Beans: Four Principles for Running a Business in Good Times or Bad
by Leslie Yerkes, Charles Decker, Bob Nelson
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| Leslie Yerkes and Charles Decker are the authors of Beans,
an insightful business fable taken from the true story of a coffee
company that has prospered by intentionally staying small, focusing
on what really matters, and inspiring fanatical customer loyalty in
the process. They share their insights and inspirations below. |
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Question:
Charles, you worked for Berrett-Koehler (BK) Publishers, and Leslie,
you've had two bestselling books published by BK. What made you decide
to go with another publisher for this book (yes, I'm a little bitter)? |
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Charles:
Well, it was a difficult decision because we both love the BK family,
but putting a "genre book" like Beans together with
the right publisher is really an art form. Our publisher, Jossey-Bass,
had published three other bestselling fable books prior to ours and
had a worldwide sales force that understood this kind of book. They
also are among the very few publishers that, because of their Pfeiffer
line, really focuses on the corporate training market. That made them
very attractive in our eyes. The next one may be more of a "BK
book", who knows? |
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Question:
What made you want to write about this little coffee shop? How did
the idea come about? |
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Charles:
After I left BK, I went to work for Amazon.com in Seattle, and the
business that's the basis of our book was literally right next door
to Amazon's offices. I saw the lines of loyal coffee drinkers waiting
outside in the Seattle rain every day when I went to work, and, after
watching the customer devotion and hearing about the great coffee
they served there, I decided to become a customer myself. Just like
in the book, I met some of my best friends in line waiting for my
coffee every day. I have always thought well-run businesses don't
get the press they deserve, whether they have 20 employees or 20,000,
so this is our answer to that issue.. |
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Leslie:
I also knew from my consulting background that businesses need this
kind of
inspirational story with a hero who sort-of bucked the corporate world.
With everything that's going on right now, I thought that having this
coffee shop as the focus might enable people to realize they have
options in the world that they might not have thought of before. |
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Question:
How did the two of you hook up to work on this project together? |
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Leslie:
Of course I knew Charles from when he was working at BK, but I had
heard of him from his Executive Program book club days in New York.
His experience at Amazon.com is one of the stories in my book Fun
Works, so we had a long history together. I went to Seattle for
some meetings and he pointed out the coffee shop that's the basis
of Beans and told me all the reasons he thought it would make
a great business story. I thought about what I might be able to add
to a book about a little coffee business and asked him if he thought
we should collaborate on a book. He said yes and the rest is history. |
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Question:
What do you think it is that makes this story so appealing? |
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Charles:
Most people like the simplicity of it, and the universality. Someone
pointed out to me recently that drinking coffee is the only thing
we do, with the exception of bodily functions, every day of our lives!
It also celebrates a business that treats both its employees and customers
like family, creating almost fanatical loyalty in the process. |
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Leslie:
Charles is right, but after we did our fieldwork in Seattle I realized
from my consulting background that this business has lessons to teach
other companies --large and small -- about keeping it simple, honoring
people, and turning an honest profit. Now that we're reading every
day about corporate scandals and senior executives pillaging from
their companies, I think people more than ever are ready for an upbeat
business story. |
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Question:
Leslie, your first two books focused on having fun in the workplace
and creating workplace environments that people enjoy. Is this story
related to that theme at all? |
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Leslie:
Absolutely! That was one of the reasons this story appealed to me
so strongly. Several of the customers I interviewed when doing the
fieldwork talked about the serious attention to detail of the place,
but also about how fun was integrated into the employees' daily activities.
You can't run a business based solely on having fun, so this company
showed immediately how fun was ingrained into the company philosophy
-- and how all that created a better bottom line. |
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Question:
The company in the book is inspired by an actual Seattle coffee shop,
but you've written the book as a fable and given the shop a fictional
name. Why not just write it as a true story about this particular
shop? |
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Charles:
Both of us feel that the fable format enables people to learn difficult
management concepts in a more accessible, less threatening way. That's
why business fables and parables are so popular. I've always thought
that the world was really about telling stories more than anything,
and this story is pretty compelling. |
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Leslie:
That's right. But the fable format also allows people to imagine that
their own coffee shop or even their own company might be the
basis of the story, whether large or small. We wanted to celebrate
the owners of the shop that we based Beans upon, but we wanted
to honor their privacy as well. It's a delicate balance, that's for
sure. |
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Question:
What are the top five books you think all managers should have on
their bookshelves? |
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Leslie:
Boy, that's a tough one because there are some great books out there.
Mine would be: Good to Great, The Leadership Challenge,
The Southwest Way, The Tipping Point and anything written
by the Dalai Lama. |
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Charles:
Every time I choose five, as I recently did for the Author Interview
Amazon.com did with me, a new one comes out that I want to add. For
the moment it would be five that happen to include three BK titles:
Good to Great, Love 'Em or Lose 'Em, The Boss's Survival
Guide, Talking to One Another, and Repacking Your Bags.
And one more book that you publish, Affluenza, also has lessons
that managers should read and heed. |
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Question:
Do the two of you have any plans for future books, together or separately? |
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Charles:
I do! I am currently doing research on five businesses right here
in my Greenwich Village neighborhood that apply what we call The Four
P's in the running of their businesses daily -- sometimes without
even knowing it. |
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Leslie:
Yes! We are looking for individuals and organizations that are creating
news ways of relating to work, coworkers and customers. I am passionate
about the search for a sustainable model for work and working relationships.
There are some businesses we are watching but we are open to the ideas
of others. |
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Question:
How do you take your coffee? |
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Leslie:
I consider it a dessert -- there is nothing better than a latte with
real sugar. |
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Charles:
I like a nice strong, double espresso -- no sugar. And in the business
world, like so many people, no sugar coating. |
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| To learn more about Charles and Leslie's book, read Beans. |
