Authenticity... Conceptual Face-Noise or a Lived Reality?

Here's a Pickle for You to Unravel

We (for the most part) ask our teams to deliver ‘authentic’ service (first point right there if anybody is playing Bullsh*t bingo).

But what does that actually mean?

Like so many words we use on a daily basis—most of them are meaningless.

Just conceptual face-noise to make big executives justify their fat paycheck.

It puts me in mind of terms like ‘bandwidth,’ ‘low-hanging fruit,’ and ‘synergy.’

None of them really mean anything. And yet we expect everybody to know exactly what we’re on about!

Why not just use actual words with proper meanings? There would be far less nodding and dribbling and far more action and results.

What Does Authenticity Mean to You?

To me, it simply means ‘To be one’s self.’

If I’m honest, it’s something I’ve never really been very good at. I get bored of being myself far too easily and start making up little characters to play—sort of still myself, but exaggerating certain parts of my personality. It can be great fun, but it’s not ideal if you’re showing up for your team as they never know who they’re going to get.

But here’s something I’ve never understood.

We give our teams a uniform to wear.

We tell them what tattoos they can have and where they can have them.

We tell them what piercings are acceptable and how many we tolerate.

We tell them what shoes to wear.

We tell them how to wear their hair.

We tell them what colors they can dye it.

How long they can have their beard or whether or not they are even allowed to grow their own facial hair in the first place.

Sometimes we might tell them when to get a haircut if they start to look a bit disheveled!

I’ve even worked in restaurants where your guest introduction is scripted.

And then, after all of those rules and guidelines, we ask them to be themselves.

What the F&B?

How does that make any sense?

Sure, there can be a certain art to making it all ‘yours.’ To being the best version of yourself, to reading between the lines of the policies, but can anybody ever truly be themselves in our industry?

I’m not sure if they can.

Perhaps the perfect environment exists where it’s possible to do so without detracting from service.

An environment where our colleagues are free to look, sound, feel, and be exactly who they want to be. I guess the challenge then will be attracting and recruiting a killer team of F&B evangelists.

Who live and breathe the industry. Whose mission in life is to provide the best possible service to every guest we encounter, rather than just do a bit of part-time work whilst they play college.

And then there is the business of finding a few loopholes in the Food Safety rulebook.

The Elusive Dream

If this is your restaurant, if your teams are empowered (there’s another one on the BS bingo card!) to be themselves, let me know. I’d love to experience it!

I’ve seen a few places get close, but no cigar.

There’s always something missing. Maybe it’s the strict uniform policy or the rigid guest interaction script. Maybe it’s the relentless focus on the minutiae of presentation rather than the substance of genuine human connection.

In the end, we’re left trying to balance the scales between operational efficiency and human authenticity. It’s a tightrope walk that can leave us feeling like we’re never quite getting it right.

But we keep trying. Because every now and then, we catch a glimpse of what it could be like—an environment where people are not just employees but themselves, fully and freely. Where service feels less like a transaction and more like a genuine exchange between humans.

So here's to striving for that balance. For creating spaces where authenticity isn't just a buzzword, but a lived reality.

Maybe someday, we’ll get there. Until then, I'll keep juggling my little characters and hoping for the best.

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