Friday, May 24, 2024
When the server ostentatiously takes the two-course order of four of us with no notes, walks ten yards over to the computer, then has to return to check if he heard us correctly about one thing or another, it simply makes me feel that some manager or owner is chasing effect and not substance, style and not efficiency. This has actually happened in sushi restaurants where I stop the server and ask that the order is taken down on paper, knowing that otherwise I’ll get the wrong fish.
I’m not on an airplane for the cuisine, in a doctor’s waiting room for the reading material, or in a restaurant to experience examples of memory. Peters and Waterman in their seminal book,
In Search of Excellence, advised company management to “stick to the knitting” and not become distracted. That’s good advice for all kinds and sizes of business.