Parmigiana and Planning
Every chef from here to Italy will probably laugh their aprons off at the site of all the planning, tools, and ingredients I use to make Eggplant Parmigiana. Ahhh, but the final dish is delizioso! The times I plan to make it but get caught up in my work and don’t begin the project early enough, makes this dish no fun to prepare. Couple this with the fact that I hate cooking and hate rushing makes me pazzo (crazy)! Of course, planning in general makes some people pazzo and we humans are not that good at it.🍆
🎄 Let’s look at any holiday, Christmas is a prime example. It comes on December 25th every year, yet people find themselves rushing around at the last-minute hunting for elusive gifts that leapt off the shelves in October, putting up a pitiful looking tree because it was the last one on the lot, and searching for ingredients for your traditional family meal. The same goes for mothers, day, fathers, day, birthdays, etc. etc. etc. It's true even in the face of disasters.
⛈ Every year during hurricane season, we see people rushing around seeking out flashlights, batteries, generators, candles, and other supplies….and these are people who have lived in these hurricane prone areas for years! Go figure. Surely this doesn’t happen in business and definitely not in YOUR business. OK, not sure if you or the chefs are laughing loudest now. Some of this has to do with our “brain wiring.”
🧠 According to studies cited by Psychology Today, our brains scan for the expected as much as for the unexpected, we find it difficult to find anything “in common” with the future or our future selves, our careers, and the fact that we typically prefer immediate gratification as opposed to waiting for long-terms rewards, even if the long-term rewards are greater! Tsk. Tsk. How can we change this? Here are seven tips:
- Make, and take, the time to plan.
- Anticipate what could go wrong
- Be clear about goals
- Commit goals to paper
- Create systems that work and are repeatable
- Delegate
- Prioritize
- Bonus tip: Secrets to better eggplant parmigiana: cut the eggplant thin and use the cheese I use.
If you want to know what cheese I use, call me and we’ll chat about cheese, planning and parmigiana. Let’s Get Started!