Deviled Eggs and the Recipe for Success [317 words]

My grandma’s deviled eggs were legendary. They were always the first thing to go at family gatherings.

One time I asked her what she put in them to make them so good.

She said “It’s not hard. You just put a little bit of whatever you’ve got in your fridge.”

“But, Grandma,” I said, “I don’t know what’s in your fridge!”

The Recipe for Success

As a new business owner, I look to a lot of experts for their “secret sauce” recipes for success. And it seems like it all comes down to “a little bit of every single thing you’ve got.”

In his autobiography, Born Standing Up, Steve Martin says, “You’ll use everything you’ve ever done.” I think about that a lot. Every skill we’ve learned, every bit of knowledge we’ve acquired, every hard-won lesson that came from a huge mistake. All of it shapes us into who we are and what we offer our colleagues. Our job is to keep learning, keep adding to our recipe.

The Deviled Eggs Are in the Details

One day, a couple years after my Grandma passed away, I got up the nerve to make deviled eggs for the first time. I obediently opened my refrigerator door: pickle juice, pepper juice, mustard, mayonnaise, lemon juice, some sweet relish. I put a little of everything in, just like Grandma told me to do. And, while my deviled eggs weren’t as good as Grandma’s, they weren’t half bad. Turns out, I had the right ingredients all along.

So, what’s in your fridge?

Do you sometimes feel that if you just keep adding more ingredients, you’ll come up with a successful recipe?

What’s worked? What hasn’t? Or could it be that you’re just afraid to get started?

I’d love to hear about your shining successes and spectacular flops. Oh, and if you have a good recipe for deviled eggs, send that along, too!