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Think Inside the Cup

I am concerned that the concept of thinking outside the cup could cause Starbucks to forget what makes its experience so good ("Listening to Starbucks," July). The article pointed out how it was positive for the company to have a large crowd of people listening to music in their stores. Many of us go to Starbucks to enjoy great coffee in a quiet place where we can relax with friendly people and great service. The last thing we want is to fight through a crowd and listen to loud music. These distractions from what made it great are a "grande" mistake.

Bill Nicholson
President
AutoLogic LLC
Sussex, Wisconsin

Anarchy Doesn't Rule

A year ago, I was Whole Foods' biggest fan ("The Anarchist's Cookbook," July), brainstorming with mid-Michigan developers who also frequented its store in Ann Arbor (100 miles south) to figure out how we might pitch the company to build one here. Then Whole Foods Ann Arbor moved to a mammoth new building and became an unpleasant Whol-Mart. It still has terrific food, bountiful vitamins, and a helpful and knowledgeable staff, but it's too big and too loud. Its parking spaces are as badly designed for the big crowds it draws as its one-stall washrooms.

Meanwhile, a Trader Joe's now occupies the old building. It seems to feature more organic food each visit. If Whole Foods has erroneously bought into the bigger-is-better philosophy, it's forgetting that smarter competitors are ready to eat its lunch.

Mike Mosher
Bay City, Michigan

Fishing for Compliments

I enjoyed Ryan Underwood's article ("The Fable," July), where he takes an easy but creative shot at popular story-form books. Having developed a rather thick skin over the past five years, I will limit my remarks to what I believe is a factual error of some importance. Underwood suggests that books like Fish! are purchased but not read. Much to my chagrin, I find they are purchased and passed around schools, Starbucks, nursing homes, villages, and among families. I have been asked to sign books already read by a dozen employees of a small business trying to transform its customer experience. Such behavior isn't good for royalties, but it's a point of pride. It is my experience that emotionally intelligent story-form books get read far more often than the books written for CEOs and carried around in a conspicuous manner by would-be CEOs.

Stephen C. Lundin
Author of Fish!, Fish Tales, Fish Sticks, Fish for Life, Feedback Is a Gift, Personal Accountability, and Your Path to a Rewarding Work Life
Charthouse International
Burnsville, Minnesota

Finally, someone brave enough to expose the fraud! Ryan Underwood's "The Fable" was completely dead-on. Each one of those fables could be a chapter in a $12.95 trade paperback, but they insist on full freight for a hardcover book that can be read in one or two trips to the executive reading room. The real idiots are those who drink the Kool-Aid and make the purchases that let these "books" ascend the best-seller lists, further perpetuating the fraud.

Tim Haraden
General manager
G&K Services
Tampa, Florida

Feeling the Love

"How Do I Love Thee?" (July) made my heart race! For those companies and brands that "get it," this is indeed the best of times. The old model of brand building and one-way brand monologue (blah, blah, blah) is dead. Building great brands must come from the inside out, understanding with great clarity the deepest and richest emotional connections of those most passionate consumers.

It's not new that today's consumer expects--no, demands--an entirely different relationship with his brand. What's new is that the relationship must be truly dialogue-based, where empowerment resides squarely in the consumer's hands and where the role of the brand is to be a part of the scene rather than the scene.

Douglas Shouse
President and COO
Coyne Beahm Shouse
Greensboro, North Carolina

Value Judgments

Your article on Douglas Smith ("We, Incorporated," July) leaves out the "first thing": the value center of the individual. Corporations and organizations are not going to do the right thing if they are full of people who don't know what that right thing is. We need to teach the next generation values by getting involved where it will see us living right--at home and in our immediate community. The challenge to us individually is to slow down, get acquainted with people around us, and get involved in caring for our "place."

Rodney Lover
President
Lovers atWork Office Furniture
London, Ontario