During a recent interview with NRN senior food editor Bret Thorn, Danny Meyer pointed to a video of a shirtless dancing man to explain the thinking behind New York City-based Union Square Hospitality Group LLC’s plan to end tipping in its 13 full-service restaurants.
“You’re going to look at it and say, ‘This is really silly,’ but if you’ve got two-and-a-half minutes you’re going to see how we’re thinking about this also,” Meyer explained.
Watch the video below:
The video was originally presented in a TED Talk by entrepreneur Derek Sivers, called “How to start a movement.” The main point, according to Sivers, is that “leadership is over-glorified” — a sentiment that Meyer has embraced.
“We’re actually not the leaders here,” Meyer told NRN. “I told you candidly we’re doing this because we believe it’s right for our company, but we also know that someone has to go first, but it’s not those who go first who are the true leaders, it’s the next ones in. Otherwise you don’t have a movement.”
Do you agree with this sentiment? Will the elimination of tipping catch on? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.