The Turkey Recipe Fallacy
When I was a kid, I heard a story about a family's Thanksgiving tradition. Each year, they'd cut their turkey in half before roasting. This puzzled the youngest daughter, who asked her mother why. "That's how we've always done it," her mother replied. Unsatisfied, the girl traced the tradition back through her grandmother to her great-grandmother. Finally, her great-grandmother revealed the truth: "My oven was too small for a whole turkey."
This anecdote, while possibly apocryphal, illustrates a pervasive problem in how we approach established practices. In startups, in large corporations, even in government, we often find ourselves adhering to methods and processes without understanding their origins or questioning their current relevance.
The "turkey recipe fallacy," as we might call it, isn't just about cooking. It's a metaphor for the unexamined assumptions that permeate our work and lives. How many of our daily routines, our business strategies, or our societal norms are the equivalent of cutting a turkey in half for an oven that no longer exists?
In the tech world, I've seen countless examples of this. Companies religiously following agile methodologies without considering if they're actually improving productivity. Startups blindly mimicking the culture of successful predecessors without evaluating if it fits their unique circumstances. Even in coding, developers often cling to patterns or libraries that may have outlived their usefulness.
The real danger of the turkey recipe fallacy isn't just inefficiency—it's missed opportunities. By unquestioningly following established norms, we limit our potential for innovation. The most groundbreaking ideas often come from challenging these deeply ingrained assumptions.
So how do we avoid falling into this trap? The key is to cultivate a habit of questioning, not just in ourselves, but in our teams and organizations. We should regularly ask "why?" about processes and practices. Let's encourage dissent and alternative viewpoints. We need to create an environment where challenging the status quo is not just accepted, but expected.
Remember, today's best practice might be tomorrow's outdated habit. In a world of rapid technological and social change, the ability to critically examine and adapt our methods is more crucial than ever. We shouldn't let our metaphorical oven dictate how we approach our whole turkey.