Process

Over the weekend, Clark Schmidt, a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, flirted with a no-hitter. 

This is a feat so rare that in the last 10 years, it’s only been done 21 times by a single pitcher. That’s about 0.08% of all games. There have also been 6 combined no-hitters in that same time span.

Interestingly enough, if we look at the time span between 1970-2014, there were 109 single pitcher no-hitters (about 0.11% of all games), with 4 combined no-hitters. 

Not only have we seen a drop in the percentage of no-hitters in the last 10 years, but we also saw 6 combined no-hitters in 10 seasons vs. just 4 in the previous 45. 

Why is that? Managers today are much more concerned about pitch count. 

Americans ate an estimated 12.5 million pizzas during the Super Bowl (according to a quick Google search).

Most people ordered them from pizza joints, but some likely baked at home.

I decided to be one of those people.

Now, I had never made homemade pizza before. But since we didn’t have anyone over and had a late lunch with leftovers, I figured I’d give it a try. I was basically just making it as a snack for my oldest, my wife and me (my littles, predictably, did not want to try it).

The stakes were low.

It didn’t go particularly well. I didn’t leave myself enough time or space to really flatten the dough, so it was thicker than it should have been.

That means I didn’t cook it long enough, so it was half-baked.

I also didn’t have the right equipment, like a pizza stone, so when I tried to slide the pizza into the oven, the sauce, and the cheese moved, but the dough did not.

Luckily, because the combo of dough, sauce, and cheese is good, and the dough wasn’t raw, it still tasted OK.

But I learned a ton for next time:

1. I need a bigger surface to roll the dough out flatter
2. My small bamboo pizza paddle won’t cut it—I need a bigger paddle and a pizza stone
3. I’d also like to try a different dough

Over time, I’d like to:

1. Make my own dough
2. Make my own sauce
3. Experiment with different cheeses and seasonings
4. Get better equipment, like maybe an Ooni Pizza Oven

I’m sure you see where this is going.

It’s unlikely you’re going to do something very well the first time. There are a bunch of unknowns, even if you follow a recipe.

I followed the instructions for making a pizza, but because I didn’t roll the dough thin enough, the recommended 15 mins on 400 degrees (F) wasn’t long enough.

So you iterate over time. You learn the process that works best for you, and make adjustments each time.

Once you really understand the process, you can put a system in place to make the process as smooth as possible.

…or determine that you’re better suited to do other things, and have someone else perform those tasks instead.

The truth is, while I’ll make a pizza here and there, I’m still going to order pizza most of the time.

It will free me up to do other things, like play with my kids…plus clean up is a lot easier.