Lessons from One of the World's Best Chef's to Avoid Complacency

Remember when you started your showroom?  Remember the enthusiasm, energy, fear and sense of accomplishment that permeated the fabric of daily undertakings?  It's only natural for successful entrepreneurial businesses that initially burst on the scene to make a splash, but then, over time, become complacent.  Complacency often is the prelude to failure and needs to be avoided at all costs.  How do you maintain your creative edge?  One of the world's greatest chefs provides the answer. 

 

Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy is ranked number one on the list of the world's 50 best restaurants, according to Harvard Professor Francesca Gino in a HBR blog. Gino explains that innovative organizations should not worry about maintaining excellence. Instead they need to focus on finding new excellence. Chef Bottura believes that his recipes are never finished. They continue to evolve over time.  He also rewards novelty over predictability.   He often asks his team to create new recipes based on a song, painting or poem.  Recently, he asked his team members to create a dish based on Lou Reed's Take a Walk on the Wild Side.  His team responded with new recipes from the era when the song was written, based on the lyrics or the title of the song.  Would it be fun to challenge your team to design a bathroom based on the Rolling Stone's Can't Get No Satisfaction?

 

Professor Gino explains that many businesses take the wrong approach in trying to instill uniformity in the workplace when in fact, they should focus on promoting novelty because novelty increases job satisfaction, confidence, creativity and performance. Citing a study of new employees in multiple industries, Gino found that the more frequently new team members learned new skills, interacted with new colleagues or felt challenged by their responsibilities, the more fulfilled and energized they were in their place of work and the longer their tenure was with their employers. 

 

When you regularly ask your team to step out of their comfort zones, take different approaches and avoid the tried and true, everyone in your organization will develop new skills and obtain increased personal and professional satisfaction.