If you want to understand why Greeks use oregano in their dishes, understand the history of oregano.  Where does it come from?How was it traded?What does it offer its consumer?The process of making change happens starts with understanding.  A reader, Tony, shared with me that he makes change happen in large institutions by asking something like, “what is this process for?“If you ask the question, you receive the benefit of knowledge. You’ll learn where the process came from, who developed it, what mattered when someone created it, and what it does now. But there’s one thing more you get.You get to create the opportunity for the other person - the person you are seeking to understand - to feel valued and seen.  When you can truly see others and their history, you can work with others to help them make things better.Because what we all want is an opportunity to be seen, heard, and valued.  Learn more about oregano here.

I began a new job on Monday. Am I excited? Sure. Am I scared? Yes. Am I unsure? Who wouldn’t be? Then why did I do it?People like me - people who have done all sorts of things in their life but never followed a traditional career path - move around. We want to be engaged, try new things, and see what impacts we can make. We learn a lot, and we like to apply what we know forward to what’s next. I love recruiting and the work I get to do as a recruiter. I am ready to try something else now - to brave something new and see where this chapter takes me.No gift is free of risk. Changing jobs comes with risk. But it’s also a gift—the chance to get to do something worth something for someone else. I measure my life by my ability to get do more of what makes me come alive the next day. I’m ready.

Last Sunday, I played at church and re-learned an important lesson. As an accompanist, I have a responsibility to serve the atmosphere that I am co-creating. If I am accompanying singers, I am responsible for making it easier to come in with their parts.If playing underneath a speaker, I am responsible for using music to complement their spoken words. If I am in a band, I am responsible for not getting in the way of other musicians. I give space for their parts to be heard.You are more effective when you know who you are doing the work for, their needs, and the problem they need you to solve. Because if you can’t know what they need, how can you possibly serve them?

I made yogurt the other day - but it failed. So I made cheese. Why should you care?Because sometimes the outcome of a project may not be the outcome you expect. I know that if I heat the yogurt to 90F/32C, add yogurt from my last batch, and then leave it in my oven with the light turned on for 30 hours, I’ll have yogurt. But this time, that didn’t happen.I over fermented the milk. Instead of yogurt, I got a semi-fizzy whey protein with separated curds. So I made cheese.I strained the curds over a pot for a few hours, and voila - cheese.I then milled the cheese with salt, oregano, and basil. It’s delicious. I followed the right process to make yogurt, but I got a different - and acceptable - outcome. But only because I chose to see it that way.When life doesn’t work out the way you hoped, and you did everything right, maybe there’s an opportunity to make something from it. Some say that’s lemonade. For me, it’s cheese.

Lawyers, when they stop being lawyers, say they “stopped practicing law.” If you have been a lawyer for 20+ years, you would be practicing law for a long time. I’m a musician, and I don’t say that I am “practicing music.” Or should I?At what point do we stop practice and become masters? Or are we in a continuous practice with effortless mastery being nothing but an illusion? Because if what we’re in is a practice, that means we can get better at it. Because maybe what we’re actually mastering is the practice. May we never stop.

Have you noticed that when you walk down steep hills, there’s a momentum that’s pulling you down faster and faster? You start off with a few tiny steps, and eventually, your gait widens, and it’s almost as if you’re running - it’s easy not to feel in control.But if you take only tiny steps and lean back, it might take you a bit longer - but you’ll be in control. Don’t let life widen your gait for you. Stay in control. No matter if the steps are tiny or big, you’ll still get to your destination. Because you took a step.

Big career changes come with thoughts. Thoughts about if you’re capable, oversold yourself in an interview, or if you’re leaving something that could be more if you just stuck with it. Don’t shut out the thoughts. But do remember that they’re just thoughts. They’re there to protect you and help you do more of what matters. The thoughts - the resistance - create doubt. And that doubt is a prompt to check-in with yourself. Are we sure we’re ready for this? Are we really going to take the step? The problem with most of us is that we stop at this step. “Well, maybe we shouldn’t do this right now.” Why do we do this to ourselves? Yes. Yes, we are going to go into the unknown, possibly fail, and possibly succeed. But we’ll never know either way unless we do it. The motivation comes from doing the work, not the other way around. So step into possibility. Do the unknown. And find your motivation to do more of it. Move through your thoughts.

Disagreeing with someone is a generous act only when you can build on their idea with ideas that help them better get what they want or show them a better way. Because the people you seek to serve want to do something that means something for someone else. Then how to make disagreements more productive? Instead of saying, “I hear what you’re saying, and here’s how why I disagree,” consider, “Yes, and here’s how we can make the idea happen faster and better.” The object for improvement is not the person - it’s the person’s idea. Pushing back in that way may take more work - you’ll need to be mindful - but the payoff can’t be measured and is worth it.P.S. I don’t recommend pushing back in the way foxes do. We’re not foxes. But they’re cute to look at.

When was the last time you needed to give someone bad news? Do you remember feeling anxious about how the conversation might go? What might others think? What if they don’t like what you’re saying? And what if you could move past all of that?Think about when you had to let someone know that you were leaving your job for another. Did you notice that the anxiety leading up to the conversation was always worse than the actual act of telling someone? Perhaps the anxiety leading up to a wedding? Perhaps the anxiety of telling someone that you are not happy with their performance?We do so much pre-deciding for how others will respond to us that we lose the opportunity to actually experience other people. Give people a chance to prove themselves.

And music is not self-service. You don’t study and play music to show off your skills - you do it to perform for others. As an accompanist, my job is to use my skills so that soloists can more easily do their jobs. If I did my job right, the soloist would feel free to express and connect with their audience. If the soloist does their job right, the audience leaves moved and - hopefully - changed.All of that is possible if you leave yourself and focus on others.