Any business today that embraces the status quo as an operating principle is going to be on a death march.
Interpretation
Businesses must evolve to survive; sticking to the status quo leads to failure.
Howard Schultz emphasizes the necessity of innovation and adaptation in business practices. He warns that any company that settles into complacency and does not seek growth or change will ultimately face decline and demise, likening this stagnation to a 'death march'.
In practice
This quote could be used in a business seminar to encourage leaders to adopt innovative practices.
The rules of engagement around building a brand have changed significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. Where companies at one time could spread their message through traditional marketing, consumers now seek an enduring emotional connection with the companies they patronize. The foundation of that connection is the most important characteristic of building a world-class brand: trust. Trust with your people and trust with your customers.
The future of America is not an entitlement. We have been given a treasure chest of gifts and opportunities, but some people are being left behind, and success is not sustainable unless it is shared.
Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising.
While their service is ending, our responsibility is just beginning!
In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity or you can pick yourself up and say listen, I have to be responsible for myself.
When I first discovered in the early 1980s the Italian espresso bars in my trip to Italy, the vision was to re-create that for America - a third place that had not existed before. Starbucks re-created that in America in our own image; a place to go other than home or work. We also created an industry that did not exist: specialty coffee.
In order to accommodate to change and to the contrast of phenomena, the intellect does not require any shocks and inner upheavals; it is only through such upheavals that the more conservative mind could accommodate to the metropolitan rhythm of events.
The challenge of the unknown future is so much more exciting than the stories of the accomplished past.
My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.
Changing communities and changing our country is going to last a lot longer than how many footballs you catch or how many touchdowns you make.
I stand before you today to repudiate the ridiculous notion that the American people will not vote for qualified candidates simply because he is not white or because she is not a male.
During past years, like frightened children, we were afraid to eat the strong meat of human rights and instead sucked the milk of civil rights from the breasts of white liberals, black Uncle Toms, and Aunt Jemimas.
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