How a Grocery Store Entrepreneur Models Social Design

Three days a week, Jeffrey Brown wanders the aisles of grocery stores, through the dairy department and frozen food, the cereals and snacks and the produce. He watches what people choose to eat, whether and how they read ingredient labels, whether they find what they want. He lunches at simple tables near salad bars and prepared-food stalls, making himself available for whatever conversations people want to start. Brown is a one-man customer service center, but instead of doling out rote responses meant to end interactions as efficiently as possible, Brown makes sure his encounters are real dialogs, always in person, sometimes personal, and often begun or ended with a big hug. This is how Jeffrey Brown leads, by working with the people he serves.

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