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In April, I will be republishing a three-week story about the time I participated in Dancing with the Stars of Boston. It took place 16 years ago this spring.

I didn't win the contest, which was a charity fundraiser, but it sure changed me. Yeah, it changed me after it scared me, humbled me, and shocked my system to the core. (That is a "Male Ballroom Dancing Shoe" pictured. I still have mine.)

Since I sometimes wonder about the impact or reaction of 'recycling' material I've written, I am always looking for insight and/or justification, and this week, in a weekly newsletter I have subscribed to for decades, I found it, and wanted to share it with you.

In case you missed it, I was in the restaurant industry for many, many years. About 30 years ago, as a member of CHART, the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers I spent some time with a member, Bill Marvin, who was known as the Restaurant Doctor and had a robust consulting practice. He has been a mentor of sorts for all this time and I have been subscribing to his weekly newsletter since then.

When I was pondering the Wednesday Weblog concept, and pondering a career in consulting, I naturally reached out to him, and he has been very helpful on the journey for me, since he had a 25 year or more head start. Oh yeah, he also uses this same email service, Constant Contact, so he had some untapped expertise I could use.

We had lunch last year for the first time in decades and caught up when he moved back to the USA from Spain.

From time to time, since he now subscribes to this Weblog, he will include a portion of it in his weekly Hospitality Journal, with attribution, and minor editing, to serve his restaurant industry readers.

Recently one of his topics was about recycling content. I know from feedback and statistics which Weblogs are the most popular or the most read, but I also know that the subscriber list changes from month to month, meaning new subscribers may not have read/seen one of what I would call 'classics.'

Long time readers are aware that I have ‘annual’ Weblogs that I justify repeating as seasonally appropriate. Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and the anniversary of the first date with my wife and I are among those. But I wonder when I republish something like the ‘All Nighter with Larry Bird’ if it is the right thing to do.

Here is Bill's explanation, even though it is to a different audience, it has universal merit on the value of recycling content. Even though it is targeted to restaurant industry professionals, the essence of truth below applies to all management, in my opinion. You may find it helpful to identify when to repeat your messaging.

(From USHI Hospitality Journal of February 24, 2024)

What's It All About, Alfie?

by Bill Marvin, The Restaurant Doctor

I recently received a note from a colleague and long-time subscriber who said, "I've been retired for ten years but I still enjoy your wisdom and insights ... even the recycled stuff.”

That got me thinking about recycling ideas and the importance of repetition in learning.

The sad truth is that a majority of the problems most managers deal with day after day are not inherent problems of the restaurant business but rather very predictable symptoms of their level of understanding (or lack of same) about people, and their ingrained notions of what it takes to be an effective manager.

I think of my weekly e-letters as professional development material -- stumbling attempts to inform, inspire, and convey a perspective that can’t be explained in words. I'm still striving to get it right because it's an important "aha."

You'll get my content before you really grasp the thinking that led to it. Since you’re a seasoned pro in this business, I doubt there’s much I've said in the past 30 years that you didn’t already know or hadn’t heard before. So why would I recycle articles or repeat myself so often?

After some reflection on that question, I came up with a few reasons ...

Perhaps You've Never Heard It Before

I believe the fundamental elements of hospitality haven’t changed in centuries. The only real changes are the tools available to help us do the work. Since I deal with principles more than specific practices, I think my content remains fairly germane to the needs of the industry. But not every reader has been with me since the beginning, so what’s "old news" to one person might be a fresh insight to another.

Repetition Drives Home Key Principles

Professional sports teams continually drill on the fundamental physical aspects of their sport (blocking and tackling, fielding and batting, dribbling and passing, etc.) They all know how to do all that, but it's important to keep skills sharp. As reader Barrie McDermid so neatly puts it, "What's repeated gets remembered, and what's remembered gets repeated."

Repetition Can Update Your Understanding

As you evolve professionally, your understanding deepens and you’re in a different headspace. The way you understood an idea when you were just getting started is likely quite different from the way you might interpret the same notion today. In this way, everything old can truly be new again if you remain curious, keep an open mind, and allow yourself time for reflection.

Repetition Helps Keep Important Notions Top of Mind

Reviewing my past articles reminds me of insights and ideas that were fresh when I first wrote them and still seem to be on target, even though I haven’t thought of them for years. Some “old” material is no longer applicable, of course, but business is cyclical and the best ideas have a long shelf life.

Recycling Articles Provides Discussion Topics

Just because YOU already know something doesn’t mean your staff automatically knows it, right? Recycling a past article may remind you to bring that idea up in your own staff training. It could also provide language to help you present it.

Recycling Articles Can Facilitate Staff Involvement

I believe adults learn more from dialogue than they do from lecture, so having a third-party source can be a valuable way to help the team explore new approaches.

“We’ve always done it [one way]. This author is suggesting we look at it from a different direction. What do you think? Would making the shift be a good move? What would we need to have in place for such a change to be successful?”

People don’t argue with their own information. When changes come from group consensus, they’re more likely to be embraced and implemented.

"You Teach Best What You Most Need to Learn"

This perceptive quote from Richard Bach says it all for me. I write because it clarifies my thinking. I clarify my thinking because it helps me learn (and re-learn) what makes our wonderful industry so vibrant.

I share my progress along this path in the hope you'll be curious enough to share the road with me until the magical moment when it all becomes clear, and you suddenly get what I've been trying to say all these years.