Built to Run or Running on Instinct: An operational signal refresh

When dining operations run well, they feel effortless, like a choreographed ballet where everything happens on cue. But there’s a fine line between solid design and the quiet assumption that “someone will handle it.” This calls for a signal refresh. Spring is a natural time to reset by tightening the signals around what matters first, when to act, and when to escalate.

• Caution: Load-Bearing Humans – Everyone has their own idea of what makes a hero, whether it’s running into a burning building or tackling a problem no one else wants to touch (looking at you, mystery smell in the walk-in). In dining services, heroes often keep things moving smoothly, but is that by design or by patchwork? A simple test of system strength is whether performance holds steady when the usual problem solvers aren’t on the floor; if it doesn’t, the operation is relying on people, not structure. The fix is straightforward: watch what slows down when key staff are out, identify their decisions,² and turn them into practical guidance so the system, not heroics, carries the load.

• Mixed Signals - Metrics sit at the intersection of people and systems, shaping how work gets done. When measures reward speed or output without accounting for delays, handoffs, or moments that require escalation, the operation starts to rely on individuals stepping in instead of the system stepping up.³ Research on reliable operations shows that resilient systems surface small issues early instead of relying on experience later.¹ Metrics don’t just show you what’s happening; they help you decide whether you learn from it or keep reliving it.

• Start Here. Seriously. - Metrics are most useful when they give people a clear place to start; a single “first-look” metric sets context,⁴ reduces decision noise⁵ and signals when to shift from monitoring to mitigating. The specific metric will vary by operation, but the idea is the same: one number that quickly tells the team whether things are humming along or headed off-key. When people aren’t guessing where to focus, metrics aren’t competing for attention, and the system does the heavy lifting.

  If your first-look metric is “Who’s working today?”, we should talk. Click below to reach out to our team.

1.  Weick, K. E., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2007). Managing the unexpected: Resilient performance in an age of uncertainty (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

2.   U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2022, February 25). HACCP principles & application guidelines.

3. Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). The balanced scorecard: Translating strategy into action. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

4. Morton-Owens, E., & Hanson, K. L. (2012). Trends at a glance: A management dashboard of library statistics. Information Technology and Libraries, 31(3). https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v31i3.1919

5. Arnold, M., Goldschmitt, M., & Rigotti, T. (2023). Dealing with information overload: A comprehensive review. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1122200. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1122200