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When you look around at the most successful companies in the world who do you think of? Microsoft? Johnson and Johnson? Proctor and Gamble? Well according to Forbes’ December 21, 2006 Special Report of the Best 400 Big Companies[1], these three are in the top ten net-income generating companies in the world. Do you think of them as being organized? Are you impressed that on midnight of January 30, 2007 (which was Friday night, how smart is that?), every retail distributor across the world began selling the new version of the Vista® operating system? I’ll wager my next paycheck that if Microsoft had been in charge of an international warning system, a lot of lives would have been saved on December 26, 2004. Orchestrating launch of a computer operating system on a single day at a particular time is no small achievement. It requires immense organization and gives them an enormous competitive advantage.

Johnson and Johnson (#7 on the Forbes’ List) have guided their company to great success for over 60 years using an impressive credo[2]which is infused with purpose based on being organized using language like this: “We must constantly strive to reduce our costs in order to maintain reasonable prices. Customers' orders must be serviced promptly and accurately. Our suppliers and distributors must have an opportunity to make a fair profit.” It is clear, direct and unambiguous and requires focus on efficiency, minimizing waste, improving speed and boosting quality. What can you learn from this approach?

Proctor and Gamble (#8 on the Forbes’ List) has a brilliant slogan[3]: “P&G is making a difference. So can you.” If you want a doctrine to live by, this one is a good start. How do you provide over two million glasses of drinking water to children a day? P&G claims that 1.6 million children die every year from unsafe drinking water3 so in honor of World Water Day, March 22, they are making a difference by providing drinking water to children in Central America, Africa and Asia. P&G makes toothpaste, baby food, dishwashing soap, medications and batteries to name a few, but I’ve never seen a bottle of water at Wal-Mart that was labeled P&G.

Corporations are just like people with personalities, strengths, weaknesses, integrity, history, goals and lives. By looking at the most successful organizations, which open themselves for scrutiny and investigation, you can learn how they use organization to get to meet objectives.

The successful big businesses reported in Forbes all use clearly defined goals (credos), education, values and beliefs, networking, relationships, cooperation, commitment, new technology and persistence to drive them forward. What is a common tool required to drive each one of these components forward? Outstanding organization. Is it any different for you? If you want a competitive advantage get more organized than those around you. Like Microsoft you can meet deadlines. Like Johnson and Johnson you can keep costs down and value up and like P&G you can make a difference.