Background
This book is a unique book in that it is a story told by Damon West, but the book is written by Jon Gordon. Damon West is a former Division I quarterback who suffered a career ending injury at the University of North Texas. Following his athletic career, West worked in the US Congress and was a stockbroker for the United Bank of Switzerland, until one day he was introduced to methamphetamines. As a consequence of his addiction, West was sentenced to prison in Texas. It was while he was in prison that West learned the story of the coffee bean from a fellow inmate that changed his life forever. Following release from prison, West spends his time traveling across the world to spread the story of the Coffee Bean to professional and college sports teams, large corporations, and even the US Military. Jon Gordon, who is a business leadership consultant, best-selling author & keynote speaker, learned about Damon West’s Coffee Bean speech one day in talks with Dabo Swinney and decided to reach out to West to offer to write the book. With the help and credibility of Jon Gordon on his side, Damon West has now been able to extend the story of the Coffee Bean to a much wider audience, and the world is a better place because of it.
Review
Although this book is not very long, the message inside of it carry’s a lot of weight. A lot of people have heard the parable regarding the potato and the egg, or in this book’s case – the carrot and the egg. There’s a widely known saying that says, ‘ The same boiling hot water that softens the potato, hardens the egg. It’s not the environment you’re in that determines your fate, it’s what you’re made of’. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with this saying and think there is a lot of merit to it – but this book gives you another way to look at things.
It’s true that the same boiling hot water that softens the carrot hardens the egg, but what if you don’t want to have to have to change to adapt to your environment? What if the necessary adaptations are undesired? A lot of times, letting your environment change you comes with negative connotations. Sometimes, harsh environments change you for the worse. They make you bitter or angry. They make you sheltered, fearful, or pessimistic. Sometimes, relaxed environments make you soft. They make you content, lackadaisical, or weak. When these things start to happen, it’s time to take a look at another option: being a coffee bean.
The parable of The Coffee Bean is conveyed throughout the book through a story about a young man named Abe. Abe, who is usually a positive kid, comes into science class one day upset and anxious about things going on in his life: tests, a big paper, a big football game, parents arguing, etc. Things a lot of people can relate to. After Mr. Jackson, Abe’s teacher, notices Abe is not acting like himself and finds out what is wrong, he gives Abe a homework assignment. His assignment was to go home and boil a pot of water, and put in the water a carrot, an egg, and some coffee beans – in that order – and see what happens. After finishing the experiment and telling Mr. Jackson his findings, Mr. Jackson revealed the parable of the coffee bean. As mentioned before.. when putting a carrot in boiling hot water, the carrot softens. The environment the carrot is placed in breaks it down. When the egg is placed in boiling water, it turns into a boiled egg & hardens. Again – although with a different mechanism – the environmental conditions affected the egg and forced it to change in order to survive. But when Abe placed the coffee bean in the boiling water, it made a pot of coffee. Unlike the carrot and the egg, where the environment changed the subject, the coffee bean transformed its environment. Mr. Jackson goes on to tie it all together with the following quote: “If you think you are a carrot, you will believe the power and forces outside you are more powerful than who you are on the inside, and you will become weaker. If you think you are an egg, you will believe the negativity in the world has the power to harden your heart and cause you to become negative like the world. But if you know you are a coffee bean, you will not allow the outside world to impact you. You will know that the power inside you is greater than the forces outside you, and with this insight, you will transform your environment and world from the inside out”. From that moment on, Abe carried the parable of the Coffee Bean with him wherever he went. Through his collegiate football career, his service in the military, his family life, and through business, Abe was able to overcome adversity by simply reminding himself to be a coffee bean – not a carrot or an egg.
I personally think there is a time and place to be all three of these subjects. Sometimes you need your situation to soften you up like a carrot. Sometimes we get somewhat numb to our emotions and the things happening around us, and we need something to bring us back to a sense of humanity. There are also situations, however, where we have to get hard, where we have to toughen up. In a lot of situations, getting a little tougher will help you in the long run. If you are placed in a pot of boiling water and acclimate to it by hardening up, you may be able to turn up the heat a little bit if needed. The problem arises whenever ‘hardening up’ causes you the negative qualities mentioned previously. However, one needs to realize that these are not the only two options. There are times when ‘hardening’ up to survive your environment will callous you from your emotions, and there are times when ‘softening ‘ up will hurt you in the long run and limit your progress. When these situations arise, always remember that instead of transforming yourself to fit your environment, try to transform your environment into more conducive conditions.
Oftentimes, the environment you are placed in may not be able to be changed. There are a lot of things that happen to you that are beyond your control. You don’t get to pick when your tests are, if your parents are arguing, or if your daily job is short-staffed. Although there are a lot of circumstances that you cannot control, you can control how you view them. Many times throughout the book when Abe is struggling, he looks at the pot of coffee beans on his desk, reminds himself of what the coffee bean can do, and turns his situation around. The same things that were bothering him before this reminder were still the same, but the way he viewed them and approached them were vastly different. This serves as a reminder that even if you aren’t the one that turned the burner on under the pot of water, a little perspective change can help the heat feel lower. Other times, if you are like me, you tend to turn on the burner yourself. In situations like this, you have to realize that you are physically able to transform your environment. If things are getting tough and you are starting to burn, and acclimating to your environment will only lead to negative adaptations, sometimes you might need to turn down the burner temporarily. Whether you are able to physically transform your environment, or you need to transform it with a little perspective, always remember that the carrot & the egg are not the only two options.
This book was gifted to me a few weeks ago by my dad at a time when I expect he assumed I had put myself in a pot of boiling water, as I tend to do. Now, it sits on my desk and serves as a reminder to myself that I always have the power to transform my environment. If you are like me, someone who likes to keep your pot of water boiling at all times, this book is a good book to not only read but to keep within arm’s reach as a subtle reminder that oftentimes you have the ability to change your circumstances, or at least the way you view them. It’s okay to keep your water boiling, but you have to know how to keep your environment under control. In a world full of carrots & eggs, be a coffee bean.
Very insightful comments . Excellent points and very good perspective on adapting the need for change based on the ongoing challenges life has and will throw your way.