Nestle engages with anti-Nestle blogger

This is good stuff. An executive at Nestle answered back a blogger who said some harsh things about Nestle. I hope they start a blog and show us what it’s like working at Nestle and how they are working to improve their company. I usually don’t like being attacked but, on aggregate, I learn a lot more from those who don’t like me than those who do.

Nestle just became a little more human due to a letter from George. I appreciate that a senior executive is fighting for his company’s reputation! I want to do business with people like that.

As to Nestle, I haven’t met a corporation yet that is perfect and doesn’t mess with people’s lives in some way or another. The trick is to have some transparency into those decisions and some sort of dialog so that we can 1. hear why a company made an “evil” decision and 2. try to influence decision makers to make a better decision that is better for everyone.

It’s interesting, but as I looked for evil I just found people who made decisions the best they could. The pressures on you to please shareholders and boards of directors are extreme. How can we counteract those pressures, even a little bit? I think it starts with conversations. How can we work together to make the world a better place?

Unfortunately humans rarely think like that. Just witness the mess in the Middle East right now.

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50 thoughts on “Nestle engages with anti-Nestle blogger

  1. Robert~

    You are rare in that you (in general) take criticism as a learning point – – hence, your many thousands of readers. I don’t think everyone really wants to learn. Many people just don’t care, they just want their piece of the pie – – and everyone else’s piece too. I still like your “edge case” thing from a while back. 😉 You probably learned some from that.

    I think it’s a constant balance between what we want to learn and what the cost is for learning it. Hopefully Nestle, Dell and other companies will see the value that they add to their companies, clients, employees and everyone else – – when they engage people and listen to people, rather than talk at people.

    Cheers!
    ~Toby Getsch

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  2. Robert~

    You are rare in that you (in general) take criticism as a learning point – – hence, your many thousands of readers. I don’t think everyone really wants to learn. Many people just don’t care, they just want their piece of the pie – – and everyone else’s piece too. I still like your “edge case” thing from a while back. 😉 You probably learned some from that.

    I think it’s a constant balance between what we want to learn and what the cost is for learning it. Hopefully Nestle, Dell and other companies will see the value that they add to their companies, clients, employees and everyone else – – when they engage people and listen to people, rather than talk at people.

    Cheers!
    ~Toby Getsch

    Like

  3. Thank you for shining the light of your blog on this conversation, Robert. It’s a deep one! Now, as to your feeling of being attacked, I’d like to put that at rest. We don’t know each other, but I am friends with a lot of people who have met you and think the world of you, personally and professionally. My posting was really about our complicity with big corporations that run rough-shod over people in pursuit of profits. I didn’t mean it as any kind of statement of dislike or attack on you.

    Many, many years ago, I worked for the Bank of America. Deeper in the “belly of the beast” it is hard to get. My co-workers and I were all about introducing PCs to the company and helping end users to see the value of email and such. I think it was a good company, but there was always that paradox about lending practices supporting companies that were profitable but not all that principled when it came to doing good for the planet.

    That conversation is the direction my blog is going and I thank you again for the link.

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  4. Thank you for shining the light of your blog on this conversation, Robert. It’s a deep one! Now, as to your feeling of being attacked, I’d like to put that at rest. We don’t know each other, but I am friends with a lot of people who have met you and think the world of you, personally and professionally. My posting was really about our complicity with big corporations that run rough-shod over people in pursuit of profits. I didn’t mean it as any kind of statement of dislike or attack on you.

    Many, many years ago, I worked for the Bank of America. Deeper in the “belly of the beast” it is hard to get. My co-workers and I were all about introducing PCs to the company and helping end users to see the value of email and such. I think it was a good company, but there was always that paradox about lending practices supporting companies that were profitable but not all that principled when it came to doing good for the planet.

    That conversation is the direction my blog is going and I thank you again for the link.

    Like

  5. Oh, Frank, I didn’t feel attacked by you. You pointed out something I didn’t, so thought you added to the conversation. I was thinking of other times when I wrote that above.

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  6. Oh, Frank, I didn’t feel attacked by you. You pointed out something I didn’t, so thought you added to the conversation. I was thinking of other times when I wrote that above.

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  7. Thanks for your impressions Robert. Those who can see both sides are the kind of people I like hanging out with also. It has been very liberating for people to be able to speak their individual truths without editing, however I would like to see the dialog move forward. How do we redefine the status quo so that it is more win-win-win? Company (includes management, employees and shareholders), customers, and the community/environment at large?

    I think it’s very doable; it just takes time and individuals willing to go against primitive survival instincts. That’s a big part of the point of Beach Walks…

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  8. Thanks for your impressions Robert. Those who can see both sides are the kind of people I like hanging out with also. It has been very liberating for people to be able to speak their individual truths without editing, however I would like to see the dialog move forward. How do we redefine the status quo so that it is more win-win-win? Company (includes management, employees and shareholders), customers, and the community/environment at large?

    I think it’s very doable; it just takes time and individuals willing to go against primitive survival instincts. That’s a big part of the point of Beach Walks…

    Like

  9. Sometimes it’s better to ignore idiots, suffer not the conspiracy theorists or the never-satisifieds, as no amount of facts wil ever suffice. Not saying such is the case here, but endless “engagements” that don’t help anything, or move anything along are a pointless wastes of time. Just making the blogger crybaby egos feel powerful and all Cluetrainy tingled-up is not a good investment of time.

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  10. Sometimes it’s better to ignore idiots, suffer not the conspiracy theorists or the never-satisifieds, as no amount of facts wil ever suffice. Not saying such is the case here, but endless “engagements” that don’t help anything, or move anything along are a pointless wastes of time. Just making the blogger crybaby egos feel powerful and all Cluetrainy tingled-up is not a good investment of time.

    Like

  11. I love your comment about George’s passion for his company’s reputation. And that those are the folks you like to work with. Likewise. I do think the two of them sound a bit self-righteous. Who doesn’t think they are right? Being open to the possibility of being wrong can help tone down the barbs. And I am not even going to get into the evil empire discussion.

    There is a truism in the Trusted Advisor book from David Maister that essentially says we don’t build trust with companies (or organizations), we build trust with invidual people. Even though the conversation you are referencing may not have a tremendous “reach”, George is building up trust in my eyes.

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  12. I love your comment about George’s passion for his company’s reputation. And that those are the folks you like to work with. Likewise. I do think the two of them sound a bit self-righteous. Who doesn’t think they are right? Being open to the possibility of being wrong can help tone down the barbs. And I am not even going to get into the evil empire discussion.

    There is a truism in the Trusted Advisor book from David Maister that essentially says we don’t build trust with companies (or organizations), we build trust with invidual people. Even though the conversation you are referencing may not have a tremendous “reach”, George is building up trust in my eyes.

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  13. A couple of points… Robert, your header on this post characterizes me as an anti-Nestle blogger.

    Until this week I had only written one other post that referenced Nestle out of the thousands of posts I’ve written over the last five years and that post referred to a project they wanted to do that would have screwed up a wetland near my place. We kicked their corporate asses out. Please don’t call me an anti-Nestle blogger though. I’m anti-anyone who messes up the environment, values sales figures over public health and welfare, and countenances inhuman labor practices as a cost lowering alternative.

    Also, the BS about George’s passion for his company’s reputation needs to be assessed a little more critically. George is a big fish in his division but if you go to the Nestle web site where the senior management is listed, you’ll find a CEO and some EVPs and a Deputy EVP or two and even some SVPs, but Vice President of Flackery for the Caribbean Division is like being a Major or maybe a Colonel in the Army… decent rank, but just another bourgeois BS artist when you get right down to it. Which brings me to the point about the epistolary comment that George dropped like a turd in the punchbowl at my place. Engagement involves an exchange, not a pronouncement – especially not a pouty pronouncement. The guy came by and suggested that he’s offended, and I replied seriously and politely, but that’s where the conversation ended. He was interested in leaving his mark but not in an exchange of views.

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  14. A couple of points… Robert, your header on this post characterizes me as an anti-Nestle blogger.

    Until this week I had only written one other post that referenced Nestle out of the thousands of posts I’ve written over the last five years and that post referred to a project they wanted to do that would have screwed up a wetland near my place. We kicked their corporate asses out. Please don’t call me an anti-Nestle blogger though. I’m anti-anyone who messes up the environment, values sales figures over public health and welfare, and countenances inhuman labor practices as a cost lowering alternative.

    Also, the BS about George’s passion for his company’s reputation needs to be assessed a little more critically. George is a big fish in his division but if you go to the Nestle web site where the senior management is listed, you’ll find a CEO and some EVPs and a Deputy EVP or two and even some SVPs, but Vice President of Flackery for the Caribbean Division is like being a Major or maybe a Colonel in the Army… decent rank, but just another bourgeois BS artist when you get right down to it. Which brings me to the point about the epistolary comment that George dropped like a turd in the punchbowl at my place. Engagement involves an exchange, not a pronouncement – especially not a pouty pronouncement. The guy came by and suggested that he’s offended, and I replied seriously and politely, but that’s where the conversation ended. He was interested in leaving his mark but not in an exchange of views.

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  16. I am back and not running, excuse me for posting my views.

    I appreciate yours

    George the Nestle guy

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  17. I am back and not running, excuse me for posting my views.

    I appreciate yours

    George the Nestle guy

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  18. Hey Robert,

    Your right this is pretty cool, although addictive. Blogging was something I often heard about but never tried. It is amazing how you get an unsolicited range of responces, I now know what you mean about being naked in public. The scary thing is that my Company has not yet taken a position on how we should deal with blogging so I hope I don’t end up in hot water. Bottom line is this is not a corporate strategy just a concerned Manager that can’t sit back and read without responding.

    Thanks for your timelast week.

    George Vezza

    Like

  19. Hey Robert,

    Your right this is pretty cool, although addictive. Blogging was something I often heard about but never tried. It is amazing how you get an unsolicited range of responces, I now know what you mean about being naked in public. The scary thing is that my Company has not yet taken a position on how we should deal with blogging so I hope I don’t end up in hot water. Bottom line is this is not a corporate strategy just a concerned Manager that can’t sit back and read without responding.

    Thanks for your timelast week.

    George Vezza

    Like

  20. It’s interesting how much interest large organisations take in even rather insignificant blogs. A while back, I was less than entirely kind about Greenpeace’s strange scare-tactic advert showing a plane crashing into Sizewell B nuclear plant; within a few days, I had an angry comment from their Director of “new media” relations.

    With regard to the Nestle guy, however, one would have hoped that a vice president of communications could speak something approximating English.

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  21. It’s interesting how much interest large organisations take in even rather insignificant blogs. A while back, I was less than entirely kind about Greenpeace’s strange scare-tactic advert showing a plane crashing into Sizewell B nuclear plant; within a few days, I had an angry comment from their Director of “new media” relations.

    With regard to the Nestle guy, however, one would have hoped that a vice president of communications could speak something approximating English.

    Like

  22. Give me a break. Conversation can help solve communications problems. If the other side has completely different values then, communication just makes it clear that they want to kill you.

    Go talk to your wife about what it would be like to “communicate” with the mullahs.

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  23. Give me a break. Conversation can help solve communications problems. If the other side has completely different values then, communication just makes it clear that they want to kill you.

    Go talk to your wife about what it would be like to “communicate” with the mullahs.

    Like

  24. Miles: Maryam and I have talked about that a lot.

    But would it be better to get into a war with them and spend billions per month, kill another group of our young (and theirs) and fight, or is it better to sit down and try to find some common ground and work from there? Or, even, to change their society so that we don’t have a problem with it any longer?

    I have my tactics, I’ve found I get a lot of work done with honey. Other people think they get more work done with bile. I don’t know why they believe that, but I’ve seen how to change organizations. You don’t convince people that they are wrong by telling them they are wrong. You convince them by showing that your way of living brings better results.

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  25. Miles: Maryam and I have talked about that a lot.

    But would it be better to get into a war with them and spend billions per month, kill another group of our young (and theirs) and fight, or is it better to sit down and try to find some common ground and work from there? Or, even, to change their society so that we don’t have a problem with it any longer?

    I have my tactics, I’ve found I get a lot of work done with honey. Other people think they get more work done with bile. I don’t know why they believe that, but I’ve seen how to change organizations. You don’t convince people that they are wrong by telling them they are wrong. You convince them by showing that your way of living brings better results.

    Like

  26. Did not Nestle sell to both sides during WWII? It seems that large organizations are inherently evil. Whistleblowers are usually fired or transfered to the Siberia. The most recent US court decision stated that firing Whistleblowers was OK.

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  27. Did not Nestle sell to both sides during WWII? It seems that large organizations are inherently evil. Whistleblowers are usually fired or transfered to the Siberia. The most recent US court decision stated that firing Whistleblowers was OK.

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  28. FYI…While I agree one (or two) posts shouldn’t change peoples opinions of Nestle, he’s at least in a spot (Global Strategic Demand and located in Global HQ at Vevey) where he could at least see first hand what Nestle is looking to do. Hopefully the feedback that he receives back, good and bad, can at least spark something.

    I’d love nothing more than this, since I’ve seen them outsource a lot of jobs as a measure of staying competitive. Something that I’ve always attributed to as ‘cutting and running’.

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  29. FYI…While I agree one (or two) posts shouldn’t change peoples opinions of Nestle, he’s at least in a spot (Global Strategic Demand and located in Global HQ at Vevey) where he could at least see first hand what Nestle is looking to do. Hopefully the feedback that he receives back, good and bad, can at least spark something.

    I’d love nothing more than this, since I’ve seen them outsource a lot of jobs as a measure of staying competitive. Something that I’ve always attributed to as ‘cutting and running’.

    Like

  30. I have heard so many poor defenses to accusation by executives in the press, politically correct “perfect” defenses with numbers and all…However, George letter was human and for some odd reason felt very honest. Much more convincing than anything I have seen. This is the type of people we need to clean up Corporate Americe, I would hire that man for my company any day of the week!

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  31. I have heard so many poor defenses to accusation by executives in the press, politically correct “perfect” defenses with numbers and all…However, George letter was human and for some odd reason felt very honest. Much more convincing than anything I have seen. This is the type of people we need to clean up Corporate Americe, I would hire that man for my company any day of the week!

    Like

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  33. Robert,

    Thank you. I work at a large company that frequently takes heat from its customers and the community-at-large about how it’s conducting its business – and, more often that we’d like to admit, rightly so. We are trying real hard to change that and shape up, and this example – and what you’ve been doing over the years – shows how we can: by simply engage in the discussion.

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  34. Robert,

    Thank you. I work at a large company that frequently takes heat from its customers and the community-at-large about how it’s conducting its business – and, more often that we’d like to admit, rightly so. We are trying real hard to change that and shape up, and this example – and what you’ve been doing over the years – shows how we can: by simply engage in the discussion.

    Like

  35. Nestlle sucks!

    Its totally inhuman company.Have worked for this dirty company for decades and I must tell you I am breathing free now.

    The top management are all crooks. they dont have any brains and just fuck around with pretty women

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  36. Nestlle sucks!

    Its totally inhuman company.Have worked for this dirty company for decades and I must tell you I am breathing free now.

    The top management are all crooks. they dont have any brains and just fuck around with pretty women

    Like

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