The 7 Deadly sins of business - Gluttony

Here I am in the land of pizza and pasta on vacation - Rome Italy - The birthplace of complex carbohydrates and 1 shot espressos as a meal.

I have got to confess that I love food.

I love the way it smells, the way it tastes and the way it brings people together.

I also see the downside of my love. There is no happy co incidence I am always at the gym or running up hills. I need to balance this love of food with my health.

Gluttony can mean overconsumption but also has a real connotation of voracity and insatiability.

In work and business this voracity can be a positive driver to achieve goals and positive outcomes.

I know that if I set my mind to something I can feel this insatiability keenly.

How do you ensure you do not overdo it ?

The past few days I have been watching the modern day Romans go about their daily grind.

First stop - a morning espresso - always standing up - never sitting - perhaps accompanied by a sweet pastry. I struggled to get orange juice that wasn’t sweetened and eggs that were not salted. Italian breakfast is not for the faint hearted. Day 3 and I converted to the Roman way of life -

coffee short and strong.

I see the Italians using this time to connect with each other - to have that quick 5 minute FaceTime with their friends and acquaintances. There is no lengthy sit down time - they have work to do - the morning is all about connecting and re connecting - there is time later in the day to really focus on each other.

Then as we meander the day into lunch, I see the Italians close their businesses and take time out of their day to stop for a meal.

I often used to think this as an indulgence - now I see that it is an importance. They rest, re fuel and re focus without the interruptions of their working lives. Both physically and mentally.

Me? - I was in a food induced heaven - little Bars overlooking cobbled piazzas - so different to cafes back home - more akin to the New York style Deli’s - serving beautiful fresh food. A simple plate of rucola (rocket), fresh tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella with a drizzle of olive oil and topped with a sprig of basil. Five minutes to prepare but needs to be enjoyed slowly and almost guiltily.

I found I had to stop, sit and enjoy. Somehow in the back of my mind I felt this guilt. Was I guilty of gluttony ? Or purely enjoying a well deserved moment?

Of course I was being indulgent but should I feel guilty about stopping to enjoy this moment?

In our business I think we are constantly busy and trying to stem the next flow, predict the next cycle, build the next product or purely get the work done.

Do we stop and take the time to use the spare moments to our advantage?

Every morning in my office we invariably reach for the coffee and gather informally in the staff kitchen - chewing the fat over our weekends, our work, our families.

All of a sudden it struck me - This is our 1 shot espresso moment. This is our 5 minute FaceTime.

What I have learnt over the past few days watching the Romans is their ability to fuel their bodies and their minds and voraciously guard this time. If it means they close the doors - then so be it ! Customers will come back later. Work can be recommenced later.

So in 2017 - at lunchtime, the phones in my office will go unanswered and the emails will not be checked. They can wait. We need to stop, breathe and re fresh to be able to do our jobs effectively.

Perhaps I can even extend this voraciousness to guard my time with people in my life. If I learnt one thing from the Romans, it is that if you partake in anything, particularly in a meal - you do it properly!

So my take on gluttony in business….if you master the ability to feed yourself and your team and voraciously guard the time - this will feed your business….and maybe even your soul.