As usual on my commute yesterday, most passengers got off the bus at our local Tube station in London. And as usual, everyone was in a hurry. A middle-aged woman pushed a child out of the way to get to her train quicker, and someone else urged me to move forward from where I was standing to prevent people from using a second exit to leave the bus.
This left me a bit upset, seeing how people were so focussed on getting to their destination that they didn’t care that they trampled upon other people to achieve that goal. It made me think – Brexit didn’t start with Leave or Remain. It started with us disconnecting with each other in pursuit of what we want.
On one occasion we get away with something that’s not the right thing to do; then in our mind it becomes okay to repeat it. We do and then becomes a behaviour. And in kitchens around the world these kinds of actions are performed, put up with in silence, perpetuated, complained about and sometimes encouraged by chefs. We’ve all experienced it.
I’m not making a judgement in this post. The woman in a hurry or a stressed-out chef in a kitchen are both human. They’re doing what they have to because in the heat of the moment they don’t see the wider implication of their misguided action. But I’m urging you to let the wisdom from the quote sink in: “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.”
Let that thought guide you as you come together as a team this Christmas.