3M CEO: Wisdom of the Ages

First of all, a warning. There’s little actionable analysis in this article. I just couldn’t help myself.

Although he’s English, George W. Buckley, Chairman, President and CEO of 3M Co. (MMM) sounds pretty aw-shucks southern to me. If 3M doesn’t weather the downturn well (the company cut jobs and lowered guidance this week), Buckley might want to consider life coaching.

Below, a sampling of some of his sayings and quotes as gleaned from 3M Co.’s financial guidance call. Who says the English keep a stiff upper lip?

"It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good.” – Buckley quoting his grandmother.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." – Buckley paraphrasing George Bernard Shaw.

"Sooner or later, those individuals and companies in life that win are those who think they can."- Ditto, G.B.S.

When considering that in America it’s called 2% fat milk and in the UK it’s called 98% fat free:

“When there's a 2% downturn, there's 98% of the market left. In a 5% downturn, there's 95% of the market left. So the important thing for companies like ours is to focus on the 95% that's left and not on the 5% that's gone… A more positive perspective that you can have at a time like this.”

“There's a very big difference between milking a cow and starving a cow.”

“Perfection is the natural assassin of production.”

“Chance always favors the prepared mind.”

“Vision without action is a daydream, but action without vision is a nightmare.”

"The end is only the beginning." – Buckley quoting his idol, Winston Churchill.

“In due course we will harvest what we've been reaping.”

“We all tend to be creatures of habit. Once the external pressure lapses, we tend to go back to the kind of behaviors we always had.”

Comments

[Tom Armistead:]

Somwhat actionable, I am tempted to buy a few shares so I can listen to the conference calls...

2008 Dec 10 10:53 AM

[SA Editor J...:]

LOL
No need though, you can read transcripts for free on SA. (Just a little plug...)
-Judy

2008 Dec 10 10:58 AM

[stonebluff:]

Doesn't he mean "sowing" instead of "reaping"? Reaping and harvesting are the same thing.

2008 Dec 10 12:27 PM

[mdmrjsds:]

"The end is only the beginning." – Buckley quoting his idol, Winston Churchill.

In the I Ching this is stated as "For every ending there is a new beginning".

And I agree with stonebluff, I think he meant, "In due course, we will harvest what we've been sowing". It would have been even more pithy if he has said "We can only harvest what we've sown". i.e. "if you plant corn, you don't harvest soybeans" or "if you plant financial shenanigans, you don't harvest wealth".

Thanks for the posting. It's good to know that there are some CEOs out there that have some common sense.

2008 Dec 10 01:22 PM