How to Peel a Banana

Bananas are a staple at our house. Many days I grab a banana and throw it - make that gently place it - in my backpack on the way out of the house to catch the train into the Loop. As I went to peel that banana one day - I did a good job of placing it in the backpack that morning so no bruises on the banana – I was reminded of a conversation my wife and I had. She saw an article on her home page about the best way to peel a banana. The article said the best way was to pinch the end – not the stem – of the banana between two fingers and start peeling down toward the stem. By leaving the stem, you have a natural handle at the bottom of the banana. I heard the same advice on the Paul Harvey radio show years ago (a good example of the vast changes in how we get our information). Before hearing that from Paul Harvey, I peeled bananas starting with the stem, which after all is the "natural" or "default" way. But I tried the new way that day and never switched back.
My question is not "How do you peel a banana?" Rather my questions are:

• Why do you peel a banana or do other things the way you do? Where/when did you learn that?
• Are you open to doing something you have always done one way - like peeling a banana - another way?
• Better yet would you or do you think of different ways of doing things that have always been done a certain way?

It comes down to cultivating an eye for continuous improvement and always asking questions about why things are done a certain way and maybe even whether that step or process or report even needs to be done.

(That reminds me of another conversation I had with my sons and my wife about the best way to eat a grapefruit – cut in half, sectioned, then bite by bite with a spoon or peeled and sectioned like an orange – or an orange – peeled and sectioned or with the peel (yuk!) – but I digress.)

I encourage you to look for a different, more efficient way of peeling the banana going forward.