Forget E. Coli, Here’s What I Discovered at Chipotle

I was reminded of a story told to me by a very successful TV Showrunner. He asked his intern to get lunch at Chipotle one day. His order was specific: Chicken salad, lettuce, tomato, no sour cream, no guac, hold the rice and drain the black beans.

The intern came back with the lunch order and it was completely wrong. It was a beef salad and had everything on it (including beans that were NOT drained.) Now, the intern didn’t get fired, but the showrunner never trusted him to do anything important or that required attention to detail ever again. If you can’t get an order right at Chipotle, where they make it right in front of you and ask what you want every step of the way, how can you be trusted with anything big?

So here’s what I discovered from this Chipotle story: DETAILS MATTER.

You might not think getting a lunch order for your boss is all that critical. But the harsh reality is this: you are being judged all day long. And getting the little things right puts you in line to have a shot at getting the big things right. Or it could disqualify you. The choice is yours.

Make the right decision, my grads!