The importance of the seemingly insignificant
I had half an hour before my train last week to get a coffee. I decided to head to the lounge of a favourite hotel of mine near Kings Cross station. Where to get a coffee might seem irrelevant. After all, Pret does a decent coffee and it would have been cheaper and more convenient than the hotel lounge. But that wasn’t the point.
I sat by the fire and got some work done on my laptop. It was a lovely environment and put me in a positive mindset. As I got up to leave, a bloke asked if he could take my table. “You bet - you’ve got the best seat in the house!” I told him.
Everyday in our work lives we’re faced with choices. Some of them feel insignificant. But such choices matter. I left the hotel with a spring in my step.
An hour later I was on the train listening to a BBC World Service podcast about the restaurateur Keith McNally, founder of the legendary Balthazar. McNally started out in theatre and brings an attention to detail to his restaurants, always looking to replicate that sense of theatre. The podcast told the story about Keith’s focus on the design and construction of the table legs that no diner would ever see. It’s what he learned in theatre from the director Jonathan Miller: ‘the importance of the seemingly insignificant.’
It really struck a chord with me, especially after the experience of my morning coffee. After all, we can just make do with whatever’s easy or we can be more intentional to do those things that make us thrive. The spaces we inhabit, such as where we drink our coffee, are where we live our lives. The choices about where we put our attention matter.
