What new coaches can learn from a professional kitchen.
With all of the shows about cooking and restaurants on Netflix, I think more people than ever have an idea what a professional kitchen is like. We’ve seen how crowded and fast paced a restaurant kitchen is. A team of people working simultaneously to prepare dishes and complete them in a timely and coordinated manner and deliver a great experience for the customers.
I think the thing about professional cooking that always intrigues me is the balance of art & science.
There is clearly a science to cooking.
Its chemistry in how ingredients interact with heat and cold. Its chemistry, physiology and neuroscience how those molecules interact with our nose and tongue to create flavor sensations.
But great chefs are artists. They tap into our psychology and theirs. They have developed talents for their sense of taste and smell and how they interact with our experience.
I think the same is coaching. It’s both art & science. A great coach understand not just the biomechanics and physiology, but also the psychology and spirit.
Coaches and Chefs
Over the years I’ve heard the analogy as the coach as a chef from coaches and in books. I know Mike Boyle has used this and I think it’s one that really resonates for me.
In the kitchen they are trying to create something that is the result of art & science. It has multiple ingredients. The successful chef has not only an in-depth knowledge of the cooking process and ingredients, but they are also artists.
I’ll argue the same is true of a great coach.
I like to use the analogy of the professional kitchen and the French Brigade system for how coaches develop.
So, let’s explore how a professional kitchen is organized from the bottom up.
Chef de partie…Line Cooks
The line cooks are the people who actually do most of the cooking. They are generally divided either by cooking technique (saute, grill, etc.), or by type of food (fish, meat, etc.).
This can be very defined with different people focused on just vegetables, or sauces, of soups. As they get higher up the kitchen ladder, they may specialize in meats or pastries.
When the expeditor shouts out an order (in TV kitchens they always shout), the line cooks hop into gear to prepare it.
Each of these roles has specific techniques they have to learn. From how to select the ingredients, to their knife skills, and then their cooking skills. There is a lot to master at this stage and it can be a long process.
In a professional kitchen many of these lowly cooks are recent graduates of academies and prestigous cooking schools. Even with their formal education, they don’t jump up in the hierarchy at the start (but they do have a head start on others in learning skills).
Its also important to note what they DON’T do.
They follow recipes exactly. They don’t change them. They don’t create new recipes or try to make a new menu for the evening.
The Cook is a critical role to make the restaurant work. It’s also an important learning role.
Not only do they learn the individual skills of cooking, but they also start to learn how their role in the kitchen is part of a bigger picture. They learn about how the recipes work and the science of cooking.
They develop the habits of professional in their mise en place preparation and attention to detail cleaning.
Sous-Chef
Most cooks develop their skills by working up through the line. When they have mastered all their cooking skills and demonstrated their professionalism they are promoted to sous-chef.
This chef is always in the kitchen. They the skills to perform anything that’s needed.
But more than just the skills, they also understand how these pieces are working together.
They come up with the daily specials, take inventory, watch over the staff, expedite orders, and basically do all the hands-on work.
They still follow the direction of the Chef de Cuisine or the Executive Chef depending on the size and grandeur of the restaurant. They don’t get to change the entire menu or the style of cooking.
There are two types of sous-chefs: those who will soon move on to open their own restaurants, becoming Executive Chefs, and those who will remain, preferring the rhythmic rigors of the kitchen and mastering their skills over the bright lights of chef stardom.
Chef De Cuisine
This is the Head Chef. They run the entire kitchen, but are still hands-on and involved in preparation of food. They have mastered botht eh art & science of creating menus, managing the staff, and creating a positive customer experience.
They are in charge of all activities related to the kitchen, which usually includes creating menus, managing kitchen staff, ordering and purchasing stock and equipment, plating design, enforces nutrition, safety, and sanitation, and ensuring the quality of the meals that are served in the restaurant.
The chef de cuisine will have a line-up (pre-shift meetings) with front of house and back of house (kitchen staff) in order to prepare for the day’s service and answer questions about the menu.
They may or may not be heavily involved in the bigger business and strategic decisions of the restaurant. That’s where an Executive Chef comes in.
Executive Chef
In larger restaurants there is an Executive Chef and/or general manager making the big strategic decisions. They guide the overall type of cuisine, style, décor, and business strategy.
In some cases, executive chefs may serve that role in more than one restaurant they own.
They are creators and business leaders, driving the big picture, but no longer cooking day to day.
Learning to Cook…or Coach
Imagine. You haven’t been much of a cook in the past. It’s new to you. You’ve got down the difference between broil and boil but creme brulee is still a mystery.
If you were cooking a dish for the very first time, would you take two or three recipes from different cookbooks and combine them?
Would you add ingredients from one of the recipes while using the preparation and cooking directions from another? If you did, would you expect it to come out right and taste good?
Imagine if you took two cakes recipes. They both call for flour, sugar and eggs. However, you decide omit the eggs because you don’t like eggs that much. Plus, people really like sugar, so you double the amount of that.
How’s that going work out?
Obviously, it’s not going to work. Unfortunately, when it comes to training sessions and program design, this is exactly what many young coaches do.
With so many coaches taking in seminars, vidies and social media content, coupled with an impatient attitude for honing their craft, I see many programs being written by short order cooks and not chefs.
Usually the program is a little of this philosophy, and a little of theirs, with maybe a sprinkling of another guru. It’s a combination of recipes to use the analogy, and the result is less that optimal.
When it comes to designing programs, you need to know where you are on the road to being an executive chef.
New Coach (Line Cook)
When you first come out of college you have some scientific basis to understand what an athlete needs. It’s like knowing the properties and tastes of various ingredients, and you have developed some basic knife skills, but that’s it.
Many former athletes that go into coaching are also at this point and they know a variety of drills and exercises. You know how to chop, broil and blend. You’re like a line cook.
At this stage, you need a recipe to follow. Don’t go changing the recipe to suit your tastes.
A line cook needs direction for recipes while they hone their skills in cooking.
It’s not yet the time for them to be creating a menu and recipes. New coaches need session plans and programs to follow while they focus on mastering their coaching skills.
For a cook that means mastering knife skills. For a new coach that is mastering the coaching of drills.
For a cook its knowing how to pick ingredients and know how much heat to use. For the new coach, its developing your coaching eye and knowing how much intensity to use.
You get the idea. Just like a line cook is mastering cooking skills, the new coach is mastering coaching skills.
But you should be honing your craft with an eye on the future. That means a cook should be understanding the greater working of the kitchen and the art & science in recipes and menus. The new coach should be starting to understand program by how sessions and program work and interact.
Coach well and learn how to observe the movements, analyze for technical errors, and then problem solve. Learn the rules of program design while you do this, but its not time to be creating your own dishes and menus.
Coaches can also specialize like chefs while they are learning. In the kitchen some of the cooks just do meats, or sauces. Some coaches are more focused on strength, speed, or injury prevention.
As you show your skill, you will be given opportunities to display that you’re ready for the next step. The senior coaches (sous-chefs) should be continuing to train and mentor you as you develop.
Coach with Several Years Experience (Sous Chef)
Many third to fifth year coaches are analogous with the sous-chefs. The sous-chef has developed the full range needed cooking skills. The coach has developed skills coaching strength, speed, mobility, and the psychology of coaching.
Chefs have also developed a greater understanding of recipes and menus. They have the ability to alter the recipe without spoiling the meal. They understand how to alter the ingredients but also know there needs to be a plan and it should be followed.
The sous chef understands that the ratio of ingredients and their timing matter, and that you don’t simply change everything to get a better result.
The sous-chef also is the one that prevents the phrase, “too many cooks spoil the broth” They manage the kitchen staff and assign duties.
Coaches have learned how exercises, loading, progression, and periodization interact with athletes physiology and psychology. They know how to change training sessions but not spoil the entire training plan.
This is the role of the senior coach or the first assistant in some settings. They may assign schedules and duties, and coordinate staff. They are instrumental in helping develop the younger staff.
Head Coach (Chef de Cuisine)
After years of cooking and learning the art & science, they have successfully created dishes and menus. In the restaurant this chef may be given the opportunity to become a Chef de Cuisine. Highly skilled in the art & science of cooking, and ready for bigger roles.
In their time serving as a sous-chef, they’ve thought about bolder changes to the menu. Maybe changes to the entire style of cooking and how the kitchen is being run. As the Chef de cuisine they get to implement those ideas.
As a chef de cuisine experiments, they don’t throw out their entire style of cooking and all that they have learned. They build on it and make smaller changes to their fundamental cooking philosophy.
Just as a professional chef doesn’t watch an episode of Iron Chef and throw out their entire cooking style, a professional coach doesn’t watch an Instagram video and change their entire training approach.
Cooks all want to experiment with new dishes and tastes. And they should. But they don’t start by doing this with the restaurants menu. They will earn faster by experimenting while learning the techniques and combinations that work in the restaurant already.
Coaches all want to try new exercises or create their own programs. Similarly, they will learn faster by following proven training programs and drills while they master skills and learn the complexities of training.
Every chef and coach wants to create, but they need to know the rules before you try and break them.
Iteration is generally better than truly original creation.
Learn to Cook
Figure out if you’re currently a cook or a chef. If you are a cook right now, find some good recipes to follow. Find a chef to learn under and develop your skills.
Master your cooking skills while following someone else’s proven recipe. Master all of the different skills you may need.
Eventually you can become a chef, but go through each step to be a successful one.
