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CASE STUDY
Fail Faster

Interview with Liz Smith, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Bloomin’ Brands

How would you characterize or describe your most important mentor?

My most important professional mentor is Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods. I worked with her at Kraft over the course of my fourteen years there. With Irene, what you see is what you get. She never has a personal agenda. She’s smart, objective, and fair-dealing. She is also a very courageous leader. She’s not afraid to put any truth on the table, no matter what it looks like. She always operates with transparency.

What were the traits you found most instrumental in your mentor’s work with you?

When I first worked with Irene, I was a brand manager, and she came into the Desserts Division as the division president. There were many levels between us. At the time, the Desserts Division was struggling, and she was brought in to turn it around. Irene values a flat organization. By that, I mean she makes herself accessible and wants to hear from everyone in the organization to better understand what is going on. Although I was still just a brand manager, I spent a lot of time with her discussing the business and what I thought the issues were. This was the first time I’d seen a division manager at that level work so far down in the organization to make sure she had a read on the business, that she knew the people, that she was current. She is what I call a “level-less” leader. She doesn’t communicate through hierarchy or bureaucracy. I felt like (1) I could tell her the truth about what was happening. I didn’t have to spin anything. And (2) I knew she would listen. This made a big impression on me, and has always stayed with me. In every job I’ve had, I’ve made sure that I had a strong connection at every level in the organization.

What is one example or incident or illustration of how this person was helpful to you?

When Irene took over as head of Kraft North America businesses, we were having our challenges like every other company. But there was a politeness to Kraft—it’s a very Midwest kind of culture with great values but too much hierarchy and formality. People would often talk around issues and be polite instead of talking more directly about challenges. I was a division manager at that point, so I was pretty senior. Irene called all of the division managers together; between all of us we represented about $30–40 billion in business. I’ll never forget the slide she put up to start our meeting. The title of the slide was “Things Heard in the Halls of Kraft Foods.” On the slide were all the topics and issues that people were really thinking about but not saying about the business, about the culture, and what needed to change.

She completely disarmed the group. She literally dragged out every single skeleton that might be in any closet. She said, “We can’t change what we can’t own and acknowledge. You are the senior leaders of this organization. This is what people are talking about but not telling us. We’re going to have to own this.” A big sigh went through the room and we got to work with more candor on the real issues. This invitation to be transparent was real leadership courage.

What advice or feedback did this person provide that was helpful to you?

Irene once said to me, “Liz, it’s okay to fail, but you have to fail faster.” I use that line all the time now. She told me, “You have great business instincts. Listen to them. I bet you knew that this project was not going as you thought it would a long time before you put the red flag up. It’s okay to fail, but have the courage to call an audible if something that you’ve created or are leading isn’t going the way it should.” It is such great advice and so true. A lot of times people are afraid and don’t listen to that little voice that says, “Wait a minute.” They keep chasing after something because they’re invested in it, personally or professionally—versus just saying, “It’s not what I thought, and we’re going to cut bait and fail faster.”