The Challenge of Staying True To Your Core

Om Malik has an interesting post on Starbucks.

I’ve always found Starbucks to be a fabulous case study for companies in the post-industrial world. Starbucks has clearly made mistakes and if Om’s experience is similar to others they may be making another one.

If Starbucks is disrupting the fundamental client experience and the trust they have built with their customers in an effort to add more immediate revenue to justify their growing stock price then they are in danger of killing their ‘golden goose.’

Om’s experience combined with John Moore’s, Brand Autopsy, observations of actions leaves open the question: Can a company sustain fast growth and stay true to its core?

I’m betting a company can. This would not be the first time Starbucks has taken an action that threaten violating the trust they’ve built. When they’ve made those mistakes they’ve paid a price and always come back to their core and reached even greater heights. I have to admit that it continues to be difficult to find good role models, though.

PS. Are you a role model? Tell me your story. Tell me what is your core and how to you plan to balance growth with that core. As good stories come in I’ll post them on my website in a new area I’ll build so that we can build a community of role models, thus making it easier for all of us to build something truly great? Just send me an e-mail.