Monday memo #105
The kitchen test.
The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.
Hi everyone,
There’s a paradox that shows up when you’re working on new ideas.
Share them too early and they’re half-baked. In the early stages, you’re often not even sure what you’re doing, and there isn’t enough there yet for people to respond to.
But as you begin to figure out what you’re making, you also start to fall in love with it. It gets personal. Feedback stops feeling like information and starts feeling like judgment.
That’s why many ideas get stuck. They’re either exposed too soon and shut down before they have a chance to emerge, or they’re protected for so long that they become overly precious and resistant to criticism.
If an idea feels too precious to share, you’ve probably waited too long.
When chefs are working on a new menu, they don’t take a new dish straight to the dining room. They try it in the kitchen first. They taste it themselves. They pass it around. They watch reactions. They make adjustments. If it passes the kitchen test, they might offer it as a daily special to see how it lands with diners, before putting it on the menu.
The kitchen is a safe place to try things out. A place where ideas can be wrong, unfinished, or surprising. A place where feedback is part of the craft, not a verdict.
The kitchen test is simple. Before you take an idea too far, run it through the kitchen. Share it with a few people you trust, before it hardens or becomes too personal. Seek out fellow creators who understand what you’re trying to do and can respond honestly, without performance or pressure.
Exercise.
Here’s your exercise for the week. Think of one idea you’ve been quietly working on. Something that’s still in its early stages. Share it with one or two trusted people and say:
This is a draft. I’m testing it. What do you notice?
Then listen. Not for approval, but for signals you can work with. Pay attention to what happens next. Not just to the idea, but to you. Notice how it feels to let it out of your head and into the world.
See what happens.
Open House is this week!
This week we will close out Project Luna with our Open House on December 17th. Everyone is invited. It’s fun and it’s free. If you’ve been curious about who we are and what we’ve been working on, this is a great time to join us.
Here’s your invite to Wednesday’s Open House.
More information for members is below the fold.👇