When evaluating whether to take a risk, it’s easy to see the early-stage pitfalls you could encounter. Imagining the realization of the opportunity is much harder. But not making the attempt guarantees you won’t realize the ultimate benefits. It is necessary to broaden the mind, see the bigger picture, and know that with determination obstacles will be overcome.
Former Coca-Cola president Don Keough ran into this trap when his German management team presented a plan to expand into East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Believing the budget was too high, Keough vetoed the proposal. Frustrated by Keough’s summary rejection, the management team threatened to resign. The head of German operations challenged Keough to look more closely:
“You don’t know the potential of East Germany. You’ve never been there. You rejected it out of hand without considering that this could be a great opportunity. At the very least, you should talk to them again. But I’d like to ask you to do more. Come with me to see East Germany for yourself, first-hand, and make up your own mind.” Keough ended up going with his team to East Germany and seeing for himself. After the trip, he said, “My mind was completely changed. We assembled everyone together, and I apologized for being so narrowly focused and so intransigent. Together, we made plans then and there to buy several plants in the east.”
Coke’s expansion into East Germany was not without missteps. Yet the opportunity was so great, and the team’s determination to succeed so strong, they were able to work through the disappointments and setbacks. East Germany became a fast-growing and profitable market for Coke.
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