"Professional. You can't buy wraps that look and taste as good." ~Mark Syben
The other day I received a message on my iPhone from my brother. It was a photo of what appeared to be a grilled burrito.
“Professional. You can’t buy wraps that look and taste as good,” the caption read.
This was quickly followed by an end-on shot of the meal.
“Do you see that tuck?” He was serious. He went on to enthusiastically list its contents: brown rice, fat free re-fried beans, fresh corn, grilled chicken breast. “It weighs close to a pound!”
And I have to give it to him: this was a quality toasted wrap.
Dictionary.com approaches the word quality from a few vantage points. Definition 1 includes the word excellence; definition 19 reads marked by a concentrated expenditure of involvement, concern, or commitment. The Stay Out of School official definition of “quality” could be a hybrid: marked by a concentrated expenditure of involvement, concern, or commitment that results in excellence. Both elements are important. After all, it’s entirely possible to expend great deals of concern or commitment on a project and end up with a crappy result. We can be totally sold out with commitment to creating the greatest widget that ever was, but if that widget ultimately doesn’t function perfectly, that’s not Quality (we can talk about the value of failure later).
"Do you see that tuck?" ~Mark Syben
So, back to the wrap.
What was it about this particular wrap that warranted a photo shoot? How did we both know that we were gazing on a thing of Quality?
- Each of its fundamental components was conscientiously selected for appropriateness and excellence (it was filled with great ingredients).
- It was well-built and extremely efficient to use (well, eat).
- It was beautiful.
- Its maker saw in the end result an extension and expression of himself and his own capabilities.
Robert Pirsig notes in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance that, “Quality isn’t something you lay on top of subjects and objects like tinsel on a Christmas tree. Real Quality must be the source of the subjects and objects, the cone from which the tree much start.”
We’ll be talking a lot about Quality on Stay Out of School, in particular in the context of that elusive beast The Quality Education.
This is going to be particularly tough because American culture is currently at war over quality. There are so many facets of the modern American lifestyle that disregard quality completely. We’re obsessed with disposability, instant gratification, and entertainment, much of which can be difficult to merge with consistent quality (insofar as how we use our time, our bodies, our minds, and the resources we have around us).
It will be difficult to define, design, and frankly, justify the pursuit of true quality education for and within a culture that doesn’t necessarily value quality.
Fortunately, the quality culture war is gaining momentum. The Generals are organizing their armies and taking on their respective anti-quality adversaries: Michael Pollan vs Big Agriculture, Chris Brogan vs The Mind-Dominating Madison Avenue Marketing Machine, Seth Godin vs The Lizard Brain, and Derrell Bradford at E3 vs The New Jersey High School Graduate Mill.
We’ll likely talk about each of them, and others, at length in the coming months.
But before we get into all that, I want to get back to that perfectly tucked wrap. If we’re going to reform education, truly reiterate and redesign Quality Education, we’re going to have to change the culture into which that quality education leads. We have to change the chicken and the egg. Frankly, changing the aggregate American culture can start with something as small as each of us taking the time to craft and appreciate a totally awesome burrito.
This week I’m challenging you to do or make something of Quality. Use the four attributes we talked about above (great ingredients/components, well-built, beautiful, and an extension of yourself/your values). Obviously there’s a great deal of flexibility in that definition, and that’s the fun of it. This may be completely foreign to you; perhaps it’s how you live your life on an hourly basis. Either way, let’s start talking about it so it’s on the forefront of our minds.
Feel free to come back and share what you did.
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Talking about quality is nearly impossible without referencing Robert Pirsig’s classic treatise on the subject, Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I love this book. It’s also listed in Recommended Reading.
Elizabeth King
(c) Ana Schechter
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Bravo my friend, bravo. I cannot wait to hear more on the topic of quality in education or quality period. I have to admit, I struggle with the same Striving for Mediocrity philosophy that many adopt out of sheer laziness. So, thank you for touching on the subject and also, thanks for giving me insight into what I’m having for lunch today…seriously, that burrito looks spectacular.
Sensitive area for me. I have been struggling against “the system” as a teacher for nearly 15 years. It seems that “we” keep lowering the bar of mediocrity and applaud students “success” when “we” need to be demanding that they try one more time, push a little harder, and even (dare I say it?) expect more of themselves.
This topic (especially as it pertains to education) is gravel in my teeth.
Must agree with Claudette that lunch is a no brainer…
It’s all about quiddity.
With my Latin education, French mother tongue and -somewhat- rational mind, I usually define ‘quality’ with the first vantage point of Dictionary.com. It all comes back to characteristics which properties should be set according to another value (that’s the rational -even economical- mind talking, in case you didn’t notice ^_^). Usually price. Or function. Or design.
Quality is in the eye of the beholder. Quality education too. Whereas our minds look to put definitions in boxes in order to gauge them more efficiently, caging quality education can lead to a ludic fallacy (to use Taleb’s excellent wording): we reduce complexity thinking we apply some rule, we tell ourselves a story that appeals to our sense of free spirits (e.g. “how good it was in the past”), but we don’t escape the educational paradox.
For it is an egg and chicken story. How can we define quality education while still retaining free -and possibly unbiased- values? How can we escape from the tyranny of the majority (i.e. of the collective) to offer an education that will foster an yet unknown future freed of past fallacies while still taking ownership of education’s definition?
Disposability, as you point out, is a sign of the quick-paced world we live in. But are laws of nature, moralities (defined as societies’ cardinal points) or beliefs, these difficult-to-dispose-of values a better and unbiased answer to tomorrow’s education?
It’s all about quiddity.
Mediocrity is so easy to promote. Only when you strive for mediocrity are you always happy. Where is the lesson of failure or the reward of “..commitment that results in excellence.” Elizabeth, you bring up amazing topics that are important to everyday life and necessary for education.
Another great post !
If I may be so bold (and heck, it’s my blog, right?) I daresay that one is not truly happy when one strives for mediocrity because one doesn’t realize the satisfaction derived directly from quality and excellence. It may feel like happiness inside that sphere, but objectively, it’s probably not.
I was just pondering this very question on the drive into work today. When did it all become so quantity driven and lose all the quality?
I am not in the educational field but instead I represent the best in artisan american tile and everyday there is an opportunity to educate someone on the true value of a well made quality product.
I love Robert Pirsig’s book. I read it in high school, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance made an appearance in my college essay (I’m not kidding).
Sorry Paul, quiddity may be in the eye of the beholder but quality isn’t. The burrito in question by all appearances has the whatness, the essence of burritoness, even sounds like it could be the burrito I am looking for but until I plunk my money down on the counter and eat it, I don’t know if it’s a quality meal or not. I can’t judge the quality until I demand it prove itself to be and function as a burrito. Even in the kitchen there are absolutes. Is it or is it not a quality burrito worth paying for and using ?
Sadly, education these days rarely passes the burrito test. People are plunking down their tax dollars (and tuition checks) for schools which (in many cases) have systematically eliminated many core fundamentals and the proven methods of teaching them. It has become preferable to reward “trying” as an end in itself rather than actually succeeding. Don’t kid yourself either- it’s easier to pull that trick than to demand that students gather their facts and meet in the dangerously exciting marketplace of ideas.
I guess once we open up the quiddity/quality can of worms we end up taking on the terrifying issue of Absolutes (which kind of seemed like what Paul was getting at… enforcing our own “absolutes” on others…. which I know you would say isn’t possible because in order to be a true “absolute” it has to be superlative an unalterable, in which case what is there to argue about?)
I’m not sure this blog is ready read for the category “Augustine et al.” ; ) [Although it's looking increasingly like we'll end up going there in the comments....]
You know “Quality” is something that is constantly sought after but, so often, really in the end, “Quality” is a by-product from the passionate pursuit of a persons dream, a persons soul, a persons desire to make a difference. Unfortunately, “Quality” will never be produced by a group of people who are just going through the motions and collecting a paycheck. Education is no different than any other endeavor really. Someone must ignite a spark. A spark that makes people want to produce the best and be the best. What that spark is, is quite subjective and elusive but, when people feel that passion and are ignited by someone, something or both, they can move mountains and do it in a way that just oozes “Quality”.
Elizabeth,
I have noticed that there is a small but vocal movement toward quality, as you describe, in not just education, but across many different areas. Food quality is the first one that come to mind, funny enough.
Your post made me think of William Glasser’s “Quality School Institute” (http://www.wglasser.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=30) which was published in 1998. It’s quite a name for a school model, but much of it fits the model of your brother’s burrito.
Along with some of the comments, though, the quality described in this model might be hippie fairytale stuff, so once again, is quality in the eye of the beholder or is it easy to spot?
When I look at a piece of furniture I can tell whether it’s quality or not. When I see a piece of art, however, what I think is quality might be boring or mundane or unappealing to someone else.
If we use your definition, however, it helps focuses what we are looking for while also including the outcome in the definition.
Thanks for a thought provoking post!
Oh, and my quality item—>whatever I’m making for dinner on Sunday night!
The first week of school I discuss this concept of quality with my students, using a hamburger as an example. After pointing out all that we consider to make the burger a quality burger, I set the burger on the lab bench and smash it with a mallet. I then ask the students if it is still a quality burger or not – it has the same components. For the remainder of the year, students always remember what I am talking about when I remind them to turn in a quality product.
Part of the reason writers have struggled for work is because writing is inherently subjective. That doesn’t dismiss the need and obvious differences of quality,but it does lead to certain kinds of writing dominating. Google’s attitude is that “good content is useful content”–a belief that is generally agreed upon by most internet pros. Yet utilitarianism is a limited and potentially dangerous approach to writing; I’m worried that it’s become a single-handed philosophy for an entire medium without anyone even noticing.
Completely interesting point…. and hell, you noticed. We’ll make sure to notice that some more around here.
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