I’m currently reading an amazing book called Unreasonable Hospitality. As I read, I’m reflecting on the different ways I’ve allowed systems and processes to dictate 100% of my engagement with people and teams. Systems can ensure quality control, flow, and effective activity, but they can also stifle innovation, creativity, and unexpected moments of joy. It amazes me how comfortable I’ve become with systematizing my life, even though so much of me wants to live with very little consistency.
One of the beautiful things about this book by Will Guidara, who ran one of the best restaurants in the world, Eleven Madison Park in New York (which, interestingly enough, is the inspiration behind the hit show on Hulu, The Bear), is his emphasis on the power of surprise and delight. In his book, which I’m only a third of the way through, he articulates this core truth in multiple ways: it is through surprise and delight that you can win over the hearts and minds of your colleagues and those you serve.
This has got me thinking today about a statement I once heard Andy Stanley share at a leadership conference: “Do for one that which you wish you could do for everyone.” It challenged me then in the same way it challenges me now. The challenge for me is that the system, the process, is a safe place because it ensures I won’t be out of control, which is often my fear. Control has been a haven for me ever since I ran with quickness away from my tumultuous childhood. In one way or another, I’ve sought places and relationships that I felt were safe or that I could control. Even now, I allocate certain times for specific activities as I strive to embrace discipline more than ever before.
I wonder if, in removing surprise from the equation, I am unintentionally removing the opportunity for once-in-a-lifetime experiences for me, those I work with, and those I serve.
As I focus more on serving the population of Christian creatives in a way that I wish I had been served during my spiritually formative years, I want to make sure that surprise and delight become not only part of my systems but part of the Ordered Chaos Club’s DNA. How can I make sure that new members are wowed as they join? How can I ensure that the experience of being a part of the club is unmatched? There will be other places where these members can experience community, training, and equipping, possibly at more affordable or effective rates, but how do I make sure that what they receive in the Ordered Chaos Club is a one-of-a-kind, bespoke experience that makes them feel guilty for not spending more?
That’s what Will has me chewing on with excitement as I think about the days, weeks, months, and years to come for this online community. For those of you who lead teams of any size, are there ways you’ve been able to surprise and delight your teammates? For anyone reading, can you share a story where you had a WOW experience?