The Spoon <br /><br />A lesson on how consultants can make a difference in an organization.<br /><br />Last week, we took some friends to a new restaurant, &#39;Steve&#39;s Place,&#39; and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. <br /><br />It seemed a little strange. When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I observed that he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket.<br /><br />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 inquired, &#39;Why the spoon?&#39; <br /><br />&quot;Well, &#39;he explained, &#39;the restaurant&#39;s owner hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all of 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. <br /><br />If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift.&#39; <br />As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he replaced it with his spare. &#39;I&#39;ll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now.&#39; I was impressed. <br /><br />I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter&#39;s fly.<br /><br />Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So, before he walked off, I asked the waiter, &#39;Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?&#39; <br /><br />&#39;Oh, certainly&#33;&#39; Then he lowered his voice. &#39;Not everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I mentioned also learned that we can save time in the restroom.  By tying this string to the tip of our you-know-what, we can pull i t out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39%.’<br /><br />I asked quietly, &#39;After you get it out, how do you put it back?&#39;<br /><br />&#39;Well,&#39; he whispered, &#39;I don&#39;t know about the others, but I use the spoon.