Obsession
Admittedly, I crave obsession. 3 weeks ago, I was obsessed with Agile Maturity and Continuous Improvement at Nordstrom. When I wasn’t logged in during business hours, I was still thinking about how to unlock my org’s potential. Getting laid off deleted an entire context. What to do with this vacuum of time? Job hunting can only take so much time every day, I needed something else.
Enter Burritos
What is playful, creative, and still useful? What can I obsessively iterate and improve while still connecting more to family life? Food. Cooking. Having been spoiled by delicious Mexican food in socal, I was already feeling motivated to bring this capability in-house. No, this story won’t smashcut to owning a food truck flinging premium burritos around the PNW. But a burrito landscape is rising to replace the void left from work. Thoughts about burritos are beginning to constantly occupy my mind, and it feels right. As I death scroll through LinkedIn Jobs I am finding myself instead pulled to watch salsa recipe videos on YouTube. I find myself instead thinking about different combinations of ingredients, experimenting with new flavors, and perfecting my cooking techniques. Sweet, sweet obsession.
Why Burritos?
Besides my wife and I sharing a mutual burrito love, they are just the perfect expression of flavor and nutrition wrapped together in a loving tortilla and made portable. Isn’t it obvious? The elegance. The perfection. Nevermind that my 2 yo daughter prefers to eat the tortilla over the burrito. I have faith she will one day see the light.
My Promise to You
In these burrito chronicles, I will share findings that are guaranteed to up your burrito game and make your dinner table sing Mariachi. Read on for music, poetry, and my burrito backlog.
Poetry & Music
A haiku - because making burritos is poetry in motion
Wrapped in warm embrace
Spicy, savory delight
Burrito, my love
A playlist - because dancing in the kitchen makes any dish taste better
This playlist is a crowd sourced collection of songs that express people’s love for burritos. Please enjoy. and leave a comment below with your favorite burrito song so I can add it!
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdn_ZJQwy6FzpMZHA1_rBQenP8MlxS-xD
Burrito Roadmap
Using Agile to Build the Perfect Burrito
Agile Scrum is a software development methodology, what does it have to do with burritos? Nothing, but like I said I am obsessed and old habits die hard. While it might seem like a stretch to apply these principles to burrito making, it makes sense to me, so here goes...
SprintBurrito Backlog: Create a product backlog of all the possible ingredients and combinations that could be used in a burrito. Prioritize the most important ones and create a plan for which ones to try first.SprintBurrito Planning: Set specific goals for each burrito-making session, such as trying a new ingredient or rice recipe. Determine which ingredients to use and what steps need to be taken to create the perfect burrito. Identify and remove any blockers - are we out of cilantro?SprintBurrito Review: Evaluate the outcome of each burrito-making session, gather feedback from others who have tasted the burrito, and adjust the plan accordingly for the next session. I would argue that in the Zen of burrito making, every burrito is a sprint.SprintBurrito Retrospective: Reflect on the overall process and identify areas for improvement, such as using more fresh ingredients or experimenting with different cooking techniques.
The Burrito Backlog
To build my burrito backlog I conducted extensive user interviews collating a list key ingredients that take a burrito from good to great. Here are the results ordered by count:
Salsa (7)
Cheese (4)
Flavorful meat or veggie filling (3)
Potato (2)
Seasoning (2)
Grilled onions (1)
Peppers (1)
Black beans (1)
Spanish rice (1)
Roasted corn (1)
Good dry beans (1)
Onions (1)
Something wet (1)
Fusion (1)
Cilantro (1)
Carrots (1)
Garlic (1)
Chipotle chiles (1)
Jalapenos (1)
Stewed tomatoes (1)
Bay leaves (1)
Mexican rice (1)
Guacamole (1)
Thoughtfulness (1)
Pickled red onions (1)
In the next installment of burrito chronicles, I will dive deep into the first burrito backlog item: salsas a-z, so stay tuned!
Thank you so much for joining me on this ride. I cannot over emphasize how much the friendship and support of community means during times like these.
Action Items
Please comment below and share your favorite burrito making song or your favorite burrito ingredient!