[.ca] Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's (ISBN 0312929870)

Wisdom:
Ray Kroc's wisdom from his autobiography: "You have to spend money to make money." "I have always believed that each man makes his own happiness and is responsible for his own problems." "A man must take advantage of any opportunity that comes along." "I was driven by ambition. I hated to be idle for a minute. I was determined to live well and have nice things, too." "I work from the part to the whole, and I don't move on to the large scale ideas until i have perfected the small details." "It's lonely on top." "Train for a career. Learn how to support themselves and how to enjoy work first. Then if they have a thirst for learning, they can go to night school." Ah, great person in America!

Read this instead of all of the other books about McDonald's:
When it comes to business literature there are three kinds of writers: 1. Those who did it and write about it: business owners and entrepreneurs 2. Those who read about it: journalists, business books writers, and historians 3. Thos who think about it: professors, researchers, and think tanks Every single of has their own merit and contribution to the world of business history, but for me it is very important as a business professional to learn from the people who did it. What were they thinking? What where they feels? Why? The other two kinds of writers can tall you what they did and how but they can never tell you why? Which is why I recommend reading books like "Grinding It Out". Even though most people might think that McDonald's was brought to the world by a family baring that name, it was Ray Kroc who found them in California and brought it to the billions of people worldwide. In this book you make many discoveries as to the reason for McDonald's success. Why did they become number one in their category? What was Ray Kroc thinking and why he chose the path he walked. I highly recommend this book instead of all of the other books about McDonald's because you the inside prospective from the person who did it all, but perhaps most importantly you get to know why!!!!

Not a Very Satisfying Meal!:
This book is like McDonald's - not very nourishing or satisfying! While I loved reading about Mr. Kroc's upbeat attitude and how he became so successful, I don't think the book was very well-written. (I couldn't believe it was written by a former journalist for the Chicago Tribune!) Nevertheless, I found many inspirational quotes in the book, such as the homily that Mr. Kroc recites ... that not even education and talent can make you a success. You need persistence, for the world is full of people who had the other two but never went too far.

Great Story of The Triumph of Bad Food and Cruddy Service:
One of Ray Kroc's great innovations, which has been picked up by all the food chains that came after McDonald's, was the concept of cheap, horrible food with cruddy service and low wage employees. The pioneering Kroc has impacted the lives of "billions and billions" around the world, who have ordered the grilled chicken meal deal at the drive-thru, only to discover a crispy chicken sandwich upon opening the bag at home...and no straw. This surprise element of the McDonald's meal - not knowing what you will end up with, has been the enduring hallmark of McDonald's unique contribution to humanity.

A real hero's story:
It is truly inspirational to read about a businessman succeeding by being perfectly moral. Ray Kroc continuously focused on delivering positives instead of negatives. He was way ahead of his time, realizing the power of the entrepreneurial spirit and how to harness that in a large corporation.