Competing to Be the Best

It is a pervasive idea, regularly reinforced in our society that we must be 'the best'.  Our competitive nature informs and communicates with phrases about winners and losers and 'one best way'.  Recently I read an article in the Harvard Business Review by Joan Magretta entitled 'Stop Competing to Be the Best'.  When I first read the title I was intrigued - aren't we all on a quest to be the best?

Magretta brings up an interesting point; there often is simply no such thing as 'the best'.  She cites the example of airport waiting area seats  - which is the best? There isn't a best - different airports have different needs for seating. If you can put your mind around the idea that there may not be 'the best' museum, 'the best' car, etc... as each of these is dependent on individual needs ... is it possible then to extrapolate this logic to schools?

The article states, "Within an industry, there can be multiple contests, not just one, based on which needs are to be served."  Magretta discusses the concept (by Michael Porter) of a different kind of competition - competing to be unique; "Focus on innovating to create superior value for your chosen customers, not on imitating and matching rivals..... doing this profitably means accepting limits and making tradeoffs - you can't meet every need of every customer."

My thoughts and I welcome yours as well - is that this article, while speaking to the world of business, is applicable to education. We aren't necessarily in a contest to be 'the best' - and current state assessment measures (API/AYP) fall short as a measuring device.  Instead if charter schools and the comprehensive school system could each provide quality in distinctive and different ways ... then our children would all have 'the best.'