Jeff, the main character in the book The Power of Recognition and the new CEO of a toy company, overcame many challenges before making recognition the organization's guiding principle and achieving unexpected success.
Happy Face Toys was founded by Jeff Johnson's grandfather, who grew it from a small factory making a single product into an international toy manufacturer. Jeff's father took over and made it a leader in the toy manufacturing industry for many years.
Jeff, meanwhile, chose his own career in technology. But his father's sudden death forced him to take over as CEO of the struggling company…
That begins the story of effective business strategy involving Jeff Johnson, the ‘reluctant’ CEO of family-owned Happy Face Toys, in the book The power of recognition.
Below is a summary of the story The power of recognition – one of the books you should read to succeed:
The story of Bob, the ‘deal-making expert’
Jeff did not want to stand by and watch Happy Face Toys collapse. Although he had no experience in the toy industry, he promised the board that he would restore the company to its former position within a year.
Jeff’s first major decision as CEO was to visit the Cleveland factory where Happy Face Toys had begun more than 60 years earlier. As the company expanded into new offices and factories, this site had struggled for years. The board believed it was time to close it to cut costs. To Jeff, however, that meant closing part of the company’s history and family legacy and leaving hundreds unemployed.
Arriving at the factory, everything from the company sign missing several letters, the deserted reception desk and the “Employee of the Month” board without a new name for almost a decade…, to sluggish operations at every stage, showed Jeff that this was no longer the “happiest place on Earth” he remembered from childhood. Something seemed wrong. It struck him that the company's senior leaders had not shown employees they cared about the place. If the company did not care about employees, why should employees care about the company?
At a meeting with all factory employees, after Jeff persuaded them, each employee voiced their frustrations: inappropriate new recruitment procedures, headquarters failing to respond to factory employees' proposed ideas, the disappearance of annual team-building trips…
One notable case emerged at the gathering: Bob, whom everyone described as a ‘deal expert’ and ‘the best.’ Remarkably, Bob had never known his colleagues thought this of him until that day—just 2 weeks before his retirement. In other words, in 47 years at the company, he had never felt valued or recognized for his work.
That evening, Jeff returned home for his birthday party with a heavy heart. But his family gave him a surprising gift: an OGO glass jar containing slips of paper with their individual messages of thanks. They thanked him for seemingly small things, such as a memorable wedding-day congratulation, always knowing how to make others laugh, and taking his grandchild to the park…
“OGO” is what Jeff's grandchild called him from the moment the child learned to speak, meaning “Oh Great One.” It was easy for children to pronounce, so it became his enduring nickname. In his grandchild's eyes, Jeff was always OGO.
Remarkably, only a few hours earlier his heart had felt heavy as a stone, but now his mood could not have been better. Being recognized as useful had clearly given him tremendous strength. Jeff then thought about Bob and wondered how differently things might have turned out if someone had found a way to thank him for everything he had done. Jeff also thought about Happy Face Toys' mission: “to put a smile on every child's face.” How could they make customers happy if they were not happy themselves first?
He realized his first priority had to be reigniting every company member's enthusiasm. He had a wonderful idea for achieving this and developing Happy Face Toys in the future.
The Next Task Is to Persuade Others to Accompany You on This Path.
The solution named OGO
Early the following week, Jeff met with the management team—IT director Anna, legal director Adam, administration and HR director Dan, finance director Nicole and sales and marketing director Manuel—to share his vision of promoting a culture of recognition at work. He also brought his OGO glass jar to recount his wonderful personal experience of being recognized.
“Recognition is the tool we will use to inspire people to restore the company's previous success. I will use the OGO glass jar as inspiration for a new award that recognizes outstanding contributions to the company, rekindles everyone's enthusiasm for its success, and cultivates teamwork and innovation. I need each of you to involve your department in this plan so that recognition becomes a foundation of how we do business. From now on, recognition will be our highest priority,” he said at the meeting.
The board’s reaction was a mixture of opposition and passive silence.
But He Later Learned He Was Not Alone in This Fight. The first ally was assistant Marjorie, who had worked under Jeff's father. She said Jeff's new direction was exactly what Happy Face Toys needed now. The company once had a strong team spirit, but everything had gone off course, leaving only finger-pointing leadership, backbiting and power struggles.
The second ally was Nicole. In fact, within her department, Nicole was much loved and respected because she always inspired people to achieve better results and helped them discover their potential. But after repeatedly speaking to the company's management about this mission and receiving the response, “What we need here is increased sales, not more smiles,” Nicole gradually stopped caring about issues outside her department to “protect herself.” Now, faced with the new CEO's dedication, Nicole declared: “If any company needs reform, it is this one.”
The following week, Jeff asked the directors to accompany him to the Cleveland factory. He announced a new CEO award to all factory employees, recognizing outstanding contributions wherever and whenever he saw them. Bob was its first recipient. The prize was a version of Jeff's glass OGO jar. Inside were notes Jeff had quietly requested from Bob's closest colleagues about what they considered most wonderful about him and why they valued him. With sparkling eyes and a radiant smile, Bob accepted the award as though he had just won the Super Bowl.
Do the right things, and good things will happen!
By then, the noise in the crowd was growing louder. Jeff could tell that everyone in the room truly believed something different would happen here.
Jeff immediately arranged for the management team to meet, talk with, answer questions from and share ideas with all the factory employees. Each manager had different emotions and ways of interacting with employees. Overall, however, it was quite successful. The experiences in Cleveland made a strong impression even on the skeptics in the executive team.
Thanks to the Trip, Jeff Gained the third ally was Manuel. A sales and marketing director who seemed shy at the company because he was always blamed for sales problems became animated in conversations with factory workers, even about issues unrelated to his department. It turned out that, although initially skeptical of Jeff's idea, Manuel understood the meaning of recognition after seeing Bob's face as he received the award and the crowd's reaction. Everyone, including those who were not recognized, felt moved seeing someone else rewarded, especially when the recipient thoroughly deserved it. Everything seemed to awaken Manuel, helping him understand that recognition reduces distractions and puts people at the center, and that this is also a way to interact better with customers and achieve better business results.
The next thing that surprised Jeff was the fourth ally – IT Director Anna. Initially strongly opposed to Jeff’s idea, Anna introduced her own first award for outstanding performance on a major project, decided by a vote. The award was called ‘Top Scorer,’ because many in her department grew up playing video games and still played them. The winner received a miniature traditional video-game controller. Jack, the employee who won, was delighted and moved. She then held a small celebration with snacks and beer. Everyone, not just Jack, was happy. Nobody resented not winning, but many thought they would like to receive similar recognition someday.
The next day, Manuel’s sales department held a ‘Surprise Recognition Party’ for an employee who had enjoyed an outstanding quarter. She was not only pleased but deeply moved. As they encouraged the award recipient to speak, people began banging on tables and blowing plastic horns. Legal Director Adam burst in: “Could you all please keep quiet? I cannot concentrate on anything!” Jeff realized he could not allow one of the company’s senior leaders to undermine the changes he was working so hard to implement. He believed any employee who did not live by the company’s values or weakened them had to leave, because even one bad attitude could spread like cancer. Adam had worked at the company for a long time and performed well, but no one was indispensable. Reluctantly, after a frank conversation, Jeff had to dismiss Adam because he insisted his job was not to ‘do these flower-tossing celebrations.’ Fortunately, the management team took the news of Adam’s departure positively. Losing someone who clearly opposed what Jeff was trying to do would further reinforce his vision. Anyone who doubted that recognition was Jeff’s top priority would not receive recognition themselves. That same day, Jeff received an unexpected visit from Administration and Human Resources Director Dan, who soon became the fifth ally of his. Dan admitted feeling a little silly when he first heard Jeff describe recognition. But he was then very surprised to see how everyone responded to Bob when he received the award. “It seemed no one was jealous or thought it was silly anymore. They all seemed to be inspired from that moment on,” Dan said, promising to join Jeff's “game.”
Any employee who fails to live by or undermines the company's values must leave.
At last, Jeff found himself among people who understood his vision and were willing to follow his lead. Now, all he had to worry about was whether his ideas would have the expected impact. He knew that if people did not see results soon afterward, they would not follow him for long.
OGO action
The purpose of the subsequent executive team meeting was to gather executives' views on practicing recognition at Happy Face Toys, using it to support the Company's mission and goals, implementing recognition on a large scale, and ensuring everyone clearly understood the concept. Ultimately, they produced the following list of 6 guiding principles, with explanations for each and important words highlighted:
1.People Will Not Care about You If You Do Not Care about Them
2. The best way to show people you care is to listen to them
3. A great idea can come from anywhere
4. Recognize great ideas and great work whenever and wherever you see them
5. Make recognition enjoyable
6. Make recognition personal
Jeff then held an event for all headquarters employees called “Recognition Is Our Way Forward.” This was the first step in introducing recognition throughout the organization. He presented his OGO award and guiding principles, answered questions, and invited everyone to discuss them over pizza and drinks. It felt like a genuine celebration. Since then, Jeff received very positive feedback on recognition from both the executive team and employees in other departments. A week later, however, business results had not improved. When he faced the board and presented the recognition idea, they gave him a pass this time because they understood change takes time. They gave him another one or 2 quarters to make real progress.
While persuading a self-satisfied sales director who always had the highest sales to understand recognition, Jeff recalled his grandfather's words: “Everyone needs a coach, no matter how good they think they are. And if you are a good coach, one day they will thank you, because everyone wants to get better at what they do.”
Over the following weeks, Jeff realized he needed to reinforce his message until it became second nature. He arranged his work so he could visit Happy Face Toys offices across the United States and other countries, including the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Mexico, and China. Everywhere, he introduced recognition just as he had to the executive team, talking about the OGO jar and sharing Bob's story. Crucially, he clarified the issue at its roots wherever recognition was misunderstood. The more places he visited, the more work he needed to do, because if people approached recognition incorrectly, the entire effort would collapse. After these journeys, Jeff added 2 new guiding principles: “Make recognition a catalyst for results” and “Recognition is everything.” Reflecting on his experiences inspired him even more. He had yet to meet anyone anywhere in the world who disliked having their achievements recognized, regardless of position or culture. After visiting Happy Face Toys offices and departments worldwide, he knew for certain: everyone wants to be appreciated for what they do well. While Jeff traveled, every department worked together to implement the company's new product line, based on an idea from a Cleveland factory employee. Sales were highly promising, even exceeding initial expectations, and they were ready for a large-scale launch. Everyone was excited. Customer satisfaction was also much higher than in the previous quarter. At the celebration of the new line's successful launch for Cleveland factory and headquarters employees, everyone thanked and praised one another for their work. They were happy, optimistic, and delighted to be part of the celebration. A new spirit had begun to grow at Happy Face Toys, and Jeff knew it would enable them to develop new ideas and solve future problems together.
Jeff's grandfather always treated everyone fairly, even though he headed the company. “Do not look up, do not look down; always look straight ahead” was one of his most memorable sayings.
At this ceremony, an executive announced that the board was retaining Jeff as the company's CEO, even though Jeff had not yet decided to announce it. He was astonished when the crowd erupted in applause. They also gave him a surprise OGO gift: a giant clapping chicken, one of Jeff's grandfather's earliest toy ideas. The chicken's shirt bore the large words “O Great One!” They wanted to thank him for introducing the idea of recognition and then overcoming many difficulties to persuade everyone to join him. Ultimately, he had become the person who led them to do better work and become better people. For Jeff, it was an emotional moment, bringing him back to the feelings he had experienced when first receiving the OGO jar from his family. It was also the first time in years that Happy Face Toys had met its sales and profit targets. The management board was even considering hiring more people at the Cleveland factory, rather than closing it as originally planned. While practicing recognition, the executives also added 2 new guiding principles: “Giving recognition is a privilege” and “Say ‘Thank you’ whenever possible.” Invited to speak after receiving the employees' surprise gift, an emotional Jeff said: “We have come a long way over the past year, and it has been a truly inspiring journey. Watching you all support one another and celebrate others' results is one of the greatest gifts of my life. And I believe this is only the beginning for all of us. The best is yet to come… If there were more recognition around the world, I believe it would be a better place to live. Ultimately, I must admit that I enjoy receiving recognition as much as I want to recognize someone else, and I think everyone feels the same.”
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