“The interesting jobs are the ones that you make up.” – Chris Young
Chris Young is an obsessive tinkerer, inventor, and innovator.
His areas of expertise range from extreme aviation (world-record goals) to mathematics and apocalyptic-scale BBQs. Above all, he is one of the clearest thinkers I know.
In this interview, we discuss a great many things, including his wild story and lessons learned from rainmakers like Bill Gates, Gabe Newell, Neal Stephenson, and many more. More topics we tackle:
- How he managed to get jobs working for the best in the world…despite having no credentials.
- Advice — and incredible questions — from self-made billionaires.
- Why raw foodism isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.
- How geniuses show disappointment and ensure you correct yourself.
- The “emoji egg” breakfast.
- And much more…
If you only have 5 minutes, I highly recommend listening to Chris’s secret to working with hard-to-reach people.
Enjoy!
- Listen to it on iTunes.
- Stream by clicking here.
- Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear another podcast with a world-class chef and entrepreneur? — Listen to my conversation with Andrew Zimmern. In this episode, we discuss his meditation practice, morning routines, and creative process (stream below or right-click here to download):
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
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- Connect with Chris Young:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
- $30 OFF Joule™, Chris’s upcoming sous vide immersion circulator [Note: Use the code ‘TIM30.” It is currently offered at the preorder price of $229, so it’s $199 for TFS listeners until August 1, 2016. Limit of one per customer.]
- Naturally Occurring Food Toxins by Laurie C. Dolan, et al., National Center for Biotechnology Information
- Biomolecular Structure & Design at University of Washington
- The Complete Thomas Keller: The French Laundry Cookbook & Bouchon by Thomas Keller
- On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
- The 4-Hour Chef (official trailer)
- ChefSteps in Seattle
- What really happened in Memento?, Quora
- Eclectic BBQ With Neal Stephenson by Trey Ratcliff, Stuck in Customs (with pictures)
- Anthracite coal
- Spatchcock
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson
- Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet
- Snatch trailer
- Seafair in Seattle
- Michelin stars explained
- Noma in Copenhagen
- The Fat Duck in Bray
- Essential Cuisine by Michel Bras
- Best Food Writing 2002 by Holly Hughes
- Puff the Magic Sorbet Dragon, ChefSteps (what it looks like when you mix liquid nitrogen with fine dining)
- The importance of a mise en place list
- Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket
- Ray Gun magazine
- University of Vermont
- Calculus for Beginners and Artists, MIT
- On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
- The Second Law by P. W. Atkins
- Are You Hooked on Competence Porn? by Lewis Dartnell, The Telegraph
- Intellectual Ventures
- What is a Garde manger?
- The Man Who Mistook His Kitchen for a Lab by Jay Rayner, The Guardian
- Fluid Gels: A Culinary History, ChefSteps
- Valve Software
- Canlis in Seattle
- Valve Handbook for New Employees (PDF)
- Gabe Newell: I Learned More in Three Months at Microsoft than Entire Time at Harvard by Anthony Tosie, Neowin
- High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove
- Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
- Gliding competition
- Sleep-onset insomnia
- Sailplane Grand Prix in the Andes trailer
- Windward Performance DuckHawk
- Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono
- The Last Lion Box Set: Winston Spencer Churchill, 1874-1965 by William Manchester and Paul Reid
- Radio 1 Essential Mix, Live from Rojan in Shanghai, China 26-09-1999 by Paul Oakenfold
- Pete Tong at Soundcloud
- iA Writer
- Hemingway Editor
- Scrivener
- Ferris Beuller’s Day Off
- Pulp Fiction trailer (jarringly auf Deutsch)
- The Right Stuff
- OXO On Cordless Glass Electric Kettle
- Wii DJ Hero
- Shakespeare was funnier than you remember.
- Biphasic and polyphasic sleep
- Edible Emoji Egg, ChefSteps
- La Marzocco espresso machines
- Chemex glass coffee maker
- Aeropress coffee and espresso maker
- Builder’s tea
- Nicholas Lander at the Financial Times
- Engineers, applied mathematicians, musicians, and people who do amazing work that can be related to cooking: apply to work with Chris here.
- Soaring Society of America
- Williams Soaring Center
Show Notes
- Chris expresses surprise that I remember much about the last time we hung out in Seattle. [06:07]
- Why are vegetables trying to kill you? [06:59]
- Chris explains his interest in math and biochemistry. [10:43]
- Chris’s first job out of college (and the Jedi mind trick that secured it). [13:09]
- How Chris’s chosen profession plays perfectly into his anti-social behaviors. [18:45]
- Chris explains the science behind the inverted rotisserie spit that was built for Neal Stephenson’s BBQ. [19:30]
- Gabe Newell and The Tornado of Fire. [23:17]
- Chris explains how he befriended Neal Stephenson while working for Nathan Myhrvold. [24:23]
- Neal Stephenson’s Victorian exercise regimen. [26:38]
- The journey between Chris’ first job and working for Heston Blumenthal. [27:40]
- The symptoms of maxing out the learning curve. [29:35]
- Permission to apprentice in a famous kitchen is often granted — if you know how to ask. [32:59]
- Liquid nitrogen, fine dining, and the science of palate cleansing. [35:41]
- The circumstances (and pressure) of sudden promotion. [39:35]
- How to reverse engineer and solving problems. [42:03]
- Has Chris always had OCD superpowers? [48:22]
- How did Chris become interested in math? [49:41]
- What books has Chris most gifted to others? [51:37]
- What is competence porn? [54:52]
- What’s Chris’s secret to getting hired by hard-to-reach people, and what lessons has he learned from them? [57:54]
- “The interesting jobs are the ones that you make up.” [1:02:14]
- The biggest lesson Chris learned from Heston Blumenthal. [1:06:45]
- Chris reminiscences about one of his most cringeworthy mistakes under Blumenthal. [1:08:29]
- How does one uphold high standards without driving support staff toward mutiny? [1:10:56]
- The challenging questions Heston Blumenthal asks that provoke excellence. [1:16:12]
- What is Chris’s company, how has it changed over time, and what novel decisions have pushed it forward? [1:20:33]
- Who is Gabe Newell, and how has he influenced the trajectory of Chris and his company? [1:24:15]
- What’s worth spending $100 million on in the kitchen space? [1:31:30]
- Gabe Newell’s real superpower. [1:33:20]
- Wisdom from Matt Mullenweg regarding people who steal intellectual property online. [1:34:13]
- What Chris thinks doesn’t work well for a company that’s supposed to get the best, most innovative, and most interesting work out of people. [1:37:54]
- Books and people who have influenced Chris’s business decisions. [1:41:45]
- Why Chris is prone to changing his mind a lot. [1:42:41]
- Chris and competitive gliding. [1:44:31]
- Chris’s thoughts on sleep [1:50:08]
- The value of less structure. [1:56:12]
- Chris’ thoughts on batching activities. [1:58:36]
- Chris and his creative process. [2:04:10]
- When Chris thinks of the word “successful,” who comes to mind? [2:04:52]
- Does Chris have any superstitions? [2:08:31]
- Music Chris listens to when he writes. [2:10:42]
- Chris’s editing process. [2:12:48]
- Favorite documentaries and movies. [2:14:30]
- What recent purchase of $100 or less had the most positive impact on Chris’s life? [2:16:60]
- Morning rituals [2:21:31]
- How The Fat Duck almost went bankrupt in spite of being so innovative and respected in the culinary community. [2:25:30]
- What advice would Chris give his younger self? [2:30:14]
- We discuss shifting focus from being “right” to being effective. [2:35:07]
- What would Chris Young’s billboard say, and where would he put it? [2:37:15]
- Last requests for the audience. [2:37:53]
People Mentioned
- Bill Gates
- Nathan Myhrvold
- Gabe Newell
- Neal Stephenson
- Matt Mullenweg
- Jeffrey Steingarten
- Harold McGee
- Tim Kelley
- William Belickis
- David Bouley
- Heston Blumenthal
- René Redzepi
- Gordon Ramsay
- Michel Bras
- Ferran Adrià
- Albert Adrià
- Eric Cressey
- Molly
- Alex Honnold
- Ed Zschau
- Peter Thiel
- Michael Phelps
- Charles Spence
- Grant Lee Crilly
- Ryan Matthew Smith
- Edward Starbird
- Jason Franey
- Michael Natkin
- Yahn Bernier
- Greg Cole
- Edward de Bono
- Winston Churchill
- Benjamin Franklin
- Paul Oakenfold
- Pete Tong
- John Hughes
- John Cusack
- Samuel L. Jackson
- William Shakespeare
- James Watson
- James Petrie
- Nick Lander
- Derek Bulmer