Feed Your Mind Like a Sourdough Starter

My friend Eric was sharing how he's working to increase his reading to become a more prolific writer. It's the classic garbage in, garbage out, quality in, quality out. The better quality (and quantity) of your reading, the better quality (and quantity) of your writing.

As we talked through our mutual struggle to keep that quality input high, I saw a similarity with my newest daily habit - feeding my sourdough starter. I find a geeky pleasure in caring for my glob of responsibility. I feed it 150 grams of all-purpose flour, 60 grams of whole wheat flour, and 160 grams of water. It bubbles for a day. Then I discard 370 grams of it and repeat.

Feed, bubble, discard. Another model for daily learning is born.

FEED the glob between my ears with rich knowledge. Read, listen, watch, discuss. Start with high quality ingredients. Stir to activate.

BUBBLE. Microbes digest the nutrients and exhale carbon dioxide which creates airy pockets of gas - bubbles. This fermentation makes the bread last longer, stronger in structure, easier to digest, and taste better. All ideal benefits of letting my learning ferment. My learning microbes digest information primarily through reflection and sharing.

DISCARD. This stage feels wasteful at times. It's tough to throw away potential food. But many living and growing things require regular removal, from pruning trees to hair cuts. Picasso said, "Every act of creation is first an act of destruction." Learning is often first an act of unlearning. It's healthy to discard old ideas to make room for new ones to grow.

All this writing about my sourdough starter is making me hungry. I'm off to slice a piece of my freshly baked Poilâne-style wheat, apply some butter, and let my learning bubble for a bit.

A Poilâne-style wheat baked using my sourdough starter

Overcoming the Struggles of Brainstorming during Virtual Meetings

Brainstorming sessions in person require a lot of your participants. You want everyone to feel comfortable, be clear and concise, restraint from judging, and freely participate.

The dynamics of video conference add some challenges to this session. I don't have a lot of experience with virtual brainstorming yet, but here are a couple ideas I have for two common problems.

PROBLEM #1: People talking at the same time. Because of lag and lack of visual cues, there seems like two or more people try to talk at the same time more often on calls than IRL meetings. And then there's the polite dance of both saying, "No, you go first" at the same time.

PROBLEM #2: Lack of participation. Also a problem IRL, but it's easier to hide and be silent on a call.

Three practices that could help:

1. Determine a sequence for when people will participate. In a virtual improv class I took, we did one exercise where we told a story with each person only sharing one sentence at a time. It was a warm up "Yes, And" exercise where you had to add to the story. The instructor called out an order to us, and had each student simply remember who came before them. This also sets a clear expectation that everyone will participate. Each person shares an idea and then moves on to the next person. If it comes to you, and you don't have an idea to share, you simply say "pass."
2. Break into smaller groups. I saw this work perfectly on a Zoom call for a non-profit running organization. The facilitator split us into smaller "rooms." It was much easier to brainstorm with 4 of us in a small group than 20 of us in a larger group. There was also the expectation that we came back to the large group with ideas.
3. Write on a virtual white board. The old IRL Post-it note idea collection works pretty well. Use a Google Doc, Slack or Mircosoft Teams Notes to have everyone write their ideas first. Then go through and share them.

I'm looking forward to testing and practicing these techniques and explore others to make virtual brainstorming sessions more productive.

Study How to Communicate

"I work with some really smart people, and many of them can't communicate worth a damn. If you figure out how to help others share their ideas effectively, you'll do alright." That was my grandfather's encouraging advice when I switched my degree program to English.

I hadn't given my change in direction that much thought. Honestly, I just liked my English classes, and mostly the professors, better than my Political Science classes. I knew I didn't want to teach, and many friends and family were concerned that an English degree without a teaching certificate wouldn't do me much good. Not my grandfather. He saw a need.

That wasn't a bright lightbulb moment where suddently my life had clarity and purpose. It was more like don't worry, things will work out, and you'll be fine. But that conversation has really stuck with me for over 30 years.

His advice played a role in me deciding to continue my education and get a Masters degree in Industrial Technology - a very different program than my liberal arts undergraduate. That program taught me new technical languages - statistics, process improvement, design, manufacturing.

His advice gave me confidence when I transitioned from working in housing and food service at Purdue University to training buying and merchandising teams at May Department stores. That experience taught me new business languages - assortment planning, sell throughs, margins, and pricing. The pattern repeated as I gained experiences in human resources and store operations.

My English degree has served me well, but most of the credit goes to my grandfather's advice. He planted that seed for me to be curious and observe how people share their ideas, to listen to what others are really saying, and to help them reframe and polish their ideas to get more traction. He was right, and there's still a need.