What kind of cook are you? Do you follow the recipe to the letter of the law or do you improvise, chucking in a cup of this, a sprinkle of that? I have to confess I am the latter, and living in the country now, it is just as well, as you sure learn flexibility around recipes as it is half-an-hour to the nearest grocery store if you've forgotten an ingredient.
I was watching a "foodie" being interviewed recently and she made an interesting observation in that she believed people today want that quick fix, that quick recipe that will take them to the perfect meal.
So they don't deviate from what the recipe says, they stick to and measure everything, but as she pointed out, that doesn't necessarily mean that the result will be perfect. Like life itself, something could happen beyond your control to cause, the soufflé, let's say, to fall flat.
She admitted she used to cook like that. Intensely reading about every ingredient, ensuring she stuck to what she was told to do, but now she doesn't. She's decided that food actually becomes more interesting when you tinker with recipes, substitute ingredients, because as she's observed, life is like that too. Sometimes when we stray off the prescribed course, we gain so much more. For her the journey is more important than the destination, because you could change your mind about where you want to end up.
Think about your business. Have you found the recipe for success? Often people are so focused on their end goal, that they put on blinkers, and truly miss the side trips along the way, that yes, may take them a bit off track, but the scenic route can also lead to unexpected opportunities. When you are so driven to succeed, you are often less willing to go off course, to take risks that could in the end, get you there faster.
I guess I am consistent. I run my business the same way as I cook. I am always changing up the ingredients; I take a handful of this and mix it with that, because that's what keeps it interesting -- both at work and in the kitchen.
I make an awesome turkey soup, for example, and I remember one of my friends asking me for the recipe as her daughter, who was known to be picky, loved it. I think she was a little shocked, when I explained that I literally threw in what was sitting in the fridge and I never measured anything. I could tell her the core ingredients, but that was it.
As a result, my soup was always slightly different each time, as is anything we do. There are so many variables. Having the core ingredients was what made the "recipe" relatively consistent, but no guarantees. Business is like that. You need your core elements, but the audience will always be different, so you need to have the flexibility to switch it up to suit all tastes.
But I will let you in on a secret -- it was the red lentils that made the soup zing.