A Lesson from Improvisors for Baking & Business
I have emerged from the slumber of winter months feeling REFRESHED and ready for the spring season. I truly, truly LOVE the cozy winter months and the invitation to pause. This winter, I took my spring break mid-January for two weeks in Naples, Florida. I have clients there along with a fabulous place to stay and business contacts that inspire me. The following winter months I stayed in a lot, became a baker (see pictures of my strawberry cake below) and continued to practice and perform with my improv group. I invested in PLAY. As a coach who is very focused on client’s success and growth (along with my own) it’s very necessary for me to take time and do something fun. I need to experience instant gratification and practice creative failure. For me, travel, baking and performing are where it’s at!
Which leads me to a very important lesson as a coach that I learned in improv. There are no RIGHT or WRONG choices, there are only EASY or HARD choices. So often, when I am practicing or performing I am dead set on “getting it right” but the truth in business (and life) is that we don’t always have a right or wrong decision to make, we have an easy or hard one. We also have to make most decisions very quickly, results will vary and we will have to make a new choice (see previous blog).
“There are no RIGHT or WRONG choices, there are only EASY or HARD.”
Over the years, I have learned how to navigate decisions by watching other business owners. Their confidence over time is that they trust themselves to shift when necessary and shift again. There is no right or wrong, only easy or hard. They know that it is much easier to steer a moving ship.
Let’s take baking for example. EVEN when I follow a recipe to absolute perfection (measuring weight over size) and have the best ingredients (organic eggs and dairy) and the highest quality gluten free flour … even THEN, conditions outside my control will change the outcomes. I have learned that it’s easier to follow a recipe to my best ability, (improvise if possible) than to get attached to perfect outcomes. I make it hard on myself when I don’t consider how outlandish it would be to assume I control the weather. Because yes, that changes my result. There is freedom in making mistakes when I’m playing in the kitchen!
To make this process even more exciting, I have started a “Cake Lottery.” I draw names from a bowl and invite 5 lucky winners to come over and eat cake, make new friends and share life on Sundays. It’s an easy way to make community happen. Recently, I came across the artist Wayne Thiebaud who painted cakes. You can read more about him HERE. I think I’m onto something …
Country Living 3 Layer Strawberry Cake
What about you? How have you learned to make decisions that allow you to improvise? Are you able to realize when you are making things EASY or HARD on yourself by believing there is an absolute RIGHT or WRONG choice? What if you allowed yourself to PLAY in order to practice? Fail doing something with a low consequence and ease into what that could look like in business. Growth, like baking or improvising isn’t something we master. It’s something that we embrace.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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