Tag Archives: Senior management

November 9, 2012 · 11:42 am

The Confit Solution

For our Foodie Friday Fun this week, let’s examine  confit and what it tells us about business.

Duck confit with salad

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m thinking specifically of duck confit, one of my favorite foods, but the process is often used with fruit or vegetables such as onion or garlic.  For those of you who’ve never experienced it, duck confit is made by salting the duck, generally legs, and letting it cure with some herbs for a day or so.  The salt is removed and then the legs are poached in their own fat at a low heat.  In a way, it’s a fancy version of barbecue  where meat is spiced, left to cure a bit, and then slowly smoked to add flavor and render the fat.  The result is a rich-tasting product that can be heated (particularly to crisp the skin) and eaten as is or shredded to use in other dishes.

Interesting, you say, but what does this have to do with business?  The beauty of confit to me is that the key to the dish isn’t fancy external additions but, rather, the technique.  The main ingredients – the meat and the fat – are right there when you begin (OK, you might need some additional duck fat to cover the legs when cooking but stay with me here).  That lesson is often lost on us in business.

It’s hard for someone who makes a living parachuting in to help companies to say this, but more often than not the keys to success are already in place.  What happens is that managers tend to make things too complicated by searching for external resources or solutions when the ingredients they need are already on hand.  Confiting something is nothing more than a deep, gentle immersion in something that’s already there – fat for meats, sugar for fruit.  Instead of cutting off the fat and discarding it since it’s often seen as a problem, it becomes the key to the dish.  How much better off would many businesses be if they allowed all of their resources to shine instead of writing them off as “just” an accountant or secretary or junior analyst?

There’s a Shakespeare quote of which I’ve always been fond – “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves…”  That’s confit, and good business advice in a nutshell.  What’s your take?

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October 12, 2012 · 9:14 am

Walking First

Foodie Friday again, thank goodness.

English: Apprentice. Man and boy making shoes.

Apprentice. Man and boy making shoes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As we end the week, let’s talk about the professional kitchen, which may be one of the last great bastions of the apprenticeship system.  Escoffier invented the notion of the “Kitchen Brigade.” This system is still used in many restaurants and kitchens and forms the basis of the hierarchy in which people learn.  Typically, aspiring chefs take on the most menial tasks like peeling and prepping vegetables before they’re allowed to have a “real” station.  What’s going on in that world is a business point as well.

Culinary schools have changed the apprenticeship dynamic.  Now applicants come to kitchens feeling as if they’ve been through the grind of the line.  Putting aside having never been under the stress of a real dinner service for days at a time, the reality is that they are “book-smart” and the real world is a very different place.  They want to run before they really know how to walk.  This from a respected chef, Mark Vetri:

I once had a young cook who used to bring in modern Spanish cookbooks because he wanted to make things like mango caviar eggs and chocolate soil. I told him, “Hey, how about you learn how to blanch a goddamn carrot first, cook meat to a correct temperature, clarify a broth and truss a chicken? Once you can do these things then, and only then, should you try to learn these other techniques.” Trust me when I tell you that José Andrés is a master of the basics. You should strive to be one too.

This isn’t limited to the professional kitchen.  If you’ve ever managed younger people, many of them think they know the business thoroughly because they have an MBA or a couple of years in an office.  The reality is that much of what we teach as managers are basic skills that either aren’t taught at all in schools or are given a week’s worth of attention.  Listening, politicking, presentation skills, office culture, and the knowledge specific to an industry are generally not areas in which young folks come prepared.  Try to tell them that!

I was managing people (some older than me) when I was 23.  I was a department head by 25.  In retrospect, I was lucky not to have screwed up more often than I did because I was learning as I went and much of what I was learning were basic skills.  As in the kitchen, learning the building blocks of the industry and business frees you up later on to be able to do anything.  Walk first!

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October 9, 2012 · 10:31 am

Debating Leadership

Like a lot of other people, I watched the presidential debate last week and I’m very much looking forward to the remaining few.  As you know we don’t do politics here but I think it’s safe to say that President Obama probably didn’t do very well in making his case.  The primary critique seems to have been that he didn’t aggressively push out his point of view and he didn’t state factual errors forcefully enough when his opponent made them.  Some on the left complain that this has been his problem for the last few years – all of the accomplishments for which the administration takes pride haven’t been promoted well enough, or at least loudly enough to drown out the criticism.  I, of course, took away a couple of business points which I’d like to share.

First, history shows that most incumbent presidents lose the first debate.  I suspect it has something to do with the office.  I don’t recall hearing of many meetings with any President in which people tell him he’s wrong and argue against what he wants to do.  After a few years of no one getting in your face, it must be a shock when someone does.

I’ve seen that in business too.  Some top folks do encourage honest, open debate from their staff but I’ve been around many who don’t.  “My way or the highway” seems to be the order of the day.  Real leaders like debate. What I think is ideal is a sort of benevolent monarchy in which the head person will make the call but will do so only after fact-finding and honest debate with an open mind .

Second, it’s nice to do anonymous good acts.  However, when your ability to stay in business depends on the good will of your customers (which is what an election is about), you need to make sure that everything you do is publicized loudly and amplified by those for whom the good work was done.  Letting people know what you’ve accomplished isn’t bragging – it’s a critical part of staying in business or employed.  If you’re in charge of a department, you need to let the higher-ups know of your group’s good work.  If you run a business, your customers should know how you’re helping them as well as others.  If you have a job, letting the boss know you’re helping the team is important even if it’s obvious.  Of course there’s an obnoxious way to do so as well as an acceptable way but that’s another post.

Did you watch?  Does this make sense?

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