Great to Good: Starbucks Declines One Cup At A Time

Orginally published on Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 3:14 PM
by Earl Creps

A couple weeks ago I watched PBS documentary about Jim Collin’s book Good to Great. In his fierce, eye-of-the-tiger style, Collins explained that studies of over 1400 companies turned up only a handful that transcended mediocrity to become truly high performance. Southwest Airlines was one of his major case studies. Good to Great may well be the most influential leadership book of the century so far. The elite organizations Collins admires certainly bear watching if for no other reason than that their performance levels are just so hard to emulate. For years Starbucks has been counted among this number. Their growth, culture, and quality products have made them a model business both inside and outside the coffee industry. But all is not well. I wrote recently about the stages of decline I have observed in recent Starbucks visits, and figured I was done with it. Until I stopped for coffee last week, and saw just how easy it is to turn great back into good. If Jim Collins were writing this blog, the analysis might go something like this...

1. Get the wrong people on the bus. I walked in as the only customer in the store and was given a perfunctory greeting by the guy in the green apron manning that notch between the cash register and the breath mints. We traded responses for a minute until it was plain that I was out-greeting him. Later in conversation I discovered that he was a displaced business person who was working at ‘Bucks for the health insurance. Ouch. Even if that’s true—you’re not supposed to say it out loud to me. I just want coffee.

2. Put the wrong people in the wrong seats on the bus. Mr. Green Apron was friendly as could be once I got the conversation going. I only had to repeat my wife’s latte order twice, and I hardly minded the wait while he locating the “add a shot of Hazelnut” button on the register screen, confessing that he was only recently trained and still learning their system. Yikes. Don’t tell me that. I just want coffee. During our talk he pointed out that his severance package from the last job had been so good that he was able to take two months off and then take his wife to London for Valentine’s Day. I found this travelogue fascinating as I waited…and waited…

3. Have the wrong people in the wrong seats do the wrong things. Once the order was entered in the computer (and I assume simultaneously reported to Starbuck’s corporate HQ), Green Apron pulled the lever that squirted 9.75 ounces of Breakfast Blend into my cup, then (environmental horrors!) double-cupped the drink before adding that cardboard heat shield thing. The other .25 ounces of coffee was dripping off the lid and down the cup. Then he slid to his right behind the espresso machinery and made a skinny latte happen. I was back out the door in under ten minutes, still the only customer.

It’s all there in one person, the slide from great to good. Don’t misunderstand me. Mr. Green Apron was a smart, friendly, business-minded guy. No issues with him as a person.

But he was the wrong person in the wrong seat doing the wrong things.

Thom Rainer has applied the Good to Great concept to his research on “break-out” churches. Beginning with a database of 50,000, he identified only 13 that escaped a period of stagnation to become vibrant and growing. So it seems that greatness can be just as hard to come by in ministry.

FOR DISCUSSION: So how might the problems that transform great into just good show up in ministry leadership? What can we do about them?

About the Author:  Earl Creps has spent several years visiting congregations that are attempting to engage emerging culture. He directs doctoral studies for the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri (http://www.agts.edu).  Earl and his wife Janet have pastored three churches, one Boomer, one Builder, and one GenX. He speaks, trains, and consults with ministries around the country. Earl’s book, Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders, was published by Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network in 2006. Connect with Earl at http://www.earlcreps.com .

 

 

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