The 100 Years Club Installment #46: Soup

Soup?

What do bisque and broth have to do with aging and gratitude (my themes of the month)?

I actually wrote about hot (and cold) liquid back in 2018.

Fast-forward five years.

I made soup in an Instapot this Thanksgiving week with my younger daughter. Not only was I reminded of how much I love soup, I learned some valuable lessons.

• Even small things can bring joy. The simple act of working together on a recipe was heartwarming.
• Collaboration takes on many forms. In this case, I shopped (i.e., I was the investor in the project). She picked the recipe (strategist) and we executed it flawlessly together.
• Improvising and problem-solving are critical in all aspects of life, not just soup-making. We decided at the last minute to double the recipe and didn’t have enough tomato sauce, so we substituted salsa.

Yeah…I know this is kinda conflated. We were just making chicken tortilla soup. It doesn’t need to be a big life lesson.

But it did get me thinking about why some collabs work and why others are disasters.

You should:

1. Pick your collaborators (in work, life, or soup-making) carefully.
2. Do your share of the work. If you have no talent, offer to contribute a product, menial task, or $$. Imbalances create resentment in any partnership.
3. Respect what your teammate brings to the table (and thank them).
4. Problem-solve quickly and as a team. No metaphorical tomato sauce? No biggie.
5. Celebrate your successes (little and big). If anything went awry, talk about what you might do differently next time.

So, whether you’re making soup, scaling a business, serving on a non-profit board, or engaging in any other project that involves working with other people, slurp up those five tips.

P.S. I was also inspired to buy myself a mini Instapot-type pressure cooker as an early holiday gift. Being reminded of how much I like soup was a bonus #6 lesson!