Keeping a steady hand on all levels of business takes brands like McDonald’s to the top.

Shortly after My Secret Life on the McJob was released, I began fielding phone calls from quick serves asking me to speak at their annual conventions. One of the Majors was cautious, however, and asked me to interview with its chief people officer first.

We spent an hour together, one I thoroughly enjoyed, even when he asked a question that caught me somewhat by surprise: “Why didn’t McDonald’s get mentioned very much in your book?” he asked. “You talked about Burger King and Arby’s, Wendy’s and Krystal, but almost nothing interesting about McDonald’s.”

I thought about this for a minute and realized he was right. Sure, I had a few comments about McDonald’s, but considering I had worked undercover at two of its stores, they weren’t very well-represented in the book. If I could answer the question now, I think I would do a much better job than I did back then.

Think about the people who tell good stories at parties. None of these stories follow the pattern: “Yeah, nothing much happened today, and yesterday was pretty much the same.” No, good stories always recount unusual events, either bad or good. My book has lots of Burger King stories both great and not so good. And it also has sprinklings of other stories about events at other chains all documenting good or bad management experiences. I didn’t talk much about McDonald’s largely because, well, they were boringly consistent. Nobody did anything insanely bad nor did anyone overwhelm me with great managerial technique.

Here was my epiphany: To be great, first you must be consistent. Some months later I asked Rich Floersch, the executive vice president of human resources at McDonald’s, what he thought of my consistency theory. With a small smile, a bit of pride slipping out in an unguarded moment, Floersch granted that this was a major goal of McDonald’s.

Everything the company does in human resources—and I don’t think this is an exaggeration—is aimed first at eliminating the bad end of the behavior spectrum. McDonald’s wants to create a scenario in which everyone is average or better. When you stop to think about it, this is nothing more than a “zero defects” policy applied to crew and managers. And I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that McDonald’s is in continuous improvement mode.

In recent months I’ve also had the opportunity to talk extensively with other major brands about the path to excellence. Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, and Taco Bell have all given me great information that I will share with you in my future book, The Leadership Compass: Finding Your True North.

I'm looking for suggestions for an appetizer (litte ones) or tease to give to each table but does not have alot of cost associated with it.

Like soem steakhouses with free peanuts, mexican chains with chips and salsa. Or others who give free bread.

Any ideas and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Im looking for some names for a family restaurant but will be themed like a firehouse or with memorbilia to honor the fireman police and military. Im trying to find funny but catchy names and ideas.

I came up with the Hose House but being it would be in a religous community it may be preceived wrong.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.