Yesterday the city of Seattle was paralyzed by the fear of snow (which arrived today). As a result downtown was a ghost-town. That meant that we could get sandwiches from Salumi (one of Seattle's culinary gems) in less than the usual hour-long wait.
Even on a "quiet" day, the process still took about thirty minutes to order, receive and pay for our sandwiches. As we walked back to the office we started chatting about ways they could be faster. They could make sure that people are paying as quickly as they are getting their sandwiches made. They could make sure that the full menu is displayed further back in the line so customers know what they want as they arrive.
We even ranked some of the local sandwich shops in terms of speed. If you want an incredible sandwich and have the time, Salumi is hard to beat. Next up would be our beloved Tat's. Finally, you can go to a chain place, like Jimmy John's, and get a decent corporate sandwich in unbelievable time.
So then I asked myself the question, "why doesn't Salmui try to go any faster?" Wouldn't their customers be happier? The lines are ridiculous at times and you can blow a whole lunch-hour just on getting a sandwich. The place is tiny too. It's near-impossible to eat it there because of the wait for a table. Wouldn't they like a bigger location to service more customers?
And then it hit me: they don't go any faster and they don't grow any bigger because it wouldn't make them any happier to do so. The folks behind the counter clearly love what they're doing. It's not that they're indifferent to their customers, it's that they seem to be doing quite well the way things are and don't feel a need to "grow". I think there's something very laudable in that attitude.