I was recently reminded of a story I heard about a young woman making dinner for a large family gathering. She is new to cooking, but wants to impress her family and she follows her mother’s instructions for cooking a large ham very closely. So when the recipe calls for her to cut off the ends of the ham before placing it in a roasting pan, she does so without asking questions.
As she is completing this task a friend looks over her shoulder and asks why she is removing a good portion of a very nice ham. Our new, yet fearless, cook promptly answers because this is how her mother always did it and the results were always wonderful. But now she is curious and when her mother arrives for the big dinner the young cook asks why the trimming is necessary. Without hesitation the mother replies that is how her mother always prepared a ham, but she is not certain how this actually improves the dish.
Luckily grandma is also attending this dinner and when the opportunity arises the mother and daughter ask why she cut off the ends of what appears to be a perfectly fine ham. Does it improve the flavor? Does it help keep the ham moist? Grandma looks at them, chuckles, and explains that the reason she had cut the ends off the ham was so it would fit in her small roasting pan.
You may have heard this same story or a variation of it. It reminds us that experience and tradition are great, but sometimes we need to stop and ask why things are done a particular way. For an organization this may mean assessing whether or not processes and policies still “fit.” As illustrated in this story, assuming the way it has always been done is the best way can lead to waste. In addition to squandering time, energy, and opportunities, outdated processes and policies are like the small pan and restrict us from going big and growing.
In the words of Howard Schultz, former Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, “Any business today that embraces the status quo as an operating principle is going to be on a death march.” So go ahead and ask why. The answer might surprise you and bring about a better way of doing things.