Non-thinking 'soldiers'

No doubt for those who have gone through National Service, this term will be familiar to you. It basically describes soldiers who follow orders without understanding the logic behind it, even to the point where when the actions do not work, they will continue to do so because that was the only way they have been doing, and it MUST be the only solution.

This week I noticed real life examples in the kitchen where I'm interning. They have been yelled at so many times, they are too scared to think. They move slowly, out of fear, that their mayonnaise will split, not understanding that if the mayo splits, it splits. Not knowing your techniques, not having the confidence in your techniques, causes variable results, not because doing things slowly makes you more 'sure'.

The kitchen brigade is very similar to a military one. The head of each section supervise its teammates and reports to a central figure, the sous chef, who reports to the head/exec chef. Orders are fired and tasks executed at precise timing, and obedience is utterly important. Not unlike the relationship of a conductor and his orchestra.

But like all things, power corrupts, absolutely. Having control is probably one of the most natural 'high' to the human body. Like driving a good car at very high speed. I guess some things have been taken out of control, and I don't need to stay in a burning car to wait for a crash. Hot headed chef are not uncommon, especially at the heat (literally!) of the moment of highly stressed situations. That is fair and true when everyone gets the same treatment when mistakes are made. There is a difference, however, when one picks on a few particular teammates, no matter how grave the mistake was, or even if there was a mistake to begin with. Another human is not a dog you kick to release stress. It should not concern me as I'm barely in for a month, but if anything I've learnt, are negative examples.