There’s an old story of a woman who always chopped the feet off her turkey before roasting it. When asked why, she said that was what her mother always did. When her mother was asked why, she said that’s what her mother did. And when the grandmother was asked why, she said the oven she used to use was so small that the turkey wouldn’t fit, unless the feet were chopped off. I’m not sure how true the story is, but either way we can learn from it.

And I reckon there are a few modern examples of chopping the feet off turkeys.

Albums are all around 45 minutes. Not because that’s the optimal length for a musician to express their art, but because back when Scarlett’s grandparents were in their twenties buying music, that was the technological limit. A vinyl record could only hold enough data for 45 minutes of music.

Kids are taught in classrooms with one teacher at the front and 30 kids sitting behind desks. Not because that’s what cutting edge education theory says is the most effective way to learn, but because that made sense in a pre-internet, pre-video, pre-multi-media world.

Most office workers show up to a big building and sit behind a desk between the hours of 9 and 5, for much the same reason.

Love to hear your thoughts – in what areas do you see us still cutting the feet off turkeys? You can leave them below.