Exceptional Ability to Face the Facts and Adapt

In the words of one industry analyst: "Pepsi has an exceptional ability to face the facts and adapt ...."

Do you have such ability?

You see facts, figures and data every day. What do you do as a result of new information?

It's uncomfortable the first time something jumps out of the screen and says to you, "I am an impossible-to-ignore trend/change/shift.
I'm real ... and I'm not going away. I will sooner or later tear down the way you've BEEN doing things, and I'm going to demand that you change or else."

We've all been there. We've all felt it. So, what matters is how you react ... what you do.

Do you adapt? Or do you shrug off the data as an aberration... as some statistical anomaly. Maybe you hope THE NUMBERS will change, reverse course or simply go away.

Nimble, smart, successful companies adapt. They don't ignore or rationalize data. Sure, they question, verify and research--it's imperative to do so--but when facts are facts, they have the courage to face them. This isn't about spare-bedroom start-ups or "fast" companies. What's great about this story is that it's about a company as large and long-running as Pepsi!


From Business Week Online--

How Pepsi deftly adapts products to changing consumer tastes

Few companies seem as pained by the thought of missing a customer as PepsiCo (PEP ). Every year, the food and beverage giant adds more than 200 product variations to its vast global portfolio -- which ranges from Quaker Soy Crisps to Gatorade Xtremo Thirst Quencher. Steven S. Reinemund, chairman and chief executive officer, believes that constant quest for change, more than even quality and value, is what has driven the Purchase (N.Y.) company to consistent double-digit earnings growth. As Reinemund has put it: "Innovation is what consumers are looking for, particularly in the small, routine things of their life."


BW Online | June 14, 2004 | Pepsi's Thousand And One Noshes