Was grandma's oven too small?

As we approach the holidays, I'd like to share a story that the larger than life Andre Hughes at Accenture likes to tell (and re-tell, and re-tell again) but never gets old. The whole version, when told correctly takes about 10 minutes, three unsuspecting audience members, but I'll try to do it justice.

A girl and her mom are in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner. The little girl looks up at her mom after a while and says "Mom, why do you always cut the end off the ham?", the mom replies "I don't know, that's the way my mom did it, so that's how I do it. You should ask her". So the little girl, happy to take a break from peeling potatoes went to find her grandma in the living room. "Grandma, why do you always cut the end off the ham?". The grandma looks at her, a little confused as to why the little girl is questioning her technique says "I guess because that's the way my mom always did it. You'll have to ask her". The little girl, determined to find an answer goes and finds her great grandma out on the porch. "Great grandma, why do mom and grandma always gut the ends of the hams? Grandma said it's the way you always did it". Great grandma looks at her and says bluntly "I did it because the oven was too small to fit the whole ham!!".

So how many things are we doing every day without questioning because someone we learned from did it that way? Just because something's always been done a certain way, doesn't always mean that way serves a purpose anymore. Just some food for thought!