COVID Cooking Class: and what I've learned about work

It was mid-April when my co-worker and friend sent a WhatApp out to our co-hort "what do you all think about doing an on-line cooking class together?" 

Let me back up first and tell you about this co-hort. Around 30 of us came together in the late fall of 2018 when we were selected to participate in an executive level, highly intense leadership development program. We were the first co-hort for this new program. We were intentionally diverse with 50% women and span of hometowns across the globe.

We spent a year together in a learning program that mirrored an executive MBA but with added layers of group therapy, diversity training, yoga, Swedish dance lessons, intense cries and plenty of late nights. We only came together in person 4 times during our year together, but managed to form extremely close bonds as a group and as individuals. And when the program was over, many of us stayed together on project work, or saw each other in our offices when traveling.

So, when COVID hit, and we all moved into our respective home offices, the separation from this group or pieces of this group had probably the most profound impact on me. We tried at first to stay together through a few virtual happy hours over Zoom calls, but those lost their sparkle pretty quickly as we were all exhausted from video conferencing all day.

So, when Raju sent out the WhatsApp about cooking class, many of us jumped at the opportunity to try something new. The idea was this: one person would lead the class in cooking one of his or her favorite meals. Raju led the first one and I learned for the first time how to make Indian Kebabs. Or wait, are those traditionally Pakistani @khuram? Depends on who from the group you ask! Over the course of the past several months since that first lesson, we have met twice a month over Zoom to learn from each other, share a drink and a laugh and try something new.

During this time I have learned about so many things: the flavors of Indian, Pakistani and Trinidad cooking, how to steam a clam, scale and gut a fish and butcher a whole chicken; how amazing southern collard greens can be; how to make cajun seasoning and panna cotta; and the difference a little brine can make to a pork chop. But beyond than that, I have learned more about what makes my diverse group of friends and coworkers unique and amazing human beings by experiencing pieces of their lives, the insides of their kitchens, meeting their mini sous chefs and connecting over something that has absolutely nothing to do with work. 

I look forward to these sessions, to the week leading up to them when the lead chef sends out the ingredient list and we chatter back and forth with questions about ingredients that are new to us, or where to find things when stores are closed and stock is limited. I love the pride with which we all share a photo of the resulting plates of food after the session and the reviews of our families. But more than that, I love that this has become a tradition of sharing pieces of ourselves; that we have inside jokes about pot vs pan and massive bags of curry; that members of our group attend even when they can't cook just to say hi, to watch, to take notes so that they can make the dish later. And I love that I get to see the vulnerability of some of the smartest people I know when they are taken out of their comfort zone to try something new. When we cook, we are bringing our whole, authentic selves to the work. We aren't worried about judgement, about not being the best. We're there to experience, to learn, to help each other and to enjoy the outcomes of our efforts, perfect or not.

While this group has absolutely nothing to do with our day jobs, I know that this time working together in our kitchens has made us more connected as humans, more aware of each other's working styles, vulnerabilities, backgrounds, motivations and likes and dislikes. Some of us work together on client projects, and I am confident that this connection has made us better equipped to bring our best to our clients and the work. It makes us stronger. When we work together in the traditional sense of office our levels of connection, collaboration and inclusion are often just surface-level, because we are only allowing ourselves to know each other professionally. We hold back, we don't bring our full selves, we worry about not knowing the answer, not being the expert. I have learned through this experience the importance of bringing my whole self to the things I do, and more importantly, I have learned to look past what I see on the surface with my co-workers, to see us not at the white board, but at the stove, making something new for the first time, experiencing together, learning from each other and accepting and supporting our weaknesses. That will make us better.