What the McDonald’s Big Arch Video Reveals About Leadership and Dissent
A McDonald’s CEO eating a burger shouldn’t be a leadership lesson.
But the Big Arch video is. Because that video didn’t happen by accident. It was filmed. Reviewed. Approved. And then posted to Instagram for the world to see.
Which means it passed through multiple people inside the organization. Creative. Messaging review. Brand standards. Legal. Executive leadership. Social media.
At any point along the way someone could have said:
“Maybe we shouldn’t post this.”
Bad decisions rarely survive in a room full of honest people.
Yet the video still made it out the door.
Moments like this are rarely about the content itself. They’re about culture.
Leaders surround themselves with talented people.
The best ones make it safe for those people to push back.
In the Air Force we called this Crew Resource Management. The principle is simple. Rank and position don’t determine whose voice matters. Anyone who sees a risk has the responsibility to speak up. CRM exists because organizations fail when people stay quiet.
The failure here isn’t about burgers or personal taste.
It’s structural.
A burger video is low stakes.
But the leadership lesson behind it isn’t.
When was the last time someone on your team told you that you were wrong?