Article Link: http://www.exchangepress.com/article/less-is-more/5020834/
In the 1991 movie “City Slickers,” Billy Crystal plays the part of Mitch, a marketing executive who, along with two close friends, decides to leave the hectic chaos of New York City for a relaxing week of playing cowboy on a “Western Cattle drive.” The week proved anything but relaxing, and became even tougher when the grizzled trail boss Curly, played by the late Jack Palance, came on the scene. In one of the most famous scenes in the movie, Curly looks over at Mitch and says, “Do you know what the secret of life is? One thing! Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest doesn’t mean anything.” Mitch responds, “But what’s the one thing?” Curly answers, “That’s what you have to find out.”In so many areas of early care and education, whether for profit, non profit, state agencies, or any number of other environments for young children, we keep looking for the magical ‘one thing’ that will make the difference. Surely there must be some secret sauce or magic formula. If we keep adding more to what we do we are sure to discover it, right?
In the for-profit world, it’s long been believed that folks ...