People talk about a person or a company having a soul, which is incredibly valuable and which you can lose but must not under any circumstance. I think that usually what they are talking about is integrity, one’s commitment in action to ideals. These ideals give you purpose and passion and meaning. It can be a real struggle to keep your commitment to them–in the face of distractions and the sheer effort required–but that is the difference between a great existence and a mediocre one.
Starbucks came to success on a commitment to quality and service that blows me away. Starbucks, led by Howard Schultz, set out to bring the “Romance of Coffee” to America. Read “Pour Your Heart Into It” for a profile in passion and a deliberate, conceptual attempt to make something great. Schultz struggles continuously with the question of how to expand everywhere and build a successful company while maintaining the quality of one’s product. I think the company was pretty damned successful and love that–pretty much wherever you are in America–you can quickly find an inviting place to sit and enjoy a good cup of coffee.
Unfortunately, as Starbucks grew, it became everyone’s favorite whipping boy–a symbol alongside SUVs and the Gap for a kind of mindless, inauthentic consumerism. I think that much of the criticism is just the old, rotten knee-jerk hatred many people have of anything corporate. But when my girlfriend pointed out last Christmas that the Christmas CDs, cards, stuffed animals, etc completely swamped anything related to coffee; I had to agree that the experience wasn’t quite as strong as it used to be.
Which brings us to something exciting. A few months ago, Schultz returned to the CEO position of Starbucks, after having retired from the post in 2000. He unleashed a huge number of initiatives designed to return Starbucks to being the great coffee shop it was in the past. There’s a long way to go, but damn I’m excited about the idea of walking into the Starbucks Schultz envisions existing by this Fall. I think we could be in for something much better than the what Starbucks used to be.
Click here for a great, long story about a fantastic, righteous battle happening right in front of us.
