Life Lessons, Nestle taught us:

What started off as if showing the World, how badly Nestle handled the crisis, of product safety stunningly badly, according to me, it has shown a great deal of lessons which we can learn.

Initially when the issue was fledgling, they kept numb, probably presuming it will ‘pass-by’, but It didn’t seem so. Sadly, for them there was no instant two minute revival from the issue, but yes, I’m no one to comment on their work, but yet as a management student I look up to how they have covered it up and come out brilliantly and how this can be a lesson for all of us.

Initially, a disaster was brewing. Alarmed by the public anger, several states ordered tests and started issuing bans on the sale of Maggi noodles. It had become a full-blown crisis by the first week of June. Nestlé then decided to fly its global CEO, Paul Bulcke, to New Delhi to handle the crisis.

After his meeting with the national food safety regulators, Nestlé said it was withdrawing Maggi noodles from stores “despite the product being safe”. Almost simultaneously, the national food safety regulator ordered Nestlé to recall all Maggi noodles from store shelves.

I want to call this as a strategic class that nestle has taught us all in crisis management.

Lesson one- Don’t crib: Initially what seemed to be like a tardy response from them, it later struck me that when there is a crisis, do not react. Rather respond neatly, and if that is going to take time, let it. It is essential to focus on the process rather than worrying about the consequence, as I always say. When they were charged with rising levels they did not accuse the standards of FSSAI, they did not debate, or followed what coke or cadburys by calling in celebrities to explain their safety to their followers.

Lesson two- Obliterate the Chaos: Many a times in our life, when we are confronted with something wrong, the very first behavior of a human mind is to find a way to prove innocence, or say we have not done anything wrong or put the blame on the person who is standing next to us. Understand the intrinsic causes first, before venting out your anger, frustration, annoyance, and more importantly don’t try to escape the situation.

Lesson three- Have the patience: They were waiting patiently for the verdict and when it came their way they accepted it gracefully. Paid so many crores as penalty, and what can we possibly infer? Don’t rush things, like it is all going to come to an end tomorrow. Everything takes time to happen, think of the guy next door, or the guy in the next street, just for a second. You wouldn’t even know his face, or his life, do you? Every one of us have a different story altogether. What did nestle do? To its fans it kept saying, ‘thank you’ for the love, and the miss you campaign, and to foes, they kept stressing on the fact that how cooperative they were. The calmness through the chaos is a notable lesson. They stayed focused on the product, and not about answering the questions of those who hated it. 

Two minute noodles doesn't always mean anything under its roof will be done in two minutes. for certain things, it isn't wrong to take some time.