What are the biggest hurdles in changing a corporate culture? How did you get people to buy in?
First, I wouldn’t say that I succeeded entirely. There’s guerrilla warfare still going on, shall we say, on issues like this. I think [I started] by appreciating the ingrained nature of the business practices in an organization with 325,000 people, that was largely designed by a former military officer, General Robert Wood. The military system, while it produces great leaders, [also] produces a lot of followers, people who wait for orders. That was very much the mindset at Sears: “We’re an army of 325,000 people and will do what you tell us, but don’t ask us to give you any advice or input on what we ought to be doing.” One of the biggest hurdles was making people believe that I and the senior team that I put together were genuinely interested in their ideas. That’s probably the most important thing in terms of changing a culture: Engage people, particularly on the front lines, in solving business problems for them, their customers, and the company. It’s not useful to walk stores and h
