A letter from Indira Nooyi

Hi!!

Received this as an email and felt like sharing it here!!

A letter from Indira Nooyi to her associates...

Dear Fellow Associates,

October 22nd was a difficult day for me. This was the infamous Friday when my beloved baseball team – the New York Yankees – were eliminated from the playoffs by the Texas Rangers. You see, all of us NY Yankees fans just take it for granted that our team will be in the World Series, and maybe even win it again.
 
But alas, it was not meant to be. The Texas Rangers outscored, outfielded, out maneuvered and simply out-played the Yankees throughout the entire American League Championship Series this October. They won the best of seven games 4 to 2.
 
I was fortunate enough to attend the fourth game of the playoffs at Yankee Stadium here in New York. The weather was beautiful. The view from my seat fantastic. The outcome – not as good. The Yankees lost that game 10-3.
 
For the three and a half hours I was at the game, I watched the teams and plays very closely. The Rangers had a spring in their step. They looked hungry. They were on the attack. They hustled. They made the impossible plays.
 
The Yankees on the other hand played their normal “winning game.” Quiet, confident, no fireworks, no surprises. In fact, their play was so predictable it looked boring.
 
On reflection, there are many lessons I took away from the Championship Series:
 

1. Just because you are the leader in your field, you cannot afford to become complacent.
2. The “attacker” – coming up from second position – has a natural advantage. They have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
3. If your opposition is comprised of players from a different “generation” (age-wise), anticipating how they think and what they will do is much more of a challenge.
4. Experience alone is not enough. To win, you need agility, flexibility, adaptability.
5. Be prepared to upgrade your talent and playbook constantly if you want to play in the big leagues and win. Upgrade talent and your playbook when the going is good.
6. Just because you have a winning season does not mean you can win during the championships. Competition can come from unexpected sources.
7. Don’t take any competitor for granted. Don’t assume you can beat someone in a championship game just because you beat them in the regular series. Always study competition with a fresh pair of eyes.
8. Throwing money at an issue (players in this case) does not win you a trophy. Intelligence, shrewdness and a new strategy will trump cold hard cash.

I could go on and on. But I hope you get the point: just as I took lessons from this baseball series for the running of PepsiCo, I hope you too draw lessons from your daily experiences, hobbies and family life. Sarah Caldwell, the American opera director, once said, “Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.”
 
And while I am in despair over the Yankees' loss, I am grateful for the lesson it taught me.  Every interaction, every event, every piece of information we come across can hold a valuable lesson for each one of us. We just have to keep our eyes, ears and minds open to it.
 
My congratulations to the Texas Rangers!