Even in a world of rapidly accelerating information, there must be a space between the immediate rush to judgment and the faded-from-memory moment of irrelevance for thoughtful analysis and lively discussion. I’m still not sure what John Mackey from Whole Foods was up to specifically, what he thought or felt, or why he made the choices he made, but the case provides a good opportunity to highlight some of the challenges that face us today.
What does active transparency looks like? How we can shift from one approach for achieving it to another and still be consistent and authentic? The answers are not always clear but when these sorts of stories come to light, it makes sense to ask ourselves these questions as we struggle to understand the events as reported.
The escalation of the cereal wars provides some tasty insight.
In my Forbes.com Op-Ed in late June, I applauded the Kellogg Company for getting out ahead of the industry when it came to embracing transparency. True, it took a lawsuit from the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood to prompt the action, but they really got their HOWs right by deciding to turn the action into an opportunity for leadership.
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Breakfast cereal giant Kellogg Company recently announced a major change in how they do business, a move that seems to indicate new concern for its relationship with consumers. I contributed an Op-Ed piece to Forbes.com. Check it out here.
As more companies understand the importance of active transparency, I think we’ll see a lot more of this sort of thing, and with increasing significance and depth. These are “soft” initiatives with very “hard,” quantifiable results.
I’ve had so much to reflect on in the whirlwind of the last few weeks since the book launched, but I just want to take a moment to share how particularly honored I was to have HOW featured as the subject of Thomas L. Friedman’s column in the June 27 New York Times. The link is to the subscription-only Times Select material, but we have also obtained permission to repost it here.
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