Eat Mor Chikin Inspire More People: Doing Business the Chick-fil-a Way

S. Truett Cathy’s story is an inspiring one in many ways. Born into a family that was poor and facing difficult times, he nonetheless had the willpower and grace to make it through to become a fine example of the American success story, with a thriving business across the country. Cathy has made an effort in his business enterprises to continue to inspire people, holding fast to his basic principles.This is not a business book – many readers may be disappointed, but it is not a ‘how-to’ book with strategies for successful chain-restaurant management, building or marketing. Instead, this is an inspirational book and autobiographical reflection on the part of Cathy; his business holds true to Cathy’s understanding of what Christian principles should be, and this is rather rare in society, but this is a book about those principles, rather than the business.Cathy had many set-backs and many unexpected opportunities arise in his life. One thing Cathy seems consistent about is that he always looked for the will of God in these events. Faith is the foundation of Cathy’s business plan. The book contains many short stories and personal anecdotes from Cathy’s life, some of which may seem unbelievably fortuitous. Cathy spends a great deal of time laying out the charitable works he and his company engage in, too, partly for a bit of marketing I’m sure, but also as a subtle model and reminder to other corporate executives and businesses that they have a responsibility to the greater community.One might be tempted to wonder, does God really get involved in corporate success this way? Is the answer for a business to close on Sundays? (We shall leave aside the question about whether the Sabbath is really supposed to be Saturday, rather than Sunday.) Was God the inspiration behind the successful marketing campaign, whose slogan makes up the title – Eat Mor Chikin? This would be to miss the point of Cathy’s stories, which, if there is a single point, would be to give thanks to God for his own success (something rarely done in business today, even by otherwise religious people) and to show through personal example some of the things one can do from this position of success.A few questions that might have been addressed might include how a struggling business (vs. a successful one) can afford to incorporate these ideas, and how general principles can be integrated seamlessly into the mix without it becoming a problem. Overall this is an interesting book, a bit on the lighter side, and one to be read for enjoyment rather than business education.