Assignment 13: Reading Reflection No. 1
The book that I read was Grinding it Out by Ray Kroc. This is a memoir of the businessman Ray Kroc and his journey in life with the McDonald’s fast food chain.
1. What surprised me the most about this is that he wasn’t even the first guy to join and he joined actually quite late. He joined in 1954 when McDonald’s already had 6 locations opened. What I most admire about Ray is that he started very small and sold paper cups for upwards of 19 hours a day to make his living. He had a very humble beginning and it really shows how hard this man worked for what he wanted to become. What I least admire about him is that he cut ties with his previous company because you should never burn bridges, you never know when you’ll need that connection. He struggled with adversity because when he joined forces with another company, they demanded 60% of his income in exchange for some capital for his startup and he had to accept it even though it was a bad deal and he had to live off of 40% of his income for a while.
2. The competencies I noticed with Ray is that he had an unrelenting will to make ends meet and to succeed. Every challenge he faced seemed monumental but he was able to overcome. He was made head of a second location of McDonald’s and was experiencing problems with getting the quality of the food right. Eventually he made some calls and consulted some experts and they were able to show him the correct techniques and he was able to create quality food at a fast pace, like McDonald’s was known for. He would not be defeated.
3. I was a little bit confused about the contracts he signed with both the Multimixer and McDonald’s corporations because I could not understand the terms and agreements.
4. I would ask him who should I look to contact when I am looking for jobs or investments and I would also ask him what do you see in companies or startups that makes you want to join them like you saw in McDonald’s? I would ask these questions because this is how he became the man that he became.
5. I think Ray’s definition of hard work is about results. It is about obtaining the desired results by whatever means necessary. I think this because he sacrificed a lot of time and money to pursue what he wanted to pursue. I share this opinion because in the end, results are what people look at. If you say you worked hard and didn’t produce good results, people will just say, “clearly you didn’t work hard enough.” It’s all about results when working hard.
1. What surprised me the most about this is that he wasn’t even the first guy to join and he joined actually quite late. He joined in 1954 when McDonald’s already had 6 locations opened. What I most admire about Ray is that he started very small and sold paper cups for upwards of 19 hours a day to make his living. He had a very humble beginning and it really shows how hard this man worked for what he wanted to become. What I least admire about him is that he cut ties with his previous company because you should never burn bridges, you never know when you’ll need that connection. He struggled with adversity because when he joined forces with another company, they demanded 60% of his income in exchange for some capital for his startup and he had to accept it even though it was a bad deal and he had to live off of 40% of his income for a while.
2. The competencies I noticed with Ray is that he had an unrelenting will to make ends meet and to succeed. Every challenge he faced seemed monumental but he was able to overcome. He was made head of a second location of McDonald’s and was experiencing problems with getting the quality of the food right. Eventually he made some calls and consulted some experts and they were able to show him the correct techniques and he was able to create quality food at a fast pace, like McDonald’s was known for. He would not be defeated.
3. I was a little bit confused about the contracts he signed with both the Multimixer and McDonald’s corporations because I could not understand the terms and agreements.
4. I would ask him who should I look to contact when I am looking for jobs or investments and I would also ask him what do you see in companies or startups that makes you want to join them like you saw in McDonald’s? I would ask these questions because this is how he became the man that he became.
5. I think Ray’s definition of hard work is about results. It is about obtaining the desired results by whatever means necessary. I think this because he sacrificed a lot of time and money to pursue what he wanted to pursue. I share this opinion because in the end, results are what people look at. If you say you worked hard and didn’t produce good results, people will just say, “clearly you didn’t work hard enough.” It’s all about results when working hard.
hello Jonathan,
ReplyDeletei have to say that i really enjoy reading this post even though i didn't read that book. by what you say i asume you really enjoyed the book and now you know a lot about that person. the same happened to me, i read the Elon Musk book and to me it was a great book that talked a lot about his accomplishments and how he overcame his failures. good job.
Hi, Jonathan
ReplyDeleteNice post, did not know much about Ray Kroc, and his affiliation with McDonald's, you gave me a really good insight on him. I like how you talked about Ray's hard work and how if you don't attain a good enough result from it, you will come out short. I also liked the question you would ask him, sometimes it's hard trying to find the next best thing. Some people have a better sense of intuition than others.