How you slice it

I cut my deviled eggs wrong. Or so I’ve been told. I cut my deviled eggs the way my mother cut her deviled eggs. My daughters now make them the same way I do, so we are now 3 generations into doing it this way. It’s the way I’ve always done it.

I never really questioned the history of this minor procedure until my daughter took deviled eggs to her boyfriend’s family to share. She called me after the event and insisted I tell her why we cut our eggs “wrong”. Really, I had no idea what she was talking about. She told me that another person at the dinner also brought eggs and they cut them sideways instead of through the middle. Our way was wrong. Our way was weird. So there I sat trying to figure out how I was suppose to find out the origin of our egg cutting ways.

Sadly, my mother is no longer here to ask, so I called her sister. Her sister, by the way, does not cut her eggs the same way we do. She cuts them the “normal” way. I asked her if she knows why my mother always cut her eggs the way she did. Oddly, she knew. Apparently, more than 50 years ago, my mother needed to bring a large number of deviled eggs to a gathering. She realized her fancy egg plate would only hold 24 egg halves, and she needed to make many more than that. Since she did not have another tray, she had to find another way. Her solution? Cut them the “other” way and put them on a regular plate. They fit! She could have 30 or 40 fit on one tray. So, the “other way” became “the way” from that point forward. Our family gatherings were always large and our deviled eggs were always a hit, so large amounts were always needed. The only alteration need was to slice the slightest of white off the bottom so they could stand evenly.

I think my mother was a genius to figure out how to make something work for what she needed. She didn’t need another egg tray, she just needed an efficient way to do something more than the traditional way would allow. She created a solution to fit a specific need. Two generations later, our family was still doing it “the way we’ve always done it” purely because “that is how we’ve always done it”. 50 plus years, and we are still applying a solution the same way even though the challenge is not always the same. Rarely have I needed to make more than 24 eggs, yet I’ve never bought a fancy egg tray or cut them the “proper” way.

I’ve shared this story in classes I facilitate on problem solving and on dealing with change. Engineers get hooked on the inequity of yoke to white ratio, or how can it sit on a rounded end. Designers worry that the egg just doesn’t look right. Salespeople like that you can get more eggs on a plate (more to sell, I guess). Long tenured employees get caught up in “if it aint broke, don’t fix it”.

It’s just my husband and I this year for Easter, and I made a tiny batch of deviled eggs. Muscle memory took over and I cut them my mother’s way. Without a thought. Without a question. How often do I/we do that? Where we just do things on auto pilot without pausing to see if this is still the only right way? Today’s eggs really don’t matter, but when they do, will I ask questions? Consider other ways? I challenge you to look around at where you are still slicing things the way you’ve always sliced them. Is it the only way it will be delicious? Savory? Efficient? Are you still solving for the same problem as when the solution was originally cooked up?