The Starbucks "FIasco"

I will admit it, I was not a huge fan of the #RaceTogether campaign that Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz started earlier this month. I understood the concept but I thought the vehicle he chose to deliver the message was ultimate not the right decision. That being said Schultz also had a big hand in buying a 3.8 million dollar business and turning it 13 billion dollar giant, that started a movement of coffee houses to pop up all over the world, so chances are, he may know a thing or two about business and as big of a mistake as the #RaceTogether idea may have been, Schultz once again proved why he will continue to be successful in business.

He is not afraid of failure. When the #RaceTogether idea was first announced, not many people bought into it. I am willing to bet, Schultz knew that it could be a failure but he did it anyway. He took a chance and it did not turn out well but the key is, he took a chance. While everyone else was poking holes in his idea, he was out on the battlefield taking a risk and seeing where it would take him and the organization. He did not just talk about it, he did something about it. How many times in your organization has your leader talked about making a change but has never pulled the trigger?

I know that today when the news came out that it was being cut, cut back, removed or whatever you want to call it, many including myself at first yelled “I told you so!” the only unfortunate thing is that I was in Minneapolis and Schultz was not by me. In this reverse course is further proof that Schultz will continue to be successful and another lesson for not only for business but for life as well, when you are going the wrong direction, change course. Schultz may have had to eat his words but the fact is, he was not afraid to do it. He did what was best for the organization and put the fact that it would make him look bad on the back burner; he put the long-term goals of the organization ahead of the short-term. In everyone’s life there has been a time where you have had to change your course even when you knew it would suck.

There are a few lessons from this #RaceTogether that you can apply to not only your business but your life as well. The first is to stop being afraid to make mistakes, mistakes will always happen. You can choose the mistake of not trying or make a mistake while trying. In one you know the results; in the other the doors are open. The second thing we can learn is that if you want to see change, you must take action. Schultz did not want change he tried to create it. While most people just sit around and wait he took initiative. Another lesson I want to touch on is the fact that too often we only focus on the results. Far too often it is either a pass or fail grade. We forget the most important part, what we learned in the middle, those critical lessons that we must learn to be successful and that made us successful. The final lesson I want to point out is that no matter how right you think you are, never be afraid to change your course when you see a mistake. Would you have stayed on the Titanic while it was sinking because of the “fact” that it was unsinkable? Pay attention to your surroundings and focus on the best term solution, instead of being right.