A new bride cooked the most delicious pot roast one night, and as the couple was doing the dishes the husband asked: “That is the absolute best pot roast I’ve ever had! What’s your secret?”
The wife explained that before putting the roast in the oven, she cut off the ends. When the husband asked her why she just said, “That’s the way my Mom taught me to do it.”
Curious as to why this would make the roast so tasty, the guy called up his mother-in-law and asked why she cut off the ends. She gave the same answer – this was the way her Mom taught her. And asking Grandma led to the same answer – that’s how HER Mom taught her!!
At this point, all three generations were incredibly curious as to why Great Grandma made the most delicious pot roasts and why cutting off the ends worked so well. So they embarked on a trip to the nursing home to visit Granny, each one theorising during the drive why cutting off the ends was so crucial to this recipe.
“It lets the marinade sink in better.”
“It helps the spices blend.”
“It increases the steam flow, making the roast juicier.”
By the time they reached the nursing home, they could not wait to hear the answer! So they gathered around the bed of this 102-year-old woman and screamed (so she could listen to)
“Bubbie – why do you cut the ends off of the roast before you put it in the oven?”
To which she replied:
“Oy, when I was growing up in the old country, our oven was so narrow that the whole thing wouldn’t fit in!!”
So what does this have to do with your dental practice? As we coach with practices across the country, we often see systems or policies that are very inefficient or plain make no sense, yet the practice continues to do them. Even worse, when questioned, the reason is….
“That’s the way we’ve always done it!!”
Want your next team meeting to be a great one? Tell the pot roast story, and then come up with a list of things you are doing in your practice that could be done better or more efficiently, but you haven’t changed yet because “that’s the way you’ve always done it!!”
Get in touch with us for help with work optimisation to create a successful dental practice.
