the secret menu
The fast food burger chain In-N-Out has a ‘secret’ menu of unlisted items that they will sell you if you know to ask for them.
Accessing the menu itself is no issue; you can Google it. The key is that you have to know to look for the ‘secret’ menu.
The ‘secret’ menu is anti-advertisement; you will not discover its existence on a billboard or weekly ad. Instead a friend is meant to be the primary path to knowing about it — a trusted voice who will share the cryptic In N’ Out-speak that is the ‘3x3-animal-style burger’ because they know you and what you like.
People share things all the time (which is why ‘secret’ menus work and exist), but more specifically we share what we think others will care to know.
It’s the reason you share upcoming Beyoncé concerts with your friend who is a die-hard Beyoncé fan, it’s why you forward that exercise class promotion to your friend who wants to get in shape, and — yes — it’s why you share the great unsecret (I said it) menu at In N’ Out with your friend who loves a good burger.
We are natural matchmakers for information — taking stock of all that we know and sharing specific bits of information with the specific people that we think will benefit from knowing too.
Validating that the work is serving somebody — if it’s a match for someone — in its current state starts with someone caring to know and then sharing it with someone they think will care to know too.
