Ever heard of Dewey’s Pizza? Me either until I moved to Cincy. I’ve eaten there now about a dozen times and it’s really great. The atmosphere, food and drinks are really good. But, what make Dewey’s GREAT is their service.

It only took me a couple of times to notice that every server in the restaurant came by our table at least once and then our regular server came by in between. I would say we never went more than a couple of minutes without someone checking up on us. I know, I know…I don’t like servers coming over too much either. But, here’s the weirdness of it all — none of the server ever said anything to us. They simply brought refills if we needed them and picked up plates when we finished. I kept thinking, how does he know I’m drinking root beer?

Finally, I had enough and asked for the manager. She came over, and I asked,

“How does he know what I’m drinking when he’s not the one who took my drink order?”
She said, “The color of your straw.”
“What?”
” The color of your straw told him what you’re drinking. Every drink is color coded to tell us what you’re drinking.”
“Why did he get me the refill, doesn’t he have other tables to attend?”
“Yes, but each server must check 2-3 other tables before they attend their own. It’s a team thing.”
“What?”
Yeah. Each server must check 2-3 other tables before they attend their own. Keeps everybody happy.”

Then, it hits me. What if the greeter and hospitality team at my church took the team approach? It would revolutionize how friendly and service oriented we are. What if we could adopt the “service culture” of Dewey’s Pizza at my church? Wow!

I checked the Dewey’s Pizza web site and read a little about the company. Under the “Culture” link I found one of the core beliefs founder Andrew DeWitt learned is that service matters. Here is their vision statement:

Dewey’s Pizza: bringing together warm, caring, intelligent people who love to serve.

You will also find Dewey’s story on the site. I love the way it reads in the first person. It’s personal and straight-forward, kinda like you’re having a conversation with the guy.

I hope this challenges you to take a look at the commitment to service you and your people have in your church. Isn’t funny what you can learn, even in a pizza joint.

When Thomas Nelson sent me Collapse of Distinction (Collapse) by Scott McKain to review, I was excited because I’d been thinking about the lack of differentiation of the organizations that I am most familiar with and why that is happening. In reading Collapse, I found answers.

Before I begin, let me say that McKain doesn’t play around. As a matter of fact, McKain punches some widely accepted assumptions and even some best-selling authors square in the nose. He challenges conventional marketing and strategic business philosophies at their core and doesn’t apologize for it. I really like his “out-of-the-box” case studies. He uses a professional wrestler, a maverick university president, a “hometown greasy spoon” owner and Roger Ebert to get his points across. If those don’t get your imagination going, I don’t know what will.

I don’t want to give my readers a traditional play-by-play review of this book. I don’t want to steal McKain’s thunder; I want to let him say what he needs to say. Also, I want you to read this book. This is not a “how-to”, but it is a really good guide in considering your own story and how that can play toward finding distinction in your marketplace. So, with that, let me point out a few highlights that makes Collapse a definite “read this book” recommendation.

First, McKain totally rips Jim Collins’s Good to Great, a mega best-selling book the business community has embraced as gospel. McKain simply calls Collins out. McKain believes that the “good to great” principles are fallacies and haven’t created distinction for any of the eleven “great” companies Collins features. McKain backs it up by pointing out the lack of “great” performances of these companies over the past few years and even solicits a quote from the great Tom Peters.

Second, McKain doesn’t spend a lot of time defining the problem — no one can tell the difference between you and your competition. He identifies a few, what he calls “differentiation destroyers”, but within 50 pages he gets going with the solutions. McKain lines out four “cornerstones” of distinction. The first cornerstone, Clarity, is really the best chapter in the book in my opinion. McKain asks, Who Are You?, and strongly warns organizations to avoid the “all things to almost all people” approach to attracting customers. An organization can really get in trouble when it inadvertently begins to dilute distinction in this way. He says that you should be clear about what you are and focus on distinction. The remainder of the book is about building on clarity. For what good is creativity, communication and customer-experience focus if you don’t know who you are or what to say?

Finally, McKain’s Collapse is distinct in itself. I never really felt like I was reading another “how-to” business book, even though he points out some steps toward achieving distinction. What I really like about the book is that McKain doesn’t use the “same-old” tired companies, like Apple and Starbucks, to illustrate his points. We all recognize the greatness of Apple’s design and the cultishness Starbucks’s atmosphere. The best thing about Collapse is the executive summaries following each chapter. Here, the reader finds an extensive outline of each chapter and can use it as a reference, rather than search back through the narrative to find a principle or quote.

So, I give Collapse a “read this book!” recommendation. In fact, if you’re a first-time entrepreneur, a marketer or church planter, I have added this book to my “must read, before you start your business” book list. If you’re looking for a book that will offer guidance and give you the “straight-up” skinny on building for success, start here. Outside of Tom Peter’s Reimagine, I have not read a book that slaps conventional, or even progressive, business thinking in the face. McKain nails it with his whole Clarity deal. Even if you don’t read all of this book, if anything, read the Clarity chapter. You better know who you are and never leave it, or you will find yourself “losing your way” when things get tough.

Get Collapse of Distinction by Scott McKain here.

Check out McKain’s blog here.

Welcome to my new blog. This is the place where I will post my thoughts on leadership and creativity. You might even see some guest post from time to time.  This is the place where I will share my thoughts on faith, culture, business, technology and such.  I invite you to comment or rant all you want.  Basically, I want this blog to be a place where you can find thoughts and information that will make you a better leader. In the words of my favorite business guru:

Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders. - Tom Peters

Please check out my Resources page. This page will tell you a little about what I do for churches and leaders.  If you have questions or comments, please click on the Contact link and drop me a line.

I am planning to keep up with my other blog at http://pastorjeffflowers.blogspot.com.