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A Book Well Worth Reading

September 15, 2004 - by Robert E. Stevens, GENESIS II (The Second Beginning) E-Mail: views@aol.com

While exploring the aisles of my local library, I came across an eye catching title, Winning with the P&G 99 (99 Principles and Practices of Procter & Gamble's Success) written by Charles Decker a former P&G Brand Manager. I took it out, started reading it and by the end of the first chapter I knew I had to have a personal copy.

For anyone interested in what has made P&G one of the most successful companies of our time, you can obtain a copy for as little as $2.77 from Amazon.com. I highly recommend this book. It delves deeply into the corporate structure, decision making principles and the guiding principles of the company. Some of P&G's unique principles are as follows.

1. The consumer is queen. Nothing relating to a brand happens without the consumer's approval.

2. The best is never good enough. That is why P&G brands seem to last forever. They are constantly being improved and up-dated.

3. Nothing happens without it first being put on paper. It is said that if you can learn how to write a P&G memo, you can learn how to think.

4. Opinions don't count. A saying by R.R. Dupree, former P&G CEO, puts opinions in a better perspective. He said "An opinion isn't worth a damn if facts can be ascertained." Decisions are always data based.

5.  Think sideways. Product innovations, new ideas, and new ways of doing things can come from lateral thinking and reapplying lessons learned in other areas. Consider P&G's 19 brands of liquid and granule laundry detergents. The study of calcium in water for laundry detergents led to fluoride in toothpaste and then a treatment for osteoporosis.

6. Be your own best enemy. If someone is going to try to eat your lunch, better it be someone in your own family than an enemy. If there is room for more than one brand in a category, it is better to compete against one of your own brands than a brand of another company.


These are just 6 of the 99 principles. Mr. Decker covers a broad range of topics including corporate beliefs, culture, and the criteria for success within P&G.        Mr. Decker's perspective is from the Brand Management position while mine is from R&D. However our experiences are similar but Mr. Decker's covers areas of the company that I had only encountered as a member of the Category Management Team.


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