Last week I was running a course alongside some amazing Healthcare Science, IPC, microbiology and estates colleagues. It always amazes me how we start the week as a room full of strangers and by the last day you watch as they have formed bonds and built relationship, and leave having swapped contact details.  When I first started running the course it was suggested that paying for food and refreshments was a waste of resources but I stood firm, as I genuinely believe that there by providing food makes a difference, both in how people learn, but also in facilitating networking and having more time in the room. In light of these continued reflections, it felt like today was the right time to talk to you about cake!

Sometimes we all need a little self care

It’s no secret to those of you who read this blog that I love a cup of tea, I’ve posted about it enough. Sometimes tea alone may not be enough, shocker. Sometimes, we need to do a little something more that is a demonstration that we are being kind and treating ourselves. I’m not advocating daily cake or using cake as a crutch for dealing with lives daily issues. I’m advocating for balance and the occasional indulgence that shows we are putting ourselves as a priority every now and again. It’s horses for courses. Some people would go for a ramble, Sunday lunch, and a pint. I’m a cake, bath, and book kinda girl. Life is hard and sometimes taking a little of what you want is not a bad thing.

If you feed them they will come

The second place I’ve found feeding people really helpful is when I’m expecting people to give of themselves or their time, and acknowledging this by giving something back. If I’m running events, especially public engagement events, and people have turned up to contribute or participate then offering food is one small way of thanking people for that contribution. This is especially true if you are running sessions during times when people would normally be eating, such as lunch or early evening events, as you will also get less fruitful discussions if people are hungry or distracted about if they will have time for food.

Sometimes, we all need a little pick me up

I’ve already said that life can be hard and, for me, cake can also be used to enable me to provide comfort. There’s plenty of data about the link between sugar and serotonin, and the ability of a little something sweet to provide comfort is a chemical fact. This one isn’t about sugar addiction and eating our feelings. It’s about a practical step that can enable an interaction that may help someone.

It can sometimes be challenging to talk about difficult topics whilst staring someone in the face. Bringing something else into the mix that allows someone to talk whilst eating, staring at, or playing with the food on their plate, can be a surprisingly powerful tool to enable an individual to get past that particular barrier to expressing how they feel.

Can make someone feel seen

Cake isn’t just about comfort however, sometimes it’s about celebration or just acknowledgement of a change or achievement.  There’s a reason we have cakes at our big life moments after all. Taking the time to arrange/make/buy a cake demonstrates that you are invested in the other person. It demonstrates that you care or are acknowledging something that can be a big deal to the other person. It’s a way of not letting moments past by unmarked. Making people feel seen is one of the best gifts we can give, and providing cake is just one way of doing it.

Breaks down barriers

We all sometimes put our defences up when we are facing the unknown or feel at risk. This can happen in all kinds of situations, from attending an education event where you worry about sticking out to meeting a lot of new people at a friend’s social gathering. Much like the weather, food, and the quality or lack of, can be used to provide an ice breaker that can make many social situations that little bit easier. The whole ‘oh you went for the lemon drizzle’ comment can open that first difficult conversational door.

Is an act of show don’t tell

Too often, it’s easy to make conversational pleasantries, especially in leadership.  We all know of scenarios where the words that come out of the mouths of those in charge are not matched by their actions. I think it is therefore important to consciously undertake acts of ‘show don’t tell’ where possible. In these cases, simple gestures, such as a card and cakes for Biomedical Science day, demonstrate that you not only recognise that such a day exists and is important to people, but that you care enough about those people to engage with it, even if you are not a Biomedical Scientist. There are plenty of examples of this, but I think as leaders we should think more about whether words alone are enough.

Takes the financial burden off another

I spent a few months in the states on sabbatical before the pandemic and one of the things that struck me was that whenever I went to an academic meeting at breakfast, lunch or after work, there would always be food provided. It was both nice and plentiful, and at one point I was chatting with some of the students who attended about whether this was standard. They said in most good departments it was because university fees and living costs are so high that many post graduate students can’t afford to buy food despite working extra jobs. Obviously that is an awful state of ‘normal’ but it also struck me that I don’t know that my students would be so open about not being able to afford things. Since then, whenever I take any one of my team, students, or staff out, I will insist on paying just in case and as a demonstration of the fact that I care about them. As I said, life is hard, so let’s try and make it easy.

Supports levelling of hierarchy

A lot of reasons I’ve talked about so far are linked to leadership, but there are other reasons where deliberately using the offering of food to remove hierarchy is important. Conversations and openness can be inhibited by artefacts such as hierarchy. There are reasons why, in high stakes moments, hierarchy in healthcare may be beneficial, but most of the time it can run the risk of inhibiting openness and collaboration. Food can really support breaking down some of these inhibitors. Some of that is because we will often move to a more neutral, less loaded, location in order to have our tea and cake. It’s often not going to happen in a consultants office. The other reason is that food is pretty embedded as a way of demonstrating friendship in most human cultures, and therefore it works on a subliminal part of our minds to support engagement.

Buys time away to focus on each other

Another benefit of the fact that we may need to step into another environment to enjoy our tea and cake, is that you are also removing yourselves from distractions. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have emails that drop into my inbox and pop up every few minutes. If it’s not emails, it’s calls, or someone knocking at the door. Stepping away from those distractions so you each have the mental space and capacity to undertake some active listening and really be in the moment with each other is pretty priceless, way more than the cost of some tea and cake.

Gives the gift of time

One the things I have least of in my life is time. I have very little capacity to do anything other than survive and work. Therefore, if I take the time to make Christmas puddings for my friends, or bake a cake for colleagues, I think it goes some way to showing what those people mean to me. It means that I prioritised that act over something that I could have chosen for myself, such as bath and book time. I also hope that it holds greater meaning for them because they know how hard it is for me to carve out those moments in my life. I could buy a cake, and I often do, but when I can I will also try to give the gift of time by making one myself.

Enables you to show you care about the person not just the task

I often take my team out for tea, and sometimes lunch, but those sessions are usually working sessions. Sessions where we may be eating but we are also planning a project, talking through results/feedback, or developing a strategy. It’s so important sometimes to do the same thing but without work being on the table. I can be a pretty task focussed individual. It’s one of the reasons I probably ended up as a scientist. For getting stuff done, all that is pretty great, but to really do it well requires us to value the person and not just the task. Every now and again it’s important therefore to step away from the normal and catch up without a job or agenda, and to just be in the company of people you work with. It helps you get to know them better as people. To understand the challenges that they have going on, and not just in their work life. To value them as people, not just as cogs in the machine. It’s easily forgotten but crucial to do.

Can be a great educational tool

The slide below is one that I use to talk about molecular typing through the medium of cake. I find it works because most people know about cake, whereas many people don’t know about molecular typing. I talk about phenotypic, or growth based identification, being like a Victoria Sponge. You can see everything, you don’t need to cut it open to work out what it is. It’s a classic and will please most people most of the time. I then talk about fragment based typing, things like PFGE, VNTR, typing that looks at sections of the genome in order to decide on whether two things are linked or not. For the most part, this is like a meringue dessert. You can tell it from the outside that it’s meringue, but won’t be until you cut into it and get more information whether it is lime or lemon. Finally, you have whole genome sequencing, which is more like a pie. You can look at something and know that is a pie, but when you open it up you can get all kinds of information. You’ll be able to tell whether its fruit or savoury, what kind of fruit, and you’ll even be able to have a guess at what spices were used. It all depends on what level of information you need before choosing your cake.

Sometimes, it’s just nice to eat cake

Finally, and not to be under estimated. Sometimes it’s just nice to have cake. Be it because the world is glorious, or the world is gloomy. Be it on your own in glorious solitude, or to spend time with someone you care about. Be it on your sofa, tucked up in bed, or at the Savoy. One of the best things about the joy of cake is the flexibility to enjoy it (or not) however you wish!

All opinions in this blog are my own