In their book, “Made To Stick”, authors Chip and Dan Heath relate the story of a gourmet dining experience for soldiers in an army mess in Baghdad.
Army food is not something to write about. It is food for survival, not for exciting the palate or sensory experience. The troops eat to load up on calories so that they are fueled up to do their jobs.
However, Floyd Lee, the man who ran the Pegasus mess hall in Baghdad for the American army, thought differently. He took charge of this mess hall when the Iraq War began. For some of us who are wondering what the Iraq war was about, it was the invasion by the America-led coalition on Iraq from 2003 to 2011.
Being a soldier deployed in another country, climate, and culture is difficult. The soldiers had to acclimatise to the environment and worked eighteen-hour days, seven days a week.
Lee wanted to offer the soldiers a brief respite from the daily grind, threats and war. Lee said, “As I see it, I am not just in charge of food service; I am in charge of morale.”
Lee took several hundreds of small actions to manifest his vision into reality. The stark white walls of the mess hall were covered with sports banners. The windows had gold treatments, and the tables were covered with green tablecloths with tassels. Soft bulbs replaced the harsh fluorescent lights. The servers wore tall white chef’s hats.
Pegasus mess hall had such a great reputation for food that there were legends of soldiers driving along treacherous and dangerous roads in Iraq, braving gunfire to eat a meal.
The remarkable thing about the food, is that Lee works with exactly the same raw materials that are army issue as any other mess hall. Food comes from the same suppliers, but how it is transformed when it reaches the table makes all the difference.
A chef sorts through the fruit shipment and picks the best fruits, and parts of the fruit and arranges them in a perfect eye-pleasing fruit platter. The main course, a prime rib, is marinated for two full days. The dessert table features five kinds of pies and three types of cake. The spices are mailed to Iraq from America to enhance the entrees.
One of the soldiers who braves the treacherous journey every Sunday to eat at Pegasus says, “The time you are in here, you forget you’re in Iraq.”
There’s a world of difference between doing your job and doing work that touches your spirit, thereby touching others.
In the book, “True Work: Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do” by Michael Toms and Justine Willis Toms, the authors say,
“When work is done with commitment and caring, purpose and passion, the best parts of ourselves are summoned forth and the inner light of being shines through our actions.
How we approach life is governed by our attitude and perspective. If our outlook is negative, focused on what doesn’t work, coloured by cynicism and generally bleak, then it will be that much more difficult to discover and live our passion.
On the other hand, if we have a sense of gratitude, are generally hopeful, engage in life with optimism, and have a healthy appreciation of the possibilities inherent in every situation, then we are better equipped to be open to finding our true path and following it with gusto.”
Are you doing your job, or are you doing your work?
P.S. If you are ready to level up, work with me for 1:1 career coaching. Hit reply, and I’d love to share more.
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