The story of “Grandma’s Ham.” A husband and wife were fixing dinner one night. The wife, who was preparing the ham, cut off the two ends of the ham before putting it in the oven. The husband, who thought that was such a crazy waste of good ham, asked, “Why do you throw away the ends?” The wife responded, “Because that is how my mother cooked ham.” Not satisfied with the answer,  the husband proceeded to call her mother and ask why she cut off the ends of the ham. Her mother explained that was how her mother cooked ham. It had never occurred to her to question it until now [and being pressed for a reason], she proceeded to call her mother who told her that she cut off the ends of the ham so it would fit in her favorite pan. That’s it!

We often run into a situation where we are trying to figure out why something has always been done in a certain way. We should ask, “Is there a legitimate reason or is it a ham?”

One of our worst phases in the English language must be “because it’s always been done that way”. Instead, we should challenge everything; pry, ask, question, be inquisitive – don’t accept the “norm”. There may very well be a better, faster, or more economical way to do something.  Why not?

Let’s don’t be hams!