No Secret Sauce on This Burger

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure"

Colin Powell

What makes a burger great? Why do people choose to buy their burgers from one place over another? Is it the choice of meat? Is it the freshness of the bun or the lettuce and tomato? Or is it the special sauce that you can only get in one place?

I have talked with colleagues about my views in education and I have used the burger analogy often. I can get a burger anywhere, but I have clear opinions about the best burgers. The same is true for education. Students can learn anywhere, but they have clear opinions about the best teachers. If the students are supposed to be getting the same thing no matter where they go to school or who they have for a teacher then the question that must be answered is what makes one burger (or teacher) more desirable than the other? How do we get all burgers (or teachers) to at least be the best they possibly can be.

As we think about what makes burgers great, I want to focus on the things we all can see: freshness of the ingredients, quality of service, and options and customization. What I do not want to focus on is the secret sauce. We cannot use the secret sauce to make all burgers better. The secret sauce is a secret, and therefore it cannot be transmitted or shared. I have often heard people say things like a colleague was a "born teacher" or "just had that special something" that made them good. It often seems to me that we often think that what makes a teacher great is their secret sauce, the special things they do that are inherent in who they are. The unique things in their classroom or about their personality that cannot be reproduced and shared are what separate the gourmet from the dollar menu.

I have also found that teachers, once they have a secret sauce, do not want to share it. They want to hold into it because the enjoy being popular, or successful or well regarded. They see the secret sauce as what makes them unique and special. As a leader, I want everyone to feel that way, not just the one or two people that, "have it figured out." I also want all of my students to get a great education, not just the ones that have the teachers with the secret sauce.

We have to get away from the secret sauce mentality in education. While this sounds easy in theory, it is much more difficult in practice. Many teachers have spent years developing their secret sauce: highly polished lesson plans, powerpoints, simulations, or modes of delivery. They have made an investment and want a return. To break out of the secret sauce mentality, we have to get teachers to recognize that they get more when they give more.

We cannot believe that there are any secrets to what we do, and instead need to share our best practices with each other. Only if we do that, would we be able to make the system great, instead of depending upon the flashes of greatness of our staff. If we want greatness to be more than a flash, we will need to share the secrets.

As leaders we have to be concerned with the system, and creating systems that ensure success, and not just about individuals that are part of the system. This does not mean that we treat people poorly, or that we treat them like they are interchangeable, but that we take the best from everyone to make everyone their best. Focus on what we can do, what we can see, what we can share in the classroom and in our schools to make the experience of all students great. If we hold on to the secret sauce, will never get a better burger for everyone.