Thin Slice:

Malcolm Gladwell’s book “blink” offers an insight into how we all think without thinking.

“Bias occurs beneath the level of our awareness”

Two customer walks into your restaurant. One is a funky artsy dressed young woman with blue green orange hair, and knee-high black boots, the other is a woman with grayish hair in an understated blue pant suit. How do you and your staff react to these women? You are thin slicing.

Here is an interesting experiment that every restaurateur should do. Sit back and observe how your staff reacts to specific customers either when approaching the table or the counter. Notice your staff’s physiology as they interact with the customer, notice the reaction of the customer to how they are being treated and throw in some variables like having your server being especially nice to some one who might seem nice.

In a perfect world we would treat every customer that crosses our path the same, however as Gladwell’s book illustrates, we bring so much that is beneath the level of our awareness to the experience that it is very easy to incorrectly thin slice!