Misalignments.

When I first started going to school at BYU I decided to get a part-time job as a hostess at a local restaurant (for these purposes I'll leave out the name of the restaurant). I only worked there a few months then decided that it wasn't the right working environment for myself and quit. I've often thought back to that restaurant and wondered what it was that I didn't like and what it was that made working there difficult. Now, with a better understanding of the 7-S model and misalignments in businesses, I think I have an idea of what wasn't working so well at this particular restaurant.

I believe the biggest area where misalignment could be found at this restaurant was in the style. This particular restaurant was a well established, family run business which had been in the community for many years. Over the years, ownership of the establishment had moved from the original owner to his son. Yet, the father continued to be around and continued to try to be in charge whenever he was in the restaurant. The management styles of the father and son were drastically different, that all employees were left having to adjust their attitudes for whoever was in for that day and whoever was in charge. The father wanted the restaurant to continue to have a mom-and-pop feel to it, while the son was much more concerned with running it as an actual business that could turn profits. He didn't care as much about making the customers feel at home and giving them the whole experience as he did about making money and turning tables quickly. I got in trouble a few times by either the father or the son for doing something which the other had instructed me to do, and I watched around me as this happened to most of the employees. Ultimately, we were all dragged into the awkward dynamics and issues that existed within this family.

I decided that this work environment was not for me for various reasons, and this misalignment was just one of the few. I'm often surprised sometimes when I visit this restaurant now many years later and see some of the same employees still there. As individuals we can probably all identify countless misalignments in our lives. I know personally there are certain standards I set for myself and goals I hope to achieve, yet often find myself just barely short of. I think that if I look closely at my life and what it is that is causing me to fall short of these goals, ultimately the cause would be various misalignments in different aspects of my life.