Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - May 3, 2002

I am looking forward to two weeks at home before a short jaunt to present at the NRA Show in Chicago followed by the annual corporate meeting. This year it is three weeks in Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Slovenia . . . but more on that later.

THE SUMMIT WAS SUPER
By now I'm sure you know that the first-ever Hospitality Masters Super Summit was held in Seattle this last Monday and Tuesday. It brought together fifty restaurateurs from around the world and nine of the leading speakers and consultants in the industry for two intense days of skull-stretching, punctuated by some rather amazing meals! I will be sharing insights from the event for the next few months but right now I am still rather shell-shocked. One attendee described it as drinking from a fire hose -- a deluge of information in a short period of time.

Originally, I thought that 99 people was the maximum number we wanted but now I see that fifty was just perfect! Large enough to offer a variety of opinions and expertise but small enough that you could meet and interact with everyone. So from here on out, the number is fifty . . . or maybe fifty-nine . . . but no larger. Look for the next Super Summit in the late fall, probably focusing on people issues.

WHAT'S THE POINT?
My personal insight of the week came at 3am on Sunday night/Monday morning/whatever. The next morning I was to give the opening keynote for the Summit, a program entitled, "How to Get Out of Your Own Way," and it was on my mind. In the middle of the night, I half awoke to a flash that was simply, "What's the point?"

What's the point of playing golf? It has to be just to enjoy playing golf. As soon as playing golf becomes about your score or the way you played the water hazard on #14, you are out of the moment and into the details. When that happens, you miss the point of the game.

What's the point of fishing? To enjoy fishing. If your enjoyment starts to hinge on whether or not you catch any fish (and it is always nice when you do), then your enjoyment is contingent and fishing will contribute to your stress rather than being a relief from it.

What's the point of running a restaurant? To enjoy running a restaurant. Sales numbers become a way to keep score but if you are not enjoying the process itself, no sales volume is going to make you happy.

It is always interesting to see that the more you enjoy what you are doing -- the more immersed you are in it, whatever it happens to be -- the easier everything seems to work and the more rewards come to you, seemingly by magic. So it seems to me that the point of any game is really to enjoy the playing of it without regard for the outcome.

What's the point of your life? I think it is just to enjoy your life. How are you doing at that?

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