What Slicing Bananas Taught Me About the Nuance in Change Initiatives
By: Nikky Perry
Tags: Change Management, Coaching, Agile Methodology

Banana peels

I’m gonna bet you wouldn’t recognize what those weird things are if I didn’t tell you. Who does this? What kind of abomination is this?

These are banana peels. Did you guess that they were banana peppers? Don’t be silly! Who puts banana peppers in oatmeal? No one.

This abomination is the result of me not paying attention to what I’m doing. And it also gave me an interesting topic to write about. So in this case, I’d say not being present was helpful. (Don’t tell Eckhart Tolle I said that.) It also reminded me when I am present for what I’m doing and when I think about why I’m doing it this way, I get much better results than if I just do things the way I’ve always done them.

Stay with me here…

Today, instead of first peeling the banana and then slicing it for my oatmeal, I first sliced the banana and THEN took the outside off of each piece of sliced banana. Why? Why did I do this, you ask?

Because I simply wasn’t paying attention. First, I had to cut off the end piece of the banana because I had saved half of a banana from yesterday’s banana. And then I just kept slicing because I really wasn’t paying any attention to what I was doing. I was all up in my head and had my mind on some annoying conversation I had that I was ruminating over, taking joy in how I had handled it and being annoyed by the other person. I was just not present.

So then!… I had to take the peel off of each banana slice, a completely inefficient way of doing things. I said to myself, “Well that was a silly way of peeling the banana.” And then I said, “Wait, that’s how I slice and remove the packaging from summer sausage.”

I said to myself, “Well that was a silly way of peeling the banana.” And then I said, “Wait, that’s how I slice and remove the packaging from summer sausage.”

What a great opportunity this presented for me! I decided I had a writing topic for today. Yay me. I had no idea where it was going to end up when I started writing this…It all began with this very profound question.

Why do I cut summer sausage differently than a banana? Both have an outside rind or peel. Both are cut with a knife.

I have the same desired outcome for both: evenly sliced products that I can consume, usually alongside something else. Sliced banana isn’t typically eaten by itself with a fork. If one is going to eat just a banana, one does that without cutting it first. I put a sliced banana in oatmeal or maybe eat it with my french toast…I eat sliced sausage with something else. I’m not gonna just cut the outer packaging off of a hunk of sausage and eat it like I would a banana.

Hold up. Something is not right here.

Why would I follow a completely different process for a banana vs. summer sausage if my desired outcome is essentially the same for both of them?

At this point, I could conclude that one of the processes is right and the other is wrong. I could start peeling the wrapper off the summer sausage first and then slicing. Or I could start slicing the banana first and then peeling it.

I feel this strong resistance inside of me that says, “No, I must not do the exact same process for these things, even though my desired outcome is the same!”

And then I say to myself, “Why?”

Obviously, it’s time to dig deeper.

Both things are ‘slicing’ processes.

A banana is an easy cut, and it doesn’t require me to touch the banana in order to slice through it. Bananas can also be a little sticky on the outside. Since I don’t have to touch the outside of the banana to hold it and slice it, having the banana peel still on it does me no good and actually reduces efficiency.

I have to handle each and every slice and I’m likely to get banana stuff on my hands. I can also use a dull or sharp knife without it being a big deal, although my risk when using a sharp knife is a little higher because I could cut myself.

He’s cute, but he’s not ready to use a sharp knife

If I’m the one doing the cutting, I don’t care which knife I use. But if the cutting is being done by my four-year-old son, I’m definitely going to choose the safer tool — the dull knife.

Banana Peeling

Considerations: Messiness, efficiency, sanitation

Tool: Dull or Sharp Knife, depending on who is cutting

Order of Operations: Peel, then slice

Sausage, on the other hand, is not an easy cut. To cut sausage, I need to hold it with my bare hands in order to cut through it. Usually, I’m sharing sausage slices with my husband or someone else so I don’t want to touch it with my bare hands because it’s not sanitary. I mean I’d wash my hands first and stuff, but I just don’t like to touch food directly with my hands if someone else is going to eat it. I guess it’s a remnant of a lesson I learned working in the food industry in my teens and early 20s…Also, I’m probably not going to let my four-year-old cut sausage because it requires a sharp knife and I don’t want him to cut himself.

Sausage Peeling

Considerations: Sharing, efficiency, sanitation, safety

Tool: Sharp knife

Order of Operations: Slice, then peel

So now that I’ve thought about why I do each thing in a completely different way even though the required outcome is the same, which way is the best way?

Well, they both are the best way because each of them has nuance. And that nuance matters.

So what’s the point of all of this?

When deciding on the changes you want to make in your life, in an organization, in a relationship, in parenting, etc. each situation calls for a different approach depending on the situation. No two children are the same. No two people or lives are the same. No two organizations are the same.

Thinking you can go in with a hammer and find exactly the same nails and just hammer on them to get the same outcome you got with your last client transformation — that’s just wishful thinking.

Be present to the situation you find yourself in. Have a diverse toolbelt available to you. Use the right tool for the job. Be open to doing things differently depending on the nuance of the situation.

Do these things, and you’re way more likely to get the outcome you’re looking for. No two people, organizations, teams, or food products are the same. Treating every situation with binary truths of right or wrong won’t get you the outcome you are hoping for. Looking at things with a broad perspective, and then zooming in can help ensure that the change you seek is lasting.