Four-Course Learning
There’s a reason fine meals have courses
Experiences have layers, and learning—true collaboration—thrives on layers. When Joanna and I designed the A Matter of Taste leadership coaching approach, we reflected on past “bad meals” of learning: too much or too little information, pacing that felt off, content that lacked relevance or cohesion. Learning should be transformational—a dopamine rush of accomplishment and discovery.
We’re doing it differently. Our four-course approach moves participants from a cold start to newfound confidence, ready to take off and land smoothly, both as individuals and as a team.
The Four Courses
1. Welcome & Orientation
Walking in the door, life follows—distractions, stress, mental clutter. It’s unrealistic to expect anyone to instantly clear their mind and engage fully. That’s why we start with grounding. We set the space intentionally, ensuring comfort and preparedness. The first palate-cleansing activity—a mindful taste tied to a thought—ushers participants into the session, framing the purpose, setting goals, and fostering curiosity. The tone is set.
2. Guided Learning
Now, we immerse ourselves in content-rich exploration—methods, applications, examples. We layer key techniques with sensory anchors: writing vision statements while savoring umami-rich miso butternut ravioli or comparing single-origin chocolate tasting notes to understand different communication styles.
3. Discovery by Doing
Learning solidifies through action. Here, we practice leadership and problem-solving, blending culinary concepts with hands-on engagement. Personal goal-setting, navigating difficult conversations, and empathy-building exercises come to life through flavor pairing and make-your-own experiences. Between structured curriculum and real-world application, we tailor activities to team objectives and PDU targets.
4. Fostering Action
To ensure learning translates into real-world results, we close by turning insights into concrete steps. Participants leave with actionable takeaways—new recipes, professional goals, team strategies—capturing the “popcorn of ideas” to fuel commitment. Over final sips and bites, we practice meaningful communication and mutual support.
Why It Works
Joanna and I draw on our culinary expertise, industry relationships, and years of corporate leadership and university-level instruction to craft immersive, accredited training experiences. This model is flexible—it adapts to various team cultures, topics, group sizes, and event durations. Whether loud and lively or quiet and contemplative, it follows the natural rhythm of human connection: presence, learning, action, and commitment.
If you’ve ever sat through a team-building session or training and thought, “Isn’t there a better way to do this so it actually means something?”—we agree. And we think the answer is found in four courses.
