Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that if you are looking, it's not cooking.
Speaker 1: Things may not be progressing during the time you are
Speaker 1: actively checking on them, so it is best to be
Speaker 1: wise about how often you do that. So, if you
Speaker 1: enjoy cooking shows, you have probably heard this phrase from
Speaker 1: grill masters and chefs alike. If you're looking, it's not cooking.
Speaker 1: When you're peeking in to the grill to admire your meat,
Speaker 1: you are letting out the hot, smoky air and preventing
Speaker 1: it from working its magic. The saying is similar to
Speaker 1: a watched pot never boils, except that saying isn't literally true.
Speaker 1: A watched pot actually does boil, even if it seems
Speaker 1: like it takes forever. But when you open the grill
Speaker 1: or smoker, you really do interrupt the cooking, at least
Speaker 1: for a moment. I think there is wisdom in recognizing
Speaker 1: that this saying is true in a figurative way as well,
Speaker 1: as we discussed in an earlier episode. When you outsource,
Speaker 1: you are still a resource, so you can't completely take
Speaker 1: your eyes off of a project. But the project may
Speaker 1: not be moving forward while you are actively checking on it,
Speaker 1: so you don't want to be checking all the time.
Speaker 1: For instance, your team at work is not actually working
Speaker 1: on the project you have assigned them during your check
Speaker 1: in meetings with them. So while you don't want zero meetings,
Speaker 1: you probably don't want too frequent meetings either. An hour
Speaker 1: long meeting spent discussing whether people are reaching out to
Speaker 1: enough potential clients is an hour that they are not
Speaker 1: actively reaching out to potential clients. Better make sure that
Speaker 1: it's worth it. Similarly, your high school senior is definitely
Speaker 1: not writing her college essay during the time you are
Speaker 1: coming into her room to make sure she is working
Speaker 1: on things, and does she realize when the deadline is?
Speaker 1: And did you look at that book of sample essays yet?
Speaker 1: Now I'm not saying that she would have been working
Speaker 1: on the essay if you hadn't done that, but she
Speaker 1: might have been and that visit might have interrupted the
Speaker 1: process when you're looking it's not cooking. So this new year,
Speaker 1: as you take on ambitious goals at work and encourage
Speaker 1: your loved ones in their pursuits, you want to ensure
Speaker 1: that these efforts happen you can set the direction and
Speaker 1: get started, and you'll need to check in at some point.
Speaker 1: Even great grill masters of eventually check on the meat
Speaker 1: when they know it is about done. But you should
Speaker 1: limit the check ins because you trust people and trust
Speaker 1: the process, and you know that the process isn't happening
Speaker 1: when you are actively checking in on it. Don't look
Speaker 1: too frequently, and you may discover that when the metaphorical
Speaker 1: cooking is done, you have a really delicious result. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.