Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to complete your work with care all the
Speaker 1: way to the last ditch. Paying attention to small, visible
Speaker 1: details means you won't accidentally undermine the good work that
Speaker 1: you have done. Today's tip, like another this week, comes
Speaker 1: from Will Guidara's book Unreasonable Hospitality, The Remarkable power of
Speaker 1: giving people more than they expect. Guidara was a co
Speaker 1: owner and the general manager of the restaurant eleven Madison
Speaker 1: Park and worked with Danny Meyer of Union Square Cafe
Speaker 1: and Shakeshack fame. Guidara shares what he learned from the
Speaker 1: restaurant business to offer insights about excellence in any context.
Speaker 1: Guidara's one inch rule calls for attending to every single
Speaker 1: step required to get an excellent dish to a diner.
Speaker 1: If you start with a delicious recipe that has been
Speaker 1: perfectly cooked and thoughtfully plaited, that is not enough. The
Speaker 1: server still needs to carry it carefully to the table
Speaker 1: and place it in front of the diner gently, so
Speaker 1: that no garnish slips out of place and no sauce
Speaker 1: touches anything it shouldn't, the server takes care with the
Speaker 1: dish right to the very last inch. At his restaurant's
Speaker 1: Guidara and his team focused on the one inch rule
Speaker 1: literally to make sure the garnishes arrived still in place.
Speaker 1: They applied the one inch rule figuratively two. As he explains,
Speaker 1: the one inch rule was a reminder to stay present
Speaker 1: and to follow through all the way to that last inch.
Speaker 1: He offers getting the music and lighting just right and
Speaker 1: bidding guests goodbye as examples of following the one inch
Speaker 1: rule metaphorically. This one inch rule has applications in other
Speaker 1: fields as well. Sometimes people focus so intently on production
Speaker 1: that they don't attend to delivery, or they work so
Speaker 1: hard on the difficult parts of their work that they
Speaker 1: neglect excellence in the simple parts. It matters that your
Speaker 1: PowerPoint deck is clear and compelling, but it also matters
Speaker 1: that your delivery is focused and polished. You are not finished.
Speaker 1: When you have prepared an excellent deck, you also need
Speaker 1: to present with excellence too. You need to be sure
Speaker 1: your audio visual tools are working, because an excellent deck
Speaker 1: that can't be seen isn't in fact an excellent deck,
Speaker 1: and since the point of an excellent deck is usually
Speaker 1: to achieve a result, like getting someone to agree to
Speaker 1: what you're proposing. If you are sloppy or surly because
Speaker 1: you stayed up too late making that perfect deck, there
Speaker 1: is going to be a problem. All the details matter
Speaker 1: down to the last inch. It matters that your home
Speaker 1: is decorated beautifully for your party, but it also matters
Speaker 1: that when you open the door to greet your guests,
Speaker 1: you are present and not frazzled. And really the experience
Speaker 1: starts before that. You want to make sure your guests
Speaker 1: are able to park somewhere where they don't have to
Speaker 1: walk through the mud to get to your door. Think
Speaker 1: about their experience down to the last inch. When you
Speaker 1: abide by the one inch rule, you make sure that
Speaker 1: all your work to the last moment, it reflects the
Speaker 1: same high level of care. Now to be sure, people
Speaker 1: can go overboard with anything, including this one inch rule,
Speaker 1: there is no need to obsess over the details of
Speaker 1: parts of your work that don't matter or that just
Speaker 1: waste people's time. I would also note that in order
Speaker 1: to pay attention to that last inch, you have to
Speaker 1: get to the last inch, meaning you are not so
Speaker 1: obsessed with perfecting a recipe that it never gets to
Speaker 1: your diners. As in all things balance, but if you
Speaker 1: have done a great job on something, you don't want
Speaker 1: to undermine your hard work by being sloppy with the
Speaker 1: final details of delivery. If the sauce on the meat
Speaker 1: has slopped onto the amazing salad, the salad isn't going
Speaker 1: to be enjoyed the way it was supposed to be.
Speaker 1: So best to carry the dish carefully and place it
Speaker 1: on the table carefully so it can be truly enjoyed.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.