Three lessons from spaghetti

Sometimes an everyday word becomes a rich metaphor that can teach us a lesson by the visual analogy that it embodies.

Take, for example, the following three lessons we can learn from spaghetti.

Firstly, consider spaghetti communication, that is communication where the source (sauce?) of the communication may be unclear, where different strands may overlap, wrap around each other and double back and become entangled in such confusion that it may be impossible to straighten out the message (somehwat like that sentence!). There may be plenty of color and flavor but not a lot of meat, so you end up being dissatisfied and needing further communication to clear up the confusion, which may then just result in more confusion. In this case, the lesson is to avoid spaghetti to begin with and instead think through the communication clearly and then communicate through a single channel.

Then there is spaghetti code, computer code that has a complex and tangled control structure. This makes it difficult to follow, increases the risk of unforeseen and undesireable side effects and makes it hard to update. However this isn't limited to computer code. We see it in legislation where the use of complex definitions and cross-referencing to other parts of the same legislation may make it difficult to understand and even at times self-contradictory. And it may also occur in the standard procedures used in our businesses where they may have multiple levels of approvals or complex loops through different work units before being resolved. By eliminating this spaghetti we may be able to bring clarity and efficiency to our processes and eliminate waste.

On a more positive note is the lesson we learn from spaghetti sauce is this video presentation by Malcolm Gladwell:



In an earlier post, I mentioned communication differences between different generations (Boomer vs Gen X vs Gen Y) and to a degree this parallels the spaghetti sauce analogy: some people may like their communication to be "extra chunky" (watch the video) whereas others may want it to be smooth, some want it to be thorough and detailed while others may want us to cut to the chase. The lesson here is that instead of pursuing a 'one size fits all' approach, we instead tailor our approach to what best suits our customers.

One food, three lessons. But common to all three is the need for clarity: clarity of intent, clarity of process, clarity in satisfying customer needs.