At Papa John’s our whole ethos is about quality. The quality of our ingredients, pizza, relationships… To achieve quality, we need focus and effort spent on the most important elements of our enterprise: our superb product and the wonderful people who make it all happen.
To get this right, it can be better to do a little of a lot, rather than a lot of a little. It’s about evaluating what’s the most important way to spend the valuable time we have, for the highest return. Franchised business owners can use this approach to help them prioritise. The 80/20 rule often comes into play here. Franchisees could aim to spend 80 per cent of their time on the top 20 per cent of their revenue making opportunities for example. By working on the elements of the business that really matter, means most franchisees will actually become more productive and achieve greater things in the areas that are most important.
A while ago, a colleague recommended Greg McKeown’s book ‘THIS’ on the subject of Essentialism. I’ve read this with interest as it rings true on many levels. The book advocates the disciplined pursuit of what really matters. “Doing less but better.” It explores why we sometimes say ‘yes’ to every meeting without really asking: where would my time be best spent? It identifies that we can be trying to please everyone, but this can result in the opposite. Your time is spread thinner and thinner. It’s a book about making choices to alleviate pressure and ensure focus, to achieve the highest contribution through our best work and to enjoy doing it. It is a book less about the disciplined pursuit of more, but the disciplined pursuit of better. Much better.
I like this because it resonates with our approach. At Papa John’s our focus is on delivering a quality product. We evaluate which elements of our marketing are really working, we nurture relationships with our best suppliers and particularly support our best performing franchisees. Business has got ‘busier’ in recent years but with careful evaluation and prioritisation it’s possible to achieve great things and even have time to enjoy the journey and have a little fun at the same time!
In life and business, it is so true that often, we simply cannot do it all and this has been exacerbated with the rise of technology, instant email communications, WhatsApp groups etc… There is certainly pressure to respond to the trivial. Greg McKewown recommends going ‘big’ with one or two ideas or activities after fully exploring the options to “discern the vital few from the trivial many.”
This means rather than struggling to juggle 1000 balls, you become extraordinarily good at keeping one or two in the air, which can reap greater rewards. It frees up time to remove any obstacles and achieve greater by doing less. Of course, there is a lot more to the book than I have described. However, it is certainly an interesting concept and one that supports quality over quantity. It offers a way to unlock the next level of achievement in business and definitely worth a rainy day read for any franchisee or franchisor who is feeling they are being pulled in different directions and striving to do their best work.
