Page 159 - The Starbucks Experience

PRINCIPLE 4

responsibility for mistakes or an unwillingness to resolve the
shortcoming.
With the grace of competent leadership, Starbucks did not
seek to scapegoat or place blame on the store partner who
made the errant decision in an unimaginably stressful situa-
tion. Instead, Orin Smith understood something that most
great leaders appreciate: when you are wrong, admit it, fix
the problem, and stay the course in areas where you are mak-
ing a positive difference.

Resistance inside the Store
For a company to be truly successful at embracing resistance,
individuals at all levels must be empowered to deal in a
proactive manner when things run amok. At Starbucks, in-
144 store partners emulate the behavior of their leaders. Since
they have the most face-to-face interactions with customers,
partners must be well trained in how to deal with unhappy
and resistant patrons.
Store manager Holly Vanderknapp describes what happens
when her staff confronts the prospect of turning down a cus-
tomer request. “We have a ‘just say yes’ policy. When a cus-
tomer asks for something, we explore how we can make the
request into a reality for the customer.”
“Unfortunately,” says Holly, “there are times when we
can’t say yes, particularly if it involves the safety or health of
someone else. Whenever possible, we try to work with cus-
tomers and their special needs. For example, we have a lady
who requested an odd drink alteration. The first time she
came in, she ordered 15 pumps of chai, 2 pumps of cinna-
mon, with nonfat milk poured into a cup, and then she
wanted it steamed all together. That’s not something we nor-