---
title: "Restaurant-smart vs. corporate-smart"
description: "A test for where a company keeps its intelligence, and a goal of holding both."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/restaurant-smart-vs-corporate-smart/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Restaurant-smart vs. corporate-smart

> A test for where a company keeps its intelligence, and a goal of holding both.

Will Guidara's framework, from Unreasonable Hospitality, pp. 38 to 52.

Framework 1 of 15 from [Unreasonable Hospitality](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/index.md) by Will Guidara. Category: Leadership.

## The steps

1. **Ask where the highest-paid people work.** In the restaurants themselves or in the corporate offices, which shows how the company is run.
2. **Weigh autonomy against systems.** Restaurant-smart gives creative latitude and ownership, corporate-smart gives accounting, purchasing and controls.
3. **Trade control for trust where guests are touched.** Keep systems that do not affect the guest and leave decisions about connection to people on the ground.
4. **Find the creative compromise.** Solve each tension with a new option that serves both the guest and the business.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Chapter 5: Restaurant-Smart vs. Corporate-Smart, pp. 38–52

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/restaurant-smart-vs-corporate-smart.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/restaurant-smart-vs-corporate-smart-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/restaurant-smart-vs-corporate-smart.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/restaurant-smart-vs-corporate-smart-dark.png