Page 167 - (DK) The Business Book

WORKING WITH A VISION 165

See also: Managing risk 40–41 ■ Luck (and how to get lucky) 42 ■ Reinventing and adapting 52–57 ■ Creativity and
invention 72–73 ■ Beware the yes-men 74–75 ■ Thinking outside the box 88–89 ■ The learning organization 202–07

to “turn every disaster into an this principle into their culture. US
opportunity.” As the world turned corporation 3M, for example, allows
to electric lighting from kerosene oil technical staff to allocate 15 percent
lamps, his business was threatened. of their time to experimenting with
However, he quickly saw the ideas, understanding that there will
potential of Ford’s automobile and be occasional winners (such as the I have not failed.
realized that oil could just as easily Post-it Note) along with the I’ve just found 10,000 ways
be converted to gasoline as repeated failures. that won’t work.
kerosene. His fortune rocketed. Recognizing error, cutting Thomas A. Edison
losses, spotting new opportunities, US inventor (1847–1931)
Constant learning and changing course is a test of
Personal experience is recognized leadership and also sends out a
as the way individuals learn, and it positive message to those who
is much the same for organizations; work in the organization. It requires
they gain knowledge and capability rational, unemotional thought that
from corporate experience. The focuses on the costs and benefits
pace of change in the global market of changing direction. The world’s third-largest retailer,
means that constant improvement In the mid-1980s, the Coca-Cola Tesco, opened its Fresh & Easy
has become the norm. The greatest Company decided to replace its stores in the US in 2007. After six
challenge, however, is for original formula with a sweeter years and $2.27 billion in costs,
companies to recognize failure and product: New Coke. In the US, this it admitted failure and pulled out.
learn from it. In order to do this, an prompted consumer protests. The The stores were unsuccessful
organization needs to build a company learned that US consumers because Tesco misjudged the
culture in which people are not were protective of Coca-Cola and shopping habits of its target
criticized or penalized for mistakes, felt unhappy about any tampering customers. Chairman Richard
but are actively encouraged to gain with the recipe. The CEO quickly Broadbent said they had learned
useful insights from them. reintroduced the original formula as the value of remaining open-
Some companies recognize that Coke Classic. By responding quickly, minded about projects. Flexibility,
it is only through failure that he grasped an opportunity for feedback, and fast response are key
success can be found, and build significant publicity; sales soared. to finding a new path via failure. ■

J. D. Rockefeller John Davidson Rockefeller was exclusive deal with the railroad
born in 1839 in Richford, NY. company to transport his oil,
At age 16, he took a job as an putting all his competitors out
assistant bookkeeper with a of business. Standard Oil gained
commission-merchants business. a monopoly position first in
Just four years later, he set up Cleveland and then in the US.
his own, similar company with In 1902 his monopoly in refining,
a partner: it grossed $450,000 transporting, and marketing oil
in the first year. He then opened made headline news and the
his first oil refinery in 1863, company was broken up by the
founding Standard Oil. US Supreme Court in 1911.
Rockefeller’s business interests Rockefeller then became the
made him the richest person in world’s greatest philanthropist,
the world at the time, but his giving away around $350
practices were unpopular. million, and setting up many
Realizing the value of effective charitable institutes. He died
distribution, he arranged an in 1937, at 97 years old.