Whole Foods

[lee hoffman <leedna@juno.com>]

I really liked Myron's suggested article on Whole Foods and their approach
to team work. It is obviously not only an endorsement and great example of
truly empowered teams, but a great endorsement of Open-Book Management as
well. However, what it is silent about concerns me as well. The in-store
teams must have some competition problems caused from the way they are
measured and rewarded as stand-alone units. How do they deal with the
competition for common resources - such as floor space, utility charges,
advertising charges, material handling equipment. How do they distribute and
"pay" for them from the unit's earnings? Is there any competition over
people - in that they lure or somehow get good people to transfer from one
unit to another?
These are conventional concerns that cause a lot of competition and
"them-us" attitudes in more traditional organizations.
Otherwise, I certainly laud Whole Foods for their approach, and thanks to
Myron for the contribution.

Lee Hoffman
UCSD
San Diego