Recently in response to an old friend’s question I was asked:
Ian: “So… David… your response kinda echoes the “Five Lens of Perspective” I was using Grissom’s quote to illustrate. 🙂 Makes me very curious… when you are particularly stressed, do you find yourself getting more or less “focused?” on the other end of the spectrum, when feeling totally confident and in your best place, do you find yourself getting more “laid back,” or more “in command?””
Me: More focused. In command.
Yet when stressed it’s the (laid back) confidence in my skills and abilities I use to take command within the situation I find myself in.
Ian: “Methinks you might be a “Six” like Mr. Spock, Ron Howard, Neil Armstrong, and Jason Bourne. Using depth and breadth of information to achieve an end that has something to do with things being more stable and safe, Stress focusing you like a laser on the job at hand, and confidence lightening you up, increasing your sense of humor, and ability to relax?”
Me: Things become very calm and quiet in my mind with no distractions. Around me everything is going nuts, but I become very comfortable and pull from my training and experience or improvise on the spot. I’ve been nicknamed both Spock and MacGyver before, Ian. And an octopus (working with 8 hands) and the devil (for my speed). I guess they’re compliments.
It definitely lightens things up getting the problems solved, Ian. It may have been Dwyer who once said that part of the definition of happiness is being able to have control over our living/working environments.
I consider my happiness to be not just an inalienable right but my responsibility, thus the ability to control my environment is not negotiable. For a start I analyze factory floor layout, all processes and systems and refine and reduce steps, reduce waste, reduce the time it takes for each process, and create redundant production stations to increase output without sacrificing quality but while increasing quantity.
My friend Ian then went on to tell me that he had also worked in Process Re-engineering for quite some time working for companies like BofA,and Copymat in Boston.
So, this thing that I do (which I attribute to people who are “Efficiency Experts”) is known as “process re-engineering” and the increase in the bottom line (300% increase in profits is entirely possible) and the cost savings are phenomenal.
It doesn’t happen instantly though. The refinements occur one at a time over a period of some weeks and months as each type of business generates slightly or greatly varied conditions (supply shortages, bank runs out of change frequently, glassware or ice or other issues). So each process re-engineering job is unique for the place and demographic.
For those who might have missed it, the “Factory Floor” is just the back of the bar where we bartenders work. it is our product building assembly area.
Thanks for reading. 🙂
Site Author, David J. Curtis: David Curtis, a seasoned professional with decades of bartending and bar management experience began his career in Midtown Manhattan, NY, tending and managing bars before diving into Manhattan’s bustling nightlife club scene. Over the years, he has mastered high-volume, high-pressure bartending as the lead bartender in iconic Midtown clubs and tended bar briefly in the Wall Street area, generating over $1,350,000.00 annually in personal drink sales. He has since extended his expertise to establishments in Georgia and now Tampa in Exclusive Platinum Service Awards Clubs, Florida. David’s roles as a Bartending Instructor at the American Bartending School in Tampa, while maintaining a second job bartending, and his years experience of managing bars, and working as a Brand Ambassador along with his extensive professional library of over 1,000 bartending books, highlight his dedication to continually refining his craft. He holds a diploma in Bar Management and is BarSmarts certified by Pernod Ricard.
