Betty Crocker and her famous cake mix

In the 1950s, General Mills launched a line of cake mixes under the Betty Crocker brand. To make a cake, all you had to do was add water and bake. Sales were sluggish.

General Mills changed the process and required adding fresh eggs before baking. Their consumer focus groups found that homemakers wanted to be hands-on in the process. Just with adding the eggs in addition to the water they were instantly more involved in the process.

Sales skyrocketed!

We can thank Betty Crocker for a great management lesson. When you engage your team members and others in the process, they are more focused on the outcome and will work collaboratively to achieve the goal.

- Doug Myrick