What can knowledge workers learn from chefs?

Hi

My near-cooking disaster

The other day I was using my Instant Pot (an electric pressure cooker) to cook pork in apple cider, except I had misread the recipe and used apple cider vinegar. That soon changed when an overwhelming acrid vinegar smell swamped the kitchen. Luckily I saved the pork in time and switched to some real apple cider. But I had to restart from scratch.

This incident leads me to an interesting quote from an article by Tiago Forte [1]:

"Our careers as knowledge workers are starting to look a lot like chefs – non-linear, itinerant, based on gigs, demanding flexible collaboration with a constantly changing group of collaborators."

Everything in its Place

His article was based on the book 'Everything in Its Place', by Dan Charnas [2], on how to take the principles of mise-en-place out of your kitchen and into your life. It is from French cuisine, meaning "putting in place, " and chefs use it to cook and serve many meals efficiently.

Peter Drucker came up with the term in 1959 and defined the characteristics of a knowledge worker to include autonomy, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Knowledge workers do cognitive work most often to solve problems unless bogged down with all the other tasks and interruptions thrown at them.

How do we do knowledge work?

The problem Tiago identifies is that while we may be experts in our domain, the nature of how we do knowledge work, how to make decisions, what to focus on, deal with multiple pieces of information, formulate goals, document our knowledge and plan the day and complete tasks are left to us.

Tiago's article explains the similarities and how knowledge workers might explore the idea of the mise-en-place to use it as a framework to organise their work. His article is well worth a read.

New Wisepreneurs Podcast Episode

Krisna Hanks [3], from professional dancer to dynamic health coach

I've always been interested in fitness and health; lately, many books have been on longevity, and there's plenty of information for men, but it is worth finding someone who better understands women's health. At 66, Krisna is a highly qualified health coach who walks the talk. Please listen and see what you think.

Time Stamp

00:06:41 Discipline is key for success.

00:08:07 Importance of holistic health coaching.

00:13:29 Prioritise metabolic health for self-care.

00:19:51 Importance of insulin and education.

00:29:00 Nutrition for maximal performance.

00:32:27 Increase protein intake for women.

00:38:47 Importance of protein in diet.

00:47:30 Strength training is necessary aging investment.

00:55:32 Invest in your health daily.

00:57:19 Prioritise health, start simple.

References​
[1] Tiago Forte, https://fortelabs.com/blog/mise-en-place-for-knowledge-workers/
​​[2] Dan Charnas, Everything in Its Place
[3] Krisna Hanks https://wisepreneurs.com.au/krisna-hanks-dynamic-dancer-to-dynamo-health-coach/​
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Cheers
Nigel Rawlins
Chief Wisepreneur
​https://wisepreneurs.com.au​

Please feel free to join me on Linkedin.

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