Every Second Counts.
What is your purpose?
Is it too late to re-invent yourself?
What happens when you come to a fork in the road?
How do you motivate a team?
What does it mean to care and to have high personal standards?
A perspective on all these topics is shared in 30 minutes of some of the finest television you will ever see. It is the 7th episode of the Second Season of The Bear. (Link to see it free in North America or with a VPN at the end of the post.)
What is amazing about these 30 minutes is that you can watch it without knowing anything about any of the previous episodes or even the premise of the show except that the character Ritchie who is featured in this episode is at loose ends, estranged from his wife, trying to find his purpose at work and worried he has run out of time. His cousin who is starting a new restaurant sends him to train at three star restaurant.
I believe every CEO or team leader should screen this episode for their teams because it is about all the things that are key to successful companies and teams but delivered in a way that is amazingly impactful.
And it is also about life, the passing of time, second chances and the realization that what makes moments special is that many things every day will never happen again and there is the extra-ordinary in the ordinary day.
The episode reminds us that for great work and great teams and a great life one needs:
1. High Standards
The importance of craft, caring and operating at the highest level every day.
How sweating the details and repeated practice is key to great craftsmanship.
Why the best teams perform every day as if they are in the Super Bowl.
2. Respect
The importance of respecting others and having self respect.
“I just need you to respect me. I need you to respect the staff. I need you to respect the diners. And I need you to respect yourself.”
3. Leadership and Communication
The great Duke basketball Coach K’s talk on leadership and teams is integrated into the story where he says:
“Be on a team. Surround yourself with great people. Learn how to Listen. Converse. Don’t make excuses. Figure out a solution. You do not have to figure it out yourself. You are part of a team.”
But one sees teamwork and communication as every person plays off each other in a restaurant from front of the house to back of the house.
You can see it below ( Click on the link to see it on YouTube since it cannot be embedded here)
4. The importance of customer focus, customer delight, and customer intelligence.
We often read about why one should know each customer and customize solutions for them.
There is a five minute segment in this show that illustrates and teaches more about these topics than dozens of powerpoint decks.
There is even an example where someone outsources from a competitor to keep a Client delighted. ( Deep Dish pizza is part of this story that is all I will say).
5. Why time is all we have and we need to believe in others and our selves and never give up .
There is a five minute scene which is probably some of the most moving television ever created as the Chef of the restaurant speaks about her challenges and journals she discovered from her father… it is a cameo from the Oscar Winner Olivia Colman…
She discussed her setbacks and how she resurrected herself.
She talks about discovering her fathers journals and letters after he where he wrote down everything he saw or noticed.
She notes he seemed to be saying..
Do not forget this moment.
Do not forget this interesting strange detail.
She ends by
And he’d sign of each letter the same way….(and then she gets called away and Richie figures out how her father signed off…)
You can watch a bit of it here or the twitter link below and it will leave you different…
https://twitter.com/i/status/1673153448680869889
And here is one piece among many of how amazing these five minutes are: Five minutes of greatness: https://decider.com/2023/06/29/the-bear-olivia-colman-cameo-season-2-episode-7-forks-guest-stars/
6. Integration of flow and craftsmanship.
In the two minutes below one sees the level of craftsmanship from writing to photography to music ( yes Taylor Swift also is incorporated into the story), a sense of place ( the show is a love story to my hometown Chicago) and much more. This episode of The Bear is not just about purpose, time, teamwork, craftsmanship and flow but it is a product of these inputs.
And if you want to know how they made everything look so real…well they shot it in a Michelin starred restaurant of course: The Real Restaurant: Ever…https://www.theringer.com/tv/2023/7/5/23783009/the-bear-season-2-episode-7-forks-richie-stages-ever-restaurant
Hope you take the 30 minutes to watch the entire episode.
It might be the best uses of your time.
Here is where you can watch The Bear for free (all episodes are terrific but this post is about Episode 7 of Season 2 which is called “Forks” and is probably among the best). Outside the US please use a VPN. Hulu has some of the most amazing television from “The Old Man” to “Atlanta” and you may want to stick around after the free trial ( more great stuff here than majority owner Disney’s property Disney+ which is basically a Star Wars and Avengers franchise with a sprinkle of Pixar and a dash of Simpsons. Which is why Bob Iger has come around to the fact he needs it not just because Comcast can force him to buy the rest from them)