I wrote this article about the Hospitality industry and how it can survive the COVID19 crisis. Most who read it, said it’s a sobering, yet accurate and helpful read. A true wake up call.
One reader, however, had a different take on the article.
He said: “it is a very inappropriate time for a scathing critique if not an outright rebuke of restaurant owners and operators in general.” He goes on. You can read the full comment on my Linkedin.
Many business owners would agree with him. You may be one of them.
I love to be praised; who doesn’t? But I love the critique even more, in some weird, intellectual and curious way. I relish the fact that my article aroused a reader enough to write a comment. A 458-word, disapproving and well-written comment. It takes guts to do that. It takes guts to say “I’m not a fan”, and it takes passion to describe in detail why.
When discussed in a safe and curious way, I love discussing the opposition to my beliefs, theories and experiences. It makes for a scintillating conversation.
I’m bored with “I agree” and “me too” comments that are mostly insincere attempts to hotwire a connection between people. Critique also gives me a perspective aside from my own to consider, supplies me with ideas I don't have to fetch on my own. In many ways, critique is a favor to me and the critic. Offering a critique takes confidence and courage, and accepting the critique takes the same.
The aim of this article is not to bash the critic, but to address his mindset, which is the main reason why restaurants and the hospitality industry are so severely affected by COVID-19 crisis.
So, here we go.
This reader said many things, but I’ll synthesise and address his points one at a time.
Critic: “This crisis was in no one's business plan EVER - and it’s a fiasco.”
This is true. No one predicted this particular crisis and its exact effects on their business, global economy and public health.
There is an important discrepancy, though.
Successful entrepreneurs don't try to predict the future, they just stay ready for the unpredictable.
This doesn't mean that these entrepreneurs can or always will withstand disasters or global economic downfalls. However, being prepared psychologically, financially and physically helps them stay proactive, nimble and adaptable during tough times.
The hospitality industry is historically in reaction mode. It is the slowest to adapt a new technology and mindset necessary to stay relevant and profitable in any economy. Mostly, the hospitality industry fights change and adamantly tries to keep the status quo. During this crisis I see the same mindset over and over again: blame, apathy and defensiveness.
Saying that no one was prepared for this crisis is a poor excuse for why you weren't. I know it may give you relief that you’re not failing alone, but it isn’t helping you succeed. You are still responsible.
You can compare yourself to failing entrepreneurs and feel better about yourself. You can also learn from those who take responsibility, get creative and stay relentless during tough times. Your business is up to you.
Critic: “This is a very inappropriate time for a scathing critique if not an outright rebuke of restaurant owners and operators in general”.
We are still in the throes of a global pandemic. As I said in the original article, fifty percent of businesses you know and love may not be reopening. So, I understand that emotions are still raw. I know that trauma and pain is here to stay for many business owners.
As much as I advocate for emotional healing ( this article addresses emotional trauma during this crisis), this is not the time for businesses to lament, complain and protest. This is the time to think differently and then to act.
As the critic noted, during the COVID-19 crisis, the pain, shock and confusion are just as appropriate as it would be during natural disasters. However, the hospitality industry doesn't have the luxury of staying shocked and confused any longer: it has been shocked and confused for decades.
Shocked by new technology, confused by cultural evolution and generational differences and failing to adapt to an ever-shifting economy. I am over these excuses.
The crisis is not your fault, but how you operated your business prior to COVID-19 is. This crisis is not here to destroy your business; it is here to help you rebuild it — if you are ready to take responsibility.
Critic: “I find your example of the Covid1-19 crisis as some kind of Cosmic Great Test to separate the weak from the strong, the men from the boys, the wheat from the chaff -- so to speak -- to be insulting and cold hearted at worst.”
While there are countless businesses that will not reopen, many will get through the crisis and come out even stronger on the other side. The difference between them is what meaning they give to the crisis. That meaning will determine what they will do with it.
You can view the crisis as a test, you can also view it as an opportunity. The difference is colossal.
Business is a game, but a more complex game than any other. In business - unlike in sports or video games - rules are made up as you go, your opponents are unknown, and your threats are invisible. COVID-19 is just one of those unknown threats you need to mitigate.
Winning in the complex game of business definitely separates amateurs from pros. If that is insulting and cold-hearted for you, you have choices: you can hate the player, or play the game.
***
If you’re a business owner affected by the COVID-19 crisis, I have compassion for you. I know that most of us are experiencing loss and trauma. We will all be collecting ourselves and picking up the pieces for some time to come.
If we want to save our businesses, though, we have to take responsibility instead of blaming the circumstances. We have to go within and find courage to lead ourselves so we can lead others.
So, in order to help, I can not wallow in pain with you. I can not accept your stories and excuses which do not serve you. I can not pacify and please you. I can not betray and mislead you into believing that there is a power outside of you that is bigger and more resourceful and ingenious than you.