communication. community. cognition.
Posts tagged business
What Bacon Can Teach You About Teamwork
Jun 17th
(Note: If you happen to see a giant strip of bacon on this post, then you likely arrived through http://ike4.me/bacon or some other Twitter/Facebook/Stumbleupon link. You can remove it by clicking the title of the post, underneath the bacon-y goodness. Or, if that doesn’t work, click here.)
The mere fact there is an internet toy that slaps a slab of bacon over a website is proof that bacon is popular. The Google search for “Bacon makes every recipe better” returns more than 2-million hits. There are Maple Bacon Cupcakes, and Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies.
But what is it about bacon that makes everything else taste better? I asked the crowd, and got a lot of responses.
QUESTION: In your opinion, what is it about bacon that makes it complement so many other foods?
@ikepigott
Ike Pigott
I summarize them here, or you can just jump down to the bottom and read for yourself.
So, what can we learn from the Oracle of Bacon?
Be Fat-like
Not obese, or lazy, or unappealing. But perform the same functions for your team that fat does for the body.
Fat is necessary for the proper absorption of certain vitamins (which is why it tastes good to us – from an evolutionary standpoint, those with defective fat-hating taste buds were less-inclined to get those vitamins!)
Fat also stores energy, which can be provide a much-needed boost.
Be Salty
Not that we want you talking like a sailor, but you can be salt-like in your relationships.
Those described as “Salt of the Earth” are humble, simple and direct. They don’t pretend to be more than they are. Be common enough to blend in, but important enough that if you are absent, you are missed.
And be present in the right amounts. Too much salt can be deadly.
Be Smoky
Bacon I found in our break room, during the writing of this post
The “smoke” we’re talking about is really just the application of heat to fat. Smoke is the release of those appetizing amino acids, which entices and creates expectations.
Being airborne, smoke precedes, and effectively sells the benefit to come. Smoke advertises the best qualities, and does so by reaching out beyond the plate to draw product to the palate.
Most importantly, smoke is a product of change. The fat, when subjected to heat, transforms into something with different properties and value. Be flexible when things get hot.
Umami
What the heck is umami? And why does it have such a strange name?
Umami is a Japanese word that describes a level of savoriness that doesn’t exist with the other identified flavors. We know salty, bitter, sweet and sour. Yet those words don’t capture the essence of foods like meats and cheeses, or mushrooms.
One aspect of umami is that the receptors are not just in the mouth. The presence of the umami-inducing chemicals can also be detected in the stomach! Additionally, umami triggers a slightly different brain response, including the release of seratonin.
So, how can you be more umamish? Be exotic, and touch people where they don’t expect.
Be Inspirational
No, bacon doesn’t necessarily inspire in an overt way. But I really liked this response from @jeffdonald:
@ikepigott I think it is b/c the other foods are just so honored to be on the same plate as the bacon that they really bring their A-game.
@jeffdonald
Jeff Donald
When you bring your best every time, you inspire others to do so as well. Good teams have role players who make those around them better. Champions have players who make those around them want to be better than they’ve ever been.
So – who would you say is your bacon?
Responses:
@ikepigott it's that salty, smoky taste. personal best: wrapping streaky bacon round hake medallions, fried #ilovebacon
@marioOlckers
Mario Olckers
@ikepigott The salt and fat, complements so many other foods. The "bacon candy" was a stretch but I am sure it has a market somewhere.
@VacationInAshCo
Ashtabula County CVB
@ikepigott salt, chewiness, smokiness, sometimes a hint of sweet & UMAMI ! Because it is smoked, it intensifies everything it touches.
@ErikaEmody
Erika Emody
@ikepigott I think it is b/c the other foods are just so honored to be on the same plate as the bacon that they really bring their A-game.
@jeffdonald
Jeff Donald
@Jon_Lewis @eatbhm @ikepigott According to the Sweetpotato Queens' Cookbook, bacon goes with nearly everything. Lol http://myloc.me/8kfE1
@bizlawyertexas
Lee Keller King
So who is your bacon? Answer in the comments.
Is the ‘Good Ole Boy’ so dumb, or crazy like a fox?
Apr 30th
If you asked a group to describe the prototypical “Good Ol’ Boy,” I would imagine the adjectives returned would not be that flattering.
From The Free Dictionary:
A man having qualities held to be characteristic of certain Southern white males, such as a relaxed or informal manner, strong loyalty to family and friends, and often an anti-intellectual bias and intolerant point of view.
From Wikipedia:
Good ol’ boy is a slang term used in the United States and Canada, either to self-identify as or to refer to a male, usually white and of Northern/Western-European descent, who lives in a rural area and/or subscribes to a traditionally “rural” lifestyle. The term is generally thought to originate in the rural areas of the southern and southwestern U.S. While other terms such as redneck, hick, yokel, “Bubba“, and “white trash” are also applied, though usually pejoratively and are often interchanged with “good ol’ boy,” the “good ol’ boy” is more of an idealized image of rural Americans.
Politically, good ol’ boy refers to representatives that engage in cronyism.
Cronyism.
In the business world, references to a “Good Ol’ Boy Network” are at best a way of hinting at exclusion through ignorance, and at worst an accusation of intentional discrimination.
So how do you identify the Good Ol’ Boy?
- Manner of dress?
- Speech?
- Homespun stories?
- Tone?
I was having lunch with a coworker the other day, and she was talking about her supervisor. She called him a real Good Ol’ Boy, but he was surprisingly effective as a communicator. Everything he communicated was through anecdotes and story, and even years later she remembered just about every detail of what he said.
The Story Factor
We already have more facts than we can process. Story persuades and motivates.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Annette Simmons’ book The Story Factor, where she outlines the kinds of stories that resonate with people, and the way you can use them to communicate more effectively.
Now look at the guy in the suit above. His clothes are communicating a belief in the prevailing corporate culture.
Listen to the drawl. It’s measured, yet accessible.
Consider the anecdotes and tales he weaves. They’re about past experiences that happen to pertain to the issue or challenge at hand.
And listen to the tone – a good story is meant to entertain and engage, while also informing.
Too many people are willing to look at the above attributes and write off the rube for being too slow and too folksy to be of any value.
And when you get a bunch of those folksy, homespun rubes working in upper management, then it’s clear they all got there by conspiring to trample on the careers of their faster-talking, smoother and hipper competitors! Thus “Good Ol’ Boy” enters the collective consciousness as a pejorative. Psychologically, it’s easier to write them off as evil and manipulative rather than understand they might just be on to something effective.
Maybe there is a thing or two to learn from them. Particularly when they get results.
The Last Business Book You’ll Ever Need
Mar 31st
A friend of mine was lamenting that he wanted to write another business book, but couldn’t think of anything new to say.
So I beat him to the punch.
Major Publishing Announcement
Sometime soon, Ike Pigott will release “The Last Business Book You Will Ever Need – a Primer for Self-reliance in the Digital Age of Digitalness.”
Chapter 1: GO READ THE *OLD* STUFF ON YOUR SHELF! There are insights there you missed when you were skimming, trying to impress people.
Chapter 2: GO TO THE ——- LIBRARY! There are pretty good books there, too.
Chapter 3: GO OUTSIDE AND GET SOME FRESH AIR, YOU PASTY LUMP OF GOO! Books? Really? You think the answers are in BOOKS?
Chapter 4: SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER. It’s only $25 a year, and you can pony that up, since you’re not buying any more books.
The cover needs a little work, but we can outsource that. I think I read about that somewhere…
Dr. Pepper cured my inbox
Aug 29th
There are so many online resources for productivity, I’ve had to cut back on my work time to keep up with it all.
However, that is not a long-term strategy for continued employment, so I had to wrangle a little control of the time I do have in the day. In keeping with the theme of the “TMI” post from yesterday, here’s my humble offering to the world of managing the information that is whizzing toward my head.
I call it the “Dr. Pepper Method.”
I process my inbox three times a day – at 10, 2, and 4. By not processing until 10 a.m., I force myself to do something productive at the beginning of the day. Nothing jumpstarts a positive habit like getting something done early. That also gives me time to respond to the ‘urgent’ things before lunch – although I am moving to the notion that if it really were urgent, they would have called me instead. The 10 a.m. process run gives me a couple of things to do before and after lunch, and helps me adjust the agenda for the rest of the day.
At 2 p.m., I do another pass. It doesn’t take as long, and is long enough after lunch that I repeat the good habit of “doing something” before playing with e-mail. It’s a good reset, and a chance to check document revisions and followups from the morning session.
Finally, at 4 p.m., I get a chance to finalize a few small tasks, and use the afternoon e-mails as a guide to setting my morning priorities for the next day.
And, it’s easy to remember.
