The spoon:
A lesson on how consultants can make a
difference in an organization.
Last week, we took some friends to a new
restaurant, 'Steve's Place,' and noticed that
the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt
pocket.
It seemed a little strange. When the busboy
brought our water and utensils, I observed that he also had
a spoon in his shirt pocket.
Then I looked around and saw that all the staff
had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to
serve our soup I inquired, 'Why the spoon?'
'Well, 'he explained, 'the
restaurant's owner hired Andersen Consulting to revamp
all of our processes. After several months of analysis, they
concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped
utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3
spoons per table per hour.
If our personnel are better prepared, we can
reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15
man-hours per shift.'
As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he
replaced it with his spare. 'I'll get another spoon
next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra
trip to get it right now.' I was impressed.
I also noticed that there was a string hanging
out of the waiter's fly.
Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had
the same string hanging from their flies. So, before he
walked off, I asked the waiter, 'Excuse me, but can you
tell me why you have that string right there?'
'Oh, certainly!' Then he lowered his
voice. 'Not everyone is so observant. That consulting
firm I mentioned also learned that we can save time in the
restroom.
By tying this string to the tip of our
you-know-what, we can pull it out without touching it and
eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time
spent in the restroom by 76.39%.
I asked quietly, 'After you get it out, how
do you put it back?'
'Well,' he whispered, 'I don't
know about the others, but I use the spoon.'
A lesson on how consultants can make a
difference in an organization.
Last week, we took some friends to a new
restaurant, 'Steve's Place,' and noticed that
the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt
pocket.
It seemed a little strange. When the busboy
brought our water and utensils, I observed that he also had
a spoon in his shirt pocket.
Then I looked around and saw that all the staff
had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to
serve our soup I inquired, 'Why the spoon?'
'Well, 'he explained, 'the
restaurant's owner hired Andersen Consulting to revamp
all of our processes. After several months of analysis, they
concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped
utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3
spoons per table per hour.
If our personnel are better prepared, we can
reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15
man-hours per shift.'
As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he
replaced it with his spare. 'I'll get another spoon
next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra
trip to get it right now.' I was impressed.
I also noticed that there was a string hanging
out of the waiter's fly.
Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had
the same string hanging from their flies. So, before he
walked off, I asked the waiter, 'Excuse me, but can you
tell me why you have that string right there?'
'Oh, certainly!' Then he lowered his
voice. 'Not everyone is so observant. That consulting
firm I mentioned also learned that we can save time in the
restroom.
By tying this string to the tip of our
you-know-what, we can pull it out without touching it and
eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time
spent in the restroom by 76.39%.
I asked quietly, 'After you get it out, how
do you put it back?'
'Well,' he whispered, 'I don't
know about the others, but I use the spoon.'
