“Innovation, most of the time, is simply taking A, B, C and D — which already exist — and putting them together in a form called E.” 

— Wolfgang Schmitt, 
chairman, Rubbermaid Corp.


I distinctly recall a Brinker manager meeting I attended many years ago in which a guest speaker repeatedly stressed the importance of “thinking outside the box.” But other than citing 3M’s Post-it product, he was unable to provide any specific insight on how to jumpstart this process; he only emphasized that innovation “was key.”


After the speaker left, our area director and meeting emcee James Coughran addressed the group. He looked toward the door where the speaker had exited. 


“The problem with thinking ‘outside the box,’” he sighed, “is that when we go back to work, the first thing we do is crawl back inside the box. That’s where we need innovation and creative thinking.”


One of my fellow managers, having caught innovation fever, shouted out, “Hey, why do we even need a box?” He grinned and looked about, anticipating appreciation for his clever remark. James, not one to be swayed off topic, deadpanned this response: “Because you work in one.”


While that kind of put a damper on “out-of-the-box” ideation for the afternoon, James had made a bigger point. Innovation is just as critical for the day-to-day reality as it is for the future one.


He asked us to spend the rest of the session identifying current processes and systems, breaking them down, assessing why they worked or didn’t, and figuring out what would make them work better. He said to remember two things: Innovation is not limited to product lines, and the little things mean as much as the big things. A journeyman’s approach to innovation, perhaps, but the end result was fruitful; we collectively clarified our real problems and creatively defined new solutions to our daily challenges. It was a memorable meeting, and it taught me a critical life lesson about this business: Innovation at the unit level is key to a company’s growth and success. 


Innovation has solved many institutionalized problems over the last 20 years. While some of the problems were big (How do we streamline and improve kitchen efficiency? How do we sell more soda? How do we transform to-go coffee to align with customers’ mobile lifestyles? How do we minimize labor in QSR without affecting customer service? How do we improve speed in the transaction process?), the innovative solutions were often small. 


Consider the flat, flimsy, thin coffee lids with the rip-away tab that used to cover almost every to-go cup of joe. Now think of the domed coffee lid. Can you imagine Starbucks or Caribou Coffee being able to sell upwards of 3 billion to-go coffees every year without that top?


Remember when those wide-diameter straws began popping up 15 years ago — along with self-serve soda stations — allowing more soda per sip? Care to guess whether soft-drink consumption in restaurants went up or down as a result? And what if you want to choose between dipping your food into your ketchup or squeezing it on? Heinz has a packet “app” for that. 


That’s not to say that vendors are the sole innovators in foodservice. The drive-thru came about because a McDonald’s franchisee near a large military base was frustrated by a government rule that didn’t allow soldiers to wear their uniforms inside a restaurant. Spiraling labor costs in the 1980s prompted another QSR operator to place hand-lettered signs in his dining room that said: “Please put waste in trash can.” Voila! Obedient diners began busing their own tables, saving labor costs in the dining room and creating the “customer serf.”


Two generations later, the QSR and fast-casual diner has the “bus your own” behavior hardwired into their DNA. And let’s not forget that independent operators continually develop innovative menu items that chains often adopt, adapt and scale. 


So, as we enter 2012, I’d suggest one of the best things you can do to stay competitive and profitable is to first seek opportunities to innovate and problem solve inside the box. At the 2011 Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference, Scott Bergren, chief executive of Pizza Hut U.S., concurred by saying: “Do the hard stuff first; go back to the infrastructure of the brand.”


Assess every current system, process and procedure. Ask yourself, “Why do we do it that way? Why can’t we do it better? Who does it better? What can we learn from them?” 


Untried doesn’t mean impossible. Train team members to share with managers what customers ask for most that you don’t have. If you’re planning customer focus groups, don’t ask, “What do you want from us?” but rather, “What are you trying to do? Save time? Save money? Seek value? Escape the epidemic of sameness?” Then, build menus or amend systems to help them achieve their foodservice goals as diners. 


Incrementalism is another key to success in 2012. Each week, solve one process or people problem, then another, and then another. Don’t look up in 2013 to find yourself 52 problems behind. 


As my regional manager said when he concluded that meeting on thinking inside the box: “Bottom line, you’ll be remembered in this business for only one of two things: the problems you solve or the ones you create.”


Jim Sullivan’s brand new book “Fundamentals: 9 Ways to Be Brilliant at the New Basics” is available now at Amazon.com.