Usually when somebody wins, somebody else loses. That’s the way it is in sports, politics, business and even life.
But, once in a while, there’s a true win-win, where nobody loses, and I think that’s what we have with Market Basket.
“We want A.T.D.!” workers yelled.
The cheers and chants that welcomed back Arthur T. Demoulas today remind me of other sayings and slogans:
“No justice, no peace!”
But in too many of those, the people remained divided, and–too often–justice was not done.
This time, though, there really was people power. The little guys forced the big guys to make a deal.
Arthur T. Demoulas, of course, is a big winner. He’s back in control and ready to claim as many boss of the year awards as he can carry.
Even more important, he’s now a symbol: of what managers can do to inspire their workers and sustain loyalty.
I count Arthur S. Demoulas as a winner, too. He has one and a half billion reasons to celebrate, and will never have to worry about a late delivery truck or a lettuce turning brown again.
Even the governors of Massachusetts and New Hampshire are winners.
They added politics to the financial pressures on the Demoulas family, and no one can say their efforts didn’t help.
But make no mistake.
The biggest winners are the Market Basket workers, who organized a very risky, but ultimately very successful, job action by themselves…with no unions involved.
And now they’ll say welcome back to the only boss they wanted.
People can still do anything. And the people of Market Basket just proved it.