Clarity in a Can of Soup
🙏🏼 brunch dates with the best of mates, simplicity and self-trust
In a world abundant with information, we often turn to external sources for solutions, guidance, and validation. But what if outsourcing bypasses our deep and necessary learning? What if meandering down the scenic route, getting lost, muddy, and frustrated is much more important than arriving at the destination?
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I was in Dublin yesterday for brunch with some very good pals and I mentioned a recent quite unsettling experience I had. My very straight-talking friend Máire replied: “Georgie, you're the can of soup guy — you already have the answer.”
I didn’t have a notion of what she meant, so of course I was curious to learn…
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The can of soup guy was around at the turn of the century, his name is Dr. John T. Dorrance. He spent several years working on a novel way to ship soup; he hired a team of engineers to design canning equipment, adapted the recipe so that it could be manufactured in large quantities, and invested almost a hundred grand of his own money into the development.
Dorrance dedicated years of his life to the process. Eventually, he became frustrated — he had been asking external people for solutions to a problem he was the expert on. He had a bit of an epiphany — and admitted he knew the solution all along. As a result of finally overcoming his self-doubt, he created the can and became the president of Campbell's Soup, now one of the most successful food companies in the world.
Spoiler alert I’m not working on any profound inventions. Máire and I met four years ago in a competitive start-up development program. She knows me. She knows the area I was seeking external support is one in which I'm competent. Her nudge reminded me that taking longer than seems warranted is very normal.
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I hope it reminds you to trust your path — go your way.
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Andy Warhol's emphasis on that very same famous can of soup is another commentary on our tendency to overcomplicate things. By painting the Campbell's Soup Cans over and over again, Warhol sought to highlight the beauty and significance of ordinary, everyday objects that surround us.
Often, we overlook or overcomplicate the simple and integral parts of our lives.
🥫 There is infinite magic in the ordinary.
So how can we apply these lessons to our work and lives? Trusting ourselves is a lot harder than it seems. I've noticed that the more important something is to me, the more intense resistance I feel to doing it.
It's not that I've dismissed it as unimportant, nor have I given up. For me, the root cause is an unhelpful tendency to be timid. Maybe you have a similar tendency or perhaps the opposite, you might charge in without pausing. We are all uniquely flawed.
My brunch date with the girls reminded me of some Buddhist wisdom:
If you look for truth outside yourself, it gets farther and farther away.
Ultimately, ‘the canned soup guy’ is a reminder to us to have confidence in what we know. Abandon the idea that you should do things a certain way and dare to continue down your own muddy path. Chances are you’ve already overcome SO MUCH and the rest isn't as daunting or complex as you imagine.