Connect Winter 2016 | Page 22

How Passion , Commitment , and Conscious Capitalism ®
Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives
BOOK REVIEW

Uncontainable :

How Passion , Commitment , and Conscious Capitalism ®

Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives

by Kip Tindell , Chairman & CEO of The Container Store
In Uncontainable , Kip Tindell illustrates what it means to thrive as a follower of Conscious Capitalism — a movement advocating that businesses run all ( or in reality , most ) aspects of their operation for the purpose of improving the world ’ s human and environmental conditions .
Built around the following seven foundational principles that anchor The Container Store ’ s people-first culture , he uses real-life case studies to demonstrate just how these have played out in his experience :
ÎÎ1 Great Person = 3 Good People . Based on this belief , and in order to secure the best talent , the company pays its sales staff 50 – 100 % more than average retail wages .
ÎÎFill the Other Guy ’ s Basket to the Brim . When vendors are treated as Container Store partners , it ’ s a win-win . Both parties benefit .
ÎÎThe Man in the Desert Selling . We need to know clients well enough to propose solutions , while also selling in a way aimed at improving people ’ s lives .
ÎÎCommunication Is Leadership . Each employee is thoroughly educated on the business , which serves to reinforce teamwork , loyalty , and a genuine sense of ownership .
ÎÎThe Best Selection , Service , and Price .
ÎÎIntuition Doesn ’ t Come to an Unprepared Mind . Full-time employees are trained up to 300 hours in their first year in order to drive creativity and innovation .
ÎÎAir of Excitement !
Tindell also gives glimpses into why the company was founded in the 1970s ( to find solutions that save people both space and time through its storage products and organization services ) as well as his own desperate struggle to avoid mass layoffs at the start of the economic recession in 2008 . From this we see that his general approach toward business challenges is to soul search until he finds a solution . At the same time , he believes that most if not all company solutions are grounded in people — specifically , fine-tuning talent recruiting , retention , and development .
“ If you ’ re lucky enough to be somebody ’ s employer , you have a huge moral obligation to make sure they want to get out of bed and come to work in the morning .”
— KIP TINDELL IN THE CONTAINER STORE ’ S CULTURE IMPACT BRIEF
22 | SNB . COM // CONNECT CULTURE WINTER 2016