Meet Richard H. Davis
Richard (Dick) Davis and his wife Merrily have been a part of the fabric of St. Barnabas since 1983. Raising their family here, all three generations continue to share their time, talent, and treasure to shape the past, present, and future of St. Barnabas.
When asked about his life as an Innovator he was true to his collaborative soul and said “I believe that the term Co-Creator is more reflective of reality than a single human Creator or Innovator. My learning & beliefs throughout my Educational, Military and Working life is that few, if any, accomplishments in any aspect of life are realized without the help, guidance, and inputs of those whom we have interacted with and learned from as we have grown up from childhood>teenager> young adult > older adult. Today, we often use the term “Teamwork “to describe how we best realize goals, objectives and/or accomplishments. This term aligns well with the term Co-Creator (in my view) and my life experiences.”
Dick attended Bowling Green State University as a BS & MBA student and was selected to be the Graduate Assistant to the first Dean of the MBA Grad. School. Dick recalled that “This program was in the early development stage and was yet to be fully defined, created, or launched. My work required large amounts of coordination with administrators, professors, and accreditation institutions. The MBA program launched 1 year later and today is a very successful part of BG’s well recognized Business School. This was the beginning of my recognizing and engaging in Teamwork (Co-Creation).”
Continuing with his desire to be a team player, Dick joined the military. “Individualism is not a valued trait on the battlefield nor is working outside of the chain of command. You have “the back” of your teammates (fellow soldiers) and they “have your back” at all times which is the essence of war/peace time teamwork, Basic training, and Officer training." Dick developed his leadership skills in his Duty Assignment to the Dept. of US Army General Staff, Military District of Washington, Office of the Deputy Chief of Logistics -reporting to the Lt. Gen. of DSCLOG plus 8 Gen. Officers and 1200 staff. “My role was the supply officer during heavily restricted war time shortages of all materials for the DSCLOG Pentagon Officers and staff. Innovation was a requirement to fulfill job requirements and expectations.”
Taking his skills from the Military, Dick became a part of the Procter & Gamble team where he spent 34 years in a broad range of Co-Creator assignments.
Field & General Office Sales - 18 years;
General Office: Special Project Teams- 16 years
Packaging: Display Ready Packaging conceived, tested, expanded globally
Total Redesign of “How P&G Goes To Market” team; conceived, tested, expanded globally
Retailer Customer Research Organization created & integrated into Product Supply;
Worldwide Strategic Planning & Deployment; Appliance Industry Business Development created and expanded globally.
“P&G training begins with a focus on satisfying Consumer Needs and developing products and systems that deliver on these needs. To achieve success requires a broad range of Teamwork (Co-Creators) bringing together people with knowledge, skills and training on market research, consumer research, customer research, product development, chemistry, manufacturing, packaging, product supply, finance, marketing, and customer business development.”
When asked about his greatest accomplishments, he was hesitant to take individual credit.
“Yes, I had the idea of adding HE (High Efficiency) labeling to Liquid Tide and then worked with appliance manufacturers to put HE on their machines as a recommended detergent to use in newer low water washing systems.” Together with his 4 multifunctional team members, they researched, designed, and implemented new ideas and were responsible for “anything done on Tide or other brands including Era, Dawn, Downy etc., all dependent on Teamwork to fulfill whatever was done.” One of the teams’ greatest accomplishments included The Florida Project. “We were given the entire State of Florida and ALL P&G consumer divisions and products. The company objective was to truly reinvent How PG Goes to the Retail Market. We were “reinventing/creating” an entirely new company…. organization structure, processes for ordering, shipping, billing/credit, interacting with customers and customers interacting with the new P&G Company. The results were overwhelmingly positive, and this led to total US expansion 1 year following the closing of our test market. The following year the concept was expanded Globally in all PG consumer product markets.”
In his 34 years with P&G, Dick reflected that he “enjoyed being deeply involved, trained, and educated about change management and applying it to P&G’s transition from Top-Down management to Leadership Teams across the entire company. This led to necessary changes needed to fully allow the skills, abilities, and talents of PG’s deep human resource pool(s) to blossom.”
“It was a JOY to watch TEAMS form, individuals celebrate growth and personal/company objectives being achieved at levels not previously experienced. A win-win-win for all.”
We are grateful for your leadership and vision which helps all of us find our own gifts right here at St. Barnabas. You are a win-win-win for all of us and we treasure your vast experience being an Innovator and Co-Creator who Inspires our church family and our world.