Another great Deans and Directors Retreat is in the books. I hope all who attended the June CAFÉ conference in Chicago found it worthwhile and worthy of ongoing thought and action. It is so important to think in terms of “WHAT IF” at a time when everything around us is changing at breakneck speed. 

The planning process can be quite shallow unless we are willing to change our way of thinking ahead and envision the illogical and unlikely, but possible. WHAT IF forces us to be open, to listen more thoroughly, to be observant and inquisitive, and to break from our MENTAL MODELS. When we allow ourselves to remain stuck in the way we have always approached thinking and planning, then preparing for the future will likely be a more reactionary process than action based on competence, preparedness and confidence.

Our presenters Mark Graham, Steve Schimoler and Joe Conto were thrilled to be part of the retreat and delve into the topic of the unknown. The unknown can be both scary and exhilarating. It all depends on the approach you take in life and in work. Those who think in terms of “how would I act?” in the presence of any unknown situation revealing itself are the ones who will stay ahead of the curve and enjoy what they do because they are prepared. It is also “WHAT IF” that stimulates thought and action, resulting in the next great product, concept or solution.

It was the American inventor, Lonnie Jackson, who said, “Sitting still, a person produces about 100 watts of heat. What if you could use that to charge your cell phone?” 

Think about how revolutionary this thought is and how, just like in so many other cases, this thought could result in an unimaginable product breakthrough. Someone had to think this way first, before an idea can gel, evolve and materialize. Now, apply the same type of thinking/problem-solving to education and what we do every day to prepare the next generation of cooks and culinary leaders,

It is the hope of all the presenters at this year’s Deans and Directors Retreat that those in attendance will bring the WHAT IF scenario planning process back to your operations and start to proactively think ahead. Situations are only problems if you are unprepared and opportunities may never present themselves unless you begin to think in unconventional ways. It may be time to break those mental models.

Those who stay ahead and create the next exciting concept, product or solution will always:

• Listen better 
• Solicit ideas and thoughts from a wide array of stakeholders
• Never use the words “we can’t,” “that won’t work,” “we’ve tried that before,” or any other negative wall that stops the free flow of ideas
• Realize that even the craziest thought has merit and may be an important part of puzzle solving,

Stay tuned for more thoughts in this regard. Let’s keep the WHAT IF questioning process alive!

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC, president of Harvest America Ventures, a mobile restaurant incubator based in Saranac Lake, N.Y., is the former vice president of New England Culinary Institute and a former dean at Paul Smith’s College. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..