Talking about the transformative power of hospitality to improve our business. Read about the ALICE book club in TechCrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/21/how-to-use-a-book-club-to-turn-your-startup-into-a-learning-machine/

1. Setting theTable
The Transforming Power of Hospitality in
Business
By Danny Meyer

2. Danny Meyer
Danny Meyer is the President of Union Square Hospitality Group, which
includes Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park,
Tabla, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, Shake Shack,The Modern, Cafe 2 and
Terrace 5 at NewYork City's Museum of Modern Art, and HudsonYards
Catering.
Danny, his restaurants and chefs have earned an unprecedented 26
James Beard Awards.
An active national leader in the fight against hunger, Danny has long
served on the boards of Share Our Strength and City Harvest.
He is equally active in civic affairs, serving on the executive committees
of NYC & Co, Union Square Partnership, and the Madison Square Park
Conservancy.

6. In October 1985, at age twenty-seven, Danny Meyer, (a life
long foodie) with a good idea and scant experience,
opened what would become one of NewYork City's most
revered restaurants—Union Square Cafe.
Little more than thirty years later, Danny is the CEO of
one of the world's most dynamic restaurant organizations,
which includes eleven unique dining establishments, each at
the top of its game. How has he done it? How has he
consistently beaten the odds and set the competitive bar
in one of the toughest trades around?

7. In this landmark book, Danny shares the lessons he's learned
while developing the winning recipe for doing the business he
calls "enlightened hospitality."
This innovative philosophy emphasizes putting the power of
hospitality to work in a new and counterintuitive way: The first
and most important application of hospitality is to the
people who work for you, and then, in descending order
of priority, to the guests, the community, the suppliers,
and the investors.
This way of prioritizing stands the more traditional business
models on their heads, but Danny considers it the foundation of
every success that he and his restaurants have achieved.

8. Some of Danny's other insights:
Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is
absent when something happens to you.These two simple
concepts—for and to—express it all.
Shared ownership develops when guests talk about a restaurant
as if it's theirs.That sense of affiliation builds trust and invariably
leads to repeat business.
Err on the side of generosity:You get more by first giving more.
Wherever your center lies, know it, name it, believe in it.When
you cede your core values to someone else, it's time to quit.

9. Setting theTable
Full of behind-the-scenes history on the
creation of Danny's most famous
restaurants and the anecdotes, advice,
and lessons he has accumulated on his
long and ecstatic journey to the top of
the American restaurant scene, Setting the
Table is a treasure trove of innovative
insights that are applicable to any
business or organization.

10. Chapters
1. The First Course
2. In Business
3. The RestaurantTakes Root
4. Turning Over the Rocks
5. Who Ever Wrote the Rule…?
6. NoTurning Back
7. The 51 Percent Solution
8. Broadcasting the Message,Tuning in the Feedback

11. Chapters
9. Constant, Gentle Pressure
10. The Road to Success is Paved with MistakesWell
Handled
11. TheVirtuous Cycled of Enlightened Hospitality
12. Context, Context, Context.
13. The Art of Hospitality

12. Chapter 1 -The First Course
 Danny attributes many early life experiences and mentors directly to
his entrepreneurial success in his industry.What experiences to date
have led to your current career interests and goals?
 What mentors have played a big part in your story to date?
 What individuals have inspired your passion and performance since
joining ALICE?

13. Chapters 2 & 3
In Business &
The Restaurant Takes Root
 Please share a situation that has not gone as planned in your career
(either with ALICE or in a former role).
 What did you gain from this experience?
 Danny had the luxury of taking a tour through European cuisine as a
training experience for his restaurant. If you had two month and an
unlimited budget, what would you chose to do as a training experience
for ALICE?

14. Chapters 4 & 5
Turning Over the Rocks
Who Ever Wrote the Rule…?
 “Shared ownership develops when guests talk about the restaurant as if
it is theirs.They cannot wait to share it with their family and friends.
What they are really sharing, beyond the culinary experience, is the
experience of feeling important and loved.That sense of affiliation builds
trust and a sense of being accepted and appreciated, invariably leading to
repeat business, a necessity for any company’s long term survival.”
 How does this apply to our clients at ALICE?

15. Chapters 6 & 7
No Turning Back
The 51 Percent Solution
 Page 141: bottom paragraph.
 The Excellence Reflex: A natural reaction to fix something that could be better.
The excellence reflex is rooted in instinct and upbringing, and then constantly
honed through awareness, caring, and practice.The overarching concern to do the
right thing well is something we can’t train for. Either it’s there or it isn’t. So we ned
to train how to hire for it.
 “We don’t believe in hiring the 110% employee.That’s about as realistic as working a
26 hour work day.We are hoping to develop 100% employees who’s skills are
divided 51-49 between emotional hospitality and technical excellence”
 What makes a 51 percent employee at ALICE?

16. Chapter 8
Broadcasting the Message
 Who are the critics we are up against at
ALICE?
 Meyer stresses that “effective businesses
remain true to their core, but also know how
to hear, respond, and adjust to constructive
feedback”
 Feedback is an inevitable part of our
process at ALICE. How do we manage this
while still staying true to our core? How
do we respond? How can we grow from
this?

17. Read Chapter 9
Constant, Gentle Pressure
Are you an effective leader?
“Two keys to building consensus for problem solving are coaching
and communication. Coaching is correction with dignity.”
“Communication is at the root of all business strengths- and
weaknesses.”

18. Chapter 10
The Road to Success is Paved with Mistakes Well
Handled
 The 5 A’s for Effectively Addressing Mistakes (page 223)
 Awareness
 Acknowledgement
 Apology
 Action
 Additional Generosity
 “Always write a great last chapter. People love sharing stories of adversity. Use this
powerful force to your advantage by writing the closing statement the way you
want it told. Use all if your imagination and creativity in thinking about your
response.”
 Can you give an example (at ALICE or as a customer yourself) when you
when a mistake was addressed effectively?

19. Chapters 11 & 12
TheVirtuous CyclE of Enlightened
Hospitality,
Context, Context, Context.
 Which of these stakeholder groups can ALICE enhance for our hotel
clients? How?
 What are your “YES” criteria for NewVentures in your life/career?

20. Chapter 13
The Art of Hospitality
 Define “The Art of
Hospitality”

21. Moment of Truth
According to Meyer, hospitality occurs when there is a certain degree
of human interaction between service providers and customers.
For example, when a hostess greets customers in a restaurant,
customers usually note immediately whether the hostess greets them
sincerely by evaluating the hostess’s smile, gesture, and eye contact.

22. Hospitality as a Dialogue
 Furthermore, the author views
hospitality as a dialogue between a
service provider and customers;
he considers service as a
monologue which focuses on
technical delivery of a service
product.
 Thus, true hospitality only exists
when there is mutual
communication between service
provider and customers.

23. Who Provides True Hospitality?
According to Meyer, only true,
optimistic and team-oriented
people have the potential to
provide true hospitality to
customers; this is not something
that one can obtain or improve by
simply training one’s employees.
How can ALICE serve as a tool to
empower employees to provide
genuine hospitality to employees?

24. Emotion vs.Technique
Meyer contends that he has been able to
provide consistent hospitality to his customers
because of his restaurants’ rigid employee
recruitment policies.
More specifically, the author pinpoints five
emotional skills-- optimistic warmth,
intelligence, work ethnic, empathy, and self-
awareness, and integrity-- which he expects his
employees to possess.
In Meyer’s view, these emotional skills are
more important than technical skills in
providing hospitality service.

25. Personalizing hospitality
 Danny Myer ALSO describes in detail
his innovative and competitive service
strategy throughout the book.
 For example, he uses customers’
personal information strategically in
providing hospitality.
 He obtains customers’ personal
information tactfully, using a
reservation book or online reservation
system.
 How does ALICE provide this
information to our users about their
guests?

26. Get more Meyer!
• Speaking engagement @Yale MBA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeOeUqIBzAg
• Team member spotlight: http://www.ushgnyc.com/people/team-
member-spotlight/
• The Tipping Debate: http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/danny-
meyer
• Family life: http://www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/new-york-
families/family-portrait-31
• Documentary available on netflix “The Restaurateur”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwuVZFddCp

27. Next read…VOTE TODAY!
• Elon Musk:Tesla,
SpaceX, and the
Quest for a
Fantastic Future
• Originals:
How Non-
Conformists
Move the
World
• Sprint: How to
Solve Big
Problems and
Test New Ideas in
Just Five Days
• The New
Gold
Standard: 5
Leadership
Principles for
Creating a
Legendary
Customer
Experience
• Leaders Eat Last:
Why Some
Teams Pull
Together and
Other’s Don’t
• The Power
of Habit:
Why We
do what we
do in Life
and
Business
• Disrupted: My Misadventures in the Start-Up Bubble