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6
PUTTHE PIECES
TOGETHER
FOR AHIGHERCAUSE
I love Jamba Juice!
When IÕm at a shopping center, at my university, or in an airport,
I often find myself waiting in line to order one of their latest concoc-
tions of fruit or veggie smoothies, usually in the extra-large 24-ounce
cup. ItÕs so-o-o good.
IÕm not the only one who loves Jamba Juice. Founded in 1990,
Jamba Juice (the name means Òto celebrateÓ in Swahili) now boasts
more than 500 kiosks and small-store locations in 26 states, and net
sales of $350 million. Average store sales per year are currently
$650,000 and growing. Roughly half of all locations are franchised or
partnered with other companies, such as Starbucks, Whole Foods,
Safeway, and 24 Hour Fitness. The company is expanding rapidly
through franchising and licensing agreements, currently rolling out a
new location every five days or so, and has plans to go international.
New spin-offs, like the expanded healthful snack-food menus and the
Jamba Go-Go delivery and catering business, have sharply boosted
annual revenues. The company anticipates this natural momentum to
yield a $1 billion revenue stream by 2010.
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Clearly, Jamba rocks. Although it has only 11 percent of the
entire juice and smoothie bar market, it dominates. In fact, not only
has the company continued to grow at a 25 percent annual pace, but
1
it has also been able to finance its growth internally.
What drives the leaders of Jamba Juice? What drives the domi-
nance of the company to the point that it has broken from the pack?
What drives its perpetual quest for further breakthrough in the
increasingly crowded juice and smoothie bar industry, where smaller
upstarts are constantly seeking to imitate the success of larger rivals?
Financial reward is one answer, of course, but if the research on
entrepreneursÕ motives is correct, itÕs only one piece of the puzzle. I
submit that the deeper answer, and Jamba JuiceÕs sustained success, is
rooted in the companyÕs higher cause. That cause transcends the kind
of bland Òwe will make the best juicesÓ vision statement that compa-
nies churn out all the time. The higher cause of Jamba Juice is, and I
quote, to help us live a Òhealthier, balanced lifeÓ; a more Ònatural lifeÓ;
a Òfruitful life.Ó In the eyes of its leaders, Jamba Juice is more than a
portfolio of products to be managed. As they say, itÕs Òa way to eat, a
way to think, a way to live.Ó ItÕs a way to Òcelebrate the flavors of life.Ó
This is not simply marketing pap that can be copied by any JoeÕs Juice
Bar. This is real.
Beyond the Mission Statement to a
Higher Cause
Mission and vision statements are good things to have. But to break
from the pack, a company would be wise to strive for something big-
ger than a mission and deeper than a vision. For starters, it must pro-
pound a cause, a Òcentral ideaÓ that people can rally around. In
December 1981, a new CEO of GE named Jack Welch addressed a
group of Wall Street analysts for the first time. He referred to a letter
that he had recently read in Fortune magazine as something that fully
captured his thinking on strategic planning. Referring to the great
Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz and his famous book
On War,first published in 1832, hereÕs what the letter stated:
[According to von Clausewitz], men could not reduce strategy
to a formula. Detailed planning necessarily failed, due to the
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CHAPTER 6¥PUTTHE PIECES TOGETHERFORA HIGHER CAUSE 135
in execution, and the independent will of the opposition.
Instead, the human elements were paramount: leadership,
morale, and the almost instinctive savvy of the best generals.
The Prussian general staff, under the elder von Moltke, per-
fected these concepts in practice. They did not expect a plan
of operations to survive beyond the first contact with the
enemy. They set only the broadest of objectives and empha-
sized seizing unforeseen opportunities as they arose. Strategy
was not a lengthy action plan. It was the evolution of a central
idea through continually changing circumstances.
The secret of strategic success, according to von Clausewitz and
Welch, is not to try to figure out every possible contingency that might
arise and linearly map out all operations thereafterÑas if that was
even possible. The secret is to have a Òcentral ideaÓ around which the
entire organization revolves, and then develop quick plans around that
central idea in response to fleeting opportunities in the marketplace.
Consequently, leaders who confront ÒcentralÓ questions about
the nature of their organization are not simply engaging in intellectu-
ally interesting exercises; they are developing critical strategic priori-
ties. ÒCentral ideaÓ questions include these:
¥ Who are we?
¥ What do we stand for?
¥ WhatÕs our agenda?
¥ WhatÕs our destination?
¥ Whom do we serve?
¥ Where are we going?
¥ Why do we exist?
¥ Why should we exist?
2
¥ What are our underlying philosophies and core values?
The answers to these questions summon an organization to reach
far more than the standard corporate mission statement that appears
in the annual report and then is summarily ignored. The answers
define a cause. That cause binds together all the disparate elements
of an organizationÑpeople, decisions, systems, processesÑand
directs them onto the same path. It also allows employees to view theHarari_06.qxd 7/26/06 2:04 PM Page 136
136 BREAK FROMTHE PACK
environment around them with the same eyes, and make rapid-fire
decisions based on a common mental model.
I donÕt see genuine causes evident in many companies. IÕve seen
overgeneralized, bland Òvision statementsÓ that meekly and unobtru-
sively hang on walls. IÕve seen thick, richly bound strategic plans with
technologically whiz-bang PowerPoint presentations that are unclear,
that donÕt differentiate the company, and that donÕt ignite peoplesÕ
passions. IÕve seen innumerable tough Òno-nonsenseÓ recitations of
corporate goals, such as ÒWe will capture market X,Ó or ÒWe will have
an earnings growth of Y%,Ó or ÒWe will be a company of Z revenues in
three years.Ó Such objectives may be valid and worthy, but they still
do not tell employees, customers, and investors how the company will
act to achieve them, or why those objectives should matter to them.
None of the above alternatives is a cause. They do not illuminate
a clear path that unites the people of an organization and sends them
in a common direction with shared priorities. Nor do such statements
necessarily even matter to anyone other than the executives and con-
sultants who developed them.
LetÕs take it a step further. A central idea, or cause, will be essen-
tial if you want to have any sort of success in a Copycat Economy. But
to improve your odds of truly breaking from the pack in a sustained
way, you should consider going a step up, to a higher cause. A higher
cause defines a noble and honorable purpose. A higher cause aims to
leave a positive mark. It aims to change an entire market; in fact, it
aims to change the world for the better. ItÕs about somehow bettering
the lot of human beings.
DonÕt confuse a higher cause with a mission statement. Most mis-
sion statements focus on the organization and its products, such as.,
ÒWe will be the best provider of widgets (or Òwidget solutionsÓ) in the
world.Ó Higher causes focus on customers and potential customers:
how they benefit and how their life or business will be elevated, all in
a way thatÕs fresh, compelling, unique, and, perhaps most impor-
tantÑuplifting and virtuous. The most powerful higher causes lead
people to see how the world will be a better place, and how humanity
will benefit anew.
Lest you think IÕm urging you to turn hippie-dippie and sing
ÒKumbaya,Ó consider that GoogleÕs unbelievable growth, domination,
and innovation is in no small part due to its higher causeÑwhich is to
harness, organize, and categorize all the information on the planet so
that each one of us can easily access it for our own unique needs in