Analyzing Tension: Why a Short Loaf of Bread is Best
A loaf of bread should be much shorter. The longer the loaf, the longer the wait for my favorite piece of bread. The heel!
To be clear, thin heels get too crunchy when toasted. But a plump heel, toasted on the darker side*, delivers spectacular delight. (Don’t you love how the edges curl up after a heel is toasted?)
Please don’t forget butter and a thin layer of homemade strawberry jam. (NOT JELLY)
The perfect formula:
- Plump heel – toasted on the darker side.
- Ample butter – spread to the edges.
- Homemade strawberry jam – just enough to provide a hint of summer.
- Hot coffee – just below scorching temperature.
Heaven is a toasted heel and a cup of coffee.
Toasters:
The first electric toaster was invented in 1893 by Scotsman Alan MacMasters. However, you risked your life to use it. The elements frequently melted, and it burst into flames. I would have thrown caution to the wind!
But in 1905 two inventors built a safe toaster. Praise be!
A day with toast is a good day.
Analyzing Tension:
Thank goodness my wife doesn’t like toasted heels! If she did, joy would be a challenge.
We never fight over the last piece of bread. It’s ALL MINE!
- Tension between people is the collision of desires often rooted in ego. (link is a PDF download)
- Ignored tension festers.
- When two people refuse to share the toast, the problem isn’t the toast. It’s maturity. A 3-month old infant is beautiful. A 30-year old infant is ugly.
- Reasonable amounts of tension are useful. Nagging tension is destructive.
Tension done well:
- Commit to deliver results through relationships.
- Consider that tension done poorly lowers performance.
- Clarify what people REALLY want. Maybe it’s respect?
- Communicate with kindness and respect, always.
- Confront backstabbing and gossip. Prevent the spread of emotional turbulence.
What suggestions do you have for handling tension on teams?
After material:
*I’m not encouraging you to go dark on the toast. Some think it’s unhealthy.
Cooking Through the Ages: A Timeline of Oven Inventions (Smithsonian)
Dealing with Tension on a Team (CBS)
Dan
Love the humor and truth in this post.
The concept of Thin can be expanded here to Leaders. Good teams and good team members can often do their best with Thin supervision and Thinner control.
Brad
Thanks Brad. Glad you enjoyed. Great insight… Go with thin.
Very useful, Dan. For me, the key phrase is this: Clarify what people REALLY want. Maybe it’s respect?
I think that the group of 50 people I lead is ~ 1/3 adult children, and it can certainly be quite ugly. Focusing on what people really want is advice I will keep in my back pocket.
Thanks Leslie. It might surprise people if we asked, “What do you really want?” I suppose a follow up might be:
If you get what you want, what will be different for you, others, our organization.
Most of the time people expect freedom, dignity and sharing of wealth?
Thank you so much for sharing this! For the first time, it doesn’t look like I have any huge egos on campus. Everyone seems to be working really well together. I tell my staff at the beginning of the year, if you don’t want it to be addressed, don’t tell me about it. If I do hear of any conflict, I call the parties in and encourage them to clear the air-with clearly defined guidelines, including KINDNESS! Festering of resentment can invade and destroy a campus culture!
Thanks Michelle. I can’t help but think about the power of establishing the rules of the game. We know where we stand when we know what to expect. I see the wisdom and freedom of saying if X happens then you should expect Y.
I wish you a successful school year.
How many times do we assume the other person wants the heel, too? We then behave in ways to maximize our chances (and, of course, minimize their chances) of getting the heel. And the other person stands there, scratching their head and wondering what on Earth is going on.
Love your take on this, Jennifer. I feel like a selfish juvenile!! 🙂
Toast is life, I know this. And yet, I never thought I would have gleaned leadership lessons from my favorite food. I should have known you would find a way 😉 Thank you for sharing your thoughtful, playful take on the world with us.
Great article! Really enjoyed reading it because of its simplicity and humor.
You and I are on the same page on this one – heel, really toasted, jam, hot coffee! Do you suppose it’s a Lycoming County, male thing?
Great question. It’s definitely a SMART person thing!