A
Grain of Rice
Lessons in Communication
In the humid summer climate of China, an hotelier noticed that salt did not flow freely from the restaurant’s salt shakers. He instructed one of the waitresses to put a few rice kernels in the shakers. These kernels would absorb moisture and help the salt flow freely. The next day, the situation was not improved, but was far worse. Opening a shaker, he found that the waitress had added cooked rice.
Moral:
Unimaginable mistakes are made throughout the world. Most of these can
be traced to incomplete or faulty communications. When sourcing manufactured
goods in China, it is essential to have open communication channels, take
nothing for granted, document everything, and verify, verify, verify.