more for its innovative products, such as the Duet washer and dryer, which were designed based on employees’ ideas.26
Third, top managers must create a positive organizational culture through language and action. Top managers impart company values, strategies, and lessons through what they do and say to others both inside and outside the company. One CEO said, “I write memos to the board and our operating committee. I'm sure they get the impression I dash them off, but usually they've been drafted 10 or 20 times. The bigger you get, the more your ability to communicate becomes important. So what I write, I write very carefully. I labor over it.”27 Above all, no matter what they communicate, it's critical for CEOs to send and reinforce clear, consistent messages.28 A former Fortune 500 CEO said, “I tried to [use] exactly the same words every time so that I didn't produce a lot of, ‘Last time you said this, this time you said that.’ You've got to say the same thing over and over and over.”29