I recently had a delicious meal, prepared in honor of a friend’s birthday by a young chef from a top-notch restaurant. As he served us in my friend’s kitchen, I asked him about his specialty. His unexpected answer got me thinking about how Christian institutional leaders might learn from leadership in the kitchen.
The chef explained that traditionally, professional kitchens are organized by the type of work being done. This structure, called the “brigade system,” was developed by the French chef Auguste Escoffier in the late 19th century. Cooks in the system have clearly defined, specialized positions -- sauce/meat cook, cold-item cook, meat butcher, seafood butcher, pastry cook, cook-in-training. Each cook focuses on his or her specific role in the kitchen and leaves the big picture to the head chef.
“This means that if a dish has fish, sauce, cold vegetables and pastry in it, all the components are made independently and then passed to the head chef, who assembles them into a complete dish,” the young chef explained. “Each cook never sees the finished dish -- or tastes it, for that matter -- but only focuses on their aspect being as perfect as possible.”
But he went on to say that the chef at his own restaurant believes that food is better if the cooks understand how all the components come together. “We are still divided into traditional roles -- cold cook, hot appetizers, canapés/amuse-bouches, entree protein, entree vegetables, pastry, bread -- but we each cook all the components for a dish, even if they are outside our comfort zone or regular skill set.”
“How is this a good idea?” I asked.
“This actually encourages communication in the kitchen, because the cool-side cook has to ask the pastry cook how to make a cake if there is cake on their dish,” the chef said. “It also encourages creativity, because everyone interprets techniques differently, based on their background, but also depending on how they plan on using the technique. Every cook still passes his or her components off to a chef to plate or to approve, but he or she can vouch for the integrity of all the components for the final dish.”
This doesn’t mean, he noted, that each cook is “an island”; instead, “each cook is encouraged to communicate with peers and to learn more to improve.” This structure in the kitchen, he said, results in a stronger team that produces a better and more evolved product. It also means that if a cook begins to struggle or fall behind, a larger group of people can offer help.
What can Christian leaders learn from this kitchen? The chef talked about a collaborative structure that promotes communication, creativity and product integrity. But we can start by asking a simple question: What if each employee in our church or organization had a better idea of what everyone else is doing?
First, we would know whom to tap for help on a specific project. We might also gain the ability to do our own work better or more creatively, knowing what else is being done and what is possible. Most important, we would have a stronger sense of where we are headed as an organization -- of what the “complete dish” will look and taste like.
There are many ways of gaining this knowledge.
Theologian Letty Russell employed the strategy of “role exchange” when she was a pastor in the East Harlem Protestant Parish. “I would share in tasks of cleaning and typing so that the janitor and secretary could share in teaching, worship, and calling,” she writes in “Household of Freedom.” “I learned more about what it really takes to keep a church running, and my partners learned more about their own gifts for ministry.”
Another approach is what Catholic lay leader and retired Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik calls “nested leadership responsibilities.” In the army, he said, senior officers are responsible both for training people two levels below and for knowing the mindset of those two levels above. As a result, leaders at every level understand the broader goals and mission of the organization and thus are empowered to act creatively within that understanding.
A good first step is to cultivate what design company IDEO calls a culture of “collaborative help.” IDEO intentionally structures work, time and relationships to favor collaborative help. Just as in the young chef’s kitchen, the shared perspectives, experience and expertise among colleagues at IDEO improves the quality and execution of ideas. “I believe that the more complex the problem,” said CEO Tim Brown, “the more help you need.” But Brown understands that helping is a behavior that has to be inspired, not forced.
As the young chef discovered, a kitchen is stronger when everyone has an understanding of the entire meal. Most important, the meal’s purpose is to nourish, to bring folks together and to provide delectable tastes over which we give thanks.
And isn’t that the purpose of the work we do as well? Does our work as Christian institutional leaders, made stronger through collaboration, nourish, bring folks together and lead us to give collective thanks?
