Putting Values First– Procter & Gamble’s New CEO Charts a New Path

This July, P&G’s new CEO Bob McDonald took office, and since, has launched the company’s new mission… to be guided by Values, Principles &  Purpose first.  He believes, and teaches his company to believe in putting people –heart, mind, body– first and from this, profits will come.  This is of course, a refreshing (and rare) outlook in light of the scandals, cut-throat capitalism, and unethical business dealings we as a nation have seen unfolding over the last few years… quite a sobering commentary on our society that this type of model of actually caring about people, is the exception and not the norm.

Envision a nation or society where the goal or main concern was caring about other human beings–caring about their wellbeing, caring about the poor, caring about helping others vs putting self first to make an easy profit.  If this were the case, there would most likely be no Enron, no mortgage crisis, probably no economic downturn at all.

Of course, P&G still cares about making a profit, as the measurement or goal outcome from putting hearts and people first is, the bottom-line– increasing the dollars spent by consumers. Still, to learn about, and hopefully model our own companies after the P&G model is crucial and valuable to truly changing the upside-down values of our society’s companies. 

P&G’s identiftied core values are…Integrity, Leadership, Ownership, Passion for Winning, Trust.  Do you or does your company have core values that are followed? What about a purpose?  To read more about P&G’s values and mission, go here: http://www.pg.com/company/who_we_are/ppv.shtml

And a good article about P&G’s value-led system by Rosabeth Moss Kanter that is worth reading can be found here: http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/kanter/2009/09/fall-like-a-lehman-rise-like-a.html  Although,there was an example of P&G’s values-put-first given here where Kanter recounts P&G”s work in Brasil, where, spurred by a slipping  market, P&G employees took note of some of the realities of Brazilian families’ lives and noted that they spent too much time washing cloth diapers by hands, so of course, introduced disposable diapers to the consumers.  While I see the value in saving time, (and increasing P&G’s Brasil market profit), what about the enormous environmental down-side of changing an entire market from cloth to plastic diapers?  I was just wondering about if this really was a positive change for Brasil’s families and country, or, if this just appeared to be a good change but long-term would have negative consequences for the environment, health and well-being of Brasil and its people.  When a company has such far-reaching impact on whole groups and nations, there must be thoughtfulness in every choice made.  Your thoughts?

America’s management practices: Remember…you can’t change organizational behavior without changing human behavior!

The mainstream seems to be finally catching on… After decades of unchanging business management practices that American businesses have, by habit, been repeating, (layoffs, performance reviews etc.) we see now that these methods are at best unhelpful, and at worst, destructive to employee motivation.  What changes organizations?  Changing human behavior!

An interesting list of 13 common, habitual practices our nation’s management uses that don’t work:

From Business Week, by Aubrey C Daniels, to read full article go here: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/aug2009/ca20090811_861931.htm

With executives under fire for driving their companies into the ground—and taking the economy with them—it’s time for a managerial paradigm shift that focuses on the root of all booms and busts: individual behavior. Many time-honored management practices, such as layoffs, yearend bonuses, and automatic pay raises, actually reward employees’ bad habits and punish good behavior, often with devastating results.

These practices stem from theories of performance that have little to do with the science of learning. As such, they result in many mistakes initiated by senior leadership at great cost. They’re endorsed for the best of reasons but fail to lead to the desired result.

So why do so many organizations continue to embrace faulty practices? My 30 years of experience with Corporate America have led me to believe most business leaders are trained in the math of balance sheets, not the science of human behavior. They don’t understand that you can’t change organizational behavior without changing human behavior. Only when managers understand the basic principles of behavioral science and apply them skillfully will they realize the full potential of their employees and their organizations.

A Chance for Change

While management in general is proving challenging today, there is a silver lining to this current economic crisis: It provides a rare opportunity for managers to rethink and reform the way they run their organizations, using an approach grounded in science and research rather than in dubious habits. Businesses have been wasting time, funds, and resources on the same tired approaches for years. This crisis can actually provide us with a chance to start fresh and set in motion a sea change in the way we manage behavior and performance.

Please see a slide show featuring 13 universally used, but ultimately ineffective, management practices—and prescriptions for how to change them.

212 Degrees to Boiling

We wanted to pass along this very short inspirational movie/video… at 211 degrees water is HOT, but add one degree, and at 212 degrees, water boils, produces steam and can produce enough energy to run a train!  This is worth watching… it takes EFFORT, ENERGY and WORK to be great, produce results,  make a difference… to change your life!

http://www.the212movie.com/

Company Case Study: New P&G CEO Bob McDonald on How to Improve Lives for People Who Cannot Afford Products

Here is a great case study example of how P&G  found a way to improve lives and save water for consumers in the  Philippines with the innovation of a product called Downy Single Rinse:

From Forbes: On the Call: P&G CEO Bob McDonald

Associated Press, 08.05.09,

“The Procter & Gamble Co. uses a slogan that its consumer products touch and improve lives. Traditionally, that’s meant with “new and improved” innovations of Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste and other products.

But the company is pushing to increase sales in developing countries where per capita incomes are far below U.S. consumers, in a global recession. Bob McDonald, who took over July 1 as CEO, discussed the challenge in P&G’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call with analysts.

QUESTION:

I know you want to change lives, but what if people can’t afford to change their lives?

RESPONSE:

One of the things we’ve learned is that, in order to improve the lives of people that tend to be toward the bottom of the economic pyramid, you have to innovate for the best consumer experience for those people. It’s not a matter of trickling down higher-tier technology.

A great example of that is Downy Single Rinse, which we began developing in the Philippines some years ago. This was an opportunity for Filipino consumers who rinse their clothes five times with clear water in order to get rid of the soap, to use a product that added fragrance, some degree of softness, but also, importantly, sequestered the suds that were in the water and allowed them to go from five rinses to one.

And basically, the product pays for itself because of the water that they save.”

Personal Productivity

Personal productivity is something toward which we all strive. We want to be able to accomplish more in a shorter time span and focus longer so we can strategize and implement better. We want to rid ourselves of all the small distractions and time-wasters that always seem to add up to more than we think. Before we know it, it’s 2 pm and we haven’t accomplished half of what we needed to that day.

 Those of you wishing there were 25 hours in the day should listen up, because personal productivity is attainable. All it requires is a mental shift and change in daily behaviors and habits. Sound difficult? There is a simple method to obtain it if one is armed with an open-to-change attitude.

When Bonnie Curtis, Vice President of Global Oral Care at Procter & Gamble, charged her team the task of eliminating one hour per day of distraction and inefficiency during the merger with Gillette, she knew she was not assigning an easy task. Changing behaviors is something that takes time and dedicated repetition.

Curtis knew she wanted to change her team, but she also realized that she wanted to change how she personally worked within her team. For her, it was more than eliminating one hour of inefficiency per day. She took a look inside and objectively observed her actions and methods for work.

She wasn’t being as effective, she noted, if she held a grudge toward a person or kept a mental tally of errors. Her personal barrier against a colleague would prevent her from moving forward on a project or even talking to the person.

Curtis was also spending less time with her family. She consistently missed dinner, was absent at important sporting games and events for her children, and was distracted on the weekend. She wanted to be more present with her family and she knew something needed to change, which was Curtis’ first step in the right direction. By forming an awareness around what needs to be done, she was on her way toward personal change.

Curtis needed to release any tension she felt about her current state so she could reach her personal ideal future state: an 8-5 day that allowed her time with her family in the evenings and during the weekends. She needed to bridge the gap between her current state and ideal state. Once she formed an awareness around these dormant grudges, Curtis plowed forward and was able to work more effectively.

She replaced her personal barriers with optimism and the idea that she is a bold change leader, able to move her team forward but still keep her personal boundaries more intact. She built upon her own inner tenacity and launched forward, running herself through the Bright Side model anytime she needed to rid herself of barriers and distractions.

What about you? What will it take for you to rid yourself of personal distractions and inefficiencies?

The key to remember here: form an awareness on your current state, release any tension, replace it with the ideal, future state, and build upon it so that your change is sustainable and real.

-Shannon