Operational Fundamentals Elevate Craft

In preparation for the upcoming third season, I decided to rewatch The Bear. Watching it again, my admiration for Sydney, who I consider the heart of the show, was reaffirmed. The reason behind my appreciation became more apparent after the first episode.

For those who haven't seen The Bear, it revolves around Carmy, an Executive Chef with a James Beard Award, who inherits his late brother's struggling restaurant, The Original Beef of Chicagoland. The establishment grapples with significant debt and a lack of formal processes or systems following the brother's recent passing.

Sydney, a trained chef, enters the picture and expresses her interest in interning at the restaurant for a week. During her short internship, she identifies operational gaps hindering the restaurant from realizing its full potential despite having an award-winning chef at the helm.

Upon completing the week, Sydney returns to the restaurant armed with a compelling business case for her full-time employment. In her proposal, she highlights a 20% cost savings that could effectively cover her salary. Additionally, she suggests innovative ideas for new business opportunities that would rapidly boost sales.

To me, her character exemplifies how someone with operational experience significantly benefits a creative team. They can identify the operational gaps necessary for the team to excel in their work, develop the strategic vision to fill those gaps and then execute against that strategy. 

Your operations team is critical to the success of your designers and the quality of work they produce.