would pull out the egg, ham, cheese, and bread. Assemble the sandwich. Put it in the press. Put the ingredients away. Take the sandwich out, wrap it in foil, hand it over with a napkin on top.

Then—finally—they’d turn to me.
“What can I get you?”

And the whole process started over again. "I'll have an egg, ham, and cheese, please."

Every process done once for one person instead of once for many, at the cost of both the customer and the company.

Responding instead of anticipating.

No one sets out to design frustrating customer experiences like this. But it happens every day.

Teams get so busy responding to needs that they forget to anticipate them.

For example:
Expecting more than one person will want an egg, ham, and cheese sandwich.
Expecting that morning commuters will be in a hurry.
Preparing once for many customers instead of once for one.

Incremental improvements are holding you back.

Making small tweaks feels like progress but rarely changes the experience in a meaningful way. And it almost never makes the business more efficient.

Because preparing for two or three sandwiches still doesn’t solve for the day when there are 50. Fifty sandwiches requires a completely different approach.

The love of the customer.

If you’re in a high-touch business built on relationships, you may think: The only way to make people feel special is to treat them individually every time.

Not so.
This may feel counterintuitive, but your approach to work is the way you serve your customers. You get to decide its aim and design.

1:Many thinking.

To scale, leaders must think from a higher vantage point and ask:

If our organization were 10x bigger, how would I approach this work—and still deliver the service we promise?
How can we benefit many times from doing something once?
What needs can we anticipate now, so we’re ready long before we have to be?

AI is accelerating workforce change faster than almost any innovation in history.

To thrive, every organization must learn to scale, and that starts with how we think.

Questions for you and your team to ponder:

What needs to change in your thinking to design something new?
What would it take to serve 10x the number of clients?
What can you anticipate and prepare for now, so you’re ready when it’s needed?

If you want to lead at a higher level in the new year, start now. Be that leader today—and help your organization get ready for the future that’s already on its way.

Do it before anyone has to ask.

Why I’m writing about processes.

It’s not about the processes.
It’s about seeing leadership and team challenges from a higher perspective. It’s about thinking strategically, looking ahead and being ready.

Perspective is everything.

And after Thanksgiving, I can’t wait to announce a new, perspective-shifting way for you and the rising leaders on your team to keep growing every day.