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Very Short But Amazing Speech by Coca Cola CEO Bryan Dyson

52 points by bluebit 17y ago

viae 17y ago
Anyone have a verifiable citation on this credit to Dyson? Initially my spider sense tingled when something so perfunctory was attributed to a CEO of Coca Cola (a common theme to chain emails). Some quick Googling credits a 1996 Commencement Address at Georgia Tech. However, another source says it's from the book, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. Does anyone have a source at Georgia Tech that can confirm/deny 1996's commencement address?
- codebaobab 17y ago
  The oldest use of the quote that I can find is from a 1998 WHO document: http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section1257/Section2181/Section2211/Section2219_11481.htm http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section1257/Section2181/Section2... “Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas" is a 2001 novel by James Patterson, so I don't think that can be the origin of the story. Also, note that Brian Dyson was CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) not CEO of The Coca Cola Company (NYSE: KO). (When people say "Coke" or "Coca Cola" they almost always mean the latter, not the former.) http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=5949&fuseaction=topics.item&news_id=477942 http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=5949&fuse...
byrneseyeview 17y ago
I doubt that this is true. Realistically, your loved ones will be more loyal to you than your boss. Which is more common: lying, embezzling employee keeps getting rehired by the same boss, or lying, cheating husband keeps being forgiven by his wife? You'd have to be a pretty shitty human being to exploit this, but it is true. The transactional nature of business means it's the least amenable to long-term relationships, and requires the most aggressive maintenance if you want to optimize it. Most people naturally behave in a way that counteracts this: they could abuse the trust of their loved ones, but they don't. So perhaps he should have said something like "business is a glass ball. The others are all hamster-balls, with little hamsters in them. If you drop the hamster-ball, it's not going to kill the hamster; it might not even seriously hurt it. But don't be an asshole; if you're going to drop something, drop something that won't be hurt."
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- Timothee 17y ago
  I didn't read it in the same light. I don't think it's about being an ass to anybody, or abusing the trust of others (your boss, or your family). I would sum it up as in "your job is not the most important thing in your life". When you're juggling with your 5 balls and you reach a point where you can't handle it anymore and need to drop a ball, dropping the work part is not as big of a deal as the rest. E.g. if you do something just to keep your job but that hurts other people or your health, don't do it, it's not worth it: don't stay late every night, when it's forbidding you to kiss your kids to bed; don't accept to be dropped off in a war zone just to keep your job, etc.
  - byrneseyeview 17y ago
    I chose extreme examples to illustrate it. But look at it this way: your boss is the least likely person to forgive you for a given offense, because the relationship is more transactional. The opposite hypothesis seems pretty absurd. You wouldn't argue that, e.g., if you have to disappoint your boss or your spouse, your boss is more likely to remain unconditionally faithful to you. People don't exploit this, and that's a good thing. But if I were trying to avoid harm in both my professional and personal life, I'd know that personal connections are more loyal, and thus I can more afford to let them suffer in the short term. I guess health is an exception there. I'm not sure what "spirit" means, but it seems hard to change.
joe_the_user 17y ago
Uh, Odd person to imagine as an advocate of health. The circumstantial evidence for the health-damaging effects of high-fructose corn syrup in particular are still fuzzy but the correlation of sodas and obesity is pretty established. Where is Coke on that question? -- I wouldn't advocate imagining your health as a glass ball. There's something to the point that your body responds to the imagines of yourself that you give it. I'm a rubber ball but not one whose going to put Coke into my system.
- nazgulnarsil 17y ago
  i must have missed the part where coke forces itself on customers.
  - joe_the_user 17y ago
    I missed the part where crack dealers force their products on their customers too. But somehow I wouldn't think of them if I was organizing a healthy lifestyles conference.
    - nazgulnarsil 17y ago
      i'd listen to a successful crack dealer if they had something interesting to say about being an entrepreneur.
- pedalpete 17y ago
  First off, only some parts of the world use high-fructose corn syrup in their coke. If you get a coke from mexico (and I imagine much of south america) it uses cane sugar. More importantly though, I am currently drinking an amazing Odwalla juice which is a distributed by minute maid which is owned by coke. Though they have a highly successful, and not so healthy product, they also have a diverse number of companies which focus on health.
  - stephen 17y ago
    Sugar is just as bad as HFCS, according to this video lecture that came across HN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM It also asserts that pretty much any juice is not a good idea because you're losing the fiber that helps your body deal with the fructose. I need to learn more about it though.
chr15 17y ago
Bryan Dyson is not Coke's current CEO. Muhtar Kent holds that position now (since 2008). IIRC, Dyson was CEO in the mid 80s. Title should read ex-CEO to not confuse users. Edit: after some Googling, Dyson was President & CEO of Coca-Cola North America in 1983. Then became CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises in 1986. BTW, there is a HUGE difference between The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Enterprises, and they are often confused with each other. They are two separate, publicly traded companies. CCC produces the Coke syrup. CCE actually takes the syrup, mixes it with water and CO2, bottles it, then distributes it to stores.
eru 17y ago
What's `spirit'?
- access_denied 17y ago
  It's the thing that made you ask this question.
- sliverstorm 17y ago
  Morale? Spunk? Whatever you call the thing that fights back psychological depression? I highly doubt he's talking about spirit(uality).
sumeeta 17y ago
I don’t know about amazing; this just seems depressing.

52 points by bluebit 17y ago

viae 17y ago

Anyone have a verifiable citation on this credit to Dyson? Initially my spider sense tingled when something so perfunctory was attributed to a CEO of Coca Cola (a common theme to chain emails). Some quick Googling credits a 1996 Commencement Address at Georgia Tech. However, another source says it's from the book, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. Does anyone have a source at Georgia Tech that can confirm/deny 1996's commencement address?

codebaobab 17y ago
The oldest use of the quote that I can find is from a 1998 WHO document: http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section1257/Section2181/Section2211/Section2219_11481.htm http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section1257/Section2181/Section2... “Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas" is a 2001 novel by James Patterson, so I don't think that can be the origin of the story. Also, note that Brian Dyson was CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) not CEO of The Coca Cola Company (NYSE: KO). (When people say "Coke" or "Coca Cola" they almost always mean the latter, not the former.) http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=5949&fuseaction=topics.item&news_id=477942 http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=5949&fuse...

byrneseyeview 17y ago

I doubt that this is true. Realistically, your loved ones will be more loyal to you than your boss. Which is more common: lying, embezzling employee keeps getting rehired by the same boss, or lying, cheating husband keeps being forgiven by his wife? You'd have to be a pretty shitty human being to exploit this, but it is true. The transactional nature of business means it's the least amenable to long-term relationships, and requires the most aggressive maintenance if you want to optimize it. Most people naturally behave in a way that counteracts this: they could abuse the trust of their loved ones, but they don't. So perhaps he should have said something like "business is a glass ball. The others are all hamster-balls, with little hamsters in them. If you drop the hamster-ball, it's not going to kill the hamster; it might not even seriously hurt it. But don't be an asshole; if you're going to drop something, drop something that won't be hurt."

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
Timothee 17y ago
I didn't read it in the same light. I don't think it's about being an ass to anybody, or abusing the trust of others (your boss, or your family). I would sum it up as in "your job is not the most important thing in your life". When you're juggling with your 5 balls and you reach a point where you can't handle it anymore and need to drop a ball, dropping the work part is not as big of a deal as the rest. E.g. if you do something just to keep your job but that hurts other people or your health, don't do it, it's not worth it: don't stay late every night, when it's forbidding you to kiss your kids to bed; don't accept to be dropped off in a war zone just to keep your job, etc.
- byrneseyeview 17y ago
  I chose extreme examples to illustrate it. But look at it this way: your boss is the least likely person to forgive you for a given offense, because the relationship is more transactional. The opposite hypothesis seems pretty absurd. You wouldn't argue that, e.g., if you have to disappoint your boss or your spouse, your boss is more likely to remain unconditionally faithful to you. People don't exploit this, and that's a good thing. But if I were trying to avoid harm in both my professional and personal life, I'd know that personal connections are more loyal, and thus I can more afford to let them suffer in the short term. I guess health is an exception there. I'm not sure what "spirit" means, but it seems hard to change.

joe_the_user 17y ago

Uh, Odd person to imagine as an advocate of health. The circumstantial evidence for the health-damaging effects of high-fructose corn syrup in particular are still fuzzy but the correlation of sodas and obesity is pretty established. Where is Coke on that question? -- I wouldn't advocate imagining your health as a glass ball. There's something to the point that your body responds to the imagines of yourself that you give it. I'm a rubber ball but not one whose going to put Coke into my system.

nazgulnarsil 17y ago
i must have missed the part where coke forces itself on customers.
- joe_the_user 17y ago
  I missed the part where crack dealers force their products on their customers too. But somehow I wouldn't think of them if I was organizing a healthy lifestyles conference.
  - nazgulnarsil 17y ago
    i'd listen to a successful crack dealer if they had something interesting to say about being an entrepreneur.
pedalpete 17y ago
First off, only some parts of the world use high-fructose corn syrup in their coke. If you get a coke from mexico (and I imagine much of south america) it uses cane sugar. More importantly though, I am currently drinking an amazing Odwalla juice which is a distributed by minute maid which is owned by coke. Though they have a highly successful, and not so healthy product, they also have a diverse number of companies which focus on health.
- stephen 17y ago
  Sugar is just as bad as HFCS, according to this video lecture that came across HN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM It also asserts that pretty much any juice is not a good idea because you're losing the fiber that helps your body deal with the fructose. I need to learn more about it though.

chr15 17y ago

Bryan Dyson is not Coke's current CEO. Muhtar Kent holds that position now (since 2008). IIRC, Dyson was CEO in the mid 80s. Title should read ex-CEO to not confuse users. Edit: after some Googling, Dyson was President & CEO of Coca-Cola North America in 1983. Then became CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises in 1986. BTW, there is a HUGE difference between The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Enterprises, and they are often confused with each other. They are two separate, publicly traded companies. CCC produces the Coke syrup. CCE actually takes the syrup, mixes it with water and CO2, bottles it, then distributes it to stores.

eru 17y ago

What's `spirit'?

access_denied 17y ago
It's the thing that made you ask this question.
sliverstorm 17y ago
Morale? Spunk? Whatever you call the thing that fights back psychological depression? I highly doubt he's talking about spirit(uality).

sumeeta 17y ago

I don’t know about amazing; this just seems depressing.