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
