I spot two kinds of people in the kitchen. One type has the tendency to listen to your instructions in order to do, and get the job done. It’s the “Is This Going To Be On The Test” mentality. The way education as we know it is set up enables this bent. Just the facts, bottom line, and Git-R-Done are among the text of the mantra.

And then there are those who listen to instruction in order to learn. These are the easiest to teach, because they realize learning is as much their job as it belongs to the teacher. These are the extra credits kids that everyone hated. Teachers prayed to be blessed with a class full of these types. And God once again never answered the petition.

You’re short handed in the kitchen. You need someone to assemble the pesto, so you pull the first available person over and walk through the ingredient list with him. Step by step instructions are given, along with any timesaver trick you can think of, and you’re off to tie up the next loose end before the whole fabric gets unraveled.

Come back and the pesto is perfect. Looks right, tastes right, just as you explained. You have a new person who can be called on to make the pesto again, right?

Not so fast.

The next time you ask the same guy to make pesto again a few days later, and it turns out a mushy mess. What happened?

Consider this; could it be because he was listening to your instructions just to DO what you told him at that moment, and not to LEARN the process and how make it a part of his understanding of the overall contribution of his job?

As I lead in the kitchen, I must recognize this propensity toward doing instead of learning. Against the tide of urgency and the endless waves of tasks to accomplish in the day, I must row in a direction away from just getting the job done. Not only is it my role to teach the skills of HOW to make an excellent pesto, but also WHY we make it the way we do.

HOW is the first step, but WHY must always follow. Good teaching and good learning never let go of either.