05/14/2026
The first time I met my wife’s family, we gathered for dinner at a restaurant in Saint Augustine called Barnacle Bill’s. My in-laws had grown up in St. Augustine, and Barnacle Bill’s was their favorite place to eat. Every visit to Saint Augustine included dinner at Barnacle Bill's.
On this particular evening, much of my wife’s extended family joined us, including cousins and their spouses. When the waitress came to the table and asked if we needed menus, my father-in-law immediately replied, “Nope, we know what we want.”
What happened next amazed me.
One by one, around the table, every single person ordered the exact same meal: the Shrimp Buster.
Apparently, this had been the routine for years.
Then it was my turn to order.
I ordered the broiled seafood platter instead.
You would have thought I had announced I kick puppies.
The looks around the table were priceless. Confused. Shocked. Maybe even mildly offended. No one expected me to order something different. The assumption was simple: this is what we do here.
And for years, that routine continued.
It was always shrimp buster night at Barnacle Bill's!
Until one day, it wasn’t.
A few years ago, Barnacle Bill’s closed their original location and later relocated under new management, but they closed a short time later.
That raises an important question: did the restaurant suffer because it kept doing the same thing, even while customers’ expectations and options kept changing?
The best businesses do not just ask, “What have we always done?” They ask, “What do our customers need now?” They listen for shifts in preference, they test new ideas, and they remain willing to adjust before the market forces them to change.
In 2026, restaurant trends are leaning toward more limited-time menus, more healthy choices, more low-alcohol drinks and mocktails, and more guest-focused innovation as operators try to sharpen the experience and stay competitive.
Other industry coverage points to flexible menus, hyper-local ingredients, plant-based dishes, and novelty-driven offerings as ways restaurants keep attention in a crowded market.
The broader lesson applies beyond restaurants: in an attention economy, novelty and relevance matter, but so does discipline. Leaders who pause long enough to notice what is changing are better positioned to respond before customers drift away.
The organizations thriving today are the ones willing to pause long enough to ask difficult questions:
What are you repeating simply because it is familiar?
What customer feedback have you been ignoring because “we’ve always done it this way”?
Where has your team confused consistency with stagnation?
What would happen if you paused long enough to invite fresh thinking?
What one small change could you test this month to better meet current needs?
Even iconic brands like Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Chick-fil-A constantly experiment with technology, personalization, rewards programs, mobile ordering, and customer experience because they know standing still is not an option.
That is why I often speak and write about The Power in the Pause.
The pause creates space for awareness.
The pause interrupts autopilot.
The pause challenges tradition.
The pause gives leaders permission to rethink, reinvent, and reimagine before the marketplace forces them to.
Without the pause, organizations drift into repetition. And repetition, over time, can quietly become irrelevance.
But this isn’t just about businesses.
It’s about leadership.
As leaders, we can easily fall into our own version of the “Shrimp Buster” routine.
We lead the same way. Run the same meetings. Use the same strategies. Give the same answers. Avoid the same difficult conversations. Resist the same necessary changes.
Not because they are still effective - but because they are familiar.
The best leaders challenge familiarity.
They stay curious. They invite feedback. They ask questions others avoid. They create cultures where new ideas are welcomed instead of resisted.
Most importantly, they pause long enough to reflect before momentum carries them in the wrong direction.
So here’s the real question:
What is the “Shrimp Buster” in your leadership or your organization right now?
What are you continuing to do simply because “that’s the way we’ve always done it”?
And what might happen if you paused long enough to consider a different choice?
Sometimes growth doesn’t begin with a massive change.
Sometimes it begins with simply ordering something different.
