Seek to Misconstrue + a
Failure: The Blog 
August 2018
- When This Executive Was Fired, He Took Charge
- Obeying The Speed Limit Has Never Been More Fun
- London Black Cabs Helped Uber Grow
- Bette Graham Created A Product To Fix Her Mistakes
- Flamin' Hot Cheetos Had An Interesting Start
July 2018
- Fear This Instead Of Failure
- Re-Releasing Songs Created Success
- A CEO's Purposeful Mistake
- The Tardy Student And The Unsolvable Problem
- Fixing Potholes Through Graffiti
June 2018
- A Surprising Mistake In The Oxford English Dictionary
- US Army Embraces Mistakes
- Blocking A Hymn
- Eddie Shore Was Truly A Tough Guy
- [Video] Elon Musk Didn't "Pivot" He Failed
May 2018
- 8 Examples of Mental Toughness Part 2
- Necessity Turned Accessory: Allen Iverson's Sleeve
- This Doctor Has Continued To Fail
- 8 Examples of Mental Toughness
- MIT Accidentally Creates New Smelting Process
April 2018
- Johnny Cash Quit Singing Lessons
- Cruise Control Came Out of Frustration
- Time Spent Gaming Pays Off In The Navy
- Rock Around The Clock Was a Commercial Failure
- Sigmund Freud Should Have Been Discouraged
March 2018
How One Dairy Queen Wins By Breaking All the Rules
If there’s one rule of operating a franchise, it’s this: you follow all the policies of the company as a franchisee. No exceptions, no questions. Because if you don’t, you could lose everything. So why is one DQ brazenly breaking the mold?
The story comes from Moorehead, Minnesota. As explained in an piece from Serious Eats:
“Corporate would love for us to disappear, no question about that,” says Moorhead Dairy Queen owner Troy DeLeon. With its seasonal hours and walk-up service windows—plus a penchant for producing menu items you won’t see elsewhere—the shop has more in common with the first Dairy Queen, which opened in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois, than the sleek stone-walled Grill and Chills you’re likely to see today.
How is it possible that this one location is doing everything different? It’s all in the legalese—and the success.
When the DeLeons took over, the original 1949 contract transferred, meaning the Moorhead DQ doesn’t have to adhere to many strict company rules. Had they signed a newer contract, they would have had no choice but to discontinue their barbecue sandwiches and Polish dogs and launch a full Orange Julius menu like many newer DQ franchises. Thanks to their old-school contract, the Moorhead DQ still pays the original 1949 royalties rate on Dairy Queen treats that they order from the corporate warehouse. Perhaps most importantly, DeLeon is able to source ingredients from outside providers and still make many desserts in-house.
Failure is the secret to success. Sometimes you gotta go against what the rules say and do your own thing. And while it won’t always work out, sometimes mistakes can be sweet!
