- Joined
- Dec 16, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
- Reaction score
- 1
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?'
>
> &nbs p;
> '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?'
>
> &nbs p;
> '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.'
>
>
