蓝莓给生意人的经验教训

一场演讲，本是要改变听众的理念，却意外地颠覆了演讲者自己的观点……

“If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools, I wouldn’t be in business very long!” I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of in-service[1] training. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation.

I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive at an ice cream company that became famous in the middle 1980s when PeopleMagazine chose our blueberry as the “Best Ice Cream in America.”

I was convinced of two things. First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic[2] selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial age and out of step with the needs of our emerging “knowledge society”. Second, educators were a major part of the problem: they resisted change, hunkered down in their nests, protected by tenure and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly.[3] They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! Continuous improvement!

As soon as I finished, a woman’s hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant—she was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran, high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload.

She began quietly, “We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream.”

I smugly replied, “Best ice cream in America, Ma’am.”

“How nice,” she said. “Is it rich and smooth?”

“Sixteen percent butterfat,” I crowed[4].

“Premium ingredients?” she inquired.

“Super-premium! Nothing but triple-A[5].” I wason a roll[6].

“Mr. Vollmer,” she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised, “when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?”

In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap... I was dead meat, but I wasn’t going to lie. “I send them back.”

“That’s right!” she barked, “and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them all! Every one! And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it’s not a business. It’s school!”

In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, custodians and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, “Yeah! Blueberries! Blueberries!” And so began my long transformation.

Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are dependent upon thevagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming.[7]

None of this negates[8] the need for change. We must change what, when, and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post-industrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust and active support of the surrounding community. For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, to improve public education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America.

“如果我用你们这帮人运营学校的方式来经营自己生意的话，我很快就会被踢出商界了!”我站在听众席前，那里坐满了愤慨不已的老师，他们变得越来越气愤。我的演讲已完全耗尽了他们珍贵的90分钟在职培训。他们从最初冷冰冰的瞪视已转变为焦躁不安的激动。

我代表着致力于改善公立学校的商人群体。我是一家冰激凌公司的总经理，这家公司在20世纪80年代中期变得非常有名，《人物》杂志还将我们生产的蓝莓冰激凌评选为“美国最美味的冰激凌”。

我确信两件事。第一，公立学校需要改变;它们是陈旧过时的选拔机构，专为适合工业时代而设计，而且与我们新兴的“知识社会”的需求也不协调。第二，教育者们是造成这个问题的主要因素：他们拒绝改变，“缩”在自己的“安乐窝”里，被终身职位制度和一个官僚主义的垄断机构所保护。他们需要放眼商界。我们才会知道如何打造品质。没有瑕疵!不断的完善!

我刚一讲完，一个女人就举起了手。她看起来好像很有礼貌，令人愉快——实际上，她却是一位犀利资深的中学英语教师，一直在等待着倾诉心声。

她平静地开口：“先生，我们听说你管理的这家公司能做出美味的冰激凌。”

我自负地答道：“是全美国最美味的冰激凌，老师。”

“有多好吃呢?”她说。“口感丰富并且柔滑吗?”

“含有16%的乳脂，”我炫耀着说。

“是用了优质的原料吗?”她询问道。

“超级优质!只用最好的。”我连连获胜。

“沃尔默先生，”她邪恶地挑着一边眉毛、向前倾着身子说，“当你站在收货码头上，看到一货船次品等级的蓝莓抵达时，你会怎么做?”

在寂静的房间里，我能听见捕捉夹子吧嗒地一声关上……我是死定了，但我不打算撒谎。“我会把它们送还回去。”

“这就对了!”她厉声说道，“而我们永远都不能送还我们的‘蓝莓’。我们接受了他们，无论大小贫富，是天赋异秉，还是杰出卓越，是害怕还是自信，是无家可归，还是粗鲁无礼或才华横溢。我们全都接纳了他们!每一个!而这就是，沃尔默先生，为何它不是生意的原因。它是学校啊!”

在一阵爆发声中，所有的290人——他们当中有教师、校长、巴士司机、监护人和秘书——都一跃而起，并大嚷道，“对啊!蓝莓!蓝莓!”于是，我漫长的转变之旅也开始了。

自那之后，我去拜访了成百上千所学校。我认识到一所学校并不是一桩生意。学校是不能控制其原料质量的，为了获得源源不断的可靠收入，他们依赖于难以预测的政治策略，而且他们还不断受到一大批意见相异、互不相让的客户群体的咆哮抨击，这会逼得最能干的执行总裁都抓狂尖叫。

而所有这些都无法抵消改革的需要。我们必须要改变教学的内容、时机和方式，来为所有的孩子提供在后工业化社会健康成长的最大机遇。但教育者们却无法独自完成这一任务;这些改变只有在得到周围社区公众的理解、信任与积极支持才能发生。我认识到的最关键一点是：学校反映了他们所服务的社区公众的姿态、信仰和发展状况，因而，要改善公立教育就意味着不仅仅只是改变我们的学校，而是要改变整个美国。