1948 McDonald’s

Our aim at Athena is to give you your time back so you can spend it in the ways that matter most.

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1948 McDonald’s

In 1948, the McDonald brothers spent three months drawing their kitchen in chalk on a tennis court.

They'd stand there for hours, moving imaginary crew members around like chess pieces.

What they created was called the "Speedee Service System" - a complete reinvention of how to cook and serve food.

Burgers became science:

• Patties: exactly 1.6-ounces, fat content under 19%, diameter precisely 3.875 inches

• Buns: toasted for 15 seconds

• Onions: diced to exact specifications

French fries were the output of an entire research lab in Chicago testing endless combinations of starch content, cut width, and frying time.

Then, in 1954, Ray Kroc walked into their San Bernardino restaurant, selling milkshake mixers.

He watched teenagers with no cooking experience crank out perfect burgers in 30 seconds. The kitchen moved like Henry Ford's assembly line - every movement mapped, every variable controlled.

Kroc realized what the McDonald brothers had built:

• Take an order in under 45 seconds

• Cook burgers for exactly 150 seconds

• Assemble any menu item in under 20 seconds

• Serve customers in less than 3 minutes total

McDonald's didn't win because they made better burgers. They won because they had better systems.

Unseen Upsides

Most managers underestimate the quiet ripple effect of delegated tasks.

A junior analyst who gets handed an "easy report" might transform into the team's go-to data storyteller. What was once considered routine busywork can spark a transformation no one anticipated.

This happens constantly.

Athena's research uncovered a notable perception gap in delegated tasks:

→ People rated tasks delegated to them as 27% more enjoyable than delegators expected

→ Recipients also reported 25% greater skill development from these tasks than delegators predicted

We're often poor judges of what others will find meaningful.

One Athena assistant described the unexpected second-order benefits of tasks that delegators might initially dismiss as rote:

"I never saw myself doing SEO—it's definitely out of character. Even little things like researching housing bills like the “Just Cause” ordinance in LA have been added to my brain! Honestly, I feel less scared of stuff I don't know now. Before, if something wasn't part of my world, I'd think, 'That's not for me.' But now, with tools like ChatGPT and my network of XPs, I can figure it out. I could learn almost anything if I really needed to."

Each delegated task creates three opportunities:

1. The immediate work gets done

2. Someone develops new skills

3. Their confidence and capabilities grow beyond the task at hand

Delegation isn’t just redistributing tasks; it challenges you to step out of your own assumptions and empowers others to discover new capabilities and a sense of agency.