Nooyi's uncertainty principles

Human beings never know what lurks around the corner, so why are we making such a big deal of uncertainty, some may ask, said Pepsico's Chairman and CEO, Ms Indra Nooyi, as she tackled the AdAsia 2011 theme head on.

She, however, felt that this time round the uncertainty that corporations were facing was far more unsettling, and the fear and risk higher than ever seen before.

In this milieu of uncertainty, she had a few tips for corporations.

First lesson

Her first lesson to corporations was to recognise and accept that we are in a new era of uncertainty.

“No longer do companies have the luxury of planning from a base of security…These days, volatility is not just the way that our normal lives are disrupted. It is our normal lives,” she said.

Urging speed and agility, she said, “We need to start the next plan while the ink is still drying on the old one. We have to think in a wholly different way. Responding to change is not the same as being fickle. We need to learn a wholly new skill - the skill of adaptability,” was her message. The second point she made was that leaders now had to steer a course through the present, but fix sight on a distant point in the future.” Uncertain times require us to have a long-term horizon. It is the companies with a clear long-term mission that will thrive. But at the same time, investors need great performance, here and now. So we have to work on two time scales at once, she said.

Make big changes

Ms Nooyi said the days of incremental thinking are over.

“In volatile times, we need to be ambitious. We must make big changes to big things,” she said.

Innovation is not just about refreshing what you have. It's about rethinking and reframing your whole product offering, your complete service. It's about encouraging borderless innovation, where the clever practices of low-cost countries are brought to places where costs are higher, she pointed out.

Disruption is now our friend, not our enemy, she told the audience, urging them to disrupt themselves deliberately. “If you don't, the competition will,” was her warning.

Attract and retain talent

For Ms Nooyi, one of the most important leadership task in the age of uncertainty is to put in place a diverse team, broaden the talent base.

“We need a team that is diverse. A team that spans the whole range of ages, of nationalities, of ethnicities. We need to tap into their talent and recognise that because ideas recognise no boundaries, neither should we,' she stressed.

“In the time of volatility and uncertainty, the way we buy, broaden and bond our talent will be the key to whether we atrophy, just survive or thrive,” she said.

Communicate all the time

Her final advice to heads of corporations was to be super-visible as a leader. “We need to communicate all the time. Every organisation needs to know what the realities are. And everyone needs to know how they are moving forward.”

Uncertainty breeds anxiety, she noted, and so it was imperative to talk to people. “Leadership is not just a rational thing. It needs an emotional connection.”

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