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dirac53's review
5.0
Fantastic. Despite their size Starbucks does things the right way. Firmly on the list of one of my favorite companies.
librarytech4's review
5.0
I enjoyed reading this book and learning about the history of Starbucks and where their roots came from. I remember some of the failed programs discussed in this book. I wish it would have been organized more chronologically. He jumped around a lot through time and I found it confusing.
flexcent's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
1.0
Really bad, author should stick to running starbucks. Should have been about 300 pages shorter.
secondhandshelves's review
4.0
Part memoir and testament to Howard Schultz leadership style and part story of Starbuck's reinvention during the financial crisis of 2008. Howard's passion shines on the pages and I am inspired by Starbucks's start up story and subsequent path to to reinvention. I have much respect for Starbucks as a company after reading. A few quotes that I especially liked:
"A stared at the list of 600, a lesson resonated: Success is not sustainable if it's defined by how big you become. Large numbers that once captivated me-- 40,000 stores-- are not what matter. The only number that matters is "one." One cup. One customer. One partner. One experience at a time."
... "the best innovations sense and fulfill a need before others realize the need even exists, creating a new mindset... the intent was to reinvent a commodity, to recast something tired and stale into something magical and fresh, an ambitious goal that was not about stealing market from existing competitors, but establishing a new market."
"I've never bought into the notion that there is a single recipe for successful leadership. But I do think effective leaders share two intertwined attributes: an unbridled level of confidence about where their organizations are headed, and the ability to bring people along."
"A stared at the list of 600, a lesson resonated: Success is not sustainable if it's defined by how big you become. Large numbers that once captivated me-- 40,000 stores-- are not what matter. The only number that matters is "one." One cup. One customer. One partner. One experience at a time."
... "the best innovations sense and fulfill a need before others realize the need even exists, creating a new mindset... the intent was to reinvent a commodity, to recast something tired and stale into something magical and fresh, an ambitious goal that was not about stealing market from existing competitors, but establishing a new market."
"I've never bought into the notion that there is a single recipe for successful leadership. But I do think effective leaders share two intertwined attributes: an unbridled level of confidence about where their organizations are headed, and the ability to bring people along."
cbensco's review
3.0
As a partner, this book inspired me on several levels, not the least of which was believing in the vision of Howard. He is genuinely so passionate about the company and the people who work for it.
As a reader, I got bored really quickly with the people he was introducing in the story. At first when he introduced us to someone else involved, I was impressed with how much he respected them with a paragraph of compliments. By the twentieth person I was over it.
As a reader, I got bored really quickly with the people he was introducing in the story. At first when he introduced us to someone else involved, I was impressed with how much he respected them with a paragraph of compliments. By the twentieth person I was over it.
brandylovestoread's review
4.0
If you like Starbucks, this is a must read. A good friend (who's also reading this) said it well when she called it a love letter to coffee. It is most definitely that. It is also an interesting perspective on what happens when a company focuses on taking care of their people, because by taking care of their people, the rest will fall into place.
happenstance's review
3.0
The discussion of Starbucks, the philosophy, the social responsibilities and consciousness - all of that was really interesting. The writing, though, is a bit of a struggle. It's not bad, exactly - but it's repetitive, and sometimes awkward; it always feels like Schultz is trying to sell something to you, which I guess he is - but c'mon, I wouldn't be reading this if I wasn't already a Starbucks fan.
bleeb287's review
3.0
I like Starbucks. Ten years ago, I was not a coffee drinker, and I still don't drink brewed coffee, but I love soy lattes. I knew only a little about Starbucks as a company before reading this book, and I did learn a bit about the company and the company's history and their supposed values and so on. The book is written in a very rambling, roundabout way, though. The author jumps back and forth between topics and time periods in a way that frustrated me as a reader. There is a lot of repetition which was equally frustrating as a reader. I wanted to give up on this book several times, but I persevered because the content was mostly interesting to me, although all the corporate speak and money-crunching finance stuff bores the hell out of me.
Overall, I think this book was poorly written, badly organized and much in need of heavy editing, and full of corporate jargon and self-congratulations for both the author and the company. These things all made it not a very enjoyable read. Even if I agreed with a point the author was making, everything he said came off sounding false and fake and even annoying at times. I also felt that he used a lot of these things to justify other decisions he made, which may have been correct decisions, but instead of just plainly stating that they made the decisions for business reasons, he always had a zillion justifications for every decision--and belabored these points over and over and over and over throughout the book.
I think one major point Howard Schultz was trying to make was that Starbucks is different from other companies, but this book actually convinced me that they're exactly the same as other companies, but that they want to have the *appearance* of being different, the appearance of caring about the environment, the appearance of caring about the people who work for them. I'm fine with this if it encourages them to at least make an effort in certain areas, but I am not convinced that Starbucks is some altruistic entity that can somehow provide a balance between "shareholder value" and doing what's right and what's best for the world.
This is a rather harsh review, which I don't often write. After reading this book, I don't feel any differently about Starbucks. I still like going there. I agree with some of what the author stated about it being about more than just the coffee. When I was staying with my parents out of state, helping to care for my dad who was ill, Starbucks was my oasis--a place to go where I could hang out for a while and read and just be by myself without being alone. There are few places like that, where you feel like you can just sit there for two hours reading or writing, using the free wifi, without having to spend a ton of money. But this book? It was a chore to get through, even though I like the company and agreed, at least on the surface, with many of the points the author was trying to get across.
I gave it three stars, because I did learn a bit about Starbucks from this book, and it's not the worst book I've ever read.
Overall, I think this book was poorly written, badly organized and much in need of heavy editing, and full of corporate jargon and self-congratulations for both the author and the company. These things all made it not a very enjoyable read. Even if I agreed with a point the author was making, everything he said came off sounding false and fake and even annoying at times. I also felt that he used a lot of these things to justify other decisions he made, which may have been correct decisions, but instead of just plainly stating that they made the decisions for business reasons, he always had a zillion justifications for every decision--and belabored these points over and over and over and over throughout the book.
I think one major point Howard Schultz was trying to make was that Starbucks is different from other companies, but this book actually convinced me that they're exactly the same as other companies, but that they want to have the *appearance* of being different, the appearance of caring about the environment, the appearance of caring about the people who work for them. I'm fine with this if it encourages them to at least make an effort in certain areas, but I am not convinced that Starbucks is some altruistic entity that can somehow provide a balance between "shareholder value" and doing what's right and what's best for the world.
This is a rather harsh review, which I don't often write. After reading this book, I don't feel any differently about Starbucks. I still like going there. I agree with some of what the author stated about it being about more than just the coffee. When I was staying with my parents out of state, helping to care for my dad who was ill, Starbucks was my oasis--a place to go where I could hang out for a while and read and just be by myself without being alone. There are few places like that, where you feel like you can just sit there for two hours reading or writing, using the free wifi, without having to spend a ton of money. But this book? It was a chore to get through, even though I like the company and agreed, at least on the surface, with many of the points the author was trying to get across.
I gave it three stars, because I did learn a bit about Starbucks from this book, and it's not the worst book I've ever read.
errantreads's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this account of the rise, stumble, and re-rise of Starbucks. Schultz is passionate, and he honestly cares about all aspects of how Starbucks effects all that it touches.
But this book bothered me and I had a hard time finishing it. I just had to plow through. Schultz is very passionate and caring, but from this book, I got the impression that he is more than a little in love with himself.
As a small business owner...
I found his approach to business interesting. I found his approach both inspiring and disagreeable all at the same time.
Inspiring: He really truly cares about his employees. Health care for all? Awesome. Just... awesome. Yeah, they had to downsize at one point in time, but he did not give up that position... health care for all employees. Just. Wow.
Inspiring: He cares about the growers... though it was a bit murky about how far he goes with this. They are involved with Coffee and Farmer Equity practices, which are good. Regardless, they are doing more than anyone else their size.
Disagreeable: If you are not nearly 100% as passionate about his business as Schultz is... He doesn't get it. Schultz loves what he does and it is his life. From the book, I get the impression that he expects that of everyone from manager on up.
Disagreeable: Growth Growth Growth. He is so focused on growth and then wonders why the nature of the business has changed. He often repeats that he wants to mimic the personal nature of an Italian coffee shop. If that is the case, he wouldn't have gone public and spurred growth to 10s of 1000s of shops.
Anyway... it is a good read until it becomes a tiresome read. It is worth reading just to get in the brain of a successful businessman who is also civic-minded.
But this book bothered me and I had a hard time finishing it. I just had to plow through. Schultz is very passionate and caring, but from this book, I got the impression that he is more than a little in love with himself.
As a small business owner...
I found his approach to business interesting. I found his approach both inspiring and disagreeable all at the same time.
Inspiring: He really truly cares about his employees. Health care for all? Awesome. Just... awesome. Yeah, they had to downsize at one point in time, but he did not give up that position... health care for all employees. Just. Wow.
Inspiring: He cares about the growers... though it was a bit murky about how far he goes with this. They are involved with Coffee and Farmer Equity practices, which are good. Regardless, they are doing more than anyone else their size.
Disagreeable: If you are not nearly 100% as passionate about his business as Schultz is... He doesn't get it. Schultz loves what he does and it is his life. From the book, I get the impression that he expects that of everyone from manager on up.
Disagreeable: Growth Growth Growth. He is so focused on growth and then wonders why the nature of the business has changed. He often repeats that he wants to mimic the personal nature of an Italian coffee shop. If that is the case, he wouldn't have gone public and spurred growth to 10s of 1000s of shops.
Anyway... it is a good read until it becomes a tiresome read. It is worth reading just to get in the brain of a successful businessman who is also civic-minded.