Comments on: Iron Chef – A Productivity Fable

By: Tim Noyce

Tim Noyce — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:26:33 +0000

My version of this is my toolbox. Whenever I need to do a job around the house I take my whole toolbox, use the tools out of it I need and replace them immediately.

I used to just take the screwdriver, discover I needed more bits, have to move around the job and end up with tools turning up much later in odd corners. Tidy as you go saves a lot of time with DIY.

By: kate

kate — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:07:21 +0000

Good story and so true. I find myself wandering in circles when I go in to cook, realize I haven’t made my sink of soapy water…..then everything goes smoothly…

By: @Stephen

@Stephen — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:18:20 +0000

This is a super story, I just found it in my feed reader. Thanks for sharing it.
I enjoy cooking and working in the kitchen, and I often find myself getting “into the zone”, cleaning as I go and pacing the courses/dishes. Managing a project like making dinner is a true productivity exercise!

By: Catherine Cantieri, Sorted

Catherine Cantieri, Sorted — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:41:27 +0000

Excellent post! Organization is an investment of time and money, to be sure, but it yields huge rewards in saved space, time, energy and money. I sometimes think the “energy” dividends are the highest: the sense of freedom you get when your workplace is in order.

By: Ananth

Ananth — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:52:09 +0000

Catchy story.. Hit on the point. Thank you.

By: Neal

Neal — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:14:40 +0000

My housemates don’t seem to get this one.
As I cook, I do the same thing. I wash each dish and utensils as I go; this way I can either reuse them while cooking or have less of a mess to cleanup after I’m done eating.

My housemates sit and talk while the food is cooking and that time could be used washing up the dishes that were used to prepare the meal. At the end of it all, they’re left with the dishes used to create the meal, the eating utensils and the pots and pans used to cook it.

They don’t care about dish excess, they just throw them in the dishwasher. The problem is, these things don’t work. Every time I get a dish out of there, I have to clean it again. Dishwashers do a crappy job; maybe ours is broke. I wonder what luck others have had with their dishwashers. For this reason, I wash all my dishes by hand. The bottom line is: we must be like the Tortoise. Awesome article.

By: Jeff Miles

Jeff Miles — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:23:59 +0000

Mark,

Great example…I always knew I did it right when all the dishes were clean when the cooking was done except the dishes we were eating off of.

When I was playing football the principle was “give a little to get a little”. You take a half step back when doing zone blocking so you can get a proper angle to approach the defender which gets you in a better position quicker, whereas if you go straight for the defender you end up in a bad position.

Jeff

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:30:27 +0000

@Jack – I’ve only seen bits and pieces of Iron Chef, but I have seen them cleaning dishes as they use them. Also from what I understand professional chefs usually clean their dishes as they go. So if the current Iron Chef participants don’t clean their dishes anymore, it seems like the example still works when considering professional chef’s normal work habits.

By: jack

jack — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:59:58 +0000

but on iron chef, they have a whole staff of people who make sure the chefs always have more clean dishes, and gather up the dirty ones and wash them.

in fact, the chefs all have helper cooks, who also do stuff like that. i understand the point of the story, but iron chef is a particularly poor example…

By: Monica Ricci

Monica Ricci — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:39:57 +0000

Mise en Place indeed! It’s often the busiest people who say “I don’t have time to get/stay organized” but the truth is, it’s those people who NEED to take the time to get/stay organized precisely *because* they’re so busy. Organization facilitates a busy person’s success!

~Monica Ricci

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:07:09 +0000

It is great to see stories created to show the importance of having “Mise en Place” (a French term used by chefs that translates to-everything in its place). Excellent execution begins with proper preparation. Hares are the ones who talk themselves up, while the tortoises are the ones that DO, and execute flawlessly. So true is the analogy.

By: Suresh Gp

Suresh Gp — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:04:06 +0000

This story was driving away an effective point…I am glad that this could change the entire outlook

Kudos to have shared the Story with us and I would forward it to all my friends

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:09:43 +0000

I’m glad you liked it. I’ve always been amazed when watching skilled chefs cook that they don’t end up with a huge mess. It is amazing to see their system of cleaning as they go. Now if I could only get to that level of organization with my desk.

By: Sune Lobedanz

Sune Lobedanz — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:29:58 +0000

Wonderful tale, Mark! I’ll keep it in mind when I struggle to implement GTD – as I already do…

By: Dave Olson

Dave Olson — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:45:42 +0000

hehe, that’s a great story Mark. I’m definitely going to use it.