Secret Sauce

[I need some help, but I’ll ask for it at the end.]

The idea of a secret sauce is silly. We think the sauce makes, say, In-N-Out Burger great, but there are so many other factors: consistency, simplicity, loyalty, etc.

In-N-Out’s secret sauce is good, but anyone can spend an hour in the kitchen and figure it out. What makes their burger joint brilliant is not the secret sauce—it’s good, don’t get me wrong—it’s that they don’t have two or three or 10 secret sauces. They have one. And they nail it every time. Over and over again.

In theory, now that you’ve figured out their sauce, you should be able to open up a burger joint and compete from the get-go. But that’s not going to happen. Because doing something good once gets a little attention. So what. Doing it 200 times builds a following. Doing it 2,000 times builds loyalty and with loyalty comes a mystique, and that, quite honestly, makes the sauce taste even better.

In-N-Out can hand out the ingredients to their sauce the world over. Some people will make it at home and be satisfied, but most people will be back next week for a Double-Double, animal style (if you know, you know). They might even get more customers by giving the sauce recipe away.

I don’t believe in secret sauces. That’s why I give my sauce away for free. Over and over again. It’s been over 200 times now, and I don’t plan on stopping the thoughtful reflections on stepping up and saying “Yes!” to being the change you want to see.

But I need your help.

Will you help share the sauce? Social media is a simple way (see below). The most direct and effective way is to forward this post to a friend via email (also below).

Thank you.