I went back to the kai see hor fun stall.
Had to know what was destroying my favorite meal.
The hawker recognized me immediately. His shoulders tensed.
I smiled and ordered my usual.
This time, I watched every move.
He took down the chicken. Peeled the skin. Then started ripping the meat off the bones by hand.
Not cutting. Ripping.
Big chunks mixed with tiny shreds scattered across his cutting board.
When he dumped everything into the boiling stock (to reheat), I understood the first problem.
Those uneven pieces would cook at different rates. The small bits turning to rubber while the large chunks stayed cold.
And when customers appear with questions, I noticed the second problem.
The chicken keeps cooking as he patiently attends to them.
Questions about ingredients. Special requests.
By the time he returned, even the big pieces were overcooked.
Then, as he cut the meat for plating, I realized the final issue.
His knife moved in random directions.
Some cuts with the grain. Some against.
When you cut WITH the grain, meat becomes much tougher.
Three simple things combining to create inconsistency.
I decided to speak up.
I explained what I'd observed. The uneven ripping. The timing issues. The cutting direction.
He tensed slightly but listened.
Then he tried it immediately on my next order.
Cut the chicken evenly. Controlled the timing. Sliced against the grain.
"Is this okay?" he asked, serving the new bowl.
It was perfect.
The same ingredients. The same recipe. The same equipment.
But understanding nuances changed everything.
This happens in every business.
Small unconscious drifts in process create major quality problems.
Especially for businesses with employees.
We need to remember that employees don't have the same emotional stakes as we do in our business.
The person executing rarely even knows they're struggling.
They're just doing their job.
Following the same steps, getting different results, with no idea why.
Often, not incentivized enough to go beyond the call of duty.
They lack the foundational knowledge to diagnose what's breaking down.
And without understanding the principles behind the process, consistency becomes impossible.
The gap between mediocre and excellent is often in the details.
But someone has to see them first.
FELIX