Noah and Buthina, Manager, Walnut Creek Noah's Bagels

I showed up at the Noah’s Bagels store in Walnut Creek, CA, on a recent Sunday morning to sign my book, Business Mensch. Approaching the counter to introduce myself, to my surprise, I was warmly greeted by Buthina, the store manager, a woman wearing a head scarf, obviously indicating that she was an observant Muslim. As a strong supporter of Israel, and living in post-911 America, my immediate reaction was one of surprise and apprehension. After all, Noah’s has deep Jewish roots, and isn’t this woman supposed to be my enemy?  I am not allowed to dwell on this for more than a split second, however, as she flashes me one of the biggest and most genuinely contagious smiles I have ever seen in my life. She tells me how thrilled she and her crew are to host me, and if there is anything I need PLEASE let her know, and how about a cup of coffee?

Flashback 15 years…Near the end of my tenure as Chairman of Noah’s Bagels, when the company had over thirty stores, and was the largest kosher retailer in the country, we were hiring a new administrative assistant to support me. Our community relations person was in charge of the search. When a few weeks passed and I was not apprised of any candidates to interview, I asked if any good candidates were under consideration. I was told that we did have one outstanding prospect, but that there was reluctance to bring her in for an interview. Why, I asked? Well…long silence…“She is German. We weren’t sure how the Rabbis would go for her, and frankly, we weren’t sure how you would get along with her either.” I thought about it long and hard. Did I want to spend every day working with a German? Institutional memory of the Holocaust, and the degree to which the German nation as a collective bore residual responsibility more than crossed my mind. I thought about what it would be like on a day-to-day basis, and whether I was setting myself up for an uncomfortable ending.

But… the same pervasive thought kept returning: How could a company that prided itself on doing “the right thing” not give this woman a fair shot at getting the job? There were absolutely no grounds for me to do anything other than to interview her, and take it from there. The next day “Gretchen” came in for her interview. She was polite, highly intelligent, pleasant, and, from her resume, clearly competent.  I hired her, and was very pleased with her service, and totally impressed with her loyalty and devotion.

Back to Noah’s in Walnut Creek, where I took an instant liking to Buthina and throughout the course of the morning engaged her in conversation about business, her personal story, and even a little politics. Originally from Ramallah in the West Bank, she moved to Jordan, and eventually emigrated to the U.S. She has worked for Noah’s for ten years, working her way up to managing one of the highest volume stores in the system. She loves her job, and she loves the company. She loves America, and the opportunities she has received here. I put forward some of my opinions on Palestinian/Israeli relations, which I guessed she might find unacceptable, but she merely turned to me and said, “Noah, I am in favor of whatever will result in peace.” I realize that my stereotypical knee-jerk reaction to seeing a Palestinian woman in a head scarf is off base.

Customer after customer approached me during the day, and told me how Buthina is the greatest, and how she brings good cheer, and a strong community feel to the store. She is the bright spot in their morning, etc, etc. I left at the end of the day bubbling with joy, that I was fortunate enough to have met such a wonderful person. I invited her to my talk at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley on Tuesday, March 23, where I will be co-teaching with a Muslim American and we will be comparing and contrasting sections of the Torah and Koran as they relate to business ethics. While I don’t believe  dialogue alone is anything  close to the solution to intractable long-standing problems in the Middle East, it was certainly a wonderful feeling, however transitory,  to connect one-on-one, with my societal “enemy”, to encounter  each others humanity without  historical “baggage,” and to even find out that  we really liked each other!

Noah and Rabbi Yonah at Jewlicious 6.0

Alright so it was Long Beach, but it’s all L.A. to me…I was invited to present my book, Business Mensch, at the Jewlicious 6.0 Festival in Long Beach.  Probably very few Jews over 30 have heard of this event, but for the upwards of 1000 college and post-college Jewish kids of all denominations and orientations who attended this festival,  this was hip, happenin’ and over the top Jewish. The Festival  included a raucous Friday night Carlebach minyan with the skimpiest mehitzah (divider between men and women) I have ever seen at a traditional service, but with a more than traditional quantity of joy and exhilaration…not to mention dancing! There was also a musical “camp style” reform service replete with instruments. After the services 500+  attended a fabulous catered kosher dinner, which was not only tasty, but served with style and professionalism (not to mention nice wine), and mostly prepared and served by volunteers, in conjunction with professional staff.  The enthusiasm was electric.  After dinner there were myriads of classes, dramatic presentations, gatherings, etc., including a conversation with Yuri Foreman, the welterweight champion of the world, who will be defending his title in June at Yankee Stadium and happens to be studying to be a Rabbi!

Shabbat day there was more of the same, and after Shabbat there was a comedy club skit, a late night Mexican food extravaganza that was tremendous, and as a capper there was a major concert with Kosha Dillz, Diwon, Electro Morocco, Rinat Gutman,  Moshav and a surprise appearance by Matisyahu, who was attending the festival with his family.

The continuous and rebounding theme of the event was Judaism is cool, let’s all learn more about it, celebrate it, and have fun with it, we are allowed to “own it” and as such can enter and engage it where we are and go with it where WE want to go.

Local leaders included Festival Founder, Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, and leaders from the Happy Minyan, J-Connect, local Hillel directors, L.A. Jewish Journal staff, and many many more. Local So Cal “regulars” greeted visitors from virtually every state and region of the country.

A long time ago there was a book written called Jews: the Ever Dying People, which chronicled the near total demise of our people, and the road back after each one of these “near misses.”  In today’s world many of us in the organized Jewish community are worried sick about intermarriage, assimilation, and the resultant loss of our tribal identity.  If Jewlicious could be bottled and force fed to every young Jew in America, we would make a rebound higher than Kobe Bryant could jump.

It’s a known fact that many major trends in the U.S. in the last 50 years have been gestated on the West Coast, and Jewishly, L.A. leads the way.  Kol Ha Kavod to Jewlicious and the Greater L.A. community that brought this experience directly and indirectly to many thousands of young Jews all across the U.S. and to many, many more in the future, as news of this event spreads and gives birth to similar initiatives targeting young Jews, and hitting them “where they live.”

An accelerator defect has caused deaths and near deaths since 2002, and resulted in over 2000 complaints, and yet it was not until last Friday that the Chairman and grandson of the founder,  Akio Toyoda, finally publicly stated that he was “deeply sorry” for the problem and resulting recalls. Other senior management formally apologized and expressed confidence that the solution to the problem is imminent. But as of today there is still no conclusive evidence that a solution has been found. Remember, this is eight years since the problem was first identified. How can an industry leader permit this lax attitude, especially since Toyota’s reputation was built on quality? For that matter how could General Motors allow Toyota to out-do them in their own back yard in the first place?

My answer?  Act as if you have competition breathing down your back despite how well the business is doing, and make sure to stay true to core values. ”Watch your back” should be emblazoned on every company’s walls, because sooner or later in a free market economy, a competitor will be there to challenge a successful enterprise, and only a “hungry” company will be able to hold their own.

Fast forward to this afternoon. I was invited to give a talk at Google’s main campus in Mountain View, California. Campus is an apt term for the facility. Lap pools, beach volleyball, high-end food courts, and 24-hour access only begin to describe the experience. All they needed was a raucous fraternity house to really feel like a college campus!

The employees who worked there were even more exciting than the physical plant. They were universally “up,” stimulated, and excited about their work and their workplace. I was told that engineers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time on something independent, new and exciting. Working collaboratively, not being satisfied with “good” but working for “great,” constantly staying ahead of the game (think Google phones), and thus maintaining superiority.

So when does Google turn into Toyota?

When they take their eye off the ball, rest on their laurels, and not want to publicly admit when they screw up, and take full charge of the situation.

Just like people, there are lifecycles to businesses. With the wide-eyed youthful energy and excitement that the 20-somethings bring to the 10 year-old Google enterprise, presumably there are many years to go before approaching the complacency of a middle age “success” story.

The book suggests a number of explanations for this success, but I would like to offer my top ten, which have direct applicability to today’s entrepreneurs in the United States:

1. Persist in the Face of Adversity. Going on your own is tough, and the one step backwards can often seem more like a treadmill in reverse than a prelude to the two steps forward. Keep your eye on the prize and take it one day at a time.

2. Networking is a Necessity. Gone are the days of the know-it-all, one-man band style of entrepreneurship. Yes, you must lead, but yes, you must arm yourself with all the tools you can, and access as many connections as possible along the way. Wherever possible, get a little help from your “friends.”

3. Think Cross Culturally. In our increasingly global economy, learning how others think is essential. Celebrating diversity is good to do and good for business.

4. Need to be Nimble. As small entities, start-ups can and must stay nimble. As technology increases at an increasing rate keep your eyes open and beware of being the “eight track” before you even hit the marketplace.

5. Create “Mashups”. Increasingly modern industry is assimilating cross-disciplinary perspectives. The breakthroughs of tomorrow will come from technologies designed for one product being married to technologies designed for something totally different to create a third new and exciting product.

6. Celebrate Failure. Ask any successful entrepreneur. No question there are more learnings from failure than success. The key is to distance oneself psychologically so that a business failure does not become a cause for personal failure,

7. Support Industrial Policy which Spawns New Initiatives. We’re all in this together. New industries need public assistance in the incubation stage. The key is to calibrate the entry, the exit and the specifics, but history shows us that public/private initiatives can pay off big for everyone.

8. Creativity is King. Thinking outside the box is going to be increasingly important as we face the almost insurmountable challenges confronting us today—shortages of clean water, global climate change, world hunger. The list is endless, and business opportunities abound while social good is being achieved.

9. Boost Bottom-Up Management. Command and control didn’t work too well for General Motors in 2009’s economy. Israeli army units and tech startups share something in common, the perspective that the success of the enterprise trumps individual glory, and thus good ideas are listened to no matter where they come from.

10. Have a Little Chutzpah. As I write in my book Business Mensch, to break through and stand out in today’s start-up “jungle” one must know which rules should be broken when and for what ultimate purpose. Very few “home-run” business ideas succeeded without ruffling a few feathers.

What is the lesson here? Excessive reliance on performance based pay breeds a culture of self-centeredness and a heightened temptation toward dishonesty. Individual Incentives are important, but teamwork and morale are more important to business success.

That is a lesson we should have learned from the Japanese auto industry and from common sense… years ago.

As we move towards the new decade, let’s hope teamwork will slowly replace me, me, me.

It is like speed dating on steroids. Authors run around saying, “I’d just love to come to your city,” and the event planners try to assess the reception these authors and their books would receive at their “home” during Jewish Book Month (November). Strategically arranged to precede Chanukah, Jewish Book Fairs draw a large and enthusiastic crowd. The smaller venues bring in many lesser known authors, while the larger ones have the means to bring in “celebrities” such as Alan Dershowitz, Amos Oz, Shmuely Boteach, and Joseph Telushkin.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to nine cities, and last week alone went to four of them. San Diego was the first port of call. Our San Diego JCC hosts couldn’t have been nicer, and that legendary So. Cal. “friendly” was in full force. The palm trees were swaying and although I followed Larry King, there was a large crowd in the library for my talk. Afterwards, the stunning atrium was filled with books of presenting authors, and a large assortment of other Jewish books as well.

The following day it was off to Denver, where we were picked up and dropped off in SUV’s, the standard fare for snow country. That evening, we were treated to dinner at the home of a philanthropic couple who were involved with Jewish Day Schools in Denver. Our marvelous hosts had connections in two competing schools and had invited folks active in both for an evening of informative information sharing focusing on my input as founding president of the Jewish Community High School in San Francisco. I was blown away by the willingness of everyone to brainstorm, cooperate, and share, all in the name of mutual cooperation and individual improvement. Questions of governance in an era of scarcity, and staying true to core principles while accommodating fiscal responsibility were openly and honestly explored

After my breakfast talk—complete with bagels—at the Denver JCC, and a short workout, it was off to Cherry Hill, NJ for another 7:30 am breakfast talk the following day. NJ was colder, crisper, and faster. East coasters need to think, act, and do, for the weather can change at any moment, and you’ve got to stay ahead of it. Philly twangs were ever present in this suburb of the city of brotherly love.

My talk at the Cherry Hill JCC was billed not only as part of their Jewish Book Week, but also as part of their monthly business roundtable. Questions were asked about entrepreneurship in a time of recession, and how to make “lemonade from lemons.” Before leaving for Boston, we were graciously shown around some important sites of historic Philadelphia by our charming JCC volunteer hosts. A memorable spot was Betsy Ross’ house, which explained how she was not only the maker of the first flag, but also a single mother and successful entrepreneur. Not bad for a woman in 1775!

Last stop (for now), New England, my birthplace. It’s comforting to be where everyone sounds like you! I was greeted warmly in the seaside suburb of Marblehead, home to the JCC of the North Shore. There were folks in the audience who knew my father’s family business, which had ceased to exist 15 years ago. There was a brisk business at the signing table which resulted in my selling out of books, a first for me.

Despite the recession, it seems people are thirsty for inspiration. Jewish Book Month was heavily populated in all four cities I visited. People were pouring over the books, buzzing about the latest speaker, and excited to be able to purchase a signed copy of a featured speaker’s latest work.

The NJBC does amazing work, although invisible to many outside of their orbit. The communities that are part of it are truly indebted to them. Keeping Jewish book culture alive is a daunting task in the age of the internet, Tivo and Kindle. The communities I visited, and the volunteers I connected with could not have been more gracious. I was given celebrity status, and it was clear to me that the people of the Jewish Book Fair intended to perpetuate our preeminence in the book business for at least another 5770 years to come, despite what the electrical engineers throw at us!

The event I went to was not a major donor event. There were no limousines parked outside. It was a “meet and greet” event for people out of work, about to be out of work, in transition, or underemployed. I was there to provide inspiration and some useful business tips. I hope I was able to provide both, but I believe I was given a lot more than they were. I was given a glimpse into how communities, in this case the New York Jewish Community, is handling the current economic crisis, by connecting with people, and trying to help each other out.

During the opening remarks the speakers talked about the Connect to Care Program. The audience heard how the Federation was making employment counselors, insurance consultants, financial planners, and psychological services available at no charge. They were told how 33 people had already been put back to work by this new program, and how this was the first in a series of get-togethers to help folks network with each other. The energy in the room was high, fueled by a fabulous little buffet, complete with a wine tasting — all donated by concerned and civic minded vendors.

As I looked out at the scene I was taken back 100 years to the gritty world of the Lower East Side, a mere 30 minute drive from where we were that night. At the turn of the 20th century, with hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants pouring into New York, what did the community do? Help the newcomers find jobs by what else: “Networking.” When Moshe got off the boat from Minsk, who was going to find him a job, he was a tailor in the old country? The Jewish Community. When Baruch just came from Vilna not speaking much English, but he had a head for numbers, who helped him out? The Jewish Community. And it was the same with the Italians, the Irish, etc., as their communities helped them find employment.

What the immigrants did for their own in 1909, they were doing again in 2009. Helping each other, and helping themselves at the same time. Is this the beginning of the new old days, or the end to the new breed of greed? Let’s hope it’s both!

Noah Alper in Detroit

My first engagement was at a Sisterhood Dinner in Southfield, MI, at the Shaare Zedeck Synagogue. It was the largest synagogue I have ever visited. It was built in another era — during High Holidays the sanctuary opens up and seats 3000. I was treated to a delicious dinner in the grand ballroom and was ensconced in a mood of warmth and cooperation. One hundred women attended this gala event, which kicked off their fall social season.

After dinner and my speech, I was delivered back to my hotel, The Motor City Casino. A huge old bakery had been converted into a Las Vegas style hotel and casino. Glitzy, and showy with loud Motown music bravely reminiscing a brighter day.

The following morning I attended the E2 Entrepreneur Conference sponsored by the “Tech Town” initiative at Wayne State University. The conference was located close to the Casino, and on the way there, I witnessed vast tracts of land that were empty, and rows of beautiful Victorians, most of which were boarded up. The conference itself was anything but “boarded up” — 300 plus aspiring entrepreneurs and small business people came to learn about “Developing the Right Entrepreneurial Team” and to network with each other.

Thomas J. Murphy, former mayor of Pittsburgh, gave the inspiring keynote presentation. Under his leadership, Pittsburgh rose out of the ashes of the defunct American steel industry to be re-invigorated, with a diversified high tech economy including many, many new redevelopment and educational initiatives, which were realized.

High points from Mayor Murphy’s speech included:

* Education is key. Pittsburgh went from # 80 to # 2 in high school diplomas per capita for major American cities

* Eliminate symbols of decay

* Eisenhower funded the Interstate highway system by means of a very controversial gas tax. Where would America be had we not built that system?

* In 2009, why do Europe and China have far-reaching high speed rail systems and we don’t?

* There needs to be a community will to change, and a decision made whether to manage decline, or envision the future. Many are in love with process at the expense of results. Detroit was built on innovation. There is a legacy of quality here. We must eliminate the disease of “it’ll do”.

After lunch I toured an Entrepreneurial “Boot Camp” called Bizdom U. (www.bizdom.com) Started and initially funded by Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans, 20 fledgling “wannapreneurials” receive four month, real life in-depth training, a living stipend and a chance to present their idea to a panel. If accepted, they are granted up to 50K in start-up seed money. In turn, if the business succeeds, Bizdom receives a cut of the profits (as well as the capital invested to fund ongoing operational expenses for the school.) One caveat–the businesses must be established in the City of Detroit.

Towards the end of the day, I gave my talk on “How Doing ‘Good’ is Good for Business,” and gave examples from my experience running Noah’s Bagels. For example, our employee turnover rate was roughly half of the industry standard because of our “family” atmosphere, and support of individualism.

The last speaker was Rick Inatone, Managing Director of Sterling Partners, a Venture Capital Group managing $4 billion. Rick was named by Inc. magazine as one of America’s leading businesspeople, and his basic thesis was that the corporate culture of a company was the key determinant to its success. He emphasized the team approach, and that an “honesty mirror” was important. He stressed that a culture of personal humility and professional will were essential, and that empowering employees to help fix defects, would lead to a continuous improvement loop. Rick, of Japanese descent, described growing up in Detroit in the fifties. His mother and father were interned during WW II, and were “sponsored” and relocated from Bakersfield to Detroit. His mother worked as a domestic, and his father was taken in by a minister. His parents met at Wayne State and Rick grew up on the hardscrabble streets a stone’s throw from my hotel.

So this is Detroit, this is America, where a Japanese American can rise to the top of the heap, and where Toyotas are on their way to replacing Fords and Chevys. This is Detroit, where an articulate middle-aged engineer described how he was laid off and trying to re-invent himself as a consultant. That he and his family had always supported the local food bank, but that now he was, unfortunately, a client. This is Detroit, where a woman recently went back to work so that her salary could pay for the groceries for the family (good news), but that her husband (who worked in real estate) had found his business dry up to the point of non-existence, and collectively they were not sure where they were going to wind up (bad news).

What is the answer to our current economic woes? To build on the past, but look to the future, to establish a culture of cooperation, for decaying cities to be brave enough to create a vision. For those with resources to invest in others, to take a chance, so that everyone, including themselves will benefit. I learned in Detroit that the only way out of our national economic morass is to look at the problem as a team effort, to believe in that “bright shiny day,” and to take risks to get there.

Signing books at the 20th anniversary of Noah's Bagels

Today I helped Noah’s Bagels celebrate “20 Years of Bagels and Shmears.” I sat at a table outside the original store on College Avenue & Alcatraz in Berkeley for three hours signing Business Mensch at a “preview” event, and had the pleasure of interacting with a diverse cross-section of people coming to Noah’s for their Sunday morning bagels.

Sitting outside in the cool morning, I was warmed by the friendly people who stopped to talk with me. I talked at length with a pediatrician who was working with child obesity and whose son was an aspiring entrepreneur. She bought a book from the stack we had on display and had it inscribed especially for her son. An older gentleman came over to the table and called me by name. I did not recognize him until he explained that his wife was my sister’s college roommate some 55 years ago!

I spoke with teens, young adults, dads with babes in arms, moms with toddlers in tow, joggers, and seniors. I spoke with Noah’s equipment repair people who make sure that Noah’s equipment is functional in the entire state of California every second of every day who were happy to meet me and be part of the “team.” I spoke with a former Boston Red Sox outfielder who came by with his wife and baby in a stroller, and we talked about healthy snack items he is trying to bring to market. A friendly Asian woman told me how much she loved the store, and how thrilled she was to meet me.

My son David, a talented musician, provided some background guitar and chiranga tunes. A gentleman with a Caribbean accent stopped to talk with me and buy a book, and he then borrowed the guitar and sang us a little ditty from his native Trinidad and Tobago.

My brother (who was involved with me in Noah’s Bagels) and his kids, who worked at various Noah’s locations during their high school years, came by for a visit. So did parents of Noah’s employees from years and years ago. One of these parents reminded me that there are many young adults in the Bay Area and beyond who spent at least some time as Noah’s employees while in high school, and/or college. When I sold the business, we had 38 stores, and 1000 employees. The company now has 77 stores, and presumably almost twice that many employees. The average employee lasts approximately six months. If you do the math, it equates to thousands and thousands of employees over the twenty-year span.

One important residual effect of a successful business is that it puts a lot of people to work. Not that big business is necessarily good, but… the bigger the business grows, the more people it puts to work. As I talked with the Noah’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Brad West, and Gina Russo, Area Hospitality Manger, they told me that creating a community feel was the #1 priority for the company. I was encouraged by their dedication, and the focus on people. It is certainly harder to create a “high touch” environment in a big company, but it seems like a serious attempt is being made. Brad commented that when a customer in Sacramento thought that the entire chain was the six stores in her region, he was thrilled. This is what I want, he said, “that people think of us as a neighborhood store.”

When I operated the College Avenue store almost 1000 customers a day would come in, each and everyone as unique as California itself. It is gratifying to realize that something I created and operated has continued for almost 14 years without me, and that many people– employees, customers, vendors, and community members alike still feel a connection and affection for the company. Sometimes you get a chance to kvell.* Today was mine.

P.S. Next Sunday Aug. 30, I will be at the Noah’s store in Lafayette, CA. Come by and say hello if you’re in the neighborhood.

*Kvell: (Yiddish) To be extraordinarily proud, rejoice

The combined force of these two high-profile scandals gives infamy a Jewish face, supporting anti-Semitic stereotypes, providing fodder for those who believe that Jewish law somehow enables dishonesty.

Greed is indeed an ugly and powerful force, however Jewish law and wisdom does everything to preach against it. “If one is honest in business and earns the esteem of others,” the rabbis of the Talmud advised, “it is as if one has fulfilled the whole Torah.” Adhering to Jewish values in business leads only to doing the right thing: serving the community, treating employees and customers with fairness and respect, dealing honestly and openly and helping those in need.

In business, as in life itself, temptation abounds, often coloring the judgment of well-meaning people. Being steeped in Torah knowledge does not insure honest behavior, as has been tragically demonstrated. Though the inextricability of ethics and religious practice might seem obvious to some, the sad reality is that many people who lead lives with rigorous attention to ritual observance nevertheless violate the ethical underpinnings of our tradition.

Therefore, it is necessary to approach the challenge of living ethically in a proactive manner. Let us no longer assume that people are born with an internal ethical barometer. Let us acknowledge that Torah teachings alone cannot prevent dishonesty. Instead, let us merge our moral tradition with a strict daily regimen as a prescriptive to getting lost in the sea of immorality. Such a practice is akin to putting on ritual garments in the morning or a disciplined athlete’s exercise program.

For instance, every time a decision comes up that may in any remote way impinge on immorality, the individuals must immediately “observe” themselves as if being judged in a court of law. Before an action is undertaken, it is necessary to ask — is this the right thing to do? Could there be ramifications unseen at this time that may result in the action being misinterpreted by others, and as a result transforming the action into an undesired and unwanted consequence?

If people undertook a brief yet disciplined time-out to reflect upon and analyze even the slightest questionable act, I am convinced that much immorality could be avoided.

At the end of the day, Judaism is all about being accountable for our actions. We are not judged by how much we study or how much we know. We are not judged by how much faith we have or even how much charity we give. We are judged by the large and small interactions we have with other human beings and whether we made the right choices.

In business as in life, decisions made in split seconds create consequences that last a lifetime. The Jewish community needs to redouble its vigilance in the ethical arena and make sure that our eternally valid ethical teachings line up with our worldly behavior. Otherwise the morality we have been teaching the world for 3000 years is for naught and the anti-Semites of the world have a valid case against us.