How The Bear’s non-negociables apply to my trade — 28 Sep 2024

I’ve just started to watch season 3 of one of my favourites shows, the kind that elicits a deep fondness, even with its flaws: The Bear. The first two seasons were smashing.

In the first episode, Carmy writes up a long list of “non-negociables” to set some standards for the restaurant. A long list of the things that a restaurant must do to succeed and achieve excellence.

I’m not sure what role this list will play later in the show, but I thought it would be fun to see how many points resonate with me (or not) in how I try to practice my skills in my industry.

I was surprised of how many points were aligned with my set of values and how I strive to do my work. I mention many of these points on my studio’s website and they tie in nicely with what I wrote about doing the job right, or as good as you can, which always pays off in the long run.

Respect is at the heart of what I do. Respect your clients and their clients and stakeholders, your work team colleagues and their team leaders and managers. Respect yourself, own and be proud of what you do.

Carmy’s list of non-negociables

1. Of The Place (“Mise en place” ?)
   I’m not sure what this really means, but it might address the fact of being ready, having your tools up-to-date and ready to go.

2. Less Is More
   Don’t over do or complicated things, or add features just because you can. Simplify. Write DRY code. Focus on quality.

3. Vibrant Collaboration
   Collaboration. Learn from your colleagues and peers, share your skills, avoid working in silos. We’re a team.

4. No Repeat Ingredients
   This can be understood in different ways. This has to do with ensuring food diversity in the show, but could be understood as “don’t just copy & paste” what you’ve designed/coded before. Ask yourself if it could be better.

5. Consolidation + Speed
   Increase work speed to maximise turnaround. Not my cup of tea.

6. Confidence + Competence
   Encourage autonomy and responsibility, own and defend your ideas and work. Strive to learn new skills.

7. In + Out Service
   Continually increase the efficiency of your code and processes by learning new techniques and ways to practice your skills.

8. Pursuit Of Excellence
   Deliver the best product you can in the moment. Strive for perfection in everything you do for your customers and stakeholders needs (in that order). This doesn’t mean be a perfectionist ⁽¹⁾.

9. Details Matter
   Do things the right way from the start. Be honest and don’t compromise. Integrity builds trust and loyalty.

10. Know Your Shit
    Stay curious, learn new ways of doing things by looking at how your peers work, be inspired by their work, read, listen, share, teach, learn. Repeat.

11. Focus
    Try to do one thing at a time, but do it as well as you can in the moment.

12. Service
    This can mean a lot of things. Treat your customers with respect. Try to understand and answer their needs to the best of your abilities. Be empathetic and helping.

13. Time
    Every second counts. You can’t work on a single talk or project forever. You need to manage your projects to meet your customer’s needs as well as your own. Don’t waste their time, make a good use of it. For me, this applies to meetings.

14. Not About You
    Be humble. Try not to take remarks and criticism personally. You’re here to provide your experience and expertise. Drive the project in a way that your goals are as best aligned with those of your stakeholders. Vitaly gives an excellent workshop on design KPIs and how to align them to business KPIs.

15. Perfect Means Perfect
    Yes, well, sometime pressure is good, sometimes it burns you. Nothing is perfect, the key is to strike the right balance and still have a life.

16. No Excuses
    Be responsible, acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them, and make improvements moving forward. This doesn’t always mean “Move fast and break things”, but rather be transparent, prefer failing early than late.

17. Respect Tradition
    Not sure how to interpret this one. Maybe, learn from the experience of people who’ve been around longer than you have? I have seen ideas come and go, and come back over the years. It happens that newcomers come up with an idea that has already been tried, and abandoned. Take into account your peer’s experience, and adapt your ideas alongside of it.

18. Push Boundaries
    Don’t be afraid to try new things, or old things in a new way. Don’t settle for the way things have always been done. Look back on your work, and imagine how differently you would do it, or approach it today.

19. Clean As You Go
    Document your work, commit your work, share your work, get rid of the hacks you were obliged to use to get the job done, or find a way of integrating them. Try to be consistent and don’t repeat yourself.

20. Break Down Boxes
    Literally. Fold your cardboard boxes before recycling them.

21. Shirts Perfectly Pressed
    First impressions matter. Take care of yourself. Again, be respectful and humble of other people’s time.

22. Personal Hygiene
    Same same. Take care of yourself.

23. “Something” About Teaspoons
    Well, in the show, this was added by Nath. Ask her. That said, at home we always run out of teaspoons first.

24. No Surprises
    Coming back to documenting and testing your work to avoid surprises down the line.

25. Technique Technique Technique
    Don’t stop learning, imitating, copying, try stuff. Stay curious and hungry to discover new ways. Attend conferences and workshops.

26. Change Menu Every Day
    Not sure this applies to me.

27. Constantly Evolve Through Passion And Creativity
    Be passionate about your work. Do it with love. Be ethical in your designs. Inspire and let yourself be inspired.
    #ASPIRE