Snow days are great for both relaxing and getting things done. Things you wouldn't normally do because you don't have time. So today, in addition to catching up on some work, and watching a few episodes of Doctor Who? I watched a the documentary Inside: Chipotle. Chipotle isn't the only "fast casual" restaurant out there. The fast casual category includes restaurants like Panera and Five Guys. They are markedly more expensive than their less classy counterparts, but usually serve fresher food, and they do it quickly and at a lower cost than most full service restaurants.
Their business model is based on using the best people, the best ingredients, and a loyal customer base. The founder, Steve Ells, started Chipotle because he needed capital to open a gourmet restaurant. He believes in using top quality, organic ingredients, prepared fresh in the restaurant every day. The food doesn't sit under warming lights, it is prepared in front of the customer, and made to order.
Why would I talk about food on a blog that is dedicated to education? Partly because I'm a foodie, but also because I think we can learn something from this business model. No, education isn't a business, and it doesn't make sense to run a school like a business. For one, our primary customers generally won't be able to afford to pay for our service for another 15-20 years. Also, because education isn't about making money. Our children need an education in order to become productive and responsible workers, voters, and citizens. The current public school model may not be the best way to achieve this goal, but it is the model we have to work with for the moment. While we can work for change, we cannot ignore the children who are attending school right now.
Enter the Chipotle business model. In education we often prefer quantity over quality, and standardized testing has driven this even further. That doesn't mean we can't try. We need to have a people culture. That means treating everyone, students, parents, teachers, custodians, coaches, paraprofessionals, administrators and everyone else like people. Making our schools good places to work and learn. Helping each other improve and reach our full potential and finding ways to create a culture that attracts the best employees. Get ready for the shocker. We don't need more money to do it. Money is great, and most teachers would like to make more, but as long as they are fairly compensated they will keep showing up for work. More money won't make them happier. In Inside: Chipotle Steve Ells says, "I would go back 20 years ago to when I was starting Chipotle in the first place. If I had thought about making money instead of creating a great restaurant experience I would have thought about oh I need to buy cheaper ingredients I need to buy things that are highly processed and easy for an inexperienced, low-performing team to consistently produce."
While, ultimately, the goal of any business is to produce, and thus, make money, great businesses do not focus on production, but rather on providing the best product or service at a fair price. Here is the lesson that we can use in education. The fair price for us is a reasonable tax rate. The service we provide is an education, ideally an excellent one. Most Chipotle workers start at around $21,000 a year. That, according to Chipotle's website, includes benefits. While their workers have a career path that can lead to a six figure salary, most of them won't ever get there. No, they aren't college educated as most teachers would be quick to point out, but they also don't get any vacation or sick leave, and their work is very physical in nature, but I'm not writing to compare teachers to Chipotle employees. I am making the point that the Chipotle culture motivates employees in a fast food restaurant to make fresh, quality food, every day. Teachers, administrators, and other school employees and leaders can work to build positive cultures in their schools without extra funding or new "stuff" simply by recognizing and rewarding what is positive in the school.
I am fortunate to work in a place where, more often than not, our leadership recognizes that climate and culture are an important part of having a great school. We all forget, or get overwhelmed sometimes, but in business and politics they often use the phrase, "staying on message." Which mean essentially, "don't get distracted by things that are of little or no consequence at the end of the day." Stay focused on providing a quality service at a reasonable price. Bad things are going to happen almost every day. Especially when you are a teacher or a school level administrator, you are in the trenches, getting your hands dirty, fighting the good fine, I could go on with more cliches... Stay on message.
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