The Plural Nature of Perfections - On Choosing Condiments Wisely

Howard Moskowitz is an American market researcher. He was appointed by Campbell’s to help their struggling brand of spaghetti sauce, Prego. Instead of sitting with focus groups to try to understand what people wants in their spaghetti sauce, Moskowitz prepared forty-five varieties of spaghetti sauces, all varied in their tasting characteristics; spiciness, saltiness, sweetness, aroma, and many more aspects his mind could think of. He sat down trained food tasters to analyze each one of the sauces, and took the prototypes on a tour to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Jacksonville, and asked people to eat bowls of spaghetti and rate them on a scale of one to a hundred.

As a result of the taste-trial, Moskowitz found that people have different definition of how “perfect spaghetti sauce” should taste like. Later on, He clustered the findings into three major groups, plain, spicy, and extra-chunky. Prego doesn’t have the extra-chunky version of their spaghetti sauce, and thanks to Moskowitz’s research, they launched Prego extra-chunky. The effect was extraordinary.

Ramen stalls have selections of condiments on the table. Soy sauce, chopped chilies, sliced onions, salt and peppers, and various aromatics are available within our reach. Most sellers now offer customization on their menu books, hardness of the noodle, doneness of boiled egg, thickness of the broth, even the portions. They try to cater everyone, with the assumptions that what’s perfect for one may not be for others. Moskowitz changed the world of consumers’ behavior research with his conclusion.

According to Cambridge Dictionary, condiments are substances, that you add to food to improve its taste. Condiments are irreplaceable in all restaurants, because however customized the menu books are, still, people has needs to personalize the dish to their own perfection. Condiments should be improving, not worsening the taste. If our soup turned out to be too salty, try better next time. Measuring how many pinches of salt necessary should be our life purpose from now on.

We are all created differently with others. Some have little undercooked noodles they get angry very easily, some have really thick curry-like broth they dry up pretty fast, and so forth. Did we ask how we are customized from the beginning? I don’t think so. Our physical features are what describes how customized we are compared to others.

Of all the condiments we could pick up and apply to our ramen bowl, one of the most important to base everything is our discretion (how many pinches of salt) relative to the bowl we have. Choosing condiments requires maturity, a teachable and humble heart, and a set of open eyes, of course.

Rooted to the fact that we are a learning being. There are four stages of competence as described by Martin M. Broadwell, a management trainer and an author, which relate to the psychological state involved in the process of acquiring skills. The four stages are;

1. Unconscious incompetence

As learners, we are demanded to recognize our deficit, and to admit that we have no idea how to do something. This stage is crucial because the battle against denial happens here, and if we are not careful, the unresolved battle will be carried on to the next stage, which;

2. Conscious incompetence

Once we admit our deficit and start to value the skills needed to cover our deficiencies, we can gather our focus and determination to learn and move on to the next stage;

3. Conscious competence

Through series of learning and failing, we finally reach the stage where we have acquired the skills needed to cover our deficit. In professional setting, reaching this stage is considered adequate, but in personal sphere, it’s better to continue on to the next and the last stage;

4. Unconscious competence

Reaching this stage in a professional world might work as a double-edged sword. Sure, we get to save a lot of time doing the work since it’s become our second nature and it’s easier to teach to colleagues and staff members. On the other edge, it might lead to complacency towards new methods and technologies. In personal horizon, it never hurts to exercise respect and forgiveness as second nature, doesn’t it?

I started collecting wristwatches since several months ago. I build my collection based on my taste and current financials. Funny thing, I went through those stages every time new pieces appeared in front of my very eyes. Of course, I only want the pieces I love to make my collections, so do other collectors.

We spend our time and resources chasing everything that we need or what we think we need. On the process, we go through failures, hardships, and we keep pushing through until we achieve that something. See those things as pieces making up your collection, some are vintage, vulnerable and sensitive, some are brand-new, could take a beater and very dependable. Are you happy enough with whatever you have in your collections?

The good traits we collected are like condiments we apply to our ramen. Choose them wisely and apply them considerably, season your bowl (and life) the best you know how to. Add some pinches of flair, ladles of relentless love, sprinkles of joy, and some splash of vulnerability. It doesn’t matter if others apply more salt or less soy sauce. Everyone strives for their own perfection at their own pace.