One of the fundamental requirements for working at The Beacon Group is having an obsession with coffee drinking. To be blatantly obvious, I believe that more often than not, we are single handedly responsible for keeping Starbucks the worldwide powerhouse that it is. That's not the point of this post, consider it perspective...

So there we were, a couple of us returning to the office after a working lunch, when we decided to stop at our local 'Bucks... to grab some coffees for the office.. and there it was... the coffee traveler pack. 16 cups of coffee, in a stay warm box, with a stack of little cups, lids, and all the fixins. It was what we'd all been waiting for. But then, the remarkable product fell to pieces. The typical Starbucks customer is more that willing to drop 3 to 4 bucks.. on a single coffee, and there I was 'Bucks card in hand willing to drop close to 16 dollars on this bucket of heaven.

Larry Bossidy, and Ram Charan can sum this up for all of us quite easily..."Without the ability to execute, all other attributes of leadership become hollow.". We were told by our cheery little Barista.. "Can you wait 15 minutes, I'll have to brew a new pot. Next time, you should call first." Hmm.... 16 dollars... for coffee... 15 minutes... who has time for that? So, we grabbed 3 grandes and left... total... 7 bucks.. 9 dollar loss this time, will there be a next time... how many times has this happened to your customers? Don't know? Find out.

If you haven't read Execution: The Discipline of Getting things done, click on the Amazon link on the right. When you finish it, forward your copy to the folks at Starbucks... it's better to have a B plan with A execution... trust me.