Logan Russell's Reading Reflection #1

I read Grinding it Out by Ray Kroc, which is the story of the building of the McDonald’s empire. I watched the flim “The Founder” which is based upon this book and loved it so much that when I saw the book on the reading list I knew I had to read it. 

1.    What surprised me the most about Ray Kroc was just how much he undertook personally to see the business succeed the way he did. Two of his marriages failed, he took out mortgages on his houses, and at one point even sold everything he had to keep McDonalds alive. What also startled me about this was that he was no young guy when this was all happening; he started building up McDonalds when he was 52 years old! Being that old and having the vigor and enthusiasm to build a fast food giant from the ground up gave me a great deal of confidence for when I pursue my future endeavors. What I admired the most about Ray Kroc was his dedication to his employees and to the people that helped him along the way. He makes a point of mentioning many, many people in his book that were instrumental in helping the company and how he treasured their efforts. What I admired the least about Ray Kroc was his explosive temper at times, but at the same time it showed his passion, so it could be argued as a positive quality. Kroc did encounter much failure; for many of the first years of the company’s existence, he never saw personal profit, and most of his business ventures before McDonalds ended up as failures. But Kroc just kept bouncing back, never being deterred to seek out the next opportunity. 

2.    I noticed that Ray Kroc was incredibly competent with people skills, such as negotiating and finding business tactics to get his way. Kroc’s real superpower was definitely his ability to get things done through other people. His charisma and vision was so clear and infectious that almost anybody involved with McDonalds shared it too.

3.    What confused me about the book at times were the comprehensive business tactics often explained when Kroc was discussing the ins and outs of his dealings. It was nothing too advanced, but there was just so much of it that it sometimes bogged me down. 

4.    If I were to ask Kroc two questions they would be: How were you able to maintain your standards for what a McDonalds store should be across hundreds of locations? and What would you have done differently looking back upon your journey? These are things touched upon in the book but I would truly love a comprehensive answer.

5.    Kroc was adamant throughout his book that nothing can be accomplished without hard work and dedication and “grinding it out.” The title of the book is quite literally a testament to how greatly Kroc believes in the necessity of hard work.