Visualize this scenario: You’re at the office you have a piece of garbage in your hand and you’re heading towards the garbage can to throw it out. When you get to the garbage, you realize that not only is it full but there is now a small mountain of garbage rising above the rim of the can. You look at it, you’re in a hurry because you’re very busy so you decide to carefully place that piece of garbage on top of the pile making the mountain just a bit larger. It stays put long enough for you to walk away without it falling or having someone else notice that you just did that. Does that sound familiar to you? I used to do stuff like that all the time.
I don’t do that anymore because of what one of my mentor’s used to say to me whenever I was being lazy. He would say, “Tony, throw the damn garbage!” He meant stop being lazy and used that garbage metaphor for whenever I was trying to take the easy way out.
“Throw the damn garbage!”
It takes an extra two minutes to wrap that garbage up in the bag, put a twist tie on it and replace it with another bag. He would remind me to never take the easy way out because he would say, “the difference between good to great is that last 2.5% on the bell curve.” That last 2.5% - that’s the difference between the most successful chain restaurant, McDonalds and Burger King, that’s the difference between Disney Parks and Six Flags Amusement Parks, that’s the difference between Tom Brady and an average NFL Quarterback. The last 2.5%.
What people tend to not realize is that it’s the small things like “throwing the garbage” that create a mindset of finishing the job to completion. It’s a mindset that says “I’m not ok with ‘almost done’ or ‘good enough.’” It’s the small things, the small adjustments in your life that allow for the significant leaps in your business and personal and professional growth. It’s those small adjustments that allow them to be great.
If you search ‘Domino Chain Reaction’ on YouTube, you will see an instructor demonstrating what Lorne Whitehead, a professor from the University of British Columbia proved back in 1983, that one domino can knock over another domino that is twice its size because when standing on its’ end, each domino possesses enough potential energy to knock the larger domino down It’s a phenomenon known as force amplification which creates the domino chain reaction.
In this YouTube video, the instructor has 13 dominos lined up, the largest is 100 pounds and about 1 meter tall and the smallest is 5 millimeters high and 1 millimeter thick. With a pair of tweezers, the instructor carefully places the smallest domino in front of the next one that is twice the size and very carefully tips it over with his tweezers. The domino chain reaction occurs as the gravitational potential energy builds with each falling domino. Within seconds, the 13th domino - the 100 pound domino, falls. The instructor also tells us that if there were 29 dominos the 29th domino would be as large as the Empire State Building.
Think about that - a domino 5 millimeters high has the capability of starting a chain reaction that could knock over a domino the size of the Empire State Building. Incredible! (stop)
The most successful people - the one’s that fall within the last 2.5% of the bell curve, the one’s that are considered great by the rest of us understand the power of the domino chain reaction. They realize that small adjustments like following the mantra of ‘throwing the garbage’ creates greatness because it sets the standard or mindset of staying persistent, staying focused and completing the job (whatever it may be) to it’s entirety.
By knocking over the smallest domino the chain reaction begins and before they know it, those small adjustments, those smallest goals become larger and more powerful, just like dominos.
Conversely, they also understand that allowing the “garbage to overflow” begins the domino chain reaction that eventually creates bigger, more energy draining problems in the future.
Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds was notorious for travelling around the country inspecting restroom cleanliness in McDonalds restaurants and personally would call managers to complain. He understood that the customer would either consciously or subconsciously place a connection between the cleanliness of the bathroom and the cleanliness of the kitchen. Who wants to eat at a restaurant where the bathroom is disgustingly dirty and is the same bathroom for the employees who handle your food. Not me. Ray Kroc understood that this small domino of restaurant cleanliness could lead to the Empire State building size domino of lost customers and franchises.
Walt Disney would get very unpleasant with his park employees if he they did not stick to their script when acting as tour guides on rides. He understood that if he were to allow this small ‘domino’, that eventually, the employees would begin to add their own voice which may lead to the park goers not receiving that Disney “magical experience” he always wanted every park goer to receive. (stop)
Tom Brady understands the importance of the domino chain reaction. He works very hard at keeping a strict routine throughout his day making the most out of every minute, especially during football season. By having a planned routine, Tom doesn’t have to waste energy on daily task decision making and can save that for decision making on the football field.
Something as small as keeping a strict daily routine is Tom’s ‘small domino’. Brady understands if he is not ‘throwing the garbage’ he soon will not be throwing touchdowns.
David Lee Roth, lead singer for Van Halen was thought to be a prima donna because somewhere deep in the middle of Van Halen’s 50+ page contractual agreement with promoters of the arenas that the band played, Mr. Roth would request a bowl full of M&M’s as one of the many foods the band members wanted in the back room where they would relax before and after the show.
Along with the M&M request, there was a stipulation that there not be any brown M&M’s in that bowl. Not one. If David Lee Roth discovered the bowl had brown M&M’s he would literally trash the room and at times, the band would just cancel the show at the promoters expense. That meant that because of a single brown M&M, a promoter could lose millions in lost ticket sales.
Decades later David Lee Roth revealed the real reason for the brown M&M stipulation. In many of the arenas back in the 1980’s, were not structurally designed to handle the intricate (and heavy) staging, sound equipment and lighting that the band utilized. Without specific guidelines to follow, old floors could buckle and collapse, beams could rupture, and the lives of the band, their crew and fans could be at serious risk.
To ensure the promoter had read every single word in the contract, the band created the “no brown M&M's” clause. It was the ‘tiny domino’ to determine that the promoter paid attention to other more important parts of the contract, preventing even bigger ‘dominos to fall’ such as a total collapse of the stage.
When the set up crew for Van Halen arrived, they would immediately go to the M&M bowl. If they discovered brown M&M candies in the bowl, they immediately began the process of checking every aspect of the sound lighting and stage to ensure the structure was set up according to the contractual design specifications. If there wasn’t enough time to follow through or if the crew discovered the structure was faulty, they would cancel the show and the band would destroy the back room.
Van Halen created a seemingly silly clause to make sure that every little detail was taken care of. They understood the domino chain reaction effect.
The difference between good to great is that last 2.5% and in order to find yourself there, you need to focus on the small things like “throwing the garbage”. So ask yourself, “Am I ‘throwing the garbage’”? Am I finishing every job to completion or am I saying that good enough is good enough?
The great that find themselves in the last 2.5% of the bell curve understand that in order to have true success in business, to have true success in growth, to have true success in life, you need to always throw the damn garbage!