The Value of Innovation

Chapter 16Reporting Results

“I’ve had the opportunity to deliver a presentation to the then-CEO of Proctor & Gamble (P&G) A.G. Lafley four or five times in the decade he held that position. The first time was unforgettable. That day I learned a valuable lesson—the hard way—about how not to present to the CEO.

I’d been given 20 minutes on the agenda of the Executive Global Leadership Council meeting. This group included the CEO and a dozen or so of the top officials in the company. They met weekly in a special room on P&G’s executive floor designed just for them. It was a perfectly round room with modern features, centered on a perfectly round table. Even the doors were curved so as not to stray from the round motif. My presentation was the first item on the agenda that day, so I arrived 30 minutes early to set up my computer and make sure all the audiovisual equipment worked properly. I was, after all, making my first presentation to the CEO. I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly.

The executives began filing into the room at the appointed time and taking up seats around the table. After half of them had arrived, Mr. Lafley entered the room. He walked almost completely around the table, saying hello to each of his team members and, to my horror, sat down in the seat immediately underneath the projection screen—with his back to it!

This was not good. “He’ll be constantly turning around in his seat to see the presentation,” I thought, “and he’ll probably hurt his neck. ...