DuPont Carpet Fibers: "Howard Cosell" After Dinner Presentation
(And now the moment we've all been waiting for is here. Take it away Howard ....)
This is tremendous, Ernie, just tremendous. We're here in beautiful Columbia, South Carolina, with a team that has caught the Vision, a team that could very easily go all the way this year. I'm reminded here of some of the powerhouse teams of the past that caught the Vision and did indeed reach pinnacles of success above and beyond all previous expectations. The 1967 Green Bay Packers, led and inspired by the legendary Vincent Lombardi. The 1969 New York Jets, my old friend Joe Willie Namath at the helm, or the Miami Dolphins organization of 1973 and 1974, an unstoppable combination of strength and finesse.
Friends, as many of you are no doubt aware, my football days are now behind me, although my love of the game itself can never be tarnished. Sharing a single Vision with a group of talented and dedicated teammates is a compelling factor in the success of the finest organizations. And it was the pursuit of this shared Vision which leads me here tonight. But I must give credit where credit is due, because although I agreed with the suggestion unequivocally and wholeheartedly, my presence at this event was not my idea. It was the brainchild of my old friend Grant Hawgood (the boss of those present), one of the finest coaches in this or any other league, and a man for whom I hold the deepest personal regard. I met Grant on a red eye flight coming in from California a few months ago, and as we spoke, Grant said something to me that I'll never forget, paraphrasing the words of my old friend Don Coryell, one time coach of the San Diego Chargers. "Howard," Grant said, "the country is full of good coaches. But what it takes to win is a team of talented and cooperating players. I'd like to organize an investigation into the attitudes toward teamwork among Commercial Carpet Fibers' three major players: Technical, Marketing and Manufacturing." He told me that I would be a natural to lead this project, with my encyclopedic knowledge of the intricacies of the teamwork philosophy, my unrivaled excellence in the field of investigative journalism, my enormous talents for skillful explication and my unparalleled gifts as a performer. Overwhelmingly impressed by his proficient presentation of the facts, I immediately agreed.
I might add parenthetically that although I have the highest regard for Grant as a person and as a professional, his gin rummy playing leaves significant room for improvement. On that same red eye flight he lost $1.77 to me. Always the gentleman, Grant settled our debt immediately by personal check. I still have that check--uncashed. He will never be able to balance his account.
Grant wanted to get started right away, so bright and early the following Monday morning I began my investigation at the Camden Technical Research Center. I grabbed my microphone and rushed into the building, intent upon interviewing someone in Technical. "Excuse me sir, " I shouted to a mustachioed young man 1 saw in the hallway. "May I please have a word with you?"
The young man, flattered by my attention and obviously awed by my presence stopped and approached the microphone. "Sir, can you please explain to me in a concise and engaging manner the nature of Technical and its interrelationship with Marketing and Manufacturing, the team members with which, like the offense and defense in the great game of football, it is inextricably intertwined?"
"Certainly," he said. "Technical continuously improves and develops technologies and processes, thus keeping Du Pont a step ahead of the competition by providing a differential advantage. In this way, Technical is the most important player in the division. We're like the coach whose knowledge and experience lead to winning strategies for the team."
"I see," I perceptively interjected. "And what of the other players, Manufacturing and Marketing? Are these players not also absolutely essential to a winning season?"
"Well," he said thoughtfully, "they're important I guess. But they're basically just support players to Technical. Manufacturing takes our playbook and strategies and uses them to make the fibers for us. And then they take credit for the product's success. They're kind of like quarterbacks--they"re good, but they're nothing without a strong coach behind them. And Marketing takes care of running the ball over to the customer. Usually over a long lunch and several drinks."
I thanked the young man for his inspiring and insightful commentary and rushed over to another building where Grant had told me Manufacturing was located. I walked into the building and stopped a man who said he was in Manufacturing. "Excuse me, sir," I said, "may I please have a word with you?"
The man, flattered by my attention and obviously awed by my presence stopped and approached the microphone. "Sir, can you please explain to me in a concise and engaging manner the nature of Manufacturing and its interrelationship with Marketing and Technical, the team members with which, like the offense and defense in the great game of football, it is inextricably intertwined?"
"Certainly," he said. "Manufacturing produces the goods that DuPont sells in the marketplace, thus keeping our customers' showrooms stocked with saleable merchandise. We strive to lower the cost of quality and raise our productivity by meeting our predetermined goals. In this way, Manufacturing is the most important player on the team. We're like a great quarterback, skillfully executing the game plan."
"I see," I perceptively interjected. "And what of the other players, Marketing and Technical? Are these players not also absolutely essential to a winning season?"
"Well," he said thoughtfully, "they're important I guess. But they're basically just support players to Manufacturing. Marketing runs the ball over to our customers, usually stopping to do lunch and a few drinks. Sometimes they agree to something to get the customer to play ball, and then expect us to change the game plan! And Technical, I guess their job is to help us produce products. The problem is that when you need them, you can never find them. Sometimes I think they're the only players who hit the showers before the game begins!"
I thanked him for his inspiring and insightful commentary and took my leave, beginning the drive to the Fibers Marketing Center, the facility where Grant had told me Marketing was headquartered. I arrived, parked, and entered the building."Excuse me, ma'am," I said to a young lady I saw there, "may I please have a word with you?"
The woman, flattered by my attention and obviously awed by my presence stopped and approached the microphone. "Miss, can you please explain to me in a concise and engaging manner the nature of Marketing and its interrelationship with Technical and Manufacturing, the team members with which, like the offense and defense in the great game of football, it is inextricably intertwined?"
"Certainly," she said. "Marketing presents the benefits of the DuPont offerings to customers and convinces them to purchase, thus directly raising revenue. We are also constantly looking for new opportunities beyond our traditional end-use markets to expand the scope of our business. In this way, Marketing is the most important player on the team. We're alone out there, carrying the ball. It's up to us to put points on the board."
"I see," I perceptively interjected. "And what of the other players, Technical and Manufacturing? Are these players not also absolutely essential to a winning season?"
"Well," she said thoughtfully, "they're important I guess. But they're basically just support players to Marketing. Manufacturing makes excellent products for us to sell, but. they often get so hung up admiring the beauty of their work that they don't get the ball to us. They're like a prima donna quarterback sometimes. And Technical, who is supposed to coach them on production technique, is great until kick-off time. Then, all of a sudden they're too afraid to take the risk and call the play. They should realize how easy their jobs are--all they have to do is get the ball to us. We take it from there."
I thanked her for her inspiring and insightful commentary, and headed back to the studio to consult with my staff and examine my findings. After careful consideration of the facts as they were presented to me on that sunny day in June, we find that we come to the inevitable conclusion that there are two conclusions to which we can come. The first, illogical in its connotations and unreasonable in its implications is that each of these three players is in fact the most vital, the most important, the most unconditionally monumental group on the Commercial Carpet Fibers Team, and that, at the same time, each of them are also backup second stringers relegated to the roles of mere supporting players.
On the other hand, we can accept the notion that these seemingly irreconcilable perceptions are merely a manifestation of the loss of objectivity inherent to the human animal, with neither notion correct, yet each containing a vital truth in that each one of the three players on the Commercial Carpet Fibers Team is the most important, each absolutely and positively indispensable to the success and vitality of the others and to the team as a whole. For my money, I honestly, sincerely and wholeheartedly accept this latter explanation to be the truth.
My friends, I cannot impress upon you enough the true significance of this conclusion, the unparalleled magnitude of this message. Each area is vital, as is each person within that area, each component independent in its outstanding abilities, yet dependent on the others for its continuing growth and success. This is the essence of teamwork, the whole significantly greater than the sum of its parts. A brilliant coach, an accomplished quarterback and a dazzling ball handler working in tandem, sharing a common vision and leading their team to the Championship.
I, myself, was part of such a team once, the memories of which lead me to present you with this final thought. An anecdote, if you will, a strange and wondrous anecdote from my days at Monday Night Football, that venerable institution fabled throughout this vast and wonderful country of ours for its unrivaled track record of hard-hitting broadcast journalism and wholesome family entertainment. Cosell, Meredith and Gifford, not unlike Technical, Marketing and Manufacturing, a brilliant team well on it s way to achieving superstar status.
The scene: a Monday in autumn, a night host to a definitive confrontation between the Oilers of Houston and a lean mean Oakland Raiders team. A contest that may live in the memory of all those present as a truly classic football telecast. Let me tell you, my friends, never in the annals of gridiron history has a worse game been played. So dull was it in fact, so insipidly agonizing, so inanely futile that, as a courtesy to whatever hardy travelers were still with us at home, we had our camera operator pan the crowd to show those poor tormented souls that they were not alone in their pain and suffering. And indeed, what the camera saw were fans, propelled by the innate human desire to escape impending disaster, racing towards the exits by the hundreds. And as a final comment on the monumental tedium to which we all fell victim on that dark November night, our intrepid camera operator zoomed in on a spectator laying back in his seat, eyes closed, apparently escaping the awful reality of the ball field in peaceful and undisturbed slumber. But as the camera focused in upon him, he suddenly awoke with a start and looked directly into the camera lens. And ladies and gentlemen, what millions of fans saw on their television screens that fateful Monday evening while sitting contentedly in the serenity of their living rooms, was a football fan presenting them with what is known in polite circles as an obscene hand gesture. My friends, I stopped in mid-sentence, rendered, perhaps for the first time in my career, absolutely speechless. My teammate Frank Gifford was likewise aghast. But not Dandy Don Meredith. Dandy jumped right in. "Hahrd," he said in his now legendary corn pone drawl. "I think that fellah means we're number one!"
Giff and I slumped back into our chairs with the greatest of relief. Our teammate Dandy Don had truly made us immortal. One might say he caught the Vision!
I see that you're about to break training, so I will bring my informative and amusing discourse to a hasty, if somewhat unwelcome conclusion. But first, let me recap for you the agenda for this evening's entertainment. From here, we will proceed to the Atrium for cocktails and engaging conversation. At 7:00 pm, our hosts will provide us with a delicious dinner, after which we will hear some words of wisdom and experience from a man who has been among my dearest friends for more years than either of us would like to admit--the legendary Tom McAndrews. And following Tom, a hard act to follow if ever there was one, our hosts invite us to enjoy ourselves at the hospitality area in the stadium. After the stadium closes, the event moves to Room 1229.
This is Howard Cosell, thanking you for joining us here this evening, and allowing us to share the Vision with you. I have found it to be very catching. Please accept my wishes for an enjoyable program and a very successful stay here in South Carolina. Good night.
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