Well before deciding to write about Starbucks, Joseph Michelli knew there was something different about the company. He was familiar with the business basics: its phenomenal expansion, brand recognition, focus on quality, and its post-listing surge in the stock price.
But his interest lay not so much in the trading multiples or the marketing narrative. What intrigued him was the 'how'. He wanted to understand the policies and principles that made it possible for a neighbourhood coffee house in Seattle to spark a 'retail revolution' - opening 11,000-plus stores worldwide, while rewriting many conventional rules of management.
His answers can be found in The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary. The book is the result of nearly two years of studying the company, during which Michelli had access to everyone from senior executives to baristas, coffee growers and customers.
It will also be the subject of a Classified Post and Speakers Connect public leadership workshop on August 30, at which Michelli will elaborate on the lessons other organisations can learn from Starbucks. Approaching the task as an academic and business consultant, his aim was to identify what worked and why.
Consistent themes soon emerged, later distilled into the five principles of the title. All can be adapted and applied to other industries. What we see is that people-driven philosophies can enhance profitability, and that listening to customers and the community really is the key to building a better business. In illustrating the first principle - 'make it your own' - Michelli explains that good man-management is all about encouraging individuality within clear guidelines. It is a question of making clear to employees how their efforts help an organisation succeed, and then letting them 'pour their creative energy' into whatever they do.
For Starbucks, those ideas are encapsulated in the 'five ways of being'. Staff and management must be welcoming, genuine, considerate, knowledgeable and involved. That checklist forms the basis for everything that follows in terms of exceeding expectations, formal training, involvement in community projects, and contact with something like 35 million customers per week.
