The Republic of Tea: Introducing America to "Tea Mind"

This was a captivating look at the incubation of an idea and the birth of a business. The back and forth of the letters and faxes gives you a great look into the minds of Bill and Mel as they brainstorm ideas for names, structure, philosophy. Right from the beginning, there is a little tension as Bill is so focused on the structure of their republic with Mel reeling him in to talk about the philosophy. (Always is some between the visionary and the practical.)

It was fascinating to watch something that was just an idea become shaped into a business philosophy and plan. Anyone who's ever had to draft their own business plan could learn a lot from seeing how Bill and Mel took the nebulous idea of The Republic of Tea (a real place in Mel's mind) and nailed down some concrete sense of what that meant and how it operated.

Throughout the book are scattered personal notes written after the fact that fill in pieces missed because those conversations were done by phone rather than fax or letter. In those, Bill shares his insecurities and concerns as the idea progresses, but Mel never seems to commit to doing it. Mel talks about his impatience that Bill doesn't just do it already. It comes down to Mel declaring Practical Week and removing himself from the picture by going to a monastic retreat center. Bill still doesn't move as boldly as Mel thinks he can or should, but Mel is reluctant to play God and tell him what to do.

I so identified with Bill throughout the book. His excitement (falling in love) with the idea of a tea business, the mounds of research he did, the stream of plans for products and names - been there, done that. Felt exactly the same pangs of insecurity in actually acting on the idea. But I didn't have a Mel pushing me to take the leap and do it. Fortunately for Bill (and tea drinkers everywhere), he did finally distill the idea down to a form he was comfortable with launching while still having big long-term goals to reach.

1. Launching anything takes a lot of hard concrete planning. But don't forget the abstract, the nebulous, the voice in the process. Without that, you likely have planned yourself into something that's not remarkable.


2. Inspiration that I can actually do something like this. I definitely have the front end of the process down as I've done it several times. Just need to move past the dip and do it once.


3. A better sense of what's involved in a detailed business plan and the kinds of things I need to be considering and asking when I do one.


4. Understanding of how the role of visionary and doer should work together and a reminder to not expect the wrong things of one or the other.


5. Relief in knowing I am not the only person like me.