Red Lobster needs a transfusion

Below are some ideas/quotes from the book The Starbucks Experience. Many of these illustrate quite painfully why Red Lobster's senior management really needs an infusion of quality and creativity. In spite of being 3 years old every Red Lobster manager should get a copy of this book.

• “People want to do the right thing, they want to create and offer quality things, they want to do good in the world, and if you give them the opportunity and the resources to do so, they will shine.”
• “Starbucks consistently spends more on training than it does on advertising.”
• “I have worked in horrible places, and it’s hard to do a good job when you hate the company.”
• “What are you doing to encourage the discovery of the unique needs of those whom you and your colleagues serve?”
• “Rather than waiting for cues from the home office, everyone at Starbucks is charged with searching for new and better ideas for meeting and exceeding customer needs.”
• “Leadership has created the expectation that partners are to be involved in improving Starbucks and has gone the extra step of creating a culture in which partners expect to be heard when they offer ideas.”
• “While great leaders spend most of their time looking at big-picture, strategic opportunities, they cannot overlook the systems and training necessary to ensure the quality of every aspect of the company’s products, services, and processes.”
• “When the economy turns bad or business hits a rough patch, training and education budgets suffer. This short-term financial fix often compromises the long-term health of the company.”
• “Starbucks leadership understands that playful and positive work environments produce vital and engaged staff members.”
• “Every company’s brand, is nothing more than the sum total of the individual actions its people take.”
• “Consumers want the predictable and consistent, with an occasional positive twist or added value thrown in.”
• “Many companies focus too much on the basic ingredients and not enough on adding that extra something that differentiates them from their competition and builds brand loyalty.”
• “With consistency comes customer trust. Consumers gain stability when they know that they can depend on having a reliable experience.”
• “If, at the end of each day, you and your colleagues have invested the extra energy to delight others rather than simply satisfy them, you will ultimately be rewarded with extraordinary results.”
• “Because of the amazing diversity found within this country, some communities may have unique requirements that are quite different from those of neighborhoods only a few miles away.”
• “We are often too close to our own ideas to objectively evaluate their viability.”