My sourdough rye bread failed. For the first time since I’ve been baking from this starter, this weekend’s batch didn’t work.
I know why.
I rushed it.
I didn’t let the dough ferment long enough.
And then I made the oven hotter, in an effort to get the loaves finished so I could leave to meet someone.
That’s not how great bread works. It’s ready when it’s ready, not when you need it to be.
Of course, the analogy is obvious. Much of the work we do as creators, as leaders, as people seeking to make change–it needs to ferment, to create character and tension and impact. And if we rush it, we get nothing worth very much.
There’s a flipside.
Sometimes, we mistakenly believe that we’re building something that takes time, but what we’re actually doing is hiding. We stall and digress and cause distractions, not because the work needs us to, but because we’re afraid to ship.
Impatience can be a virtue if it causes us to leap through the fear that holds us back.