The Power of Fun!

Did you ever have one of those days when every task begins with “I got to…”!

Well I call that a “Igotta” day. Where it seems that everything on my list is completely different than what I’d rather be doing.

Well, I was having one of the days today. My business partner wants some simple accounting information, my wife wants me to clean the koi pond pump and the dogs want me to take them on a walk! What about me, what about what I want (proceed to whine right about now ). In fact, we usually call this, “the whine of the day”!

I was in “Igotta” overwhelm!

Then I started to think about what I’d rather do, what I consider FUN!

I drifted off thinking about the last team building group that I worked with and all the fun that we created while cooking our dinner together. Then it hit me like a ton of macaroni, we created the fun. I know this, this is what we do all the time, this is our job, transforming peoples states to one of a state of eating and cooking possibilities! We take people who are in overwhelm with their jobs or at their business conference and create an environment that promotes teamwork, builds relationships and above all, creates FUN!

I realized, this creation of fun is not just relegated to our culinary program, it is capable of being created anywhere. In fact, we regularly share that with our participants. Productivity begins with creating an attitude of fun. Think about the potential of that statement, the power of creating a state of being that transforms your productivity at work, at home, anywhere at anytime.

I started to think about our corporate clients, many of whom have been working on projects all day during a conference, now are rolling up their sleeves and cooking together with their co-workers to put together a multi-cultural gourmet buffet in a short amount of time with no recipes! All because of the environment that was created that emphasizes fun. There truly is power to FUN!

When has the “Igotta” attitude overwhelmed you and what did you do to transform it with fun?

You need conflict to succeed.

Today’s Smart Brief on Leadership has a pointer to an article on leadership in the Hindu News. Here’s a quote that got me thinking:

“There will be highs and lows, but if the leader begins to see prolonged periods when people are unhappy, then there is a need to take steps to deal with the problem, he guides. “Heated debate, reasoned argument and other such forms of conflict – when focused on issues, not personalities – should be encouraged not stifled.”

Too many times in our CEO Chef cooking team buildings have I seen teams start down a path to complete their culinary challenge without seeking the opinion of the entire group. This is perhaps because individuals acquiesced to an authoritative or higher-ranked team member rather than state their own ideas about an alternative approach. Usually, these teams end up with the least attractive buffet item result.

How often do people choose to flee, rather than embrace, conflict?

We’re always taught to seek resolution – be nice, not rock the boat. But, how can we get the best solutions to today’s pressing and urgent problems without some “creative conflict”? If a group comes to consensus too soon, it may sacrifice alternative solutions that can only be uncovered during a time of disagreement.

Here’s how to use conflict and disagreement to your team’s advantage:

1. Honor everyone’s opinion – if you respect other’s point of view, they will respect yours.
2. Listen – this means totally focusing on what the other person is saying with a clear mind. If you’re not thinking of your own reply, you are open to truly hearing another and establishing mutual understanding.
3. Be open – even if you think an idea stinks, think, “What new ideas does this current idea generate?”
4. Don’t take it personally – People express their passion in different ways. My New York background comes across very loud and aggressive when I’m charged about a topic. It’s not personal – it’s just who I am.
5. Seek consensus after all avenues have been explored – wait until everyone is heard and all issues have been aired before you move towards an agreed course of action.

Viva la difference!

Perspective Pasta

My neighbor invited us over to watch the Lakers-Boston basketball finals and I asked if I could bring something over to feed everyone. Of course I got the nod to bring a main dish to the party, and they added that it’s okay to try out something different on them.

Given the green light to try something new, I realized I had a hankering for lots of garlic. I then eyed a can of Burgundy snails (escargot for you Francophiles) in the pantry and a package of vermicelli pasta. Now the taste was rounding itself out quite nice but I needed to add some substance to the dish and remembered some great spicy Italian sausage that I just got at the meat market.

Well, if you’d ever had baked snails in garlic butter, this was what I was going after for flavor, add the pasta as filler and sliced, spicy Italian sausage and you got a winner.

I got so involved with my pasta dish that I didn’t realize the game had already begun. So we hurried over next door with my big bowl of pasta, neatly wrapped in plastic (great idea to keep it warm as well as in the bowl). Dropped off the pasta on the kitchen counter and joined my comrades on the sofa to cheer on our favorite team (I’ll let you guess which one).

Soon, someone started to dish up the pasta and pass the plates around to all the gang. We were so wrapped up in the game, we didn’t really talk much about the garlicky bowl of noodles that I brought over with me.

Fast forward to the conclusion of the night, everyone had a great time, they all appreciated the special dish that I brought over and then they started to ask, “what kind of mushrooms were in the pasta, they were delicious?”

I didn’t understand right away what they meant until I got it, they thought the snails were “mushrooms”!

Well I explained what they really were and I apologized to the group for not communicating that important fact before we ate.

Of course I was forgiven by the gang, but I couldn’t help thinking how similar this situation is in the work place. My miscommunication was based on perspective. From my perspective I thought it was totally normal to put snails in a pasta dish with lots of garlic. From my friends perspective, mushrooms made more sense to go in this pasta dish. So they saw and tasted what they wanted to see and taste. Even though if you look and taste mushrooms and snails side by side, you could see the differences, taste the differences. But through our filters called perspective they were one in the same!

So it was a great reminder to me how important perspective is to effective communication. In our workshops, this is about the time I mention to the class, if you want to clean up your “perspective filters”, ask clarifying questions. And keep asking until you have a sense of what the other person’s perspective looks like (and tastes like!)

So I guess the qualifying question I’ll get next time I’m invited to bring over an unrecognizable ingredient is, “Is that snails in this dish?”

Italian Sausage and Escargot in Garlic Vermicelli

Serves 4-6

1 lb vermicelli pasta

8 quarts salted water, boiling

12 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

1 small can of Burgandy snails (available in fine grocery stores or on-line)

½ cup of olive oil

to taste Kosher salt

1 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper

3 tablespoons butter, unsalted

4 Italian sausages, cooked and sliced

½ cup of white wine

1 cup of Kangen water (more on that later) or chicken stock

4 tablespoons of butter, unsalted

2 tablespoons of chopped parsley

3 tablespoons of finely chopped green onions, cut on the bias

Drop you vermicelli into the pot of salted boiling water. Make sure your pot is big enough to hold the vermicelli and water no more then ¾ way up the pot. Cook until just al dente.

Meanwhile, drain, rinse and dry your can of escargot snails. Give the escargot snails time to marinate in the chopped garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Five minutes to marinate is okay, ten is better.

Heat your largest saute pan to medium heat and add the marinaded snails with garlic and oil to it. Cook gently for 4 minutes then add the sliced, cooked sausages to the pan. Cook another minute and add your white wine and Kangen water (or chicken stock). Simmer until the moister reduces by half it’s volume in the pan. Add the final 4 tablespoons of butter and swirl the pan, incorporating and emulsifying the snail mixture. Add the chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the cooked pasta, slide into a serving bowl and sprinkle with chopped green onion. Serve with or without grated Parmesan cheese.

Remind your guests what they are eating!

Happy eating!

Lessons in Leadership

I am continually amazed at the lessons I learn from being a CEO Chef trainer. Take last week for instance:

It’s a beautiful day and I arrive early because it’s better than being late. In this case, my arrival time worked in my favor. It didn’t take me very long to set up – 20 minutes – which meant I had an hour and a half to enjoy the day. I had already connected with the chef of the hotel where we were holding the program who was very meticulous and willing to do whatever it took to provide our group with the ingredients they’d need for their culinary team building program. He appeared to have everything under control, so I relaxed until the time the food was due to arrive (about 1 hour before “showtime”).

At T minus 45 minutes, I’m realizing the food still hadn’t made its appearance. No worries. My server, Miguel, was on the ball and went back to the kitchen to find out what what going on. He returned triumphant, escorting the rack of ingredients into the food preparation area. It looked a bit sparse, and, when I began to take inventory, I noticed Chef had inadvertently overlooked one full page of food items on the list I had given him.

How would you deal with this situation? Here’s how I handled it:

I reminded myself Chef had my best interests forefront of his mind. I also knew he was good at his job, as were his people. Then, I was confident in the skills of my team – my participant in the program – to produce a superior result, as was I confident in my own skills to manage a challenging situation.

So, Miguel, Chef and I first had a little laugh over the unintentional error. Then, with a positive and “can do” attitude existing between the three of us, we set out to solve the problem. There were some food items critical to the success of the program which were not present, and Chef needed to do some creative thinking to make sure these items would be available to us.

I started the program missing some of these items, knowing the wayward food would make its appearance when I needed it. It did. Hooray Chef and Miguel and the rest of the Hotel Team!

The lessons?

• Accept the situation completely for what it is, without judgment or blame placed on anyone (including myself)
• Trust in people to do their job well, willingly, and happily
• Keep a positive and cheerful frame of mind. It’s infectious and helps to get the job done quickly, successfully and efficiently
• Ask for what you want. People really do want to help you get it.