The Lesson of Yeast
Colin uses the metaphor of two dough mixtures, one without yeast vs one with yeast, to describe the key ingredient to every relationship that is important. The yeastless dough lot, when baked, stayed absolutely unchanged – it was the same weight, size and shape as it had been. The yeasted dough however, had to be divided because it had grown so healthily and filled two baking pans producing two light appetising loaves. The lesson to be learnt is that without a carefully grown and nurtured investment in energy, the most competent humans and human organisations are dull heavy and almost indigestible...
My wife Debbie is a chef and she has taught me about yeast in a most fascinating way.
She prepared almost two identical dough mixtures. But the one weighed 1100 grams and the other 1115 grams – a 1.5% difference. The 15 grams was a yeast culture already fermenting.
To start the fermentation process, yeast requires a sympathetic environment. You need:
- An ideal temperature – not too hot or not too cold
- Some nourishment for the yeast to feed on – flour or sugar
- Time
- Water – through which medium the cells flow easily amongst one another.
Both dough lots were baked after an equal standing period - in the same oven at the same temperature for the same length of time.
The outcome was startling. The yeastless dough lot stayed absolutely unchanged – it was the same weight, size and shape as it had been. The yeasted dough had to be divided because it had grown so healthily and filled two baking pans producing two light appetising loaves.
The one was absolutely inedible – heavy and unattractive and indigestible. The other two loaves were generous, light and delicious and all we needed were the biblical five fishes and we could have fed a multitude.
That without a carefully grown and nurtured investment in energy, the most competent humans and human organisations are dull heavy and almost indigestible.
Of all the inputs – time, money, skills, command and controls, communication, whatever – one is critical to creating exponential outcomes and quantum possibilities. It is the lively hungry yeast of energy - willing human energy.
Call it passion or morale or motivation – call it what you choose. But leave it out of every loaf we bake, out of every relationship that is important, and the outcome is flat hard indigestible bread.
Getting two loaves out of every one is what high energy effective individuals and high energy effective teams do – like good chefs - day after day.
It is our definition of leadership and it is what we can measure and teach best.
May 2005
