Brilliant and Innovative Idea for Restaurateurs (and Other Businesses)

 

Want to start your own restaurant but don’t know the business “ins” and “outs”?

Head over to Finland and check out the “Open Kitchen” initiative.

It’s purpose?

Open Kitchen is a programme that demystifies the business of food by creating a forum for you to learn from the city’s experienced food business people who’ve been there and done that, and then working with your peers to build and run a prototype restaurant for a week.

What do you think of this? Could it be used for other industries?

How To Build an SMS/Text Support Group to _________(Lose Weight, Stop Smoking, Be Green…)

Texting is everywhere.  Which got me to thinking: Wouldn’t it be great if there was an app  that would leverage SMS to help people support each other in their quests to improve?

Need to lose weight?  Get this app.  Need to stop smoking?  Try this app.  Want to do a better job of conserving energy or recycling?  This is the app for you and your friends.

But then I thought, “Why bother with an app?”  Everything needed to make a virtual support group already exists on our mobile phones.  All that is needed are friends, common goals, passion, and a little know-how.

I assume you have the first three. Here’s the how:

Build the Group

1. – What type of people should be in your virtual group?

• They share concern for the issue you’re working on.  In fact, it should be a passionate concern!
• They’re within 100 miles (This isn’t necessary, but it’s always a plus if you can sometimes meet in person!)
• You trust these people implicitly, and they trust you!

2.- Group size should be between 2 to 10 people. You can have more but the goal is to support each other. More than 10 and things could get quite unwieldy. Small groups are better for this.

3. - Once you and your friends are committed to this journey, make sure you have each other’s phone numbers.

4. – Create a Group out of your friends’ numbers. This is so you can text everyone at once. Oh sure, you can text the individual people one at a time, but the true power of finding and giving support, lies in the ability to contact everyone at once and the easier this is to do, the better. If you need help doing this you can check out the following references based upon the phone type:

• Blackberry http://kb.iu.edu/data/asvs.html
• iPhone http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/group-text!-mass-text-sms/id377826584?mt=8
• Android https://market.android.com/details?id=com.groupu.android&hl=en
• Other Phones and Services: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/04/15/worth-it-group-texts/

5. – It may be worthwhile to write, and store, various ’pre-written’ messages (for example: “I’m feeling weak and really want to eat this!”, “I did it!! I resisted!” or “Just finished exercising – feel gr8!”) But be careful. Correspondence should be authentic and heartfelt. Don’t overuse pre-canned messages!

 Working Together…

6, – Now that your group is built, contact each other, via text, at key moments.  Here are some examples of times when sharing would be apropos:

• Challenges.  When someone in the group feels the urge to eat more than he/she should, or the wrong type of food, or doesn’t feel like exercising, grab one of the pre-written texts, or write one on the spot, and send it to the group.
• Successes.  If you’ve just resisted that cigarette, or resisted the “Ice Cream Brownie Fudge Surprise!” share it.
• Did you sneak something from the fridge in the middle of the night? Share it. You need to be open with each other. Remember, you’re in this together to improve not to judge. (No judging!!) 
• Come across an article, quote or event that might help you all reach your goals? Send it out!

7. – The group’s reason for existence is to support each other. You are committed to each other. When a text comes from someone in the group, respond. Help each other out. Cheer each other on! It’s the feedback and interaction that will help people meet their goals and grow.

8. – If distance permits, get together in person to touch base, see each other, and smile (or cry). You’re in this together, and you’ll succeed together.

That’s all there is to it! 

And remember, this is more than just about weight loss.  It’s about helping each other grow and be more!

Please let me know how this goes, or if you meet any specific challenges.  I’m especially looking forward to hearing how else this could be applied..

Good luck!!

Disclaimer: Any healthcare information is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care providers with any questions that you may have regarding a specific medical condition. Never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking medical advice or treatment because of something you have read on this site.

When Inspiration Meets an Apron

I was at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show the other day.  The theme was “Hort Couture”; a stimulating mix of fashion and flowers/gardening.

One exhibit was called, “Aprons: Myth, Memory, Fantasy in the Kitchen.” The artists on display represented the  Women’s Journeys in Fiber project.  Among many of the fascinating aprons, one in particular, done by Janette Gerber, caught my eye.  I put together the below video so you could see and read her journey through the creative process.  The text in the video is hers, and it gives some context to the work.

If you want to see more pictures from the show, click on the below pic of Yours Truly  after I snuck into one of the exhibits to do some designing. (The page will open in a new window).

Click to see more pics from the show

Designing Positive Experiences in a Doctor’s Office – One Bagel at a Time

It was a typical physical. The basic tests, some questions, some ‘turn your head and cough’-ing, a blood draw and the removal of a dime-sized, spherical cyst from my right shoulder.

As usual, the prep for the appointment included a fast from midnight.  This isn’t usually a big deal, except that I had the latest possible appointment that morning.

Everything went well. Even the cyst removal.  It wasn’t particularly painful, but the area was effectively numbed up prior to the mini-surgery.  That was, no doubt,  a good thing, as the cyst went deeper into the skin than one would think, based upon its size.  The doctor’s skillful excision left a clean, but surprisingly large, ‘glass marble sized’ crater on my shoulder.

After I was bandaged, I turned my head and started to get up. I was instantly greeted by a flurry of starry, firefly like speckles that twinkled for a few moments then faded.

“Whoa…stars,” I said.  It had caught me by surprise.

The doctor steadied me and I stepped down off the table.  “I’ll have my nurse give you something to help that,” he said,

As I was leaving the office, she handed me my prescription.  A coupon for a free bagel  at the bakery next door.

I smiled, left, and visited the doctor’s neighbor.

“This is the coolest idea, EVER!”  I thought to myself as I munched on a toasted bagel, slathered with honey-walnut cheese.

My shoulder wound was beginning to get sore, but it didn’t matter.  The crunchy, creamy-ness filled the 12 hour fasting void in my stomach, perfectly.

In the moment, I had thought the free bagel coupon was a sacred talisman, of which I was the sole possessor. The uninitiated would never taste the nectar of honey and walnut as I was able…

Only…

I wasn’t the only one to get a coupon. In fact, all my doctor’s patients who had to fast the day before their appointments, received a ‘get a free bagel’ coupon.

This was brilliance – Pure and simple.

It also wasn’t the doctor’s brainchild.  It was the bakery owner’s! (Though the good doctor did know a good idea when he saw it, and acted upon it.)  He proposed providing coupons for the doc’s prepping, fasting patients.  In the end, he not only benefitted from letting people try his bagels, he received remuneration for the drinks that I’m sure others, like myself, purchased as a sidecar to the bagel. Yet, he wasn’t the one in the limelight as far as I was concerned.  I was indebted to the doctor who thought enough of me to feed me when I was hungry (and smarting!).

I think about this little, customer service based, sleight of hand often.  It was a brilliant tactic that paid off in spades.  I respected my doc even more after that day, and the bagel baking prowess of his neighbor as well.  There are many lessons to glean from this experience, but the one that I personally come back to is this: The positive vibes I felt from that physical didn’t come from anything the doctor did, from a medical point of view, during my visit.  It had everything to do with the simple, person-centered action that occurred  after the physical was finished.

After – not during.

It’s important to finish experiences on a high note. This one was  the coda  of the sweet, Honey Walnut Symphony…

Misoneist Nightmare #110711

Why Can’t Snack Food Be Healthier?

click for full size

 

Misoneist* Nightmares™ are provocations to innovation that I will publish at my own whim.  This first edition is being posted on what would have been my father’s 83rd birthday.  Dad, you respected tradition yet you were never afraid to embrace the new, encourage creativity and artistic expression, experiment and play.  In some ways, you were a misoneist’s nightmare. Thanks!

 

*A person with a hatred or fear of change/innovation

When Customer Experience Suffers at the Expense of Packaging Technology – A Case Study

Courtesy of KFCs Website

Since May of last year, KFC has been rolling out reusable packaging to package their side orders.  These containers won a Greener Package  award. According to KFC’s website the new package,

• Reduces the shipping cube by 14% over expanded polystyrene foam (EPS)
• Replaces single-use, nonrecyclable expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) with a reusable and more widely recycled resin, polypropylene (PP)
• Represents the highest value in stored energy when incinerated as an end-of-life solid waste component and part of a waste-to-energy program, at 38 million British Thermal Units (BTUs) per ton of material
• Requires 25% less energy to produce than general-purpose polystyrene (PS) production
• Generates half the amount of greenhouse gases as compared to general-purpose PS

These are all great things but there is a problem with this package. 

It’s a problem that stems from companies getting so excited about technology that they forget about how customers will use the product and how that helps create their experience.

What do I mean?

Today I went to KFC to get a couple of single piece meals for my wife and I.  As I was leaving she said, “Make sure you take the cole slaw out of the box before you leave there.”

Why would she say that?

KFC’s sides consist of mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, baked beans and green beans.  Some of these are served hot, others are served cold.  If you buy a single piece meal, you will receive a piece of chicken, a biscuit, and your choice of two sides.  Order two hot sides and there is no real problem; everything in the box is hot.  However, order one or two cold sides and there’s a very real problem.

The chicken, biscuit, and sides (Cole slaw and Mashed Potatoes/Gravy in my case) all get packed tightly in a small cardboard box.  If cold side servings, like cole slaw, are in the box, they get warm…really quickly.  If the drive home is more than a couple of minutes, the cole slaw (or cold dish) will become warm, sometimes disgustingly so (unless you like warm cole slaw).

KFC says this is their best packaging idea since the bucket.

Actually, the bucket did a great job as a package.  Because all the hot/warm chicken was lumped together in the bucket, the chicken stayed pretty warm.  It was also a great way to serve the chicken; just reach in and grab a piece.   The bucket was, and is, a good idea.

This package?

It’s great for the environment but it doesn’t deliver on basic functionality, and that translates to a lousy culinary experience.

People don’t go to KFC to replenish their container stash at home.  They go there for the food – for hot chicken, warm mashed potatoes and gravy, and cold cole slaw.

I look forward to packaging improvements that not only benefit the environment, but win awards because they actually preserve, and protect the food for the trip home.  After all, that’s the real need. 

It’s such a simple concept really. 

Maybe that’s why it was forgotten.

Innovation Occurs With L.E.F.T.O.V.E.R.S

After Thanksgiving we often have to deal with the leftovers.  While we view the Thursday meal as the culinary focus, it’s the leftovers that result in innovation.  So, I created an acronym for the innovation process from the word “leftovers”.  It can apply to cooking a meal from leftovers or designing a new product.

L ook at the situation and define the problem (I’ve got a few people over for a party, leftovers in the fridge and beer chilling and people will be hungry.  In what ways can I feed them?)

E ntertain possible combinations of solutions (I could order pizza…hmm, looks like an awful lot of turkey left, some stuffing, stuffing croquettes maybe?, gravy and a lot of cranberry sauce, a little pumpkin pie,  some spicy  hot mustard looks lonely in the fridge…hmm…I yell out some possible food combos to get feedback)

F ocus on the best solutions  (…turkey sandwiches with cranberry mustard sauce – sweet!)

T est the best (throw together some cranberries and mustard in a shotglass and dip my finger in…niiiiice…grab some bread and start toasting it, try nuking a little turkey…)

O bserve and learn what works and what doesn’t  (The microwave dries out the turkey too much, I heat up the oven and warm the turkey in there. Noticed that there’s too much juice in the bottom of the cranberry container- it’s making the mustard too watery…)

V alidate the results with more testing and feedback (Finished mixing the bigger batch of cranberry mustard and let my wife try it – she dunks in a piece of warm turkey from the oven and bites a piece of bread- amazing!!)

E scalate the scale of the implementation of the solution (Slice the bread, call the friends into the kitchen and have them build their sandwiches)

R eflect on what worked and what didn’t (Sandwiches were a hit, but the beer might have been too hoppy for that dish.  Red meat only may actually have worked better, maybe chipotle pepper in the mustard for some smoke…)

S avor the Successes…

So there you have it – innovation from the leftovers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Designing a Healthier You – Should You Take a Vacation or a Healthy ‘Staycation’? Take Some Vaykay!

So, you’re having a tough time getting your exercise time in and eating right?  But,  what can you expect?

You get home from work and you’re just plain tired.  You don’t want to cook, so you grab a quick snack that you picked up at the store and you nuke it,  or you run out for a bite, which you really don’t feel like doing because you’re tired. 

And working out? Forget it.  Either there are family  commitments or commitments to friends, or worse, that proposal needs to be done by tomorrow and you need to get going on it before it gets too late.

Morning comes and the routine starts over again….

and again…

…until vacation.

Ahhh, the word sounds so sweet.  When it arrives it’s even sweeter.  Time to get out of Dodge, get away from all the hassles - far away if possible.  If we can’t get out-of-town, at least we change the routine – get some extra sleep, go out and have some fun, which usually includes food and drink - sometimes more than is prudent, or healthy.

But does that mean that we should ditch the vacation if we want to be healthier?

The fitness columnists over at The Washington Post  and dietician Felicia Stoler, host of TLC’s reality show “Honey We’re Killing the Kids,” recommend taking a health based Staycation.  What is this comprised of?

Instead of sightseeing, you’ll explore how to build more physical activity into your daily life and figure out smarter ways to shop for groceries and plan meals. It’s unlikely you’ll lose 10 pounds in a week like they do on TV. But by getting a jump-start on an exercise routine in your own neighborhood and cooking in your own kitchen, you’re setting yourself up to continue these behaviors even when real life kicks in again.

In other words, utilize the time of your vacation to design a healthier you.

On the one hand this sounds like a good idea. After all, why wouldn’t such a vacation be good for you?  On the other, it sounds like a recipe for setting yourself up for disaster – where you’re proud of yourself for spending a week eating healthy, hitting the gym, and cooking your own meals, but crushed after you get back into your daily routine (See red text above) and you can’t get to the gym, can’t cook your own meals, and can’t seem to get enough time for yourself for sleep or recreation.

The article itself points out this could be a problem:

The key is remembering that you need to make these changes part of your regular routine, says physician Arthur Frank, founder and co-director of the George Washington University Weight Management Program. “A week of working out is essentially useless unless you can continue it,” he says.

And without a real itinerary, you could fall into the trap of snacking to alleviate boredom. “Most people do well much of the day until it becomes unstructured,” Frank says.

This is a design problem.  This particular design problem requires empathy and understanding of what

Inspiration+Intuition=Innovation; An Interview with Chef John Des Rosiers of Inovasi Restaurant

I had the opportunity to visit with Inovasi‘s John Des Rosiers.  Great interview!  Some really intriguing stuff with regards to intuition and its role in innovation.  By the way, the word “Inovasi” is Indonesian for “Innovation”

What do you think about his perspectives?

Tackling an Obese Nation – Making “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” a Design Competition!

I’ve been watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.  At first I wasn’t too keen on the show.  I didn’t like the premise: Guy from a different country comes to the US to make the US healthier as part of a reality TV show. The motive is good but it’s still Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.  Deep down I feel that for this to be uber-successful it needs to be called something like, “The USA’s Nutrition Revolution – Living Life!”  Revolutions belong to the people, never to one person. (Yes, I realize that one person often starts a  revolution and that others join in – yet, I think this might get more traction if  the focus were changed.  I do need to point out that it seems clear to me that Jamie isn’t in this for his own glory.  He genuinely cares about the issue of obesity, especially in children)

Well, I’ve seen a couple of episodes, and I have to say that I’m intrigued and actually enjoy watching.  I’m shocked though by what I’m seeing: Kids that can’t name basic vegetables, bureaucracies that favor cheap pre-fab food over fresh foods, parents that have given up providing their kids with healthy food.  Every episode reveals something new and not always flattering about the nutritional delivery system in this country.

It also struck me that this show/movement  could be viewed as a design project. 

What do I mean?