A food and beverage operation (like a kitchen or any other piece in the big puzzle) needs to function like a machine. There are hundreds of variables that could ultimately become a wrench in the cogs and they can often be the simplest of things ultimately sending gears and cotterpins flying. It's important to learn to recognize the wrench immediately when it begins to disrupt the machine in a chain reaction of events that will crash the entire thing. Knowing how to spot wrenches far beforehand is a true gift. It's far easier to correct a problem early on than after the fact. Of course, the worst case scenario is when you actually become the wrench. The guest never sees the wrench, and they don't care...
they shouldn't have to.