I recently finished How Starbucks Saved My Life.  The spell checker on this computer knows the name Starbucks.  This indicates the obvious truth that Starbucks is a large and sometimes greatly disliked organization.  Like all the homogenized super-brands of today, people find the reality of their existence to be their greatest vice.

Now I will not start on some kind of pro-Walmart polemic. What I would like to point out is that all our super organizations of today reflect what we’ve learned prior.  Or, more succinctly, yesterdays aha is today’s duh.  Mr. Gill’s story reflects a person, less of privilege, but more of another time.  This book is a human story that reveals the radical changes to business and business institutions in the last fifty years.

Sounds boring? Not really. This is a good story that underscores how far we’ve come in the business world. The main storyline is intertwined with staggering stories, of Truman Capote and Jacky-O. I found much to think about in my own career and life after reading Mike’s great story.

• How Starbucks Saved My Life, Michael Gates Gill