organization — ENGAGE with David Zinger

I recently devoured Dan Charnas’ intriguing book, Work Clean: What Great Chefs Can Teach Us About Organizations. The book outlines the method of mise-en-place. Mise-en-place is a way of working, being focused and disciplined — many chefs believe it is a way of life.

I enjoyed reading the book and could not help but think of the important lessons for all of us as we engage in our work, either inside the kitchen or anywhere we encounter our work.

Work Clean Cover

The key take-away for me was a focus on preparation, process, and presence. These 3 P’s offer strong guidance for anyone wishing to enhance their engagement.

Chefs commit to a way of working where preparation is central. You always need to be thinking ahead as cooking cannot happen without the prep coming first. Charnas stated that preparation becomes, “a kind of spiritual practice: humble, tireless, and nonnegotiable.”
Process is how we execute the plan. Chefs pursue the best process to do just about everything. Dan says that process is about “becoming a high-functioning human being and being happier for it.” It makes both our work and ourselves better.
Presence is fully showing up for our work. It is about being fully engaged, becoming one with the work and being mindfully engaged in everything we do.

Preparation, process, and presence are not abstract concepts. They demand a fourth “P” – Practice. We need to make engaged work a daily practice. This fits well with my 8 word definition of employee engagement: good work done well with others every day.

Dan suggests three commitments for engaged work:

Commit to preparation with a 30-minute daily planning session.
Commit to a process that makes you better.
Commit to being present in whatever you do.

I invite you to read the book to learn more, but even more importantly, I strongly encourage you to infuse your work with preparation, process, and presence as the essential ingredients in your employee engagement.

David Zinger is an employee engagement speaker and expert who enjoys cleaning the kitchen in creating a culinary tabula rasa for the next meal.

Waggle is coming May 29th

My newest free eBook Waggle is coming on May 29th. This book looks fantastic on a tablet or smart phone. It is based on 3 years attempting to convene honeybees and humans. It is not really about bees, don’t worry you won’t get stung. It is about what we can learn from bees to improve our own work, engagement, and organizations.

It will be released on May 29th. because that is Manitoba’s: Day of the Honeybee.

I will post it on this site and other places on that day. It is 68 pages long and has lots of pictures so it is an easy read, perfect while you are waiting at the gate for your flight to Timbuktu or waiting in your doctor’s office.

I no longer have the patience for most business books that drone on for 350 pages and generally I can find most of what I am looking for from an author in a good blog post. I just had so many great images that I wanted something that was easier to look at and pass around.

The book is free, you will just click on the image and read it or download it. There is no email or registration required. What I hope you will do is pass it on to others who may benefit by being able to think differently inside their hive.

Come back on May 29, catch the buzz, and start your waggle.

Waggle Promotion Image

David Zinger is an employee engagement expert and speaker who went to the honeybee hives for three summers to learn lesson for engagement from this enthralling species.

Employee Engagement: What’s Cooking?

Waggle: 39 Ways to Improve Organizations, Work, and Engagement (Coming May 29th)