Productivity and Foie Gras

Foie gras–French for fat liver–is a delicacy made of duck or goose liver that has been especially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage, which is the process of force-feeding the birds with corn in order to deposit large amounts of fat in the liver, thereby achieving the buttery consistency of foie gras.

Today there is much public outcry over the alleged cruelty involved in gavage-based foie gras (it was outlawed in Chicago for awhile); the feed is administered using a funnel fitted with a long tube, which forces the feed into the animal’s esophagus. Specific complaints include diseased livers swollen to many times their normal size, expansion of the abdomen making it difficult for birds to walk, and scarring of the throat and esophagus.

At this point you’re probably asking yourself: “So, what does this have to do with my productivity?”  In the quest for doing more–which we often mistake for productivity–we often apply the rough equivalent of gavage to our own work methods.  We work insanely long hours, skip meals, fail to get any exercise, stop by a fast food joint on the way home from work and get a burger and fries because we’re too tired to shop for healthy food and cook, and so on.

Continuing With Our Foie Gras Analogy

There’s an alternative to gavage-based foie gras which uses natural voluntary feeding.  Award-winning Spanish producer “Patería de Sousa” produces foie gras by taking advantage of the natural instinct of geese to gorge on food in preparation for migration.  The woodlands in Extremadura, Spain– where the geese are raised and allowed to roam freely– are a source of high-quality food: figs, legumes, acorns, olives, and natural cereals.

Dan Barber, named “Best Chef of New York” in 2006, had this to say about the Patería de Sousa foie gras:

“I’ve tasted the best liver pâté of my life. My best culinary experience.”

In fact, Dan gave a TED Talk in which he describes the process used by Eduardo Sousa in making foie gras.  Dan visited the farm in Extremadura and throughout their meeting Eduardo kept repeating: “My life’s work is to give the geese what they want”.  Dan even refers to him as “the goose whisperer”.

Eduardo’s biggest obstacle was the market place which demands bright yellow foie gras. In fact, chefs are trained that the best quality foie gras is bright yellow. However, because Eduardo’s geese are not force fed, the liver his farm was producing was gray. He then found a wild yellow plant called the Lupin bush, and he planted it on his 30 acres.

The geese started eating the seed of the Lupin bush and the result was bright yellow foie gras.  Dan remarks during his TED talk that Eduardo seemed to have an answer for everything, and it was always rooted in nature; he kept insisting it was about working with his landscape.

Dan continues to narrate that as he spoke to Eduardo he heard a clapping noise in the distance and, upon looking up at the sky, he saw a flock of wild geese flying over the farm.  Eduardo’s geese started calling out to the wild geese, which began to circle over the farm a few times and finally landed.  Dan then looked incredulously over at Eduardo and asked: “You’re telling me that your geese call out to the wild geese to stop by for a visit?”  And Eduardo answered: “No, they come to stay”.

At this point Dan tried to explain to Eduardo that this just couldn’t be because the DNA of a goose is to fly South for the winter.  And Eduardo answered: “No, their DNA is to find the conditions that are conducive to life; to happiness. And they find it here.” The wild geese stop, they mate with the “domesticated” geese, and Eduardo’s flock continues to grow.  And Eduardo can continue to produce the foie gras that won him the coveted Coup de Coeur in 2006, basically, the gastronomical equivalent to the Olympics.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Ask yourself the following questions to make sure that you’ve found conditions conducive to life and to happiness in your work life:

• Is there a better way to do this?
• Am I leading an unhealthy lifestyle in the chase for the promotion or higher profits?
• Is my work rhythm sustainable?
• Does working this way make me happy?
• Am I getting enough sleep?
• Do I eat well?
• Do I exercise?
• Do I take breaks?
• Do I use relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, massages, and walks in nature?

Try applying the term “whisperer” to your work.  A “word whisperer” has a very different connotation than a “freelance writer”, or whatever occupation you apply it to.  It’s about finding the right relationship or natural balance with your work, where you give it what it needs and your work in turns gives you what you need.

photo credit: antonellomusina

Related Posts:

• Productivity Tool: Mise En Place
• Four Ways to Achieve a Productive State of Mind
• Three Awesome Productivity Tips

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