Hidden figures.

I recall how gratified I was to read?Anthony Bourdain’s?book,?Kitchen?Confidential,?not because of the author’s “No fish on Mondays” rule, or because he celebrates high-profile personalities, but because of his deep and abiding respect not for the chefs, but for the cooks.?They are the unseen, anonymous foot soldiers toiling long hours, day-after-day, reliably turning out one consistent meal after another for diners.?

To Bourdain, the cooks are the true heroes of the restaurant business; I agree.?He’s right to acknowledge the overlooked.

I’m prompted to raise this now because of a guilty pleasure:?watching?The Bear?on?Hulu, a window into the chaotic near-insanity of a devoted team of no-quit people struggling to survive alongside their restaurant.?At first glance it seems to be a show about dining out, but on closer examination, you realize it’s really about family.

I’m watching the second season’s fourth episode, “Honeydew,” focused on the show’s pastry chef, Marcus (played by the actor Lionel Boyce), as he is dispatched to Copenhagen to intern with the pastry chef, Luca (very well underplayed by Will Poulter), at restaurant that looks remarkably similar to the world-renowned dining destination,?Noma.

Embedded in a long conversation between Marcus and Luca, three lessons emerge;?the first, about failure:

Marcus:?How’d you get good at this??( exhales )?

Luca:?Honestly, I made a lot of mistakes.?( scoffs )

Marcus:?That’s the secret, just f?ck up?

Luca:?It might be, you know, f?ck up. I think ‘cause I started early, I got my skill set up really quick and then started to feel like I was really the best, you know, like at all these really good places. I really was the best cook. And then I started at this really great place as a commis?[a novice].

What it means:??You have to fail your way to success, something I have been writing about forever, starting nearly 13 years ago with this?post, continuing with this?one,?and repeated with this?one.?I need say no more on the subject.

Lesson two, about role models:

Luca:?And this other chef started the same day as me, and… ( sighs ) I thought we were competition, um, but really we weren’t. He was better than me. Much, much better than me. He worked harder and faster than I ever could. And it was the first time I realized that I wasn’t the best and I was never gonna be the best.

So I started looking at it like it was a good thing. Like, at least I knew who the best was now, and I could take that pressure off myself. And the only logical thing to do was to try and keep up with him. So I never left this guy’s side.

Marcus:?And you got better.

Luca:?Oh, mate, I got better than I ever thought I possibly could be just from trying to keep up with him.

What it means:??Find someone you respect, someone better than you – a peer, a boss, a mentor, even a competitor – watch them, question them, emulate them.?I wrote about this?here?and?here.

Lesson three, about inspiration derived from receptiveness:

Luca:?I think at a certain stage it becomes less about skill and it’s more about being open.

Marcus:?Open?

Luca:?Yeah. To-to the world, to yourself, to other people. You know, most of the incredible things that I’ve eaten haven’t been because the skill level is exceptionally high or there’s loads of mad fancy techniques.

It’s because it’s been really inspired, you know. I like that. You can spend all the time in the world in here, but if you don’t spend enough time out there… You know? It helps to have good people around you, too.

What it means:?Succeeding is less about experience, or technical skill, or innate talent, although all these things certainly do matter; it’s much more about being driven, disciplined, and motivated.?I wrote about this?here,?here, and?here.

Three lessons for those committed to client service:?1) learning to fail in order to succeed; 2) following and learning from someone who’s a master of your craft; and, 3) being open beyond the confines of your knowledge, understanding perfection is not necessarily borne of experience, skill, or talent, but rather by inspiration.

Luca’s not famous and never will be; no one is likely to know his name.?Marcus is not famous and never will be; no one is likely to know his name.?You’re not famous and never will be; no one is likely to know your name.?

Does this matter?

It does not.?

When it comes to recognition, rewards, of fame, you and other Account people will, for the most part, remain mostly hidden figures, unrecognized strivers in a never-ending quest for great work.?Just like Tony Bourdain’s cooks, or the people populating?The Bear.

Should you follow the counsel contained in this post??If you agree with it and it helps, by all means do so. So should just about everyone else in the world, not because these are lessons in the business of restaurants, or in the business of advertising, but because they are lessons in the business of life.