Customer comments on this selection.
 Fast-food version of a business book
If you've never read a business book before, this probably wouldn't be such a bad one to read first. It's a fast read (though sluggishly written in parts) with some good content here. But the problem is right there in the title: he may have learned everything he knows at McDonalds, but clearly, he didn't learn very much that's of general application. So, what you get is a book about McDonalds with no insight into which of the fundamental principles are of general application, and which ones only work when you're a part of the largest conglomerate on the planet, who can step in and squash like a bug anybody who tries to screw you. The author has obviously thought about his material a lot, but as somebody without any education or non-arches experience his thoughts are of limited value. He really should have brought in somebody more knowledgeable -- not an economics professor, even, just somebody with a broader base of experience in the business world. (I can't help but wonder what someone like Harvey Mackay might have done with this material.)
Take the bit about the handshake deals. It's a nice piece of history. Probably worked really well in 1968 when the deal was "I need 1,500 hamburger buns at 7 a.m. each and every day and I'll pay you 1.25 cents for each one." I'm sure it works especially well when the one-shop baker is looking at the power of the arches, as opposed to "Ronnie Mac's One-Off Burger Shack". He's never going to screw up that relationship. But handshake deals for everybody else, in the real world, in this day and age? Come on.
McDonalds is a great organization with an effective business model, and with the huge population of former employees to draw from for stories and anecdotes, there's a real opportunity for a high-quality, instructive book, but this isn't it.
 Good Read if a little syrupy
Paul Facella has written an interesting, enjoyable book about one of the great American business success stories, even if it is a little syrupy at times. The author outlines seven good leadership principles that are well road tested and if implemented should help businesses grow even in the toughest of business climates.
These principles are
Honesty and Integrity: All in a Handshake
Relationships
Standards: Never be Satisfied
Lead by Example
Courage: Telling it like it is
Communications
Recognition
The author tells a great story but glosses over the most interesting element of the McDonald's story. How did a great company lose its way so badly in the early part of this decade. You may not recall it now, but in 2002-2004, the hamburger giant was a byword for everything malign in the fast food industry. The company has managed a fantastic turnaround and is now a shining light presenting food that 58 million people consume every day. Writing with rose tinted glasses, Facella does not provide great insight into the reasons for the decline. To be fair, one of the reasons is McDonald's deviated from the principles he so strongly espouses especially Standards and Never be Satisfied. I also find it interesting that none of the principles has "Customer" in the title.
Enough of the quibbling. If you can implement the lessons espoused in this book, your business will do better. Facella provides a number of nice anecdotes about the organization. My favorite one is when Fred Turner called senior management to the Innovation Center on a Saturday morning during McDonald's dark days and berated them for allowing the quality of the food to deteriorate. Readers will also be inspired by numerous anecdotes featuring Ray Kroc, the genius behind McDonald's. The man's attention to detail, his humility in the sense that he was prepared to do anything including a mop wringer with a toothbrush! Now I wonder if some of the geniuses who ran AIG would have done something like that!
Dissenting opinion
I have to disagree with the other positive reviews, unfortunately.
This book is too superficial. It's a collection of platitudes and vignettes, loosely organized and poorly edited, with no cohesive story to tell. Less meat in here than a McD's 99-cent cheeseburger.
And I dont even eat at McDonald's
I found the book to be outstanding, easy to read, simple, and right on the money. I have not eaten in McDonald's in over ten years and I am not an advocate of the products that they sell(I am too much of a health guy).
That said, they have been incredibly successful as a business and the book explains what the author thinks are the key reasons for their business success.
7 reasons:
1 - honesty and integrity, all in a handshake.
It is not what you do, it is the way you do it -- Ray Crock.
I have often said that having a legal agreement is much less important than doing business with people of high integrity and I have long been an advocate of the handshake over anything else.
2 - the rule is relationships, he speaks glowingly of the great relationships amongst the MacDonald's staff and talks about the three legged stool. This refers to the relationship among the three partners as operators/owners, suppliers, and corporate staff. Each is dependant on each other to support the group as a whole.
3 - standards will never be satisfied.
The quality of the leader is reflected in the standards that they set for themselves -- Ray Crock.
MacDonald's is the ultimate e-myth company. They set process and standards and expect everyone to religiously follow them. They have done a great job of communicating what those standards are and I love the never be satisfied philosophy.
One of the great lines that is totally simple is if you have time to lean, you have time to clean.
4 - Lead by example: clearly this one is obvious and many people try to do this; however, actions speak louder than words. Never underestimate ones actions.
One of the things that I particularly liked in this chapter was in the lessons learned -- "achievers never stop learning" (this is one of the things that I always ascribed to).
5 - Courage -- telling it like it is. The gist of the message is, regardless of what the message is, positive or negative, people need to know what it is and the larger the organization, the tougher it is to get the get the truth. People tend to avoid the risk in telling people the truth.
6 - Communications: It is not how often you communicate, it is how well -- Ray Crock.
There is an entire section on decentralization -- try to get the decision making as close to the customer as possible, of course all within a frame work and a philosophy. I am a big believer in decentralization as I believe this is the way to be the most efficient. It is also the way to get the little things to matter.
7 - Recognition: there is no better way to inspire a team then with recognition. Deep down we create that recognition. I think I could use a little work on this one.
Its a good book. Good words of wisdom.
 A compelling, revealing business title recommended for business collections and public lending libraries
McDonald's has produced more millionaires from within its ranks than any company in history, and has long-term loyalty of its franchisees, vendors and customers. How does it garner such lasting admiration and success? Paul Facella is a company insider who began working for McDonald's at age sixteen and grew up in the company to become regional vice president. His personal examination of a company that continues to thrive makes for a compelling, revealing business title recommended for business collections and public lending libraries alike.
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