Origin

Free · 13 pages · 5 worksheets

Build a team that acts the same when you are not in the room. The Ritz-Carlton Culture Playbook, free.

How the Ritz-Carlton builds its culture, written up from three hours with their leadership team, with the small-team version of every part.

From a session the Ritz-Carlton leadership team gave our EO Albany group. Written up by Zack Petrocca.

The Ritz-Carlton Culture Playbook cover, with pages from the playbook and its worksheets fanned out behind it
  • Culture
  • Service
  • Hiring
  • Year one
  • Lineup
  • Praise

Takes under 30 seconds. Free, no card.

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Why this exists

If it only works when you are in the room, it does not work.

Most founders run culture by being there. They catch the mistake, say the thank-you, answer the question. It works right up until they are not in the room, which is most of the time.

The Ritz-Carlton cannot put a founder in every hotel, so they built culture as a system: how they hire, what the first year looks like, fifteen minutes every day, and even how they say thank you.

It is the easiest version of culture to copy that I have seen, and almost none of it needs a hotel budget.

Zack Petrocca, founder of Origin

Who wrote this up

Three hours in the room, written up so you did not have to be there.

I am Zack, a fractional COO. I build the operating systems behind founder-led service businesses. The Ritz-Carlton leadership team spent three hours with our EO Albany group taking their culture apart. This is that session, as close to how they taught it as I could get, with the small-team version marked as mine, not theirs.

Zack Petrocca, Founder, Origin

What is inside

Six parts, then the worksheets.

Each part is written the way they taught it, then a box with what it looks like in a business of five or fifteen.

  1. What culture actually is

    What people say and do when you are not in the room, and the value with teeth behind it.

    Try this"Name the one thing you would lose a customer over."

  2. The three steps of service

    The greeting, the noticing, and the farewell almost nobody runs on purpose.

    Try this"Write the four parts of the farewell into your last client step."

  3. Select, do not hire

    Four gates for every hire, why they pay the 75th percentile, and why their teams would rather run short.

    Try this"Fill in Worksheet A before your next interview."

  4. The first year, scheduled

    Two days of orientation, fourteen of training, then check-ins at day 21, six months and a year.

    Try this"Put the six-month check-in in the calendar today."

  5. The daily lineup

    Fifteen minutes a day, which is sixty hours a year spent saying out loud who you are.

    Try this"Take the first ten minutes of a meeting you already hold."

  6. The praise that backfires

    Acknowledgment names the task. Affirmation names the character. Only one of them travels.

    Try this"Rewrite one thank-you today and say it where others can hear."

Thirteen pages you can read in one sitting, and a first worksheet you can use in two minutes.

Get the playbook

Look inside

Real pages, not a teaser.

Page 8: recognition, and the praise that backfires, with the three versions of the same thank-you
Part 6: the praise that backfires, and the version that travels.
Worksheet A: the four hiring gates, with a pass or fail box for each and a capability, character and culture score
Worksheet A: the four gates, for your next hire.
Worksheet B: the first-year calendar, from day 1 to day 365
Worksheet B: the first year, on a calendar before they start.

Who this is for

This is for you if

  • You run a team, and it still works best when you are there.
  • You are about to hire, or you just did.
  • You thank people often and still get more hours than judgment.

Skip it if

  • You want a values poster for the wall.
  • You are not going to change anything on Monday.

How fast it pays off

Useful before lunch.

  1. Minute one

    It is in your inbox, or download it straight from the next page.

  2. Minute five

    Page 2 tells you which part to start with, based on what is costing you most right now.

  3. Today

    Worksheet E, the praise rewrite, takes two minutes. Say it where your team can hear it.

Thirteen pages, US letter, made to print.

Before you download

Is this from the Ritz-Carlton?

No. These are my notes from a session the Ritz-Carlton leadership team gave to our EO Albany group, written up as they taught it. Origin is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Where I adapted something for a small team, it is marked as mine.

Does this work for a small business?

That is who it is written for. Every part ends with the small-team version, and the worksheets assume you are the one running it.

Can I read it online first?

Yes. The full write-up is free at joinoriginos.com/manual/the-ritz-carlton-playbook. The PDF adds the five worksheets and the small-team version of each part.

Is it really free?

Yes. It is free for your own business use. Please do not resell or repackage it.

Six parts. Five worksheets. Free.

Your first name, your email, and it is in your inbox.

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