Thinking About Eating – February 1, 2024

LEARN A LITTLE:

Thinking About Eating

It isn’t unusual for my wife Anita and I to go out for dinner during the course of the week. I don’t remember exactly when we began labeling these experiences, but we basically sort them into one of three categories: a) refueling, b) casual dining or c) fine dining.

Refueling usually occurs when we are in a hurry or haven’t gone to the grocery store in a timely manner. Included are the typical fast food establishments, usually chains, such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Culver’s, Steak & Shake, etc. What troubles me about these options, apart from the quality of the meat, has been the conspiracy to steal the center portion of the onion slice that goes on top of the hamburger patty. Who decided to do that? Is it a government rule I don’t know about?

Refueling is basically that—satisfying your hunger pangs without high hopes of great taste and hoping that the teenage staff members get your order correct.

Casual dining or eating out occurs when you are willing to put a little more effort into finding a higher order restaurant and perhaps desire a glass of wine or a table cloth on your eating surface. Generally speaking, in this venue someone may in fact guide you to a table or booth. This option is also typically dominated by franchises and chain restaurants—Applebee’s, Chili’s, Texas Roadhouse, Red Lobster, etc, etc. Additionally, you can certainly find ‘ma and pa’ options and a variety of ethnic choices as well.

Food quality clearly varies across the many options. Networking with friends, website comments and spotting filled parking lots are helpful clues in making a good choice. Today, one thing that all of these restaurants have in common is increased wait times and “NOW HIRING” signs posted on their doors or windows.

Fine dining has its own notable features as a mealtime option. The quality of the food is usually of highest quality and generally takes longer to prepare. In addition, the meal is multi-coursed and more elaborate than the other eating choices. As a result, this restaurant option is traditionally the most expensive and, as would be expected, dining time is much longer. Menu choice is generally more unique or elegant in fine dining restaurants. Once again, there is a range in quality across the continuum of fine dining restaurants and some may even have dress code standards.

What’s the Point?
In reality, most people, who eat out frequently, are enjoying a casual dining experience. That’s why those restaurants that offer high quality food and service at a reasonable price are in such demand and why you may have to get there early.

For most people, fine dining experiences are reserved for special occasions or holiday celebrations, etc. As might be expected, we are much more likely to remember fine dining more than casual dining or fast food franchises because it has offered us an experience rather than just a routine happening in our lives. And many times it is because fine dining allows us the opportunity to have deep conversations with our dining partner. The challenge is to bring this dimension to our causal eating as well.

LAUGH A LITTLE:

REFLECT A LITTLE:

READ A LITTLE:

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups
Daniel Coyle (Bantam Books, 2018)

I found The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups to be a very readable, informative book, especially if you are interested in the performance of teams and groups, and realize the critical importance of organizational culture. Daniel Coyle is a well-known, best-selling author, who spent four years researching eight outstanding organizations. Those stories and the helpful insights that emerged can be put into practice. They are are presented via three major skill areas: Build Safety, Share Vulnerability and Establish Purpose. The insights below have been selected to illustrate the importance of each of the factors.

Skill 1: Build Safety

• For organizational culture to flourish, the members must first of all feel safe. “They are able to stop worrying about danger and shift into connection mode.”
• “Belonging needs to be continuously refreshed and reinforced.”

The story of the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich was very interesting, especially if you enjoy basketball. Popovich is a legend in terms of “wins above expectation,” an algorithm designed by Neil Paine and still used today.

He does it by focusing on discipline, making intentional player connections, providing performance feedback and offering team members a “big picture perspective.”

Note on current status: As I was writing this blog, Popovich was still the team’s coach, but they had a record of 10 and 38. The good news is that they now have another emerging young super star. Victor Wembanyama, a 7’4” center. Good things are ahead.

Some other take-away thoughts are:

• “Overcommunicate your listening, avoid interruptions, use expressions such as ‘tell me more about this.’“
• This skill section included many other practical suggestions, from eliminating organizational bad apples to making sure everyone has a voice and working consistently to “pick up trash.”

Skill 2: Share Vulnerability

The lessons of this section came alive for me personally through the terrifying tale of United Airlines flight 232 from Denver to Chicago entitled “Tell me what you want, and I’ll help you,” and the success of the Navy Seals’ mission to terminate Osama Bin Laden.

It is the author’s contention that sharing personal vulnerability facilitates group member cooperation and trust. The research of Dr. Jeff Polzer, a Harvard professor of organizational behavior, is presented as follows in support of this perspective. “A shared exchange of openness,” called a vulnerability loop, is the “most basic building block of cooperation and trust.”

What follows are the five steps:

1. Person A sends a signal of vulnerability.
2. Person B detects this signal.
3. Person B responds by signaling their own vulnerability.
4. Person A detects this signal.
5. A norm is established; closeness and trust increase.

These steps are illustrated and fully explained in the Flight 232 story.

This section also concludes with some helpful suggestions for increasing individual as well as group vulnerability, including the importance of the leader sharing their vulnerability (first and often), overcommunicating expectations, delivering negative “stuff” in person, and using candor-generating practices, etc.

Skill 3: Establish Purpose

Today, especially thanks to relevant research and the influence of positive psychology, there is a greater understanding of the importance of meaning and purpose in our personal lives as well as in organizations.

This is exactly what Coyle found in his research–excellent and outstanding organizations and groups could clearly answer the questions, “What’s this all for? What are we working toward? What are our values?”

• “High-purpose environments are filled with small, vivid signals designed to create a link between the present moment and a future ideal.”
• Throughout the book, the point is made that culture is not something you are, it’s something that you do.

This section also includes an excellent in-depth discussion of what it means to lead for proficiency and what it means to lead for creativity. The former is concerned with consistency, reliability and perhaps most importantly how we handle mistakes. The latter addresses innovation, developing ideas and unleashing energy to make something new.

Some other good ideas complete this section:

• “Name and rank your priorities”
• “Make it safe to fail and to give feedback”
• “Measure what really matters”
• “Focus on bar-setting behavior”

Until next time,
Art Dykstra

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