McDonald’s Growth

After Morgan Spurlock’s documentary “Super Size Me,” (where he nearly committed suicide by eating McDonalds for every meal of the day for a month), the growing “health movement,” people being more aware of the contents of their food, popular shows like “Biggest Loser” and best sellers like “Eat This Not That,” you would think McDonalds would finally go bankrupt because you can only feed people crap for so long until they realize what they are actually putting into their bodies.

However, McDonald’s net income actually grew 9% in the last quarter. As a result:

Investors rewarded the news, sending shares up more than 3 percent to $91.96.
McDonald's has performed well throughout the recession and its aftermath, partly because the chain has managed to reshape its image from a burger-and-fries joint into a hip, healthy place to eat. The world's largest burger chain, which other fast-food companies often copy, has introduced new menu items like smoothies and oatmeal, remodeled restaurants, and converted more locations to 24-hour operations [emphasis added].

Jim Skinner, McDonald's CEO, goes on to say in a statement that the third-quarter results are "a clear indication that our strategy is working." I commend McDonald’s for their “outside the box” type of thinking and “reshaping its image” to align themselves with the sign of the times and readjusting to customer changes. They recognized people were saying, “Look, we’re not eating crap anymore.” This led to the reshaping of the company in order to meet the needs (or wants) of the customer. It seems so simple to me.

If it’s so simple then why can’t the NBA fix their current system and “reshape” things in order to gain revenue? I feel an angry tangent coming on so I’ll refrain. This doesn’t mean I’m going to start eating at McDonalds again- far from it. I’m 35 years old now, and I get sick just driving past a McDonalds. (Not to mention my wife would kill me if the food doesn’t kill me first.)

I simply wanted to point out the principle of being open to “reshaping” a company that has been successful for decades. (Of course, there will always be plenty of stubborn businessmen who resist change. I’m looking at you NBA. Okay that’s the last sentence on the NBA, I promise.). Whether you agree with the product they’re selling is not the point. Being a successful business for any length of time requires invention, flexibility, and creativity. We know that as customers whether we’re aware of it or not.

From an individual perspective we, too, can be stubborn businessmen who don’t want to change and feel like everyone else should conform to our ideas, which results in torpedoing our own business (like a certain professional sports league that shall not be named).

As I’m getting older I want to be open to creative ways in living my life. Maybe that’s why I’m studying finance. It’s a new field and a new challenge. I like thinking about new ideas and exploring them to their end. I love the fact the Bible does not mention “How” you should run a church service but “Why” you should have a church service at all. As a result, church service styles have changed greatly over time (the “How”) but at it’s core the substance has not, the “Why.”

Applying that principle in my own life, I have Bibles and sermons loaded on my iphone. During my commute time I turn off the radio and pray like a madman, which makes me wonder why I even bought a new car radio. I set aside a block of time just to make phone calls to my friends I don’t talk to on a regular basis. Sometimes they answer, most of the time they don’t. Sometimes they call back, sometimes they don’t. Either way, I’m calling because fellowship, connection, and drawing from other people’s perspective are important to me. It’s how I’m constantly “reshaping” my soul.

I don’t spend hours studying the Bible like I did in grad school but I don’t feel guilty about it either. Although I would still love to do that, I realize my current life-stage and situation simply doesn’t allow it. Consequently, I’ve had to be more creative with my time and use other inventions to grow in Christ, whether that’s listening to sermons while at the gym or working around the house, making phone calls to people I know I should be talking to, or praying whenever given the opportunity. I pray the Holy Spirit would give me creativity in that regard and the ability to "reshape" how I approach Christianity. It helps to know that the “How” in the “How I do things,” has changed but the “Why” in the “Why I do this,” hasn’t. I hope that makes sense.