My colleague´s cherry tomatoes story...

It was 1PM, and in Portugal we like to have real lunch. A real meal.That day, we were 4: because lunch, also means to get together with others. It also means socialize with others. For us, lunch means more than food.

And, by the way, we also like to eat good food. We have chosen an Italian restaurant, near the office, a place we used to go. It is a well known international brand. Seated at the table, a nice lady came to pick our order. Pizza, risotto, spaghetti with prawns, and for my last colleague… spaghetti with prawns “with uncooked cherry tomatoes on top”!!!!!.... And the nice lady face turned apathetic. She said:

" Sir, I’m very sorry, but the sauces come pre-cooked to our restaurant. We are a multinational company. It´s how we work!”

We got a bit shocked. It never occurred to us that this pleasant restaurant, where we went several times before, didn’t serve fresh food. None of us would imagine that this story could ever happen.

My colleague tried again: “but can you bring the cherry tomatoes separated in a bowl? Don’t worry, I can put it on the plate..!

She answered: “I have to check with my boss if I can sell the tomatoes separated from the main course… maybe “the system” doesn’t allow it”.

After that, the discussion on the table was between “putting that system in the trash” and “we will never come back to this place”.

Sometime later our colleague left the table for a couple of minutes, and the nice lady arrived with the solution. A late solution. We had finished our meal. And said: “I was able to negotiate with the chef to bring the cherry tomatoes in this bowl. Did your colleague leave?”

I answered: “ he will come back. You may leave the bowl with the cherry tomatoes for our colleague in the table. We will share it.”

It’s a place designed for efficiency. Not for good food. Not for “lunch experience”.

It’s a place designed for broadcast. People prefer unicast. People love differentiation.

The world was 1 to many. Easier?

Today the world is 1 to 1… but many times! At the same time. Challenging?

Cherry tomatoes is not about the food process. It’s about a person’s preference.

People make companies die. People make companies growth.

Too many are designing a world for companies. Let’s design a world for People!!!