Reading reflection No. 1

I read the book Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's, by Ray Kroc. The autobiography of the mastermind behind what would become the McDonald's company we know today.

The most surprising thing I learned was that McDonald's was a restaurant that had existed for 30 years before Ray Kroc entered the situation and began building the empire. Additionally, Kroc wasn’t a cook or worker in the restaurant, he was an outside observer that merely saw the potential of the platform.

One thing in particular that I admire is that Kroc worked in the business realm for decades as a regular part of the big system, and it wasn’t until he was 52 that he began his endeavor with McDonald's. This to me shows that success and achievement are not bound by age, and there is no proper timeline that life supposedly has to follow.

There is not so much something that I find disagreeable with Kroc, but there is a methodology he believes in that I wouldn’t follow. In my eyes, Kroc’s tenacity and perseverance are very admirable. But, in regards to what I see would be a proper work-life balance, my perspective and Kroc’s perspective on that concept differ.

As mentioned, Kroc spent years as a sales employee until he finally attained his massive breakthrough with the franchising of McDonald's. He worked as a paper cup salesman until he moved to a milkshake machine called the Multimixer. In this situation, rather than settling for what some would consider a “normal” job, he showed great perseverance.

Kroc invested highly in the research and development of particular business practices. The McDonalds franchise spearheaded the modern franchise system, and today stands as possibly the most recognizable franchise globally. Additionally, something Kroc mentioned that is at the core of entrepreneurship was the possibility of failure. Kroc took high risks so that he could attain success, saying in his book, “where there is no risk, there can be no pride in achievement.”

The time period in which he began working with the McDonald brothers but was still dealing with prior contractual obligations to his previous employers were somewhat confusing as I am unfamiliar with the legal precedencies in place.

If I had to ask Ray Kroc two questions, they would be this:

1. Do you feel as though you missed out on anything during your journey towards success?
2. At any moment were you afraid that this success would be taken from you and the credit would be given to someone else?

It is abundantly clear to me that Kroc valued hard work, dedication, and persistence. A telling quote from him is “luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.” I agree with Kroc in this, as I believe that you receive what you put into your work. Luck is circumstantial, and you have to make your own circumstances.