Written by Karen D. Swim

How often have you questioned a process and heard “I don’t know, we’ve always done it this way” in response? Corporations are often like rusty old trains with an inability to stop on a dime, check out new scenery or even change directions. People and companies go along following processes and procedures just because they exist, most never questioning until a consultant comes in and replaces their round hole with a square peg.  The story below is a funny illustration, courtesy of a client, Jeremiah Josey.

A newly married couple were in the kitchen one Sunday. The wife was preparing a piece of lamb for roasting and the husband was preparing the vegetables. The husband observed as the wife placed the piece of lamb onto the chopping block and promptly chopped 4 inches from each end, discarded the pieces into the bin. She then placed the lamb into the center of the large baking tray, around which the husband began to place the vegetables.

The husband asks, “Why did you do that darling, that looked like perfectly good lamb you through away?”

“Oh, I never think of it”, she replied. “Mother always did it and that’s what she taught me. We can ask her when we visit her for roast dinner next Sunday.”

So, that next Sunday they visited Mother for her Sunday roast and were served roast lamb and vegetables. Looking at the roast they could both see clearly that the ends had been cut off.

The daughter asked, “Mother, why are then ends missing from the roast?”

“It’s because… I honestly don’t know”, replied Mother. “I’ve always done it that way, just like my mother taught me. She is visiting next week so come for dinner again and we can ask her”.

So, another week passed and they were all seated at the table for Sunday roast, this time Grand Mother is present. And, like last week, the roast with its ends removed appears from the kitchen.

“Grand Mother,” begins the husband, “I’ve seen both your daughter and your grand daughter cut both ends of a perfectly good roast before they cook it, and I was wondering why you taught them to do it that way.”

“That is a very good question Grand Son.” says Grand Mother. “For many years when my daughter was growing up, we lived in a small apartment in New York. In that apartment we had a very small oven with a very small door, and the only way for me to cook my Sunday roast was to cut the ends off so it would fit into the small baking tray I used to fit into the oven. I stopped doing that years ago, ever since I got a larger oven – after my daughter left home I recall. Why waste perfectly good meat?”

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Jeremiah’s story illustrates the insanity of repeating a process without question. However, changing from a round hole to a square peg is also not always the right answer.  Rather, we must assess our processes and actions and create solutions that fit, sometimes that will be a round hole and at other times it may be a combination.  The innovation is not always in the solution but the approach – a willingness to try something that has never been done to look beyond your company and industry for ideas and solutions.

This integrated approach is called Design Thinking.  This video explains it in greater detail.

As we move forward it is clear that the “same old way” will get us the same old results. As you look at your own company or business,  are there things you do out of habit and routine? Do they still make sense? Simply asking the question can pave the way for innovation.

So what do you think of this integrated approach? Is this something you are already doing? Let’s learn from one another. Share your thoughts, and ideas in the comments.

Thanks to Society for Word of Mouth for the article and resources on Design Thinking that prompted this post!

References:

• US Treasury Secretary on Design Thinking
• New York Times Article on Design Thinking
• Wikipedia Overview of Design Thinking