We started watching MasterChef together as a family a year or two ago. After watching multiple seasons and recently finishing this year’s season, I’ve come to appreciate that, while we love the drama, we really love the lessons it offers about growth, performance, and mastery.
There are 3 lessons that stand out –
1. You can improve your performance by improving your attitude.
In almost every season, there’s a familiar pattern. Early eliminations often fall into three categories:
By contrast, the contestants who go far tend to stay calm under pressure. They listen, adapt, and keep improving.
2. The lesser the time available, the higher the ROI from organization.
Whenever we see the judges cook, we always see them take the time to pause, think, and organize their stations before they start cooking. While the contestants inevitably rush in chaos, they move with quiet intent and keep things clean and organized along the way.
That little investment of planning time makes all the difference.
3. The beauty of mental models.
Watching Gordon Ramsay cook is one of our favorites. His brilliance isn’t just in his taste or technique — it’s in his library of mental models. He knows instinctively what flavors pair well, what textures clash, and what compositions will fail.
That’s what expertise is – a deep set of mental models that let you separate signal from noise quickly and confidently.
It’s a delight to watch… and an inspiring reminder to build out my own mental models so the same clarity becomes instinctive in work and life.
