Leakage from a Cluttered Mind

In a Chicago suburb in 1982, a few people were mysteriously affected by cyanide poisoning. Some died. The cause was traced to some bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol. The CEO of Johnson and Johnson, the manufacturer of Tylenol, faced a huge crisis. Despite the high probability that Tylenol bottles had been tampered with in only one locality, J&J recalled all Tylenol and urged all customers to return any Tylenol they had. With little explicit direction from the CEO, J&J employees pitched in to expeditiously remove Tylenol from store shelves.

What accounted for this behavior? Why would the employees so willing do this? Michael Useem, in The Leadership Moment, suggests the mission and values of Johnson and Johnson were so well known by its employees it was natural. One key sentence of their mission statement reads, “We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses, and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services.” The result was that after J&J redesigned the product with tamper proof packaging they regained 80% of their market within a year.

What can we learn? Clearly knowing our goal and our values is critical for success. Furthermore, the goal and values must be clear to those we are leading. If this isn’t done, dissension results when tough decisions are made in a crisis. Without common values and a clear understanding of the goal, the whole organization won’t be thinking clearly or in unity. Change is made easier when everyone understands where the change is leading (the goal) and why that change is necessary (the values).

Churches are notorious for disagreements and splits. Might this be because the members of the church did not have a unified, clear goal, or a fully understood set of shared values?

In the 1970s, nearly 20 million people were infected with a micro-worm parasite spread through the bite of a fly. Many of these people lived in western Africa, barely surviving at a subsistence level. Nearly half of those infected would eventually be blinded by the parasite. The condition was known as river blindness. Known treatments were not very effective.

Also in the 1970s, the pharmaceutical company Merck made a discovery of a bacterium that was highly effective in destroying parasitical worms in animals. By 1978 Merck had a drug on the market that was highly effective in the treatment of ear mites in cats and heartworms in dogs. Further research at the time indicated the drug might be effective against the river blindness parasite. At this point, Merck leadership was confronted with a moral dilema—honor the expectations of Merck’s shareholders (who expected a profit), or save millions who could not afford the drug from blindness. Merck CEO Roy Vagelos chose the “greater good” and made the drug available for free forever to those who need it.

This story is related in the book The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem and from it he draws some implications on how we might prepare to offer excellent leadership when these moments of choice confront us. One implication he makes is that leaders can foster a favorable organizational culture, build a committed team with high morale, and establish a great public reputation if they identify ways of building up long-term stakeholder and public interest in spite of temporary shortfalls in stakeholder value.

How might such a methodology play out in a church that is plateaued or declining? An effective leader will probably need to make decisions that are unpopular with some segment of the membership. After all, change is necessary to move off a plateau and for many church members, change is very difficult. It is likely that some part of the existing church culture will have to be given away to the dismay of the entrenched members. Making change more acceptable is something we will talk about in the next Crisis Leadership post.