Welcome to Edition #81 of Did You Know? (DYK), the weekly newsletter by Gorick Ng, Harvard career adviser and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of The Unspoken Rules, where we deconstruct the untold story of how someone (or something) became successful—and what you can do to follow in their footsteps.
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Did You Know? Pursue the obvious!
→ Read time: 4 min
Your success story this week
Did you know? Peggy Cherng, co-founder of Panda Express, used her naval engineering experience to build “the McDonald’s of Chinese food.”
If you live in the U.S., you may have heard of Panda Express—and may have even tried their orange chicken and broccoli beef. They’re the 12th largest restaurant chain in the U.S. by sales—bigger than Pizza Hut, Popeyes, KFC, Olive Garden, and Dairy Queen.
But did you know that Panda Express owes much of its success to a naval engineer?
The year is 1975. Peggy Cherng is an engineering specialist at McDonnell Douglas, a U.S. defense contractor and aerospace manufacturer. Her job? Coding “complex” battlefield computer simulations for the U.S. Navy.
Meanwhile, Cherng’s husband, Andrew, is helping his father run a sit-down Chinese restaurant in Pasadena, California, named “Panda Inn.”
But Peggy’s demanding career often meant late nights, and with three small children at home, the family was ready for a change.
Then, in 1982, the opportunity came. Andrew got an offer from a developer friend: open a quick-serve version of “Panda Inn” in the friend’s newly built mall. The couple “pounced on the opportunity.” Peggy specifically saw an opportunity that seemed obvious to her as an engineer but that wasn’t so obvious to everyone else: “You need a system.”
At the time, few “independent restaurateurs… saw the need” to use technology in their restaurant business. Peggy, however, looked at IBM’s new digital point-of-service (POS) systems (i.e., computerized cash registers)—and saw the chance to track sales, such as whether beef sold better than chicken, and “determine trends” for maximum efficiency.
This made Panda Express one of the first fast food restaurants—along with McDonalds—to adopt a POS system. And Panda Express didn’t just have any POS system—it had Peggy’s own hand-customized one.
Peggy didn’t stop there. She continued building “structures and systems” such as standardized menus and recipes that helped Panda Express scale efficiently and without investor funding. Taking a page from the Navy, Peggy also developed a “rigorous management curriculum” to ensure that every store had consistent quality standards.
Thanks to Peggy’s “technical prowess,” the Cherngs got a more efficient business—and the confidence to expand beyond a single food court restaurant. So, armed with more information than most restaurants, the couple began opening stand-alone Panda Express locations.
By 1992, a decade after its very first store opened, Panda Express had over 50 stores across the United States.
By 1999, less than another decade after that, Panda Express had 300 stores across the country.
Reflecting on their partnership, Andrew said: “I’m the one who dealt with getting the stores open and functioning. After that, Peggy took care of the rest of it.”
Fast forward to today, and Panda Express has 2,560 locations across 11 countries—which helps the still-privately-owned restaurant chain make $100B USD in yearly revenue.
As for Peggy Cherng, she was recently named one of Forbes’ top 15 America’s Self-Made Women of 2024.
What does this mean for you? The next time you find yourself staring at an opportunity that seems almost too obvious, remember Peggy Cherng—who saw all the flaws of her family’s humble fast food operation… and went on to transform the entire restaurant sector.
Your career strategy this week
Did you know? What’s obvious to you may not be obvious to other people!
Step into any fast food restaurant today and you’re bound to spot a POS system—that flat-screen device that’s used to take orders and collect payments. Step into any business and you’re bound to spot a host of “Standard Operating Procedures” (a rulebook on how to do things).
But neither were obvious in the 1980s—not until Peggy took what was obvious from naval engineering and applied it to fast food.
It’s an important lesson for all of us: If you ever find yourself thinking, “Duh!” you might be on to something. (Want another example? Check out my story of Ketty the temporary office assistant in The Unspoken Rules, Chapter 15—“Show Your Potential.”)
So, how can you spot opportunities like Peggy?
Pay attention to the next time you find yourself thinking…
(A) “I can’t believe this is how things are done.”
(B) “Am I the only one who’s seeing _______?”
(C) “Why doesn’t _______ exist?”
Then, try filling in these blanks—and share these blanks with your manager:
- “I couldn’t help but notice _______. When I was at _______, we would solve this problem by _______. I realize this is a different context, but have we considered trying _______?”
Not every solution will translate perfectly from one project, role, or industry to another, but one will—and that one “obvious” idea might just transform your team, not to mention your career.
I know it because I’ve experienced it: I loved Mad Libs back when I was in elementary school. So, when I entered the corporate world and didn’t know what to say, I immediately wondered: “Why aren't there Mad Libs for professional communication?” If I didn’t have this shower thought, HOW TO SAY IT wouldn’t exist.
Pursue the obvious!
Gorick
4 things from me that you might find useful:
1. HOW TO SAY IT: Flashcards that teach you to know what to say in every high-stakes professional setting.
2. The Early Career Success Masterclass: My online course that takes you from day 1 in a new role through to a promotion with 28 modules and 28 cheatsheets (3.5 hours of content).
3. The Unspoken Rules: My Wall Street Journal Bestseller that Arianna Huffington calls “a blueprint for anyone starting their career, entering a new role, or wanting to get unstuck." Used by top companies and MBA programs.
4. Keynote speaking: Including workshops and fireside chats for schools, companies, and non-profit organizations. Let’s connect!
You may also like:
> What this Netflix-famous chef can teach us about having a framework
> How a YouTube famous duo started
> What Jane Goodall can teach us about questioning why things are done a certain way
Sources:
- 12th largest restaurant chain
- Peggy Cherng is an engineering specialist
- “complex”
- “pounced on the opportunity.”
- “You need a system.”
- “independent restaurateurs… saw the need”
- IBM’s new digital point-of-service (POS) systems
- “determine trends”
- along with McDonalds
- “structures and systems”
- “technical prowess”
- 50 stores
- 300 stores
- Reflecting on their partnership
- 2,560 locations across 11 countries
- $100B USD
- Forbes’ top 15
