Notes from Work: Of Bakers and Bakeries

6 min readJul 5, 2024

Let us talk about the past for a while.

Corporate: Today’s so-called Directorships and Head of minor verticals, I had seen a decade ago; With direct access to the Chairman’s office and Chairman himself. In relative context, I have climbed the peaks that others have claimed to have achieved today. That’s at least a decade’s headstart.

Consultant: A short 3-year stint, alright, but with a 100% success, in terms of monetary outcomes for clients (more quantified than human outcomes).

Solopreneur: I ran a content business successfully making money more than any coaching business gives; I ran and successfully exited a digital magazine business.

Entrepreneur: I could find and stay in a decade-long partnership and then add another three partners of four-plus years. All of us are honest, simple people who have seen enough success in our lives collectively and built successful businesses.

Why did I start with all this? In a three-decade journey, I have been a bakery employee, and baker, have run a bakery, taught others to bake, and finally, owned a bakery. Of course, there are many more successful people than me. So what makes me — us?

PS: I respect bakers and baker owners alike.

Humility:

I don’t brag about my past. I only count what I have — in terms of contextual exposure. I don’t need to prove myself to win a business. I have told stories about how our partnerships have endured and how we learned from our failures; and numbers that may be relevant to a context. The idea is to give ‘reasonable confidence’ and then go about getting things done.

Bragging has one issue. It always precipatates things, when it is not necessary. The creation of high stakes is more about showboating, and it is not the definition of a ‘value system’. What makes a value system is that when you say ‘It is our first outing’, it is enough for all stakeholders to understand that there is ambiguity and not all outcomes are guaranteed. The only value system that works there is to trust the other stakeholders to put their hundred percent, execute, and learn from the outcomes.

The only value system that has stood with me in this is ‘humility’. I have been critiqued for being silent in situations where I could prove or counter a point, but most people forget that it is that silence that has enabled me to understand the person who rides on the high horses. It is easy to the quiet grass that is trampled upon, but it can survive the stomping and the storms.

If we are sticking it together for a decade, then my contribution to that is humility. No partner has ever worked beyond six months, without that crucial attribute. For a solo rider, thumping chests and talking big may work, but in a partnership, it is about being humble that works.

Gratitude:

Humility and gratitude are the two sides of the same coin. I may be the genius in my team, but I don’t make the 100%. I can’t be successful — we can’t be successful if we are trying to prove a point all the time. To think that we know-it-all and others are lesser ( read humility or the lack of it) does not make a team.

I am not faultless here; but by and large, it has worked for me. I am grateful for the bouquets and brickbats, but in a partnership, we never question the basics — the integrity, the intention, and the ingredients. There are shortcomings and challenges, but which partner is ideal? But when push comes to shove, and on my bad days, there is always some partner who holds the fort.

The depth that partnerships bring can never be replaced by individual brilliance. A decade of being a partner has taught me this. Gratitude follows humility.

Ambiguity:

Partners are as various as they come. Some are silent backers and contributors, others are vociferous vanguards. But only one or two of us deal with ambiguity. Ambiguity is about thinking in the clouds, and acting ahead of the actual plan in progress.

Ambiguity is a challenge that most partners can’t figure out. Most want a black-and-white answer, but they know there are no answers, so they often get the answer ‘Let us figure this out.’ Most of our partners, who have survived together have understood what that means.

Here is where the trust comes in — I have not got answers to many questions that need answers, but if a partner does not answer or says ‘Let’s figure’, it means that there is no answer yet. Now, if you add the humility and gratitude attributes to this question, it is easy to handle the ambiguity. We never hang a partner out in the open, and leave them high and dry — even if we follow up. We question the delay, but never the intent.

Showboating is neither about humility nor gratitude, so it ends in precipitation, and that is when partnerships crack.

Loyalty:

Loyalty is about having one’s back. It involves a refined understanding of the above — individual traits of humility and gratitude, and the collective understanding of ambiguity.

After building teams and not merely advising them, I have personal experience with peers and people above and below me. As an employee and a leader, the one thing I cringe about is the lack of loyalty.

When a person separates themselves from the team, loyalty is tested. This comes from the lack of the first three.

What about integrity?

As an avid student of history, I have realized that humans err. Humans err in their moral decisions — not because they are corrupt, but because of their context. Value systems are relative, and as long as the above four are intact, integrity becomes a common understanding unless somebody is a malicious outlier.

Example: A soldier, a spy, a counterterrorist, a diplomat, a salesperson, Lord Krishna — all of these have a role that makes them play in the grey, for the greater good. But note that all of them will have the above four attributes covered so that the context of their actions are understandable. ( I know people who will whitewash the Gods.)

So, when a client asks ‘Can you guarantee a result?’, the honest answer should be — no one can, ever. If somebody says they can, that is a lie. Past performance cannot guarantee future results — even the stock market cries out the caveats, so forget the human performances.

When operating in an ‘uncertain’ business, it is obvious that the outcome is a ‘best effort basis’. The results will create a track record over some time, creating increased confidence among the team. So precipitate guarantees as absolute are like the buried heads of ostriches. Add a first-time effort to that, and then the context is understood.

So what about the promises to customers? Setting expectations is important. The results come after the effort, and it is about winning the client’s faith in collaborating for the effort. After all, the client pays on success — so where is the ‘integrity’ issue here?

Of Bakers and Bakeries:

A baker — an individual player can succeed because of their talent or discipline. Baking cakes is an art, a much-respected talent. But a great cake does not make a great bakery.

Running a bakery is teamwork. A bakery team member should be humble, grateful, loyal, and of course, understand ambiguity. The complexity comes when the cake is not about cake only — it is about other condiments, side eats, main eats, juices, and a whole menu, that the baker cannot understand.

Sometimes, we start a bakery by selling coffee. The cakes will sell.

Without the bakery, there is no bakery. The baker will get to bake. But for that, the baker has to understand that the others who do their part in running the show complete the bakery.