In 1885 Vincent van Gogh completed and sent to his brother, Theo an art dealer in Paris, The Potato Eaters.  He hoped it would establish his reputation, and perhaps even be hung in Salon.  It did not, and was not; this was his original masterpiece.

In a letter he lamented to his brother that no one wanted his painting, his brother responded that the trend was toward more color.

He had previously struggled with adding more color, writing two years before; “There are two ways of thinking about painting, how not to do it and how to do it: how to do it – with much drawing and little color; how not to do it – with much color and little drawing.” Eventually he would compromise, following his brother’s advice; had he not, we would not have Wheat Fields with Crows.

I think of this story when I hear of my colleagues that struggle with compromise. My admiration for the chef that refuses to consider expenditure is tempered by the fact that if they don’t manage to compromise we may never see their Wheat Fields with Crows.