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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 the busboy brought our
water and utensils, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around 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."
order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It seemed a little strange. When the busboy brought our
water and utensils, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around 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."