Turning a culture around is very difficult to do because it's based on a series of many, many decisions, and the organization is framed by those decisions.
Interpretation
Transforming an organization's culture requires numerous strategic decisions that shape its framework.
Howard Schultz emphasizes that changing an organization's culture is a challenging endeavor because it involves a multitude of decisions that collectively form the organization's structure. Each decision impacts the overall culture, making it essential to approach cultural transformation with careful consideration and insight into how various choices will interact and influence the desired change.
In practice
In a corporate training session discussing the importance of organizational culture.
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.
CEOs need to say, 'We're going to make sure this is a great environment for all types of people.' I was a beneficiary of that. I got support from the leaders of Google - all men.
While you cannot deliver policies without principles, you cannot deliver principles without having power. You have quickly to move to a stage where, emphasising your principles, you build a programme, then call for popular support.
If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.
The second rule is: Never go outside the experience of your people. When an action is outside the experience of the people, the result is confusion, fear, and retreat.
Since the shock of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's death, I have been reflecting on what made him so special. To my mind, it is simply this: Kofi Annan was both one of a kind and one of us.
The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang.
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