Fable
Two processes at a seaside restaurant
There was a small seaside restaurant that specialized in fish soup. The owner, A-Qin, went to the dock every early morning to buy fish, and the kitchen chef, Old Jiang, was responsible for preparing the fish meat, scallion sections, bamboo shoots, and seaweed one by one. The front-of-house clerk, Xiao Shi, only had to listen to what the customer ordered and then go to the kitchen to bring the corresponding ingredients. When the restaurant was small and there were few customers, Old Jiang would cut a basin of ingredients, and Xiao Shi could scoop them out correctly by hand.
Later, new shipping routes opened at the docks, and the eatery suddenly filled with out-of-town guests. Some wanted less scallion, some feared fish bones, some only ate light fish soup. Aqin thought the problem was that Xiao Shi worked slowly, so she told Lao Jiang to cut all the ingredients finer, thinking finer would be easier to pair. The first two days were indeed faster—Xiao Shi could grab a pinch and make a bowl.
Trouble soon arrived. The fish was sliced like snow, the bamboo shoots were broken like rice grains, and the seaweed was mixed into the chopped scallions. A customer said no scallions, and Xiaoshi picked through the basin until his eyes blurred; a customer wanted more fish and less bamboo shoots, but what he served often had half a bowl of broken bamboo shoots. Xiaoshi was scolded and felt wronged, saying he had already picked according to the order, but every pinch was mixed with something else.
Aqin then had Old Jiang cut the ingredients larger. Fish became chunks, bamboo shoots became strips, and seaweed was tied up separately. This time Xiaoshi picked accurately, but a new problem emerged: an elderly person only wanted half a bowl of soft fish soup, but the large fish chunks Xiaoshi brought were not cooked through; a child only wanted a little seaweed for flavor, but when the whole bundle of seaweed went into the pot, the taste was too strong. When the ingredients are too large, they are easy to pick accurately, but cannot be used with precision.
Old Jiang was unconvinced, blaming Little Shi for not knowing how to read the order. Little Shi was also anxious, blaming Old Jiang for cutting without method. The two argued until the lunch rush came to a halt. A Qin did not rush to judge who was wrong. She took a stack of old order slips and spread them out on the table one by one: ingredients often ordered together were placed closer, ingredients often requested separately were cut separately; things that easily mixed flavors were stored separately; fish that had to retain its full texture was cut into pieces that could be lifted with one spoon without falling apart.
The next day, the kitchen had a dozen more shallow plates. Fish was separated by firmness, bamboo shoots by thickness, and chopped scallions and seaweed were never mixed again. After receiving orders, Xiaoshi no longer grabbed ingredients randomly based on speed alone, but first looked at the customer's request, then took ingredients from the few plates closest to that bowl of soup. The restaurant became quieter, fewer dishes were returned, and Lao Jiang and Xiaoshi argued less.
Later, when Aqin taught new helpers, she only said two things must be distinguished: the master cutting ingredients determines whether each piece itself can be understood and used separately; the helper carrying ingredients determines which pieces should be brought to the stove when the guest speaks. If the cutting is wrong, no matter how diligent the helper is, he can only rummage through a messy basin; if the finding is wrong, no matter how neatly the master cuts, he will serve a bowl of unrelated soup.