The Courage To Be Uncomfortable

A new year in many ways can feel like a fresh start. Changing the calendar seems to equate to the opportunity to change ourselves. It’s such a widespread phenomenon, this feeling that a new year is a blank slate, that we encourage each other to adopt resolutions – to try new things or change our behaviors.

Personally, I prefer to see change as a constant opportunity, not just a once-a-year activity, with every moment bringing a chance to learn something new. I’ve always embraced change as an important part of life (except for my lunch – a grilled chicken salad with fruit and nuts, every day), and I see huge advantages to use change as a learning experience, no matter when the opportunity arises. In fact, it’s likely that if I hadn’t learned the value of learning from change, I wouldn’t be the CEO of P&G today.

When I first moved to Cincinnati (where P&G is headquartered), I saw this quote posted in someone’s cubicle: “If I’m comfortable, I’m now part of the problem.” I’ve kept this in mind for the rest of my career. When we’re comfortable, we start to get relaxed. We accept things the way they are, and we do not feel motivated to change. I’d go so far as to argue that if you’re not a little uncomfortable, you’re probably not being challenged enough. I realize that being too uncomfortable can make people be unsafe, and that’s not productive. But there’s a big space between uncomfortable enough and too uncomfortable, and that’s where growth and innovation thrive. To be at our best, each of us needs to challenge ourselves whenever we start feeling comfortable.

I want to share a story from earlier in my career that I think illustrates my point. I began working for P&G straight out of college with the aspiration that I might one day be a plant manager. I started out in production in our Greenville, NC, plant, then moved to operations at a plant in Cheboygan, MI, and later, in Albany, GA. After 9 years, I made my fourth move to Mehoopany, PA, to realize the opportunity I’d been pursuing all along – managing one of P&G’s largest plants. My career aspiration had come true.

I could have gotten comfortable there. It was rewarding and challenging work, and I had developed a new level of skill and confidence. But my curiosity about the broader business beyond manufacturing kept that from happening. I started developing new aspirations.

About a year into the job, my manager approached me to talk about what I wanted to do long-term. I told him I wanted to learn more about the broader P&G business. He said, “That’s good. But if that’s what you want, you need to come to the brand side of the business. You need to come learn about the consumer and customer. And the best way to do that is to start over as an assistant brand manager in Cincinnati.” 

It felt counterintuitive, like I’d be starting my whole career over. I’d have to leave my job managing a plant of 1,280 people and accept a role an assistant brand manager. The change I was being asked to make was, in a word, uncomfortable. There were no guarantees. There wasn’t a firm timeline. My progress would be based on how fast I could learn and demonstrate that I had the capability to move to the next level.

But I knew that if I wanted to grow, it was the right thing to do. We all have to be willing to deal with a certain amount of discomfort in order to see what we’re truly capable of. In my case, it meant I had to become a student again: of the business, of the consumer, of the customer, of the creative process and of how P&G operates outside of manufacturing. It was completely different than anything I’d done before, and it was the most challenging assignment that I’d been given up to that point.

That challenge opened my mind in ways I hadn’t imagined. I am an engineer by training, and managing a plant made sense. Raw materials go in, finished products come out – very linear. Now, I was working on brands and brand equities, going on sales calls and on consumer visits – and it was fascinating. 

As part of the experience, I had a chance to go spend some time with one of our creative agencies in New York. There, the first person I met was one of these “creatives” working on Crest. His desk had no drawers, and I asked him, “What do you do with all that stuff that the brand sends you?” He responded, “Do you think we read that crap?”

He said, “Our job is to take the creative brief that the account person gives us and to connect it with human insights. We try to make connections across different worlds. And what we try to come up with is something that’s eye-opening or something that stirs the spirit that will help drive the brand. But we don’t get too encumbered with data and facts.”

We worked together for about an hour or two when he suddenly turned to me and said, “Let’s go.” Confused, I asked, “Where?” “Just follow me,” he replied. And so, I found myself walking to Central Park, where we sat and watched people. As a linear thinker and doer, I felt very awkward sitting on that bench as the minutes passed by. After a while we went back to the office and worked late into the evening, reenergized by being with people and more open to human insights. In that moment, I came to realize that the process of creating something inspiring that connects with consumers was very different than I’d expected it to be. I was in completely new territory.

Over time, I learned about the business, the consumer, and the customer. I never became a creative. But, I learned enough to realize the value of the creative process and how to help create the conditions for creativity to flourish. 

It took me close to 7 years to get back to the same level as I’d achieved in the manufacturing side of the business. But I got there, and the new challenges that opened up for me took me further than I ever would have anticipated, all by being willing to be uncomfortable and learn.

Arguably, I’m still a student even today. Wherever I go in the world, there is always an opportunity to learn from a consumer, a fellow employee, a customer or a business partner.

I challenge you, not just at the start of the New Year, but at every possible moment, to resolve to be vulnerable and to find the courage to be uncomfortable. There’s more to learn than you know, and if you think you know it all, you’re probably not looking hard enough – you might be surprised at how much you’re able to learn, and where the process of discovery takes you.