CEOs should speak last: PepsiCo India CEO D Shivakumar

A couple of months ago, a B-school held an event where the evergreen topic of discussion - innovation – was talked about. The event was being attended by three top CEOs representing blue chip technology and FMCG companies.

It was there that D Shivakumar, CEO of Pepsico India, shared his thoughts on this subject, mentioning his three tips to fostering mavericks and consequently innovation.

Shivakumar said that because of senior management being out of touch with the market and its focus on expertise and experience, mavericks and ideas mostly get killed.

"The desk is a dangerous place to see the world from. I fully subscribe to that," he said. Therefore, he believes that travelling is the solution, and the marketplace needs to be visited for at least one week per month.

He added that during meetings, CEOs or the person in chair should be the last one to speak.

"I heard someone say that the highest paid person gets his opinion heard. I would seriously urge the CEOs and whoever is chairing the meeting to speak last."

Lastly, he said that companies need to spot the centre of competence of the idea, so that they can quickly latch onto it. This means that if a product person gives a packaging idea, lacking the competence to deliver, it should be immediately passed to the relevant team. This, he said, is vital to make sure that innovation is continuous process in a company.

(Image source Wikimedia)