Haste makes waste: the hazards of speed before preparation

 

     I do a lot of cooking around the house. Although I enjoy the various cooking shows that are currently popular, I cannot often make use of the recipes. They either take too much time or they involve ingredients that fall afoul of the pickiness of one or another of the members of the household. I primarily watch in admiration and awe of the fluidity of the actions of the professional chefs.

     I have often wondered why, in comparison to the published recipes and cooking shows, my preparation time takes about twice as long as that stated on the recipe or what it takes for them to do it on a cooking show (cooking time is usually fairly similar <smile>).

     I have decided that my "slowness" is a combination of lack of practice with a particular recipe and my basic tool skills. Watching a "MasterClass" of cooking techniques, I can watch a chef finely dice a shallot in the time that it would take me to locate it in the pantry or refrigerator. There is a third factor which I am slowly improving upon -- organization and method. When a chef on a cooking show prepares food, they have everything pre-measured, and set out, such that cooking is a matter of assembly and preparation.

     With 45 years of experience as a general, household, cook -- I am faster, and more able, than many. But, in order to get as experienced as the chefs, I would need to cook the same dish 100 times within a week. Repetition, within short time frames, is what grinds in the motor memory needed to do something with lack of conscious thought. I remember watching a show about Julia Child and she needed to practice peeling potatoes. So, she got a huge mound (hundreds) of potatoes and just started peeling. (I would not have liked to pay for her grocery bill that month.)

     This type of experience is also necessary for skills with tools -- in particular, knives. In this area my willingness to attempt increasing speed is greatly tempered by my fear. I know about holding fingers in a certain way, keeping the knife sharp, making sure the food and cutting board are properly secured, and all that -- but I am still afraid of allowing muscle memory to take over. As is true of most cooks (and even chefs), I have a few scars from past burns and cuts (no missing digits, thank goodness). In this respect, I am willing to be slow. I know how to speed up and I know it is somewhat irrational but I am willing to be slow in this area.

     A final area of practice is with some techniques. I would LOVE to be able to take a skillet of hash browns and flip, and fold, them with a toss of the skillet and movement of the wrist. And it's not that awfully dangerous. But, I will wager quite fully, those people on the cooking shows who casually flip their food have also cleaned up a lot of messes in the process. Since I am the one to clean up my messes, I prefer not to make them -- so that is still on my cooking "bucket list".

     Some of you who are reading this from a more formal business viewpoint may (even are likely to) be wondering "what has this got to do with business"? Quite a lot. We are talking about the basic aspects of preparation, practice, experience, tools, procedure, and logistics.

     There is often an excellent correspondence between household needs and business needs. Probably that isn't an accident as the processes (and "product management") needed in household tasks existed prior to taking them into the business environment.

     So, in respect to business, "let's get cooking".

What makes high tech "high"?

People, and the media, talk a lot about "high tech"? But what is high tech? Warren Buffett says that he does not invest in high tech -- not because he thinks that it is bad but because he feels that it is wisest to invest in companies that one understands. This allows a good understanding of the business and the market and the managerial capability to run the company.

High tech exists because of all of the levels of technology upon which it relies. Thus, it is at the apex (or top) of a very large pyramid. This is reflected by our education and what we are expected to be able to do at different periods of our education.

At the bottom of the pyramid are "simple machines" and, as listed in Susan Kristoff's "Introduction to Simple Machines", scientists in the Renaissance period listed six devices for simple machines. These are the lever, the wheel and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw. In order to create, or make use of, simple machines, a variety of "simple tools" are required -- such as hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, saws, and shovels. To this list, I would add cutting instruments such as knives and chisels.

Of course, when you read through lists such as this, you will find yourself saying -- but what about scissors, and bolts, and nuts, and ...? Just because the Renaissance scientists made a specific list of six items doesn't mean that everyone will feel that is THE correct list. For example, I could argue that the wedge and the inclined plane are variations on the same thing. I would actually be tempted to classify into categories of mechanical movement such as lifting, pushing, pulling, and rotating.

It really doesn't matter. The fact is that there are some basic machines and tools that exist at the bottom of the pyramid. By using such basic devices, we can produce "low tech" -- a swing set, a door, a teeter-totter (for those that remember such ), pogo sticks, and so forth. These can all be easily built using basic devices and tools. Of course, the degree of "finish" for something will depend on the quality of the tools and the experience of the craftsperson. I can create hinges and a door but you probably wouldn't want it on the front of your house.

We now reach into the "middle technology" category. Note that things are not REALLY so nicely divided as something may easily be broken into parts that are of various levels of needs. When we get to middle technology, we get to phonographs (for those who remember such), steam engines, paddlewheels, flour mills, ships, and so forth. These are items where you might appreciate the work which goes into them but aren't likely to cause you to gasp with astonishment. And many moderately experienced modern young adults can probably make such. They take knowledge, tools, and the ability to design and follow directions. I could probably make a horrible sounding, but functional, record player (and record). Neither Bose nor Boston Acoustics will lose sleep over that.

Now, we come to high tech. High tech requires the use of middle tech tools and machines to create their products. A CD player requires the ability to create lasers, and smoothly precise rotating movements, and a lot of semiconductor chips, and wiring and special metals and materials. I could NOT create a CD player without first creating a lot of things that I would need prior to being able to create the CD player. High tech requires middle tech which requires low tech. And that is the real story -- high tech builds upon other techs.

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