I love it when a professional whose ideas I respect says
something that I have been saying for years.
I have mentioned before that I don’t need the approval of others to
enjoy my own ideas. But the external
validation does help me overcome the sneaking suspicion that my own
self-delusion will make my ideas seem better than they really are.
Jay Acunzo, in his Sorry for Marketing blog, contrasted two
approaches to the practice of content marketing: chefs and cooks. A cook is
someone who is really good at following a set of instructions exactly as stated
so that the outcome is exactly the same every time. This is great for quality
and consistency, but not creativity or innovation.
A chef is someone who learns the fundamental principles of
the domain so they can invent their own processes. They can develop new
approaches for new situations or when the world changes.
Jay applies this to content marketing, but I see the same
thing in my students’ approaches to school. Even when their career ambitions
are to reach the highest levels, they still prefer when professors give them
the recipe and expect only for them to become cooks.
The world needs cooks, but cooks get stuck at middle
management. They can never reach the elevation that a chef can. And so it
breaks my heart when students start out with this in mind. I spend all semester trying to convince them
why being a chef is better.
But by spending so much time on this sales pitch, I have
less time to teach them the fundamental principles that will get them there.
Maybe sous chef.
