We’ve made it to the end of another week and so we’ll do a quick riff on food. Of course it leads to something business-related but you’re used to that by now, right?
I love the “Eat This Not That” books. I also get their daily news blast and today’s was kind of fun. It’s all about the worst chicken dishes in America. That would be from a nutritional point of view and not a comment on flavor, by the way. You can leaf through the dishes (along with some suggested alternatives) here but let’s think about something else in the process.
How did something like lean chicken end up being bad for you? Obviously because it has been loaded with salt, fat, and other unhealthy stuff. Something good was turned into something that might be delicious but really not good for the consumer.
This is a good business lesson. Often we start out with great ideas – let’s come up with a new chicken dish that might have a healthy appeal – and then we start to tweak the idea. We don’t have ovens in the stores, only fryers so let’s cook it that way. The sauce seems kind of bland – add some salt. Accounting wants us to reduce our costs – use trans fatty oil instead of the more expensive stuff. I know it doesn’t take a genius to know some fried chicken is going to be less healthy for you than a salad, but some of the salads on this list have a full day’s worth of calories and gobs of fat and sodium. Good ideas gone very bad.
At some point, we all face this as projects get more “public” within companies. It’s easy to lose sight of the original goal and end up with something that satisfies everyone but misses the point. Too many cooks indeed!
Have you been as surprised as I’ve been by these books? How about by some products at your place after they’ve been through the corporate kitchen?
Consult Keith 