Chaos, Craft, and Carmy: Live like “The Bear”

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Picture this: You’re watching a show that makes you want to look away, yet you can’t. It’s manic, frenetic, incessant. It triggers your insecurities and your anxieties. You’re desperate for a moment of calm that never comes. Welcome to “The Bear,” where chaos isn’t just a backdrop—it’s the main character.

But amidst this storm, there’s Carmy. He’s the eye of the hurricane, the chef who doesn’t just survive chaos—he thrives in it.

Some days Carmy tames the chaos, other days he fuels it. There’s no good Carmy or bad Carmy here. Just a man who knows that chaos isn’t going away, so he might as well dance with it.

What if Carmy’s approach to chaos holds the key to creativity, entrepreneurship and maybe even life itself? What if his method of diving headfirst into the pandemonium of a professional kitchen could teach us all how to navigate our own chaotic worlds?

We’re about to explore “The Bear” and discover why we all need a little more Carmy in our lives. It’s time to learn how a fictional chef in a chaotic kitchen might just hold the secret to mastering your craft, solving impossible problems, and becoming magnetic in your field.

Let’s dive into the chaos.

I love “The Bear” because it’s a show about chaos. Just go ahead on Disney+ and watch the first episode. It’s rude, direct, unrelenting. You want everything to go calm all of a sudden. This show displays chaos as a main character. The whole setup is chaotic. The characters contribute to the chaos. Nobody seems in control. It’s an excellent test to immerse yourself in this show if you’re anxious or have a controlling personality.

Chaos is exactly where Carmy needs to be to express himself.

Some days he tames chaos, some other days he fuels it.

That doesn’t mean that there is a good (taming chaos) Carmy and a bad (fueling chaos) Carmy. Chaos is not going away, so on some days, our protagonist fights against it, and on others, alongside it.

We all have to learn from calm Carmy because chaos is inevitable, and we need more Carmy inside of us.

Let’s see how he deals with chaos.

First, he welcomes chaos. He accepts challenges, knowing that they will overpower him. This is a key mindset that everybody needs to have.

Second, to find solutions to chaos, he goes into his craft, into his knowledge of recipes, cooking, and how a kitchen is supposed to work. He never puts on a managerial hat. He always acts like a subject matter expert and never fully zooms out of the picture.

The only exception is in episode 3, where he introduces the French brigade, a kitchen organization system invented by Escoffier. This is the only framework and managerial decision we will see him take in the show’s first season. All of the other choices he makes, no matter how they impact how the restaurant is managed, are never taken from the point of view of a manager.

These decisions are made not from the point of view of the outside, looking in, but from the point of view of being deeply inside. All of his decisions are the decisions of a chef, even though he’s also the owner of the restaurant, the manager of the restaurant, and the head of human resources of the restaurant.

It takes guts to say: I am going to solve all problems like a chef. Even if they are HR or logistics, just make every essential decision from inside the art and craft of cooking.

Is that clear?

An example would help: Imagine if I had Carmy’s courage. Imagine if I solved every single problem in my life with a story.

If I had the courage and the intuition to solve each problem in my world simply with a story, I would become the world’s best coach.

I’m afraid that this example is not as pointy. Imagine that you were the senior partner in a law firm and had all sorts of issues with your team and clients. And how do you solve those issues? You solve them just by being in contact with the law and thinking in a lawyerly way, thinking about the rules and principles of the law. This would help you solve any management problems, solve any management decisions, procurement, accounting, business development, and HR.

There is incredible wisdom in Carmy’s character development in this show: to solve all problems, we need just one algorithm, and that algorithm is very close to our heart, our guts, our passion, and ultimately our craft. And the most intractable, unsolvable problems get solved exactly through this craft.

Now, I haven’t given you any spoilers on the show. If you are yet to watch the show, please stop reading now.

Spoilers ahead.

Let me take you to season one, episode seven. Here, chaos reaches its zenith. It’s pandemonium to the nth degree. This episode, shot in one continuous sequence without any cuts – what in Italian is beautifully called “piano sequenza” – is a masterclass in controlled mayhem. The chaos spirals to such heights that one character stabs another and two characters quit.

You might think this is the end. That these characters who quit will never return. But you’d be wrong. They all come back to the restaurant. Not because Carmy has suddenly transformed into a better manager or learned to control his anger. No, they return because they’re drawn to Carmy’s craft like moths to a flame.

In lesser shows, characters returning like the prodigal son might feel forced or out of place. But here? It feels utterly authentic. These characters are so enthralled by Carmy’s abilities – flaws and all – that they can’t stay away.

This is the magic that happens when someone devotes themselves entirely to a craft. They discover a singular approach to solving all problems and making every decision. In doing so, they create great art, become irresistibly magnetic, and build a loyal following.

That’s my highest aspiration today. To find that one algorithm, that one approach rooted in my passion and craft, that can guide me through any storm. To become so adept at my craft that it becomes the lens through which I view and solve every problem.

“The Bear” isn’t just a show about a chaotic kitchen. It’s a blueprint for mastering life’s chaos through unwavering dedication to one’s craft. It’s about finding calm in the eye of the storm, not by controlling the wind, but by learning to dance with it.

So, next time you find yourself overwhelmed by life’s chaos, ask yourself: What would Carmy do? How can you dive deeper into your craft to find the answers you seek? Because in the end, it’s not about taming the chaos – it’s about learning to thrive within it.