Sesame Street Simple - A.G. Lafley's Leadership Philosophy

Bob Sutton

I was lucky enough to be in the audience of recently when A.G. Lafley, Procter & Gamble's CEO, gave a lovely talk to a small group of executives. We have talked here about Level 5 leaders - he qualifies if anyone does. He is perhaps the most modest and selfless CEO of a Fortune firm I have encountered. I know A.G. slightly, as in 2000, when he first stepped in as CEO, I spent a few hours with his top team talking about the Knowing-Doing Gap.

One of the premises of that book is that a key to turning knowledge into action is that - although executives who talk about many ideas and complex ideas will be viewed as smarter - wiser and more effective executives pick just a few simple messages and repeat them over and over again until people throughout the organisation internals them and use them to guide action. 

Constantly changing messages lead to the "flavour of the month problem" where people do not act on the current message because they have learned that, if they wait a few months (or days) the message will change (managers in such organisations become very skilled as if they acting on the flavour of the month, but not actually doing the thing that senior executives are pushing at the moment). Making things overly complicated may make the senior seem smart and feel smart, but if a message is too complicated to understand, it also means that the implications for action for action are impossible to understand as well.

Expressing a simple message and repeating it over and over again is especially important when an organisation is large, as it is not possible for A.G. to have a meeting with all 130,000 or so people in one room. A.G's motto is that the principles used to run the firm need to be "Sesame Street Simple". I love that because it is so different than the kind of message you hear from management theorists or from CEOs who are obsessed with how smart they are - and how dumb everyone else is in compassion.

Here are a U.S. News and World Report article that describes A.G.'s style in more detail. For this post, here is the key paragraph:

Repeat after me. If that sounds simplistic, Lafley is the first to admit that it is. Yet in a company where more than half the employees do not speak English as their first language, he says his Sesame Street - simple slogans, repeated over and over, keep everyone trained on what is important. Human beings "do not want to stay focused. So my job is to get them to focus their creativity around the focus; focus their productivity around the focus; focus their efficiency or effectiveness around the focus".

As I compare A.G.'s approach to what is happening in financial meltdown, it strikes me that the crisis (and the apparent cure too) is brought to us by people who - at times - did such complicated things that no one, including themselves, understood what they were doing and what the implications might be. I am sure that some very smart economists or finance people believe that they understand all this, and I guess we have to trust some of them now to get us out of this despite their history of greed and arrogance. But this crisis has further convinced me that I prefer Sesame Street Simple to Wall Street Convoluted every time.

More to refer:

• Article above was reposted from - Bob Sutton's Sesame Street Simple: A.G. Lafley's Leadership Philosophy - Bob Sutton, Work Matters
• Leadership lessons from Sesame Street - HJnews
• Reaction to Bob Sutton's article, Do "Sesame Street simple" communication with a story - John M. Cadell
• When there is no simple solution at work, learn to embrace the mess - Robert I. Sutton

Learn to let go

By Alice S. M. Lee

Getting rid of junk has a therapeutic effect. It creates more space in our homes and in our hearts, too.

By nature, many of us are hoarders. We tend to keep stuff that we no longer use, in case some day they come in handy. The result: we end up cluttering our homes. When we are unwilling to let go, the clutter around us weighs us down emotionally and physically. 

This year I decided to clear all the unwanted items in my cupboards. So, does this mean that, I now have more space?

No, not this time around. My resolution is: less for more. With less stuff I will have more space in my cupboards and I am going to leave it that way. 

Just looking at the empty space makes me feel lighter. Besides, it is time-consuming and laborious to get rid of unwanted stuff. 

Letting go isn't easy. Doing so doesn't mean that we are giving up.

Not wanting our belongings doesn't mean that we are preparing to die. It merely indicates that we are moving on to another phase of our life. Just like a child giving up his toys for books, CDs or sporting equipment. 

By giving away things that are no longer of use to us, we may be doing a good deed, too. Television sets are most welcome in old folks' homes, orphanages or any organisation for the less privileged. If you have one that is still functioning and you no longer need it, give it away and spread some joy to others instead of letting it gather dust in the storeroom. 

Memories hold treasures from the past. The pleasant ones are for us to cherish, while sad moments often bring tear to our eyes. Remembering them only makes us human, but dwelling too much on them may not be healthy. It is distressing that some old folk have a strong emotional attachment to their possessions, and cite sentimental reasons as an excuse not to let go.

I used to get a few ringgit in return for old newspapers and periodicals, which I sell to the lorry man who comes around the neighbourhood. 

Now I find it strange that he's paying me to cart away my junk. When I moved house last year, I was delighted to find that my new neighbourhood has a recycling centre, which collects recyclable items for charity. Now I my old newspapers to the centre as a way of donating to charity. By doing so, I have turned my clutter into "treasure", for a good cause.

I have also donated children's books, toys and reusable items to a nearby orphanage. I've sent loads of old clothing to the Red Crescent Society for distribution to flood victims and the less fortunate. 

Decluttering is therapeutic. By giving something away. we create more space for ourselves - in our homes and hearts. It is good to know that someone else can make use of something we no longer need. It gives us a chance to share and care for others. Instead of dragging ourselves down with the extra baggage, we can shed unnecessary weight.

Besides our homes, our lives need decluttering too. Positive thoughts and better communication with our family and friends will result in less stress and arguments, and gives us more peace of mind. 

Despite their advanced age, it's sad to see that some elderly folk just won't let go. They continue to harbour negative thoughts, grudges, hatred and resentment. 

Friends and family members who might have wronged them in the past have never been forgiven. Some remain prejudiced against their offspring who do not do well career-wise, or have brought shame to the family. 

It is sad that they have hung on to the past, with bitterness, cluttering their hearts and minds for decades. Learning to forgive and forget would help release us from such bondage. Unfortunately, because of pride, some find it difficult to do so, for doing so is akin to losing face or power. 

If only we could learn to accept, be willing to forgive and let go. It would be so much easier to shed our emotional baggage and move on with our lives.

Source: The Star Malaysia
Page: TI2
Section: Lifestyle
Date: 12 March 2007 (Monday)