Comments on: Starbucks Cultural Change and Resistance

By: Tired Barista

Tired Barista — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 00:42:27 +0000

I’ve worked for Starbucks for many years, I will first say that in my store it really is a jacked up situation. The media is not exagerating about some of the conditions. They are literally attempting to turn baristas into mindless robots, moving a certain way to shave off mere seconds. It’s not Toyota where cars are being assembled. It’s a coffee shop where human interaction is key.

The worst part is absolutely true. The supervisors and Mangaers observe you as if you’re a lab rat. Getting in your face if you don’t move in a certain direction.

This is not the company I started with.

I gave my two weeks…

By: Pete Abilla

Pete Abilla — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:36:36 +0000

In reply to John M..

Hi John,

I agree with you. Genchi Genbutsu is about observing first-hand the conditions and the phenomena (defect) in the area. But the tone the act of Genchi Genbutsu takes on is that of a coach armed with the Socratic method, aiming to help his or her people solve their own problems.

I agree with you.

By: John M.

John M. — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:21:54 +0000

I’m a director in a software development shop in a Fortune 1000 company (internal software mostly). One of my co-directors asked me an interesting question several months ago that I’ve been chewing on ever since: “Where is the line between genchi genbutsu and micromanagement?” I had an epiphany a couple of weeks ago: I think the difference is that in genchi genbutsu, management is present to gain empathy for the employees and help them solve their own problems. In micromanagement, management shows up and tells people what to do.

Having the VP of Lean Thinking running around designing pastry carts strikes me as well into the category of micromanagement, if that’s indeed what happened.

I’m curious if anyone else has any thoughts on this.

-John