David Lee Roth and the Parable of the Brown M&M’s
Here’s a story that is brilliant in its insight and simplicity. I read it in The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.
Van Halen wanted no brown M&M's
David Lee Roth (Van Halen) has an obscure demand in his contract for his concerts. He wants/demands a bowl of M&M’s backstage, with no brown M & M’s in the bowl: “with every single brown candy removed, upon pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation to the band.” At least once, he followed through on his threat.
At first glance, this sounds like a typical over-the-top demand from a rock star too full of himself. But, in fact, it is a brilliant demand. The contract is full of very important issues – the strength of the stage, the quality of the wiring, and much more. People can get hurt when tasks are done poorly or not completed in a big stage show such as his.
Said Roth:
“When I would walk backstage, if I saw a brown M&M in that bowl, well, we’d line check the entire production. Guaranteed you’re going to arrive at a technical error…Guaranteed you’d run into a problem.” The mistakes could be life threatening.
This reminds me of a quote from Heb Kelleher (I’m sorry – I don’t remember which book I read it in). It went something like this: “if the rest rooms on our planes are not clean, then the passengers think that the engines might not be well-maintained.”
The lesson: Sweat the big stuff. And, have a check on something small to make sure the big stuff is handled well.
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The “Broken Window” theory is based on an Atlantic Monthly article co-authored by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, published in 1982. Basically, the theory holds that a building with a broken window that remains unrepaired encourages lawlessness (e.g. vandalism, graffiti, residence by criminals). Probably the best example of the theory occurred in the mid-1990s when then mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, declared “war” on petty criminals, notably vagrants asleep in doorways, on subways and in train stations as well as those who jumped turnstiles and “Squeegee Men” who aggressively cleaned windows of vehicles stopped at a red light and then demanded payment. After the NYC police significantly reduced the number of petty crimes, the number of major crimes (e.g. murder, muggings, gang violence, armed robbery) dropped even more significantly.
Many years ago, after I arrived at the HQ of a major corporate prospect in Dublin (OH), parked my rental car, and walked toward the main building, I saw an older man picking up litter on the lawn. I stopped to help him. “Hi, I’m Dave Thomas.” I introduced myself to Wendy’s founder, chairman, and CEO, explaining that I was meeting with the SVP Marketing. “He’s a good man. And thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.”
Here’s another true story. When a blizzard canceled all Southwest flights from Love Field and there were not enough employees to unload the luggage from the stranded planes, Herb Kelleher roamed through the terminal recruiting every adult male he encountered and led us to the tarmac where we donned parkas with hoods and gloves. We then helped airline employees unload the luggage from the planes. Later, Herb treated us all to much-appreciated refreshment in the terminal.
Great leaders like Dave Thomas and Herb Kelleher send lots of “messages” each day.
So do broken windows, litter, and luggage left on a plane.
Comment by Bob Morris | Tuesday, April 27, 2010