I live in a seven person house. As you can probably guess, sometimes our kitchen gets pretty gnarly. After spending some time talking with my roommates about the kitchen and hearing people’s opinions, qualms, and perspectives, I decided to apply my work experience and solve this like a product manager.
(Note: I did this just for fun to see how it would turn out. I’m not so crazy that I apply “work” strategies to every aspect of life. But it can be helpful in different situations!)
We are taking a values-first approach, solving this from the top down in three steps:
- Align on values — Make sure we value the same things, so we align on the same vision. If we don’t take this step, we might land on a vision that some people aren’t happy about because there are things they value that are missing. The values say nothing about the vision, just the things we care about.
- Align on vision — Make sure our vision is the same, so we can align on the same implementation. Our vision matches to all of our values. If we care about cleanliness and speed, here’s a world of what that looks like. The vision ensures we don’t jump to implementation steps that don’t actually achieve the vision we have.
- Align on implementation — Achieve the vision. Now that we know what the vision looks like, and it lines up with our values, we can land on implementation steps that achieve the vision. When values and vision aren’t aligned on, implemenation can be hard to align on. But when values and vision are in alignment, we generally have an easy time agreeing on the implementation steps it takes to get to our vision (because we are already happy with what that vision looks like).
The strategy
Values
(make sure we value the same things — with this, we can align on the same vision)
- Strive for a great kitchen, but set a realistic bar — A 1/10 unclean kitchen is gross and hard to use. A 10/10 clean kitchen at all times is simply unrealistic and tedious to maintain. The system is feasible and reasonable for everyone to follow.
- Not stressful — Holding a cleanliness bar that is too high will create stress. Stress will drive us apart and deteriorate the house culture. It’s important that people are able to feel safe and secure at home, or people won’t want to live here.
- Understanding and forgiveness — Any system is going to fail at certain points in time. Humans aren’t perfect. There will always be mistakes and edge-cases (e.g. someone has to run to a meeting). We understand and forgive each other.
- Respectful
- Belongings — Be respectful of your roommates’ belongings and clean up any spills or messes that you make. It’s a shared space. Think about what it means to make the space enjoyable and useful for others.
- Each other — This is a sensitive topic for some people. How would a mature adult handle a situation where there is dissonance in how the kitchen is handled? Don’t be passive-aggressive.
Vision
(make sure our vision is the same — with this, we can align on the same implementation)
- Kitchen is immediately usable — We want to be able to use the kitchen when we want to use the kitchen. Being able to use the kitchen at a moment’s notice means that (1) it’s clean/organized, (2) you know where things are, and (3) you don’t have to spend more than a few moments getting the kitchen ready for your use (i.e. cleaning up after others).
- Unavoidable exceptions are when someone else is using the kitchen. - Kitchen is pleasant to use — Even if the kitchen is usable, it’s clean and organized enough where it’s pleasant. It’s not a mess you need to work around.
- Kitchen is 8/10 clean in-general — The kitchen is close to pretty clean. There may be some bowls or plates around, but the kitchen isn’t a disaster an hour after someone cooks a meal.
- Proactive — People are in-general proactive to clean up after themselves. They shouldn’t sacrifice a meal being warm to clean-up, but should clean up their dinner before they go to bed at night.
Implementation
(achieving the vision and values)
- Separate sides of the sink — One side of the sink is for clean and drying dishes. The other side is for dishes that are not yet cleaned.
- Prioritize cleaning shared materials — When making a decision on what to clean up, prioritize items that are limited or may be needed by others. Cups and plates are plentiful, pots and pans are not.
- Floor is not gross — We like to walk barefoot or in our socks. If things drop to the floor, clean them up.
- Clean-up after yourself — Try to clean up your stuff after you eat. If you can’t, remember to go back soon after you free up.
- Wash before dishwasher — The dishwasher isn’t perfect. For example, if you use a knife with peanut butter, rinse it off in the sink first so the dishwasher will actually clean it.
- When you see it needs to be done, just do it — For example, if the trash is full, take it out. If the dishwasher is full, run it. If the dishwasher can be unloaded, at least unload some of it.
- Cleaning up includes a clean counter — More than just putting dishes into the dishwasher
- Do not complain about one-off failures — We are all human, don’t make a big deal over small things. If you notice a pattern, then say something.
