Why Brownies Are The Best Present
By Adam Coughlin, Managing Partner at York IE
When I was a young kid, I used to think that my mother had a super human ability to make brownies. I thought baking was the most complicated thing in the world, what with the measuring and the mixing and the oven. Yet, no matter the occasion, whether celebratory or consolatory, every time I turned around, there was a warm plate of freshly baked brownies.
For the first time in my 37 years of life, I recently made a box of Duncan Hines brownies. No, they were nowhere near as mouth watering as my mother’s were but they were brownies nonetheless and, if I am being honest, they weren’t overly difficult to make.
And that is when it hit me.
My mother’s superhuman ability was never making brownies. In fact, the brownies were simply a by-product of her great gift. My mother’s power was that she was present.
She was acutely aware of the comings and goings of my life and how those seemingly insignificant milestones — the “A” on a paper, being turned down for a date, having a new friend over, getting cut from the team — were magnificently important to me. The brownies were just the vehicle she used to let me know she loved me, she was there for me and, whether good or bad, I would never have to go through those moments alone.
In our uber connected, hyper distracted world, being present is becoming more of a challenge every day. I think about this all of the time as I play with my own kids and instead of absorbing the moment, find my head buried in my phone. What signal am I ignoring when I do that? What dots am I failing to connect?
Business is often a competition of who is running fastest. Bigger is better than big but not quite as good as biggest. We’re attracted to loud voices and grand gestures. When we want our customers, employees or investors to know how much we care about them, we endlessly brainstorm the perfect gift, or lavish perk, or fancy dinner that will knock their socks off. That is awesome and, if afterwards, we show them our appreciation with our actions then it is great. But if it is just a hollow gesture we make once before being distracted by the next shiny object then it probably wasn’t worth all the fuss.
Instead, next time you’re with one of your most prized constituents be present. Put down the phone, calm you mind and, simply, pay attention and listen. As my friend Mark Petersen said during his class election speech back in high school: this moment is a gift, that’s why they call it the present.
If we do that, if we’re able to stay present in the moment in a world that prides itself on interruptions and distractions, then we will be a superhero.
Yes, we’ll all be a bit more like our moms.
