The Right And Wrong Kinds Of Obsession For Business Leaders | Christian Staddler

“Medium turkey chilli,” George says sheepishly before stepping to the left and receiving his soup. As Jerry steps up to place his order, George notices that he did not get any bread.

“Forget it, let it go,” Jerry quickly interjects. But George cannot help himself.

“Excuse me, I think you forgot my bread.”

“Bread two dollars extra,” comes the response from behind the counter.

“Two dollars? Everyone in front of me got free bread.”

“You want bread? Three dollars!” Tensions are rising. “Nothing for you! No soup for you.”

The legendary “Soup Nazi” episode of the classic comedy Seinfeld simultaneously shows us the positives and the pitfalls of obsession for businesses.

The owner of a small deli makes fantastic soup thanks to the right kind of obsession for a fantastic product. That's great.

But he also has an obsession with strict rules. Those who do not adhere are banned for life. To get soup you have to follow a prescriptive ordering process:

Pick a Soup: Choose the soup you want.

Hold Out Money: As you place your order, hold out the money.

Move to the Left: After ordering, move to the extreme left.

Collect Your Soup: Once your order is ready, move to the left to collect your soup.

No Comments or Compliments: No comments or chit-chat of any kind are tolerated.

Quite clearly, this is the wrong kind of obsession! There is actually a name for it: bureaucracy. Don’t get me wrong, rules and procedures are necessary to ensure efficiency. The problem arises if the rules are obsessive or there is no flexibility to bend them. Never.

The biggest problem though, are the kind of rules that come with obvious benefits for the business – at the expense of its customers.

Think of the small print in your insurance policy that (surprise, surprise) almost never gets you a pay-out. And to get a big one you need to bring in lawyers. Or think of one of your negative airline experiences – which are so common that practically everyone has them – where you were frustrated about a missed flight and all you got was a £5 voucher.

So why does this continue? The truth is that for most incumbents, it actually makes sense to use clauses to keep costs down, even at the expense of their customers.

The only time this is no longer the case is when a new player enters the market with a better value proposition, who does not hide behind such rules. This, however, is the exception rather than the rule. Which is why that episode of Seinfeld remains hilariously familiar and uncomfortably relevant nearly 30 years later.