When I transferred from the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City to be on the opening team of Mirage in Las Vegas, a key issue was whether that new property would be union free or not. The existing collective bargaining agreement in Las Vegas was considered ill-suited for the impending new integrated resort: my challenge was to define how we would address that issue. The company’s VP of Hotel Operations and I were tasked to work with the Culinary Union to strike out on a new path that challenged both sides to work together and see if a mutually acceptable contract could be written from scratch. We challenged each other while going over every aspect of the old contract – if it made sense, try to improve it; if not, change or eliminate it. We reduced the contract from 135 pages to 29, eliminated more than 50 redundant job classifications, and eliminated the “zipper clause” that would have stymied ongoing efforts to implement changes throughout the life of that contract. Long story short: we found new ways to partner professionally rather than fight, and new ways to professionally find ways to agree rather than continue to follow old paths to disagreement: in essence, we chose to avoid the old paths of doing business. It was hailed as a landmark agreement because we thought outside the box, found improved solutions to old problems, and new ways to work together. Discover new paths of thinking today.
John D. Rockefeller Sr. (1839 – 1937): American business magnate and philanthropist widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history
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