“Decisions at McDonald’s have always been the product of individual initiative.  Ideas are never homogenized by committees.  New directions are the result of a continuous trial and error process, and new ideas spring from all corners of the system.  The key ingredient in Kroc’s management formula is a willingness to risk failure and to admit mistakes.”  [p.7]

From:  “McDonald’s:  Behind the Arches” by John Love

[PHOTO:  Willard Scott as the first Ronald McDonald.  Like most of the successful product and promotional innovations at McDonald's, Ronald McDonald was the result of a franchisee idea and initiative.  Photo courtesy of McDonald's Corporation]

“Ray Kroc’s genius was building a system that requires all of its members to follow corporate-like rules but at the same time rewards them for expressing their individual creativity.”  [p.8]

 [LEFT: Fred Turner and Ray Kroc at the 2500th McDonald's store. Fred Turner is holding a mop and Ray Kroc is holding a broom.  Photo courtesy of McDonald's Corporation]

“Few people outside McDonald’s understand that Ray Kroc’s brilliance is found in the way he selected and motivated his managers, his franchisees, and his suppliers.  He had a knack for bringing out the best in people who worked for him…. He succeeeded on a grand scale because he had the wisdom and the courage to rely on hundreds of other entrepreneurs.”  (p.6)

“Kroc travelled light years ahead of other franchisors of his day, but not by disciplining franchisees.  Instead, he used franchising to unleash the power of operators who have an ownership stake in their businesses.  Though he demanded adherence to strict operating standards, he also freed franchisees to market their services as they saw fit, and he motivated them by giving them the opportunity – unheard of in franchising – to become rich before he became rich.”

“McDonald’s:  Behind the Arches” (available on Amazon.com) is a very instructive and engaging book on franchising and marketing, chocked full of important lessons on building and maintaining franchise relationships for optimal success.  It’s also filled with lessons on the value of franchisee input, as almost every successful innovation – from new product ideas to Ronald McDonald – were franchisee ideas.  As Love points out, “Every food product [Ray Kroc] thought of introducing – and the list is long – bombed in the marketplace…” (p.6)

Photo of Ray Kroc courtesy of McDonald’s Corporation