It started as a simple lunch plan with my son.
No grand expectations, no camera angles in mind. We were just here for delicious grilled meat and the familiar "chaos" of Korean BBQ.
Halfway through the meal, as I observed the different types of marinated pork and banchan lined up like 'overachievers on a performance review', I caught myself thinking.
Instead of the usual food review post, what if I wrote a LinkedIn-style blog post about my Korean BBQ experience? You know the kind - the ones where someone orders coffee and ends up learning a lesson about gratitude or whatever.
So, here's my first, humble attempt to turn lunch into a professional development session (minus the HR-approved hashtags). Hahaha!
The Grill = Project Timeline
At first, everything looks manageable. Then the pork, mushrooms, kimchi, beansprouts all demand your attention at once. Someone turns the heat up too high (let's say, a stakeholder), and before you know it, things are burning while you're trying to save the enoki mushrooms from extinction.
Banchan = Unsung Team Players
Tiny bowls. Big flavour profile. Come to think of it, without these gorgeous banchan, Korean BBQ is just incomplete.
I honestly think the banchan are the operations team members of any good Korean BBQ meal; the ones ensuring balance, variety, and that occasional palate-cleansing surprise (hello, potato salad).
Octopus = Agility
And then came the marinated octopus - fiery, unpredictable, and sticks to your teeth. Much like that urgent ad-hoc project with a vague brief, unrealistic timeline, and 12 people panicking in different directions.
The Final Wrap-Up (Literally)
By the time you wrap your last bite in perilla leaf with grilled pork, kimchi, enoki, sauce, and a hint of chaos - it finally hits you: personal life and work life aren't all that different.
A little messy. Occasionally spicy. Always a work in progress.
Some days you over-grill, some days you under-season, but somehow, it still satisfies.
And maybe that's why I love Korean BBQ — it teaches balance, patience, and the occasional value of burnt edges.
Then again, if you've ever grilled meat and reflected on stakeholder management in the same breath, congratulations! I believe you're officially ready to post this on LinkedIn. 😉
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