Back in 2020 as the world went into lockdown, both my daughters introduced boyfriends to our family. Talk about an intense initiation for them!

As we were housebound for much of that time, cooking became a bit of a family activity. I found myself teaching 19 year old boys how to cook. Fun.

Now I’m not particularly renowned for my cooking, but there was nearly half a century of experience that I had over the young adults. I also realised that if I wanted them to be able to share the load with my daughters (and with me), then the long term gain was going to be worth the short term pain of watching them cut awkwardly, stir strangely, and move slowly through steps I could do in half the time.

Whilst I was losing ‘control’ in the kitchen, I was very glad to, with the added benefit of enjoying the moments together along the way.

Building Capability for the Long Term

In any size business there comes a time when we need to lose a little control to move to the next level. The better prepared we are with induction, training, defined company processes and clear responsibilities, the easier it is to ‘hand over’ control without things getting out of control.

In effect we need to be building capability for the long term not just the moment.

BTW, these lovely young men stuck with our overbearing family and have become quite competent and creative cooks. 😊