On Monday, my wheelchair stopped working and I had to schlep to Sylmar, which is 45-minutes away form my house. On the way back, my good friend said that I should try Bill’s Burger in Sherman Oaks and I never pass up a good burger unless we are going to Sushi.  I was really upset that my chair broke and I had to pay between $200-$800 to fix it so trying a new place for a good burger seemed like a good idea.

After dropping off my chair and a quick trip to Costco to pick up dinner, we arrived at a shack. Not a restaurant, a shack! Once we ordered, my buddy Pat had to find an ATM because as it turns out, they did not accept credit cards. I  wondered to myself, “why wouldn’t  they at least  have a Square to accept credit card payments?”

Then I heard customers congratulate the staff on getting a story written about them in the Los Angeles Times. I thought to myself, “just how good is their burger?”

After about 10 minutes, Pat returned with cash in hand. We paid $21.00 for 2 pastrami burgers, 2 hot dogs and 2 cans of Coke. Apparently, there was no room for a Coke machine. All they had was a counter and no tables which meant I had to return to my car to eat. I bit into the hotdog and let me tell you, it was the best hot dog I ever had!!!! I immediately Googled Bill’s Burgers when I got home, and  it turns out that Bill’s Burgers has been  in business for over 48 year. I really can’t wait to go back!

As I am working on my new keynote, I am focusing on how extraordinary success takes ordinary effort. I don’t think the owner of Bill’s Burgers thinks about a social media strategy or how many people like him on Facebook. Although, I did see a Yelp sticker on his window, I suspect the only thing that matters most to the owners of Bill’s  is making is making a kick ass meal.

If you have a story of an ordinary effort leading to an extraordinary experience, I’d love to hear about it.