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The f Word
In the long ago I used to watch a lot of BBC America but had not seen it in a while. That was unfortunate because BBC America, unlike much of broadcast TV in the US, assumes the intelligence of it's audience.
By sheer coincidence I happened to catch part of an episode of "Kitchen Nightmares" on BBC America several weeks back. The premise of the show is that Gorden Ramsey, a Scottish chef who has run successful restaurants for some time, will spend a week at an establishment that is in trouble.
Let me put this into perspective.
You open an eating establishment.
It is failing.
You are on the verge of bankruptcy.
You ask for help.
Help arrives.
So on your doorstep is a person who is renowned in his field and had proven himself to be successful and he is here to help you find your footing so you are ecstatic and embrace his advice with an open mind, right? Fuck no. You whine and complain and insist that you will continue doing everything the same way and all you want from him is the magic secret.
But there is no magic and the only secret is "be competent."
And that is the secret to Chef Ramsey's success. He knows what the fuck he is doing and does not spend any time trying to coddle the incompetent.
Oh, and he says "fuck" a lot. That's just language and not a reason for his success but he's incorporated it into another show, "The f Word." In this show he has a restaurant where he will take a team of 4 people who are not cooks and he will have them prepare a meal he has designed and their score will be based on how many people pay for the different parts of the meal. Teams who listen do better than those who do not. Teams who are willing to learn from their mistakes do better than those who do not. Teams who collaborate do better than teams who do not.
Do we see a theme yet? Does anyone else see a corollary between competent instruction and critical feedback and success?
Ah, but how about Chef Ramsey? How does he handle criticism?
His "The f Word" show is divided into three segments. The main segment is the meal, another segment is a celebrity and Chef Ramsey will cook dish the celebrity has chosen. The final segment is Chef Ramsey will be instructed on how to do something.
The time he ran the Royal Marine obstacle course was interesting. He didn't whine, he observed it was tough, complimented constantly folks who did it all the time, but never complained but while that was interesting what was instructive was watching the segment where he was instructed in how to prepare dim sum.
They gave him a crash course in what they expected and then he had to perform. The chef wouldn't let his first effort leave the kitchen, it was not good enough. What was Chef Ramsey's response? I'll paraphrase:
"Fuck me. They are tougher than I am."
And then he did better.
He didn't whine, he didn't complain, he didn't talk about trying his best. He bucked up and did better and as a result actually gained skill.
What a fucking concept.
Although Chef Ramsey will never meet me, will never know anything about me, I admire and respect this man because he is competent and expects others who practice his art to be competent and he will cut them no slack.
Some one, I do not know how, but someone will decide this blog post is a personal attack against them.
Too fucking bad.
By sheer coincidence I happened to catch part of an episode of "Kitchen Nightmares" on BBC America several weeks back. The premise of the show is that Gorden Ramsey, a Scottish chef who has run successful restaurants for some time, will spend a week at an establishment that is in trouble.
Let me put this into perspective.
You open an eating establishment.
It is failing.
You are on the verge of bankruptcy.
You ask for help.
Help arrives.
So on your doorstep is a person who is renowned in his field and had proven himself to be successful and he is here to help you find your footing so you are ecstatic and embrace his advice with an open mind, right? Fuck no. You whine and complain and insist that you will continue doing everything the same way and all you want from him is the magic secret.
But there is no magic and the only secret is "be competent."
And that is the secret to Chef Ramsey's success. He knows what the fuck he is doing and does not spend any time trying to coddle the incompetent.
Oh, and he says "fuck" a lot. That's just language and not a reason for his success but he's incorporated it into another show, "The f Word." In this show he has a restaurant where he will take a team of 4 people who are not cooks and he will have them prepare a meal he has designed and their score will be based on how many people pay for the different parts of the meal. Teams who listen do better than those who do not. Teams who are willing to learn from their mistakes do better than those who do not. Teams who collaborate do better than teams who do not.
Do we see a theme yet? Does anyone else see a corollary between competent instruction and critical feedback and success?
Ah, but how about Chef Ramsey? How does he handle criticism?
His "The f Word" show is divided into three segments. The main segment is the meal, another segment is a celebrity and Chef Ramsey will cook dish the celebrity has chosen. The final segment is Chef Ramsey will be instructed on how to do something.
The time he ran the Royal Marine obstacle course was interesting. He didn't whine, he observed it was tough, complimented constantly folks who did it all the time, but never complained but while that was interesting what was instructive was watching the segment where he was instructed in how to prepare dim sum.
They gave him a crash course in what they expected and then he had to perform. The chef wouldn't let his first effort leave the kitchen, it was not good enough. What was Chef Ramsey's response? I'll paraphrase:
"Fuck me. They are tougher than I am."
And then he did better.
He didn't whine, he didn't complain, he didn't talk about trying his best. He bucked up and did better and as a result actually gained skill.
What a fucking concept.
Although Chef Ramsey will never meet me, will never know anything about me, I admire and respect this man because he is competent and expects others who practice his art to be competent and he will cut them no slack.
Some one, I do not know how, but someone will decide this blog post is a personal attack against them.
Too fucking bad.