The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 20 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Cole: Cinnabon forfeited millions in EBITDA to restore franchisee trust
“We killed the initiative. We walked away from millions, millions in EBITDA. It was devastating for the company and the budget, but it was the only option to preserve the relationship with my franchisees”
Cole: Restoring broken trust outweighs the risk of emboldening stakeholders
“The biggest problem was repairing the trust, and I would rather err on the side of creating a little bit of a demanding monster on a basis of trust than be so cautious that I don't feed their demands that, that I don't fully repair the trust.”
Cole: Grocery CPG products do not cannibalize mall or airport franchise sales
“And the reality is that, you know, the first is more often true that these channels are completely separate of each other. Someone's impulse in a mall or an airport is not compromised by if they buy Cinnabon cereal at the grocery store.”
Cole: When criticized, assume first that the criticism is correct
“Anytime, it's one of my favorite pieces of advice, anytime you are criticized, assume first it's correct. Just allow yourself to digest that, and then respond. And either you will reaffirm that the criticism is not correct, and you can focus more on the why an…”
Kat Cole: The upside of believing in people outweighs occasional letdowns
“The upside of believing in people is so high. And, not but, and some will let us down. And the frequency that I'm let down is so low compared to the frequency that I'm proven right in people's potential, and so it just feels like this tax. It's like a single d…”
Kat Cole: Gratitude Can Blind Leaders to the Need for Change
“Sometimes we can be so humble, so grateful for what we have, that we forget that we have the right, and in the case of being a leader or a parent, the responsibility of To work toward something better. And so I am an intense gratitudist and lead with gratitude…”
Kat Cole: Disappointment from default trust is only a single-digit tax
“The frequency that I'm let down is so low compared to the frequency that I'm proven right in people's potential, and so it just feels like this tax. It's like a single digit percentage tax that is a small price to pay for getting all the upside that comes from…”
Cole: Internal Promotions Give Former Peers Excuses to Resist Standards
“And so all of a sudden when someone is plucked out of the peer group to be a leader, then everything that you have done not perfectly becomes an excuse for others to not do it perfectly.”
Cole: Cinnabon launched Minibons in 7,000 Burger King locations
“Just a few months later, we had the opportunity to put an even more optically competitive product, a minibon, in 7000 Burger Kings. And when I went to the franchisees now with better systems and better communication to tell them about this opportunity, while t…”
Kat Cole: Assume criticism is correct before responding
“Anytime you are criticized, assume first it's correct. Just allow yourself to digest that, and then respond. And either you will You will reaffirm that the criticism is not correct, and you can focus more on the why and a productive relationship, or you realiz…”
Kat Cole: Cinnabon operates as a luxury product within baked goods
“I mean, look, Cinnabon's not LVMH, but relative to donuts and baked goods and any of those, it is absolutely.
Luxurious.
It's enormous.
It's expensive.
It's complicated to make.
It's made from scratch.”
Kat Cole: Excessive pricing relegates food and beverage products to gifts
“And if something is super highly priced, it could get unintentionally relegated to being a gift.
If you are building a gifting company, that's okay.
But if it's
Food, beverage, consumption, and you need frequency, you need volume, then there is a certain price…”
Cole: US franchise law prohibits franchisors from mandating retail prices in most cases
“And oh, by the way, and franchising in the United States, in most cases, it is illegal to mandate pricing.”
Cole: Raising snack prices during downturns lowers check averages by destroying add-ons
“Because we saw drink sales disappear. Often happens in snack businesses during times of crisis, difficult times. And so that also causes, even though the price of the single thing goes up, the check average is still down because you're not getting the add on.”
Cole: Halt all other initiatives when frontline feedback reveals a clear pattern
“When you find something that is a pattern across all three questions, I have learned you stop everything, everything, and you make that happen right away.”
Cole: Refining marriage check-ins improved professional one-on-ones with her team
“It was rooted in one-on-ones that I already had with my team, but my one-on-ones with my team got better as my check-ins with my husband became more refined and consistent.”
Cole: Resolving customer conflict requires practicing 'customer service judo'
“It was almost like customer service judo, where I was using his energy in a way to play the game back to him, but in a giving way.”
Kat Cole: Monthly relationship check-ins directly improved team one-on-ones
“And so we have done this every month since we met. It has been an incredible enabler to our relationship and then reverse engineered it to have a similar practice for my business. It was rooted in one-on-ones that I already had with my team, but my one-on-ones…”