I've just finished reading Pour Your Heart into it - by Howard Schultz, the guy who built Starbucks (and was most recently heard of being slammed by Peter Mandelson, for his comments on the British economy).Published more than ten years' ago, it was written as Starbucks was poised to spread across the Atlantic to complete its remarkable and meteoric rise from local specialist coffee store to mega-corporation with a coffee shop on every corner of the world, it seems...
I've found it a fascinating read, but rather bitter-sweet.
Given what Starbucks generally stands for in many people's minds today - phrases like: faceless corporation; greedy; low-paid workers; driving out independents... tend to come up in conversation about them - it's tragic to read Schultz's (presumably) heart-felt and passionate words about the vision and values he believes lie behind the company... or perhaps lay?
...the story of Starbucks is not just a record of growth and success. It's also about how a company can be built in a different way. It's about a company completely unlike the ones my father worked for. It's living proof that a company can lead with its heart and nurture its soul and still make money. It shows that a company can provide long-term value for shareholders without sacrificing its core belief in treating its employees with respect and dignity, both because we have a team of leaders who believe it's right and because it's the best way to do business. (p5)
It's rather sad to read such high-sounding ideals and hear them ring rather hollow.
To me it sounds a lot like the history of many churches down the years, especially those who get 'successful'.
The question is how to avoid the same pitfalls - is it simply impossible to grow and be successful without losing your soul?
I think that rather depends on your interpretation of the word success. And what is success in God's eyes? When you read books like Revelation, you find the crown of life goes to those who endure, who hang on to the end despite everything. They always sound like a bedraggled crowd with little the world thinks much of in their hands, but they are faithful still. It's the crowd I aspire to be in - one who hangs on to the end and stays faithful anyway. It's comforting when you don't appear to be in the "in crowd" or be successful in ways people applaud.
But can you be successful without losing your soul? I really don't know. Harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle..... riches come in many forms: cash, goods, prestige, tradition, self-sufficiency. It's interesting that you get that prayer in the Bible about "Lord, don't let me be poor or I may steal and disgrace Your Name and don't let me be rich or I may forget You. Let me have enough for each day." Desperate with nothing, forgetful with everything. Somewhere in the middle is living on the edge dependency. I think that's one thing that is success to God.
Doesn't mean you can't be an economist or run a successful business whilst still being a Christian, but it is extraordinarily hard for individuals and companies to keep dependency on God and an ability to hold their business lightly I think. We like what works and we cling to it to repeat it ad infinitum. Is that success or actually failure to fly? How easy is it to depend on what we do with our hands rather than the One that gave us those hands? And how thin is the line between the two? Same goes for churches. We repeat what works and become territorial about it instead of holding it lightly in our hands and keeping it flexible. Sometimes it just isn't fun being human!! This stuff is incredibly hard to do........
Thanks Caz:
"We repeat what works and become territorial about it instead of holding it lightly in our hands and keeping it flexible."
...spot on!
Richard,
Just read you stuff on Starbucks and thought it worth mentioning that I have done some work with them over the past few months. This has led to some people with significant learning disabilities getting jobs, for example a man in his mid-forties with Down's Syndrome who has spent his entire adult life attending a segregated day centre for people with learning disabilities now has a part-time job at his local Starbucks. The difference it has made to him and his family is significant. He has certainly been treated with "dignity and respect" by his colleagues and manager. I'm not defending Starbucks or how they go about business in any way but in this and other small scale, local examples they've done well.
Karl
Maybe Karl's experience reflects that Starbucks has actually maintained its values - it's just that we may be listening too much to the Naomi Klein No Logo message and the perfectionist coffee geeks. It's good to keep an open mind about these things.
Thanks Karl and Jamie...
There's a third option of course (i.e. vs. [1] "Starbucks=Good" [2] "Starbucks=Evil") and that's that it's much easier to not just be 'pure', but to be seen to be 'pure' when you're the small underdog organisation/company, than when you become part of the establishment that you once sought to unseat.
In marketing and business, perception is (almost?) everything...
It has to be said, as well, that my personal experience (without an axe to grind vs. Starbucks - and as someone who drinks far too many coffees in coffee-shops in an average week!) is that I've been into some seriously grotty Starbucks in my life and never a grotty Nero or Costa - but that's perhaps all because there are more of the former, so the chances of a duff one are much higher.
The 'lesson'? If lesson there is?
Only that the bigger something gets, the harder it is to guarantee consistency of values and delivery - but even more, that it's nigh-on impossible to control people's perception of you and your organisation... however pure your own values and mission.
I love this desire to control, in this case brand or perception; it's so real and honest and human ... and impossible! Boy, it's hard enough to control our own thoughts and that tongue is such a rogue! In my experience, when I try to control I tend to fail. Doesn't stop me and I have to keep coming back to the cross. That's fine, because God didn't want the world to see success as blemish-free perfect people reflecting His values without flaw. That's what I see in the great characters of the Bible, from lying Abraham to betraying Peter. What made the difference; why did they change? The good news for them as for me, of course, is that I find perfect freedom only when I give up on control (self-sacrifice; losing my life). Control is the opposite of acceptance. And that's because it's all personal in the end; it's all about lots of individual persons. Each of us has different values and characters. But the Holy Spirit brings out His values - the great fruits of Galatians - and those are the only ones that count. So organisations are fine, but always imperfect and to somebody, the perception will always be (whatever we try to do) not what we wanted it to be. So there's the joy - allowing Him to be Him and me to become like Him. And all of us encouraging one another in that journey. Brand Jesus, praise be!