The thing about getting a big opportunity to do something new and different is that it’s often something that hasn’t been done before. It was like that at the Mirage: it was so different that we felt like we were in uncharted waters. Everyone working on that project knew enough about their respective areas of responsibility to know they had to think outside the box. We weren’t afraid to admit what we didn’t know and wise enough to seek help. A case in point: training new employees. The hospitality and gaming industries back then didn’t do a very good job of training new employees – they mostly sought to hire people that knew how to do the job and then let them do it. We had checked with dozens of companies that had opened lots of different kinds of businesses and most of them admitted that if they could do it again, they’d spend more time and energy on training their new employees. With a new opening, they said, there was a unique opportunity to train them before opening the doors and that investment would pay big dividends going forward. So, we hired professional educators to help us create training plans and train our trainers. That decision helped make the opening of the Mirage so successful and paved the way for all the changes that have happened here in Las Vegas ever since. Don’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know and then figure out how to overcome that today.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born 1967): American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host
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