"The idea behind the Slow Company movement is that instead of trying to be the first or to get the most mindshare or market share of any company in your vertical, you try to make something that people genuinely find useful and are willing to pay for it. And instead of trying to woo celebrities and plastering your name all over SXSW, you make something that people like so much that they tell their friends, and it spreads by word of mouth based on how well made it is and how awesomely it solves problems that people have — real problems, not ones that marketers make up."
— Lucius Kwok (via jkleske)
I was struck today by a short interview in the New York Times with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. Enough so, to actually inaugurate my new blog. That might sound strange, given the blog’s title, “Business of Meaning.” I mean, I’m not suggesting Starbucks is some sort of paragon of business virtue or I have much deep interest in the company (though I’m partial to the product). But here I am—without a plea—struck by this small interview with a CEO of a company I don’t particularly admire. What can I do? So the Spirit moves.
So, what struck me? (I know that’s the question you have.) Vulnerability. Basically, Schultz suggests that leaders—even of Fortune 500 companies—need to be vulnerable. That intrigues me. Here’s how he puts it: “The level of insecurity that you have is a strength, not a weakness. The question is, how are you going to use it?” This sounds almost like Jesus. No, I’m not saying Howard Schultz is necessarily anything like Jesus (though he may be, who knows?), but his business advice seems almost christological—security in in-security. You know, christological, kind of like something like a reflection on Jesus. I know that’s not a great sentence or phase: “kind of like something like.” But that’s what we do here. We make comparisons. Even between religion and business. Welcome to the blog.
