Leadership Lessons from The Bear— Part 3: Should Chasing Excellence be Non-Negotiable?

In The Bear, chasing perfection is a core part of the drama. Chef Carmy’s experience at world-class restaurants tells him that this is the only way to achieve his vision. But are “non-negotiable demands” the best way of inspiring collective effort? 

We follow Chef Carmy to his breaking point. Bankruptcy, a health code violation, and a staff on the verge of mutiny spur him to double down on his commitment to transforming “The Beef” into something extraordinary.

His vision is based on more than two dozen non-negotiable rules that point the way to excellence. The cumulative impact of pressed uniforms, more teaspoons, changing the menu every day and practicing “vibrant collaboration” are designed to discipline and exhort the staff to undiscovered levels of performance. The staff responds with equal parts confusion and curiosity. Is it bullshit or brilliance?

Creating a vision is a first-order leadership competency. From Washington National’s coach, Davey Martinez’s “Let’s go 1-0 today”, to JFK’s NASA mission statement, “We’re putting a man on the moon,” a leader’s vision can unify the efforts of thousands toward a single goal. In particular, the push for excellence can inspire a group of highly-trained, highly motivated individuals to take performance to the next level.  

In the teams and offices that I led, I personally found inspiration in setting high standards and exhorting others to meet them. I fell in love with legendary coach Vince Lombardi’s quote, “Perfection is unattainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

But what if these high-demands land as a message of “My way or the highway?”

Now in my work as an executive coach, I have begun to question the passion for excellence.  I have heard too many stories of toxic workplaces where fear of making a mistake, cut-throat competition, and egos run amok derail the best-intentioned exhortations to excellence.

Non-negotiable rules lend themselves to highly technical missions where human health and safety are paramount (think medical procedures, crisis response) and the relationship between cause and effect are well understood. More creative endeavors that may have thousands of potential pathways and solutions can be powered by a different call to inspiration. New environments where embedded knowledge may not apply makes chasing perfection less useful as a strategy.

Creativity can blossom from facing hard constraints (money, time) where possibility confronts reality. New ideas come from exploring new connections, experimentation, and repeated failure – all made more difficult in an environment governed by non-negotiable rules.

To produce an environment of experimentation and freedom to fail, a different leadership posture is required. In this setting, learning becomes non-negotiable. Collaboration is incentivized because no one has all the answers and no one’s idea is perfect. Broad accountability means both success and failure are shared. 

To get things started, I let groups I work with give voice to what’s getting in the way of success. While not letting this descend into a collective groan of frustration, having a discussion of common challenges, headaches, and 1-2 remedies that have worked is a good way to get the bad vibes out of the system, if only for a while.

Then they’re more ready to think creatively about a challenge they’re facing. 

For the next step, you need a guinea pig: one person (or a group) who owns an issue and is willing to ask for help. They describe what they’re working on and a particular challenge they are dealing with to a small group of experts from inside and outside the organization. Imagine it’s like taking your car to a mechanic where it is raised on a lift and other mechanics take a look and make recommendations.

This approach requires trust. It requires the “issue owner” to be brave enough to discuss where they fell short. They also need to be open to working with others and seeing alternatives. It is a way to chase perfection from the bottom-up, rather than a demand coming from the top.

I will always love the Lombardi quote. But it’s now negotiable.