You know what’s delicious when we taste it. But can you explain why?
It’s certainly not the ingredients (there are many terrible dishes with the same ingredients).
Nor it is the chef.
There are chefs who create amazing dishes, mostly by intuition. And if you are good at asking questions and deciphering answers, sure, you’ll learn something.
I’m not sure if any of the chef can teach as elegantly as Samin Nosrat.
A great chef might not be a great teacher. Intuition is not pedagogy. Similarly, a Pulitzer writer, a Nobel scientist or an olympian. Teaching is a whole different set of skills. It’s enrollment, empathy, flexibility and communication.
It’s pretty silly to micro-manage people you choose to help you.
1) It takes a lot of your time which defeats the point of hiring.
2) It interrupts workflow and business operation.
3) The best people get demotivated and go away. Back to point 1.
Perhaps at some point, you were let down by someone. And in order to prevent future hurt, you decided not to trust until someone has themselves proven worthy.
But as Bill Laizer points out to Jim Collins, the other bet is to assume that someone is trustworthy until proven wrong. Yes, you would be let down at times. So protect your downside. And the upside is that when you find someone who is trustworthy, they will rise to it.
Even more so, have you also considered the possibility that, because you trust them on the outset, they are more likely to become trustworthy?
There are two approaches to relationships in life, (1) take life as a series of transactions, or (2) take life as building relationships. And the cornerstone of relationships is trust.
This article has become more like a rant than I like to it be, but I thought it’s worth sharing.
A few months ago, I signed up for a co-working space.
And of course, like all salespeople whose job is on the line, wants to help. They want the sale, and I need like their help.
But the test really begins after the sale.
Doing my business in the toilet, I looked up and saw a poster, “Feedback is a gift”.
As an enthusiastic first-timer, I made a list of feedback and improvement to share.
How about adding a locker? Turning on the AC for the weekend? Putting up clear directions to avoid wrong entry? There’s a member disturbing the silence in the common area. Can I help open the door for the delivery person when the staff is out for lunch? The card does not work despite booking on the app. The list goes on…
As feedback goes, the replies come.
“We can’t turn on the ac because it’s expensive and we had an agreement with the landlord already.”
“We can’t add a locker because carpentry is expensive too. But what about a portable lock? Here’s a used one on Carousell and I’m happy to pay for it.:
“We can’t fire that client who is making a lot of noise because he’s paying good money for the corner office downstairs.”
“Well, you can’t access this location because you booked multiple locations at the same time. You should book one, check-in, then book the other location. The app is not buggy, you’re using it wrong.”
“Your keycard doesn’t work at this door because most members don’t use this door anyways. Just don’t use this door.”
After a few of these, I learned that it’s heartbreaking to be rejected. It’s a waste of my emotional labor and time to make the system better. My feedback matters as much as it is a SOP.
What started as a marketing feature, as a human-to-human connection, turned into an operational cost. That thing that made people come in the door is not an extra line in the balance sheet.
The care that was used to build the organization has left the building.
And what’s left is the poster in the toilet saying “Feedback is a gift”.
You will design a job that people want to get and want to stay (hint: it’s not just about the money).
You will interview for fit instead of rushing to put bodies to work resulting in the right hire.
You will be a better manager as you care about them more than manipulating them to stay.
You appreciate them and their work. And people like working with those who appreciate them.
Happy people make for happy co-workers which makes a happy culture.
You will have a smooth operation instead of an overtime burnout workforce backfilling a missing position.
This is the opposite of a non-complete clause, a future salary bonus, or the hope of a potential promotion. These are fear-based tactics and it works.
No, not for the long run. Not for the best people doing their best work. Not for kind of people who are creative, great to work with and resourceful. They are sought after. These are people who have opportunities already lined up.
Counter-intuitively, for your employee to be with you for the long run, is to plan and celebrate their departure because the ultimate secret weapon is care.
When you get into the mindset of giving it, some of it will come back your way.
Who were you when you were a teenager and who are you now?
Your name is probably stayed same.
But your habits, your goals and your understanding of yourself might be vastly different.
The other day, my mum came home empty-handed. She commented on the outrageous price of the food stall, double what she was used to paying. Furious, she refused to pay and walk away.
Was the cashier trying to scam her? No. The price was clearly stated on the signboard.
Could she afford it? Yes. More expensive, but by no means, out of her reach.
Was she furious? “It was a daylight robbery.”
Did my dinner arrive? No. She offered to cook but I decided it was easier to eat around the corner.
If we are lucky enough to afford more than rice and beans, money is a story. How much it is and how much we are willing to pay.
It is the difference between having a preference and having your preference grip you.
We can insist on how we want the world to be, how other people (or the food stall) to show up, or we can work to be flexible. Hence, resilient and anti-fragile.
