I love to cook and genuinely enjoy the experience of cooking. While hosting a house full of guests this past weekend, I asked what they preferred for breakfast. They chose waffles for breakfast. As I happily set out to make them while sipping on my coffee, I started to mix all the ingredients while talking to my friend non-stop. The waffle iron was ready. As always, I had everything assembled and ready to go.  

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I had timed everything perfectly as a few of my guests had an outing planned later that morning. The timer beeped on the iron signaling that it was time to take the waffle out of the iron. As I lifted the top to the waffle iron to reveal the first waffle, I noticed that the handle did not open easily. Upon opening the waffle iron, I noticed my waffle was split in half and not very pretty. It barely looked edible. My first thought was that I hadn’t brushed the iron with enough cooking oil. I hurriedly tried to get the waffle out of the iron, but it was tough. I struggled with it and finally managed to get it out and proceeded to make another one. The second one came out in the right shape but looked sad and flat. I thought to myself, “something isn’t right”. 

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I usually taste the first one to make sure that it is sweet enough. I personally do not care much for sugar but want it to be perfect for my guests. As I took a tiny bite of that waffle, I almost gagged. It is no exaggeration to say it tasted AWFUL!! That was when I realized that while I was talking to my friend I had put in baking soda into the batter instead of baking powder. I tried to salvage the batter by adding in baking powder but realized that it was unsalvageable and a total disaster. As I started to remake the batter I paid careful attention this time that I used the right ingredients, it dawned on me that one ingredient can make all the difference in any recipe.  

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You may be wondering why I am talking about waffles at this point…Just as in any relationship or environment, one person can make or break the chemistry. Just as in the recipe, when you have one wrong ingredient it can ruin your dish and, in a relationship, or team setting when you have one bad personality it can ruin the dynamics and/or disrupt the synergy of the rest.

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I have learned that things can go wrong in every aspect of your life and business, even if you’re a pro at what you do. We must be open and willing to notice what happened and adjust the course.

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In our book, The F Place written with my co-author and business partner Christine Strobush, you will uncover leadership lessons through creative storytelling utilizing characters that both enhance and disrupt their teams. Some adapt to change willingly while others resist......