JS : Thank you so much for joining us , Bob ! I ’ ve genuinely enjoyed reading your amazing new book , Better and Better . First , can you walk me through the steps you took in growing Green Mountain Coffee from the beginning ? How did the company evolve , and what were the key areas you focused on first ?
BS : As any company grows , you focus on different things . Our primary focus was getting consumer awareness and having customers sell our coffee . You need distribution , so we had to convince stores that we had enough consumers . We focused on production , roasting , and packaging to make sure we had the best product . We wanted to be wherever coffee was consumed , whether that was offices , restaurants , or trains .
JS : In the book , you specifically say , “ The benefits of an engaged workforce are legion , and the enthusiasm of our workforce was unequaled . I believe it was a key ingredient in the secret sauce that enabled us to prosper where so many others failed .” I agree , based on my own experience , that an engaged workforce is critical . Do you remember a moment when you said to yourself , “ I need to make sure that everyone in this company cares about this as much as I do ?”
BS : Well , I guess my first aha moment was when we formed the environmental committee in ‘ 89 . One of the employees wanted to get a few people together to see how they could improve the environment . The engagement of those people , like one of them redesigning one of our distribution boxes , helped reduce environmental impact , but it also saved us money . People started coming up with ideas to make the world a better place . There was a time — for many years — where we weren ’ t making any
money , and the motivation was just to stay in business . But then , after we were making money , it became , “ Why do we need to make more money ?” Well , the more money we make , the more good we can do in the world . So , it gave meaning to a lot of people . I think them being engaged in developing the strategies and implementing those strategies gave them buy-in to the success of the company . I was always careful to co-create with them . I used to think I had great ideas , but anytime I shared them , others always came up with a better solution . The more people involved in figuring something out , the better the solution .
I would say it was the late ‘ 90s , around 1999 or 2000 , when we started working with Appreciative Inquiry , which almost forced the engagement of people . One of the first things we did was interview about 20 people , and we asked them , “ How can we be more profitable ?” We taught them interviewing techniques , and questions were crafted to create a bond with the person . For example , “ Why did you join Green Mountain Coffee ?” or “ Think back to a high point in your work experience . What made that a high point ?” That dialoguing creates a sense of community . Those people would then go out and interview others , and it became a cascading effect . Are you familiar with Appreciative Inquiry ?
JS : Because of your book , I am .
BS : Okay , because it ’ s a very powerful tool in many ways . You can apply it to customer service . You think of all your customer service experiences : What was the best one ? Why , where , and what happened ? If it could have been better , what would have happened ? You get some very insightful things , and it can be used anywhere . Even when going on vacation with your kids , you can ask , “ What was the best vacation we had , and what did you like about it ?” Just by asking a question , you create an impression . We would do summits , where we ’ d invite frontline people , senior people , stockholders , investors , and even our vendors . It was many stakeholders , getting in the same room and figuring out solutions , but at the same time , we were building community . I mentioned in the book , it was amazing to me that some of these people were coming , thinking , “ Why did they invite me ? I ’ m not going to say anything .” And when you started getting them going , they had plenty to say . I was shocked that people were so engaged that they wanted to share .
JS : How did you encourage that kind of thinking , and how did you navigate it as a leader ?
BS : I I would say personal development of employees is key . We used to teach meditation . We were always into mindfulness and observing what works from a positive point of view . We were always looking at making the positive so overwhelming that the negative