TRANSFORM PEOPLE TO TRANSFORM BUSINESS
The same story on the face of it: Bold entrepreneur builds industry from revolutionary idea. Business and challenges grow. People form pyramid called structure and box called function. Business crosses every conceivable boundary. Boxes multiply, align into greater pyramid and fight greater battles. Each successor adds a new dimension. Notwithstanding success and growth, inertia sets in. Opinions harden - this works, that doesn’t. A sprinkling of cynics effectively sucks all energy out of the workforce. It’s time to re-vitalise, think out-of-the-box. Enter the change agent…
Individual experiences make unique applications though parent-concepts in management hardly change. Overlook the branded concepts and smart packaging - consultants and publishers must tackle competition too. Discover workable tools from educative stories. Dr Bart Sayle, CEO of The Breakthrough Group www.GoBreakthrough.com a leadership and innovation consultancy, teams up with veteran consumer product developer Dr Surinder Kumar to deploy their experiences from PepsiCo, Unilever, P&G, Nike, British Airways, Warner-Lambert, etc. to radicalise the 100-year old Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. Breakthrough® methods focus on individual growth and building processes around people, instead of the reverse in conventional practice. Of course, this is catalysed by the fire-in-the-belly Bill Wrigley Jr., its fourth-generation Chairman, who challenged his board to grow sales from USD 2 Bn in 2000 to 5 Bn by 2007. India’s many scions and HR bosses can emulate a lot of this story.
The authors identify four types of thinking: Magical, indicated by expressions like “Anything is possible,” which sees no limits; Heroic - “I can do anything”; Resigned - “I can’t,” “I’ll see;” Cynical - “Nobody can,” “It’s impossible.” Obviously, the last two build many fetters within the organisation, called the Red Train. Breakthrough® methodology isolates Red Train trends and initiates discussions with active exercises among employees. Once empowered, people build a Blue Train of positive energy. Five Powers accomplish this – Insight, Inspiration, Intentionality, Intentional language and Congruence, each citing cases from the remarkable career of Roger Enrico at PepsiCo. Enrico always discussed with people at all levels and across all territories in each function he handled. Thus gaining insight, he prepared an action plan to 100% execution. His success, also in leadership-building, was inspirational and congruent to PepsiCo’s growth under him. Heroic thinking by Edwin Land built Polaroid Corporation, inspired by Magical Thinking of his little daughter wanting an instant picture, in 1943. Victimised by Resigned Thinking hence unable to face new market challenges, Polaroid flagged after 1978 despite technological brilliance. Instead, although beleaguered by layoffs and elbowing by competitors Pfizer and Procter & Gamble, Dr Surinder Kumar, as President of Consumer Products R&D at 100-year-old Warner-Lambert, deployed Breakthrough to transform the Listerine portfolio.
Look at the fallout for Wrigley: Sales in the next five years multiplied what first took a hundred years. Bill Wrigley Jr. grew into an inspiring leader. Working on a buyout of Hershey (which later withdrew its sale offer) further spurred Bill and his team to reshape the company’s future as a total confectionery company. Five Powers now bind the workforce to share a mission and constantly mitigate challenges. Each Wrigley employee is empowered, against the older tendency to refer any decision to high-ups for a signal. This unleashes high energy levels and high growth. The authors warn that such transformation is tough and offer an entire crib of tools. When technology is such a great business leveller, do company size and dominance alone guarantee survival? Mere re-engineering or rightsizing achieves nothing. Only people-building will endure.
For a generation who once compiled comic-books and cricket albums from wrappers of Wrigley’s Spearmint or their competitors’ while another lot altered American physiognomy from gum-chewing, this story slakes our curiosity!
Udit Chaudhuri
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