by Dr. Cecil Clements (2nd October 2012)
The expectations of a new product are always very high, especially when it comes on the heels of a good history. I think those expectations were high with Apple’s iPhone 5. Everybody waited with bated breath, wondering when it would be ready. As the new product came in, sales just mushroomed wherever it was launched. It was huge.
Then, somehow those expectations came crashing down when people started using the Maps that Apple offered on iPhone 5. Those who were living in the US found themselves strangely being put in another part of the world. All that excitement turned into anger against Apple. The talking point in the last couple of days has been the apology that Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, offered. There are many who admire him for doing that because he went up and said, “Listen, we goofed. We made a mistake. We didn’t give you a quality product.” Then he even advised followers to download the products from their competitors.
As Santosh Desai in an article in the Times titled ‘A Weapon Called Grace’ said, “It was an apology that went beyond the usual corporate platitudes, and did not try and make excuses, but simply accepted the problem without putting any spin on it. To its credit, when it apologized, Apple really sounded as if it meant it.” It somehow mollified the people that they were able to accept that they made a mistake and were really sorry for it.
I found another article in Harvard Business Review on Dominos Pizza almost a year back. They began to hear their customers talk about their pizzas ‘having a crust that tasted like cardboard’ and ‘microwave pizzas were far superior’ and ‘I think Dominos pizza should start again’. Those were the comments that customers were making. The CEO, Patrick Doyle, went on national television with ads that talked about all of these quotes. They flashed them in the ad and then acknowledged that their pizza was far from stellar. But they had a product. They reconfigured the entire product by testing different combinations of cheeses and sauces and nearly 50 crust seasonings, to find the one that satisfied the customers. Basically, Dominos admitted that its pizzas were terrible.
Charlene Li wrote in that article entitled ‘The Art of Admitting Failure’ that “The result that when they did that and brought in the new pizza, store sales rose and quarterly profits doubled. Dominos took a failure point, its horrible pizzas, and made it a rallying point. The company saw negative comments as a gift from customers, an opportunity to improve the product, rather than as a liability.”
Very rarely do we do that. We take negative comments and let it get personal. We then reject it, throwing out what good we could make out of it (almost like throwing the baby out with the bath water). But Dominos took the opportunity to improve their product and treat it as an asset, as a gift from customers rather than as a liability.
Santosh Desai, when he writes in this article, says, “The apologies today are really hollow shells. Basically they are sound bites without a morsel of content, an intention that is retracted even as it finds utterance. It is common to have people apologize conditionally.” You and I have heard that, haven’t we? The apology goes like this: I apologize in case any inadvertent offence has been caused – not really for their actions but for the way the receiver has chosen to react. “I am sorry that my words were misunderstood.” This is how most people would apologize. They don’t really say, “Hey, I made a mistake.”
Those of you who are Grand Prix fans will know that last month Michael Schumacher crashed into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne at the Singapore Grand Prix. Niki Lauda, one of the legends of Formula One commented on this whole incident, saying, “The immediate thing for Schumacher to have done was to apologize.” He is quoted in Österreich newspaper as saying, “Michael didn’t say right from the beginning that he was to blame.” He didn’t take the blame right at the beginning.
There’s a new form of leadership that is making the rounds – it’s called creative leadership. Forbes had this article with the contribution of Doug Guthrie, the dean of the George Washington University School of Business. He co-authors this article with Sudhir Venkatesh called ‘Creative Leadership’. They say, “Humility and the ability to admit error may be two of the most important qualities a truly creative leader must have.”
Often when we look around, we don’t see these two aspects of leadership. There’s more pride, more of a penchant to put down mistakes, brush past them, not really admit them and keep going. Both these authors say, “In creative leadership, the central precept is to be able to embrace humility and it’s an advantage for organizations when leaders do that. Leaders must admit their failures; acknowledge them publicly because in being wrong, they can find both authenticity and opportunity.”
How do you do that in your office setting?
Charlene Li says, “Two things would be:
The expectations of a new product are always very high, especially when it comes on the heels of a good history. I think those expectations were high with Apple’s iPhone 5. Everybody waited with bated breath, wondering when it would be ready. As the new product came in, sales just mushroomed wherever it was launched. It was huge.
Then, somehow those expectations came crashing down when people started using the Maps that Apple offered on iPhone 5. Those who were living in the US found themselves strangely being put in another part of the world. All that excitement turned into anger against Apple. The talking point in the last couple of days has been the apology that Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, offered. There are many who admire him for doing that because he went up and said, “Listen, we goofed. We made a mistake. We didn’t give you a quality product.” Then he even advised followers to download the products from their competitors.
As Santosh Desai in an article in the Times titled ‘A Weapon Called Grace’ said, “It was an apology that went beyond the usual corporate platitudes, and did not try and make excuses, but simply accepted the problem without putting any spin on it. To its credit, when it apologized, Apple really sounded as if it meant it.” It somehow mollified the people that they were able to accept that they made a mistake and were really sorry for it.
I found another article in Harvard Business Review on Dominos Pizza almost a year back. They began to hear their customers talk about their pizzas ‘having a crust that tasted like cardboard’ and ‘microwave pizzas were far superior’ and ‘I think Dominos pizza should start again’. Those were the comments that customers were making. The CEO, Patrick Doyle, went on national television with ads that talked about all of these quotes. They flashed them in the ad and then acknowledged that their pizza was far from stellar. But they had a product. They reconfigured the entire product by testing different combinations of cheeses and sauces and nearly 50 crust seasonings, to find the one that satisfied the customers. Basically, Dominos admitted that its pizzas were terrible.
Charlene Li wrote in that article entitled ‘The Art of Admitting Failure’ that “The result that when they did that and brought in the new pizza, store sales rose and quarterly profits doubled. Dominos took a failure point, its horrible pizzas, and made it a rallying point. The company saw negative comments as a gift from customers, an opportunity to improve the product, rather than as a liability.”
Very rarely do we do that. We take negative comments and let it get personal. We then reject it, throwing out what good we could make out of it (almost like throwing the baby out with the bath water). But Dominos took the opportunity to improve their product and treat it as an asset, as a gift from customers rather than as a liability.
Santosh Desai, when he writes in this article, says, “The apologies today are really hollow shells. Basically they are sound bites without a morsel of content, an intention that is retracted even as it finds utterance. It is common to have people apologize conditionally.” You and I have heard that, haven’t we? The apology goes like this: I apologize in case any inadvertent offence has been caused – not really for their actions but for the way the receiver has chosen to react. “I am sorry that my words were misunderstood.” This is how most people would apologize. They don’t really say, “Hey, I made a mistake.”
Those of you who are Grand Prix fans will know that last month Michael Schumacher crashed into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne at the Singapore Grand Prix. Niki Lauda, one of the legends of Formula One commented on this whole incident, saying, “The immediate thing for Schumacher to have done was to apologize.” He is quoted in Österreich newspaper as saying, “Michael didn’t say right from the beginning that he was to blame.” He didn’t take the blame right at the beginning.
There’s a new form of leadership that is making the rounds – it’s called creative leadership. Forbes had this article with the contribution of Doug Guthrie, the dean of the George Washington University School of Business. He co-authors this article with Sudhir Venkatesh called ‘Creative Leadership’. They say, “Humility and the ability to admit error may be two of the most important qualities a truly creative leader must have.”
Often when we look around, we don’t see these two aspects of leadership. There’s more pride, more of a penchant to put down mistakes, brush past them, not really admit them and keep going. Both these authors say, “In creative leadership, the central precept is to be able to embrace humility and it’s an advantage for organizations when leaders do that. Leaders must admit their failures; acknowledge them publicly because in being wrong, they can find both authenticity and opportunity.”
How do you do that in your office setting?
Charlene Li says, “Two things would be:
- Create a culture of sharing failures as well as success. Make sure that failures as well as successes are dealt with and in a positive manner.
- Reward the act of risk-taking. Sometimes we encourage risks but don’t give a safe place for the risks to fail. And most people won’t take that risk.
If you do these two things, there’s a possibility that we will have a greater culture where people are more apt to admit that they made a mistake.
In the same article on Creative Leadership, the authors talk about Keith Reinhard, the CEO emeritus of DDB Worldwide, the global marketing and communications giant. And they say, “The self-effacing Reinhard has said that one of his highest goals as a leader is empowering his people as much as possible. People respond to leaders who give credit to their team for success and take responsibility upon themselves for failures.”
The other day I was listening to former President of India, Abdul Kalam’s speeches on YouTube. He’s such a wonderful communicator with earthy thoughts. He says that at one point in 1979, when he was Project Manager for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). “We were ready to launch our first satellite. I was the Mission Director. I was sitting in front; behind me were five of our technical experts. The launch was on. When we came down to 50 seconds, 40 seconds – suddenly the computer flashed and said that there was a malfunction somewhere. We realized as the countdown was going on, that it was an oil leakage. All my five experts told me to abort the launch. It was left to me to take the decision. With 5 seconds to go, I said ‘we’ve done all our work, let it go.’ So we launched it. It took off. The first phase went perfectly. Then in the second phase, it blew up in the air and fell into the Bay of Bengal.”
He says, “I was crushed. Everybody knew that I had gone above the advice that I had been given by my expert team. I went to my office and sat there quietly with my head in my hands. The Director of the program walked in and said, ‘What are you doing sitting here? Let’s go meet the Press.’ I walked behind him thinking that this was where I was gone. The Director had me sit beside him and then he addressed the Press saying, ‘Friends, today we made a big mistake. We failed but all the work that we have done has not gone to waste. Next year we will launch and we will learn from this mistake.’ Not once did he look at me or give anybody an inkling that I was the one who had made the mistake.”
“The next year we launched and it was a wonderful success. Again I went back to my office and was sitting there glowing in the aftermath of a successful venture. The Director walked in and said, ‘Go out and meet the Press’. I (Dr. Kalam) told him that we would go together, but he said, ‘No, you go. It’s your day. It’s your glory. You take it.’ I learnt such a huge lesson that day. Leaders who give credit to their team for such a success and take responsibility upon themselves for failures are leaders who empower people.”
Santosh Desai in his article actually entitles the article ‘A Weapon Called Grace’ and it takes grace to be able to say, “You know, I made a mistake. I am sorry.”
Our Holy Book offers a word of advise and says (Proverbs 15:1) “A soft/gentle answer turns away anger.”
How true! Often we don’t want to give that gentle answer because of pride. But if we have to accept humility and say, “Yes, we made a mistake and I’ve got to admit it,” how much more we can accomplish.
That’s my hope, that’s my prayer for you that you will be encouraged by these words, that failures will not be things that will be hidden under a carpet, but boldly acknowledged and that you and I can walk humbly before people and be wonderfully empowering leaders.
Let me pray with you. Almighty God, on each one of these precious ones on this call, I pray that you would pour out your Spirit in wonderful ways, helping each one of us to be leaders who are very quick to admit when we’ve made a mistake and to walk humbly before You who are the source of ultimate wisdom in our lives. I pray that that wisdom will be available to each one on this call in all the spheres of leadership and work that they are involved in. I pray blessing upon them in Your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.
In the same article on Creative Leadership, the authors talk about Keith Reinhard, the CEO emeritus of DDB Worldwide, the global marketing and communications giant. And they say, “The self-effacing Reinhard has said that one of his highest goals as a leader is empowering his people as much as possible. People respond to leaders who give credit to their team for success and take responsibility upon themselves for failures.”
The other day I was listening to former President of India, Abdul Kalam’s speeches on YouTube. He’s such a wonderful communicator with earthy thoughts. He says that at one point in 1979, when he was Project Manager for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). “We were ready to launch our first satellite. I was the Mission Director. I was sitting in front; behind me were five of our technical experts. The launch was on. When we came down to 50 seconds, 40 seconds – suddenly the computer flashed and said that there was a malfunction somewhere. We realized as the countdown was going on, that it was an oil leakage. All my five experts told me to abort the launch. It was left to me to take the decision. With 5 seconds to go, I said ‘we’ve done all our work, let it go.’ So we launched it. It took off. The first phase went perfectly. Then in the second phase, it blew up in the air and fell into the Bay of Bengal.”
He says, “I was crushed. Everybody knew that I had gone above the advice that I had been given by my expert team. I went to my office and sat there quietly with my head in my hands. The Director of the program walked in and said, ‘What are you doing sitting here? Let’s go meet the Press.’ I walked behind him thinking that this was where I was gone. The Director had me sit beside him and then he addressed the Press saying, ‘Friends, today we made a big mistake. We failed but all the work that we have done has not gone to waste. Next year we will launch and we will learn from this mistake.’ Not once did he look at me or give anybody an inkling that I was the one who had made the mistake.”
“The next year we launched and it was a wonderful success. Again I went back to my office and was sitting there glowing in the aftermath of a successful venture. The Director walked in and said, ‘Go out and meet the Press’. I (Dr. Kalam) told him that we would go together, but he said, ‘No, you go. It’s your day. It’s your glory. You take it.’ I learnt such a huge lesson that day. Leaders who give credit to their team for such a success and take responsibility upon themselves for failures are leaders who empower people.”
Santosh Desai in his article actually entitles the article ‘A Weapon Called Grace’ and it takes grace to be able to say, “You know, I made a mistake. I am sorry.”
Our Holy Book offers a word of advise and says (Proverbs 15:1) “A soft/gentle answer turns away anger.”
How true! Often we don’t want to give that gentle answer because of pride. But if we have to accept humility and say, “Yes, we made a mistake and I’ve got to admit it,” how much more we can accomplish.
That’s my hope, that’s my prayer for you that you will be encouraged by these words, that failures will not be things that will be hidden under a carpet, but boldly acknowledged and that you and I can walk humbly before people and be wonderfully empowering leaders.
Let me pray with you. Almighty God, on each one of these precious ones on this call, I pray that you would pour out your Spirit in wonderful ways, helping each one of us to be leaders who are very quick to admit when we’ve made a mistake and to walk humbly before You who are the source of ultimate wisdom in our lives. I pray that that wisdom will be available to each one on this call in all the spheres of leadership and work that they are involved in. I pray blessing upon them in Your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment