The dish, as served, was a delight to the eye and the menu description set my palette pattering: Roasted Eggplant Agrodolce… golden raisins, pine nuts, mozzarella, saffron tomatoes, chickpea arancini. The word, “agrodolce,” just rolled off the tongue …. not to be outdone by the sound and smells of the “aran-chee-nee,” fried chickpea balls coated with bread crumbs, filled with I wasn’t sure what.
And none of it was on my iPhone nutrition app. Well… there were multiple options for arancini, but none of them CLOSE to little beauties that sat before me, and no options for the agrodolce.
No surprise to you, faithful readers, I am HIGHLY disciplined about recording my gustatory adventures. Every meal, every snack, goes into the app. For fun, I typed in the words, roasted eggplant agrodolce… the app sneered at me.
This is a frustrating challenge to those of us who track food intake. Type in “roasted breast chicken no skin,” immediately, multiple options. Type in anything complicated from a restaurant of any measure, no options.
So, we must deconstruct the complicated dishes, estimating and approximating ingredients and quantities or (risking the horrification and embarrassment of our families and friends) ASKING our servers to please ASK the kitchen for the information.
I’ve learned not to do this publically. Sneer does not begin to describe….
So, the key things are the curiosity, patience, and persistence to break complex dishes into simple components and to assess the components rather than trying to guess at the dish as a whole.
This, too, in sales is important. Our clients’ easy problems are like skinless grilled chicken breasts for my food app. The app pops out the nutrition answers immediately.
Our clients’ complex problems – “I keep running out of cash” – are like the eggplant agrodolce – many nuances and influences. In order to understand such complex problems, we must deconstruct them into components and address the components, first, individually, and then as a system, rather than jumping to quick answers and conclusions that miss the underlying subtleties.
Nick Miller is President of Clarity Advantage based in Concord, MA. He assists banks and credit unions to generate more and more profitable relationships, faster, with business clients, their owners, and their employees. Additional articles on Clarity’s web site.
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