Netflix cooking shows prove we can be set up for success or for disaster

My family and I are huge fans of any cooking shows on Netflix, especially "NailedIt!" and "Sugar Rush." Basically, we love watching enthusiastic bakers overcome specifically designed challenges under a looming clock that is counting down. Because we've seen so many episodes now, we can start to see certain elements popping up that bear noticing from an error-prevention viewpoint. Let's start with pointing out the way Sugar Rush sets their challengers up for success and then we will look at how Nailed It! ensures players will not in fact be "nailing it." Please note that I have a lot of sympathy and respect for all of the bakers on these shows. Not only are they competing in a stressful unfamiliar situation, they are being filmed while doing it. The hosts, cleaning and prep crews, and all the production makes these shows fun and engaging to watch for the whole family, but there are lessons to be learned. After we look at the show formats, we will perform a quick performance assessment and then reveal what we can learn from this in the conclusion.

Sugar Rush

IMDB calls it A baking competition with 4 teams, 3 rounds, 2 cakes and 1 winner of $10,000.

Experience: The higher average of bakers on this show are current professionals in the trade. A lot of them even own a baking business and use the exposure they get from the show to help elevate sales, so win or lose, they get awesome advertising for their businesses.

They work in teams of 2 and there are four total teams denoted with colors. One team is voted out by a panel of professional judges after each round. They are judged on appearance (also called "plating"), creativity, how well they paid attention to the challenge parameters, and most importantly, the taste of the final product.

Each team has all of the right tools and presumably, the experience to use them. They must rely on their know-how to build the desserts.

3 Total challenges with judging at the end of each round - Cupcakes, Confectionary, & Cake

Time - they bake from scratch. 2 Hours are allotted for round one and two, together, and whatever time is "banked" for the two surviving teams, gets added to the following 3 hours for the cake round.

Reward for winning: $10,000 per episode

NailedIt!

IMDB Says this show is "Home bakers with a terrible track record take a crack at re- creating edible masterpieces for a $10,000 prize. It's part reality contest, part hot mess."

Experience: One hundred percent of the three bakers that come on the show have short video vignettes that show they have an interest in baking at home, but they aren't very good at it, even though they wish they could be.

They must work by themselves, and struggle through tool decisions, like using a machine or by hand. Sometimes an easier tool for the job is an arm's reach away, but they stick with what is familiar to them. Each work station is given a tablet that has the very basic recipe and order of how to do things.

The bakers are given cake and other prepackaged mixes to help with the difficulty and speed of the show. There are only two rounds where all three players compete. They are judged after the first challenge, typically a cookie or cupcake with a figure of some kind on it to set a theme for that episode. Judging is mostly about appearance and then a little on taste, which they don't typically have high hopes for.

Time - they are given 45 minutes to finish the first round and then do a grand reveal where there is a side by side comparison to what their finished product was supposed to look like versus what it actually came out as. For the second round, contestants have 90 minutes to make a complicated looking cake.

Reward for winning: $10,000 per episode

Human Performance Improvement

Let's do a quick performance assessment by looking at these shows using Human and Organizational Performance Improvement terminology and see if we can learn where some error-likely situations start to shake out.

SR= Sugar Rush NI=Nailed It!

Performance Modes

Advantage - SR: Workers are in Skill-Based mode (1 in 10,000 chance of error per task)

NI: Workers are in Knowledge-Based mode (1 in 2 chance of making an error per task) UNLESS they follow the procedure given to them on the tablet, and then they may be in Rule-Based mode (1 in 1,000 chance of making an error per task)

Six Sigma

Tied - SR & NI: All necessary tools and materials for the challenges are available and at each station. If a tool isn't used, it doesn't seem that the reason is because it wasn't available, just that the bakers didn't know how to use it, or opted for something else.

Latent Errors

Advantage - SR: Trying to do too much, instead of just doing a great job at one thing. Trying to make Ice Cream seems to have a pretty consistent failure rate. Not following the theme or challenge. Not enough flavor. When cakes are built too high, they have a leaning problem.

NI: Not greasing the pots so the cakes will come out after they are cooked is one of the most common mistakes on the show. Lack of buttercream usage between layers is a common criticism. A lot of burnt tops from the layers being too thin, or wet middles, because the layers are too thick. There seems to be a general understanding that only some people need to follow the directions, and that baking is not a science, but more of a felt-out type of activity.

Active Errors

Advantage - SR: Not a lot of active errors that consistently stick out.

NI: Using Sugar instead of Salt. Tablespoon versus Teaspoon. Not following the procedure. Trying to put icing on a hot cake. Multiple mistakes with fondant and modeling chocolate.

Teams

Advantage - SR: Two heads and four hands are always better than 1 when doing a challenge that requires physical and thoughtful work.

NI: When working by yourself, you cannot get a peer to tell you that you forgot to include something, or to help you prioritize the next step. Plus, some steps can be performed in parallel, reducing the overall time for the product.

Conclusion

When Nailed It! bakers go off-script, have vastly less experience, less overall time, it is a recipe for funny reveals. They are clearly not set up for success.

Sugar Rush bakers have experience and more time, but an extra challenge, and are judged more harshly with elimination. Mistakes made here are from time pressure, and overall nervousness. Final products all look better, and I can only imagine, are much more tasty when judged.

You can absolutely set workers up for success, even if they aren't your most experienced, especially if you pair them with another worker. Companies have procedures that are written and need to be followed for compliance, consistency, and reliability. Tools to get the job done safely, quickly, and repetitively must be at hand and available. Time pressure will always be part of the work, and so will customers judging us on the quality of our final product.

Contact Info

If you are looking for an assessment of your company, wanting to learn more about what Human and Organizational Improvement and how we can help your company's reliability, please feel encouraged to reach out: James@HumanPerformanceTools.com.