If you didn’t know better, Ari Weinzweig could be mistaken for a starving artist.

Dressed entirely in black, from hoodie to jeans to shoes, with long graying hair, browline glasses and sparse beard and deep facial lines, Weinzweig is instead the CEO of the Zingerman’s Deli empire that includes a deli, bakehouse, creamery, coffee house and roadhouse.

“What do you think?” he asked, before I had the chance to introduce myself. “Could you see a coffee bar go here?”

Weinzweig was standing at the Zingerman’s Coffee Co. with his business partner Paul Saginaw pondering the potential success of something unseen in Ann Arbor: a bar where, instead of pouring pints of beer, the bartender would steam milk for lattes.

And just like that, I entered the creative world of Ari Weinzweig.

“Sure,” I replied. “Why not?”

If Weinzweig can fashion the elements of anarchy and capitalism into a culinary empire, he can surely handle a coffee bar.

“I have a guy in Detroit who can make the bar from old industrial wood,” he said. And he says he has another who shapes and welds metal.

His smile is immediate, his enthusiasm contagious.

And in an instant, his attention flits back to our interview, if for just a minute at a time.

“Have a seat.”

Sitting on a small round table is a lone fresh baguette. No plates. No napkins. No butter.

He tears off a chunk from one end, takes a bite and hands me the loaf.

“Want some?”

And so began my sit-down with the author of A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business, what I take to be a somewhat personal critique of micromanagement and the malcontent it can breed in employees.

What is the anarchical capitalist’s philosophy?

First off, it’s not anarchy, its anarchism and it’s not about being nice to people and leaving them alone. That doesn’t work.

In the beginning that was my approach but it ended with me being mad at everybody about their work.

I realized people need structure. Well, people need freedom within structure.

The point is that chaos is about free choice and respect.

Everybody is treated equal because that is just the way it should be.

So how do you apply that philosophy to Zingerman’s?

I teach my employees how to think like businesspeople. People have always been taught to stay in their core competency. To not think about things you don’t have to.

But employees are creative. They are smart. They want to do things and make decisions but are told to not to. Then they are yelled at for not being innovative.

How do you get the most out of your employees?

It’s not about “getting something out of them.” You can’t treat employees like an oil well. It’s about them living a fulfilling life, a life which includes doing good work.

You don’t get the most out of your employees by just paying them more. That is like running the air conditioning with the windows open. There are less stressful ways to work.

It’s about getting employees to bring their whole self to work. To be proud of what they do.

But there isn’t one thing. The idea that there is one solution is made up.

Is there one item that is more important than others?

If I had to pick one thing, it would be vision. Let me make this clear, vision is not a mission statement or a strategic plan.

A vision is something different.

It’s painting a picture of a desired future. Ask yourself, what does success look like at a particular time? It’s detailed but not constrictive.

A good vision is a little far-fetched.

What do you say to people who think Zingerman’s is too expensive?

This (Zingerman’s) is not about elitism. It’s about free choice. Our food isn’t necessarily expensive. Mass-produced cheap food made the expectation of cheap.

This is just food. You are no better if you eat our food. I never lecture on what people should eat. I grew up on Kraft macaroni and cheese and Pop-Tarts.

You can come into Zingerman’s and buy an ounce of cheese or just half a sandwich.

When you eat good food, you don’t need that much of it to be satisfied.

What are your favorite foods from across Zingerman’s universe?

Corned beef and chopped liver sandwich from the deli; fresh goat cheese from the creamery; the burger from the roadhouse; Brazilian Sweet Yellow from the coffeehouse; and ginger cookies from the bakehouse.