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HISTORIES Procter & Gamble Procter & Gamble is the quintessential learning organization. Throughout its 165 year history, the company has cultivated a highly-disciplined, intensely analytical approach to doing business, always asking what works, what doesn’t, and why. As Ed Artzt, the former chairman and CEO or Procter & Gamble, put it: “[I]f . . . we become very disciplined in the way we examine our history, learn from it, and extract lessons from it, and then convert those lessons into principles for the future, then we will make far, far fewer mistakes. And our success rate will increase dramatically.” P&G commissioned Winthrop to research and write its history. Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at Procter & Gamble (Harvard Business School Press) charts the key events, defining moments, and turning points in the growth of a marketing powerhouse. A best-seller in its second printing, the book is used internally to train new employees and to educate partners and customers in P&G’s 165 year old culture.