Starbucks: The Third Place

I just want to toss this out for the forum. The page at the link has the workbook which, apparently, was the project for the store's closure today. It also has a whole slew of videos which seem to be intended for play as you progress through the workbook. I haven't watched the videos but I did go through the workbook with some actual interest.

https://starbuckschannel.com/thethirdplace/

I'm actually kind of interested in what you guys think of this. To be perfectly honest, I think I'd have gone out of my mind if I had to sit through this stuff. It reminds me of the weekend I got called back off of "inactive reserve" to attend a meeting talking about how the Air Force was changing and they were going to implement "Total Quality Management". I don't know if TQM worked but I do know that when they handed out checks at the end of the weekend mine wasn't in the stack and I had to wait an extra week. I didn't find that to be "Total Quality".

Lutherf said:

I just want to toss this out for the forum. The page at the link has the workbook which, apparently, was the project for the store's closure today. It also has a whole slew of videos which seem to be intended for play as you progress through the workbook. I haven't watched the videos but I did go through the workbook with some actual interest.

https://starbuckschannel.com/thethirdplace/

I'm actually kind of interested in what you guys think of this. To be perfectly honest, I think I'd have gone out of my mind if I had to sit through this stuff. It reminds me of the weekend I got called back off of "inactive reserve" to attend a meeting talking about how the Air Force was changing and they were going to implement "Total Quality Management". I don't know if TQM worked but I do know that when they handed out checks at the end of the weekend mine wasn't in the stack and I had to wait an extra week. I didn't find that to be "Total Quality".

Click to expand...

I started looking at it, then I thought of this... Can I just take some Benadryl instead?

If they had more competition it would really hurt the brand. Christ, they snowflaked an entire generation!

Lutherf said:

I just want to toss this out for the forum. The page at the link has the workbook which, apparently, was the project for the store's closure today. It also has a whole slew of videos which seem to be intended for play as you progress through the workbook. I haven't watched the videos but I did go through the workbook with some actual interest.

https://starbuckschannel.com/thethirdplace/

I'm actually kind of interested in what you guys think of this. To be perfectly honest, I think I'd have gone out of my mind if I had to sit through this stuff. It reminds me of the weekend I got called back off of "inactive reserve" to attend a meeting talking about how the Air Force was changing and they were going to implement "Total Quality Management". I don't know if TQM worked but I do know that when they handed out checks at the end of the weekend mine wasn't in the stack and I had to wait an extra week. I didn't find that to be "Total Quality".

Click to expand...

Ah, TQM. What a blast from the past. Well I remember when it was all the rage and even universities were hiring TQM "facilitators." My sister was a national manager at American Express and was forced into becoming one and had to carry around all these 3-ring binders filled with trendy jargon and slogans. So I went to your link but didn't make it to the second clip by Common. I would have found yesterday's training excruciating and would've gone straight into "Blah, blah, blah, blah...Ginger!" mode [Gary Larson ref for those who don't recognize this phrase].

But I saw enough to be a little irritated. I've never had an issue with people and don't really understand why people have to be trained not to be assholes and jerks. Treat everyone with respect and courtesy. The end.

First, I think it's great that Starbucks cares enough to insist that every one of their employees learns what it means to respect another person, particularly someone who's given one no reason not to. Way back at the start of my career, my firm required diversity training for newly promoted managers. It was three days long; it was not easy to go through -- there was a whole lot of hollerin' and bein' pissed-off in those sessions -- and it was worth it because a whole lot of maturing happened there too.

From the Training Manual:

• 
  [*=1]That sense of community among strangers is something the U.S. doesn't have. Thinking about the America my parents described to me from their heydays and thinking about the U.S. I knew growing up, I am hard pressed to say that overall the U.S. has been, for the past 100+ years, anything other than an "us and them" nation. Sometimes the segregation was racially driven, sometimes it was not. The U.S. I know is a place of communities, but not really a place where folks from different communities routinely interact on more than a purely superficial level.
  
  There are, of course, occasional exceptions. Dupont Circle in D.C. is one. A friend of mine and I like to go there and play chess we play a "rise and fly" version with whomever else is there, and folks who show up there to play are from all segments of society. But that is just that, an exception. Outside of that, the types of folks with whom I interact in the U.S. form a fairly homogeneous group. When I go abroad, it's not that way at all.
  
  I like that Starbucks is trying to become that ubiquitous place upon which we as a culture can build a broad and inclusive sense of community. In my mind, it's something we talk about a lot, but it's not something we've had, built, yet we should have.

• 
  [*=1]That's an interesting assignment. Some folks (adults) I know would say they've felt that way in limited situations, ones like events with family and friends, perhaps at their church, perhaps at work. Other folks I know would say they feel that way anywhere, everywhere and all the time, with rare exception. My closest friends and I in college used to express the notion that we belonged by saying, "The party doesn't start until we get there." It wasn't that we thought we "were" the "party;" we said that because we knew we, just like the other people there, contributed something (it didn't have to be a big thing) to the "party" that made it be better than it was without us. We knew that about ourselves just as everyone else there knew it about us and about themselves.
  
  It doesn't today surprise me that others aren't so confident about their place in the world. I think that comes from the "us and them" thing. When folks know certain things about you, they suddenly become awkward. I don't know how it happens, but that clumsiness transfers and the situation itself becomes awkward, whereupon the best outcome is to simply part ways. So much for "building bridges."
  
  One's got to be oneself, and let others be themselves; however, in our society, we've become so accustomed to folks masking their motives that we're now "masters" at inferring all sorts of things exist that do not. Doing that's just not good for interpersonal relations...not on a personal or societal level.

• 
  [*=1]I guess that's why it's a good thing Starbucks ran this seminar.....I had to chuckle upon reading "Mellody" describe "Alexis'" remark as clinical. It didn't strike me that way at all; I thought the description/definition was clear, precise and complete. I saw her ask for a further breakdown and thought "well, hell, that would be clinical, so to speak." I guess that I thought what I did and "Melody" felt otherwise is emblematic of why the program is worth doing.

(continued from post 5)

• 
  [*=1]I have heard folks say they don't see color. I don't trust people who say that; it doesn't matter what race they are. Of course, one sees another's skin color (unless one's eyes don't work), and there's no way in hell that a person raised in the U.S. cannot be aware of the associations attendant to one's skin color.
  
  As for the identity-color correlation, I don't understand it. I understand that some people have that as part of their sense-of-self, but I don't know what having that aspect of sense-of-self feels like. Intellectually, I get it; I just don't have touchpoint for it. On the other hand, I do know what it feels like to be praised and ridiculed on account of things that are part of my own sense-of-self. One feels great and the other is cutting to the core.
  
  That said, the integral elements of my sense-of-self aren't, as they must be for minorities, so obvious to others and thus aren't easy targets for ridicule. Sure, one can denigrate me based on my race, but being part of the race having cultural, legal, and political primacy in the U.S., doing so's not going to affect me other, perhaps, than superficially irk me at that moment. So some gal/guy derided me. What the hell do I care? I'm still "on top," so to speak. More to the point of this paragraph, however, because my identity isn't tied to my race, the aspersion has no great impact.

nota bene said:

Ah, TQM. What a blast from the past. Well I remember when it was all the rage and even universities were hiring TQM "facilitators." My sister was a national manager at American Express and was forced into becoming one and had to carry around all these 3-ring binders filled with trendy jargon and slogans. So I went to your link but didn't make it to the second clip by Common. I would have found yesterday's training excruciating and would've gone straight into "Blah, blah, blah, blah...Ginger!" mode [Gary Larson ref for those who don't recognize this phrase].

But I saw enough to be a little irritated. I've never had an issue with people and don't really understand why people have to be trained not to be assholes and jerks. Treat everyone with respect and courtesy. The end.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, some people are no longer being taught or following the golden rule outside of their jobs. I cannot abide people texting or talking on the phone while a cashier is checking them out. Hello! Humans are helping you! It's so rude.

I also don't understand why some of those working in customer service, resent giving customer service and give attitude for being asked for help. (Recent bad experience in...a bank.)

Gina said:

Unfortunately, some people are no longer being taught or following the golden rule outside of their jobs. I cannot abide people texting or talking on the phone while a cashier is checking them out. Hello! Humans are helping you! It's so rude.

I also don't understand why some of those working in customer service, resent giving customer service and give attitude for being asked for help. (Recent bad experience in...a bank.)

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In a bank?! :shock:

You know, even when it's robotic and the grocery clerk doesn't even make eye contact with you, they at least do that pro forma "Did you find everything you need?" and then "Have a nice day," and I like it.

I also like to jar them awake, and so I always reply, "Have a short one!" This is very amusing. Most clerks will do a doubletake, get it, and laugh. A few are too stunned to say anything but "Huh...wut?" :mrgreen:

nota bene said:

In a bank?! :shock:

You know, even when it's robotic and the grocery clerk doesn't even make eye contact with you, they at least do that pro forma "Did you find everything you need?" and then "Have a nice day," and I like it.

I also like to jar them awake, and so I always reply, "Have a short one!" This is very amusing. Most clerks will do a doubletake, get it, and laugh. A few are too stunned to say anything but "Huh...wut?" :mrgreen:

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Yes, in a bank. When every bank in the U.S. is clamoring to keep customers.

LOL, I'll have to remember, "Have a short one"! Just to see what they say.

Gina said:

Yes, in a bank. When every bank in the U.S. is clamoring to keep customers.

LOL, I'll have to remember, "Have a short one"! Just to see what they say.

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Oh, yes, you must! Great fun, and the truth is that I'm coming from a sincere place too. I'm very shallow and have wished probably every day I ever worked to have a short one.

How do we feel about the new "You'all come and hang out if you want, no need to buy anything" plan?

I expect them to take it in the ass as people decide that they will buy their coffee someplace not full of riff-raff, and then take it again when they change the policy back to "These confines are for customers only".

I am sometimes wrong.

:2wave:

nota bene said:

Ah, TQM. What a blast from the past. Well I remember when it was all the rage and even universities were hiring TQM "facilitators." My sister was a national manager at American Express and was forced into becoming one and had to carry around all these 3-ring binders filled with trendy jargon and slogans. ...

Click to expand...

I so hate the jargon people in business use; it's a "big" pet peeve of mine...Over the years, countless folks on my staff have had me return reports to them with instructions to replace the jargon with non-jargon words that mean the same thing. What am I to say? I come from a place wherein "leverage" and "impact" are nouns. FWIW:

• Leverage --> replace with "use," "employ" or "exploit"
• Impact --> replace with "affect" or something more specific like increase, decrease, conflicts with, and so on
• Support --> If it's not literally keeping something from falling, find another word.
• Mutuate --> Any verb you can imagine is better than that.

TQM is a good thing. Firms apply it, or at least the good ones do, even now. Why it was considered "a thing" is something I never really understood, even though I lived through that period. There's really nothing not to like about the notion of continuous improvement.

nota bene said:

....So I went to your link but didn't make it to the second clip by Common. I would have found yesterday's training excruciating and would've gone straight into "Blah, blah, blah, blah...Ginger!" mode [Gary Larson ref for those who don't recognize this phrase].

Click to expand...

I read through the PDF version. I know Common had a video that accompanies the program, but I didn't see it. The narrative elements in the PDF are decent enough and one can read the content much faster than one can watch a video, or at least I can. I hate videos because one must watch them at the speed of the video.

The thing is that seminars such as Starbucks' are interactive. Something's lost when reading the content in the abstract. I think had I not had prior experience to seminars of a similar nature, I'd have a hard time relating to some of the content were I to just read it "cold."

While I think the materials are mostly well considered and well developed, I think some of the "notebook" questions need to be supplemented, but otherwise, it's fine.

nota bene said:

But I saw enough to be a little irritated. I've never had an issue with people and don't really understand why people have to be trained not to be assholes and jerks. Treat everyone with respect and courtesy. The end.

Click to expand...

They do because "they are, Blanche; they are." [That's an oblique Betty Davis -- Whatever Happened to Baby Jane -- reference.]



Firms basically have two options: fire the jerks or teach them how not to behave like jerks. The cost-benefit analysis for each option varies by firm. I have to assume that Starbucks' analysis militated for the latter approach.

Xelor said:

I so hate the jargon people in business use; it's a "big" pet peeve of mine...Over the years, countless folks on my staff have had me return reports to them with instructions to replace the jargon with non-jargon words that mean the same thing. What am I to say? I come from a place wherein "leverage" and "impact" are nouns. FWIW:

• Leverage --> replace with "use," "employ" or "exploit"
• Impact --> replace with "affect" or something more specific like increase, decrease, conflicts with, and so on
• Support --> If it's not literally keeping something from falling, find another word.
• Mutuate --> Any verb you can imagine is better than that.

TQM is a good thing. Firms apply it, or at least the good ones do, even now. Why it was considered "a thing" is something I never really understood, even though I lived through that period. There's really nothing not to like about the notion of continuous improvement.



I read through the PDF version. I know Common had a video that accompanies the program, but I didn't see it. The narrative elements in the PDF are decent enough and one can read the content much faster than one can watch a video, or at least I can. I hate videos because one must watch them at the speed of the video.

The thing is that seminars such as Starbucks' are interactive. Something's lost when reading the content in the abstract. I think had I not had prior experience to seminars of a similar nature, I'd have a hard time relating to some of the content were I to just read it "cold."

While I think the materials are mostly well considered and well developed, I think some of the "notebook" questions need to be supplemented, but otherwise, it's fine.



They do because "they are, Blanche; they are." [That's an oblique Betty Davis -- Whatever Happened to Baby Jane -- reference.]

​

Firms basically have two options: fire the jerks or teach them how not to behave like jerks. The cost-benefit analysis for each option varies by firm. I have to assume that Starbucks' analysis militated for the latter approach.

Click to expand...

Great vid clip.

I'm going to control myself and not go off on a rant about the coarsening of society, but it's damned sad that employers have to teach people how to behave. I learned how to from my parents and other adults, and my kids learned from me. When they were little, and I didn't even beat them (although I did hiss from time to time, "You're a dead boy/girl, if you EVER do something like _____"). :mrgreen:

As for TQM, it's been supplanted by ISO and etc., and I've seen experienced exactly one American company for which it works. It succeeds only when the big bosses are truly willing to accept constructive criticism from below and then act on it. In a culture which focuses on the benefit of the group, such as Japan, it's very successful, but we focus on the individual here rather than the group.

That one company, BTW, was power plant. I'd been hired to teach a short-course, and in that class were vice presidents and craft employees, some of them without a high school diploma and more than a few without many teeth either. I loved that gig. Last person hired was the armed security guard at the scary gate, and he'd been there for ten years already. This was during the TQM fad, but the company called it "grid management."