darth frosty
Registered
For all of you who frequent restaurants and understand the need
> for the service to be faster, this short story is a timeless lesson
> on how consultants can make a difference to an organization.
>
> Last week, we took some friends out to a new restaurant and noticed
> that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt
> pocket.
>
> It seemed a little strange. When another waiter brought our water
> and utensils I noticed 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 asked, 'Why the spoon?'
>
> 'Well, he explained, 'the restaurant's owners hired Andersen
> Consulting to revamp all 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 was able to replace
> 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 noticed that all 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
> found out that we can save time in the restroom. By tying this string
> to the tip of 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 percent.
>
> I asked '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.'
> for the service to be faster, this short story is a timeless lesson
> on how consultants can make a difference to an organization.
>
> Last week, we took some friends out to a new restaurant and noticed
> that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt
> pocket.
>
> It seemed a little strange. When another waiter brought our water
> and utensils I noticed 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 asked, 'Why the spoon?'
>
> 'Well, he explained, 'the restaurant's owners hired Andersen
> Consulting to revamp all 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 was able to replace
> 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 noticed that all 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
> found out that we can save time in the restroom. By tying this string
> to the tip of 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 percent.
>
> I asked '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.'
