Jack Truong built his reputation transforming underperforming corporations into market leaders. Over three decades, he revitalized 3M’s Post-it Note division, doubled Electrolux’s North American valuation, and grew James Hardie’s market capitalization by more than $13 billion during his three-year tenure as CEO. His track record rests on a simple principle: companies succeed when they focus relentlessly on creating value for customers, employees, and owners.
But between 2020 and 2024, Truong witnessed a shift in corporate America that troubled him. Boardrooms began prioritizing political and social agendas over the operational excellence that had always driven business success.
“Wokeism became the centerpiece,” Truong observed of the period. Executive meetings that once focused on strategy and operations took a different turn. “Executive meetings were often dominated by discussions on following COVID protocols to be in compliance with both federal and local laws,” he recalled. “Very often, we had to deal with the vaccine mandates for all employees to be able to work in the office and factories as well as employment requirements for new employees. We had employees who refused vaccinations. That posed serious issues in staffing.”
When Metrics Changed
For decades, corporate hiring and promotion decisions centered on a straightforward question: who can deliver results? Performance reviews measured output, innovation, problem-solving ability, and leadership effectiveness. Compensation and advancement followed achievement.
That framework began to erode as diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives moved from human resources programs to primary business drivers. Environmental, Social, and Governance considerations—collectively known as ESG—reshaped corporate decision-making. “ESG was also often at the center of the discussion and permeated through many activities within the company,” Truong noted. “There were many activist organizations that paid attention to ESG at the time.”
Companies he knew well started making decisions based on diversity metrics rather than performance indicators. Strategic planning sessions that once focused on market share, product development, and competitive positioning increasingly addressed representation statistics and social justice commitments.
The consequences extended beyond individual career trajectories. Entire organizations found their decision-making processes fundamentally altered. When Truong reflects on this shift, his assessment is direct: it was “a big mistake for companies.”
Business Performance Takes a Back Seat
When companies lose sight of their core mission, stakeholders suffer. Customers receive inferior products. Employees work in environments where merit matters less than demographics. Shareholders watch value erode.
Between 2020 and 2024, Truong observed businesses struggling or failing during a period when political correctness trumped business fundamentals. Companies that had thrived for decades suddenly faced challenges they seemed unable to navigate.
The problem wasn’t complexity—Truong had guided organizations through far more difficult transformations. The issue was focus. “The short term and long term goal of any business is to ensure there is business continuity in consumers and customers wanting your products and services at good prices and margins,” he explained. “This should be the primary focus of any company/business.”
Truong continued: “Once a company achieves sustainable, profitable growth, it can then expand its focus to ensure that it has the right environment for all employees to grow and succeed. Without business success, there is no or little success for employees, customers, and owners.”
Employees felt the impact acutely. Talented professionals who had dedicated themselves to excellence found their contributions measured against criteria unrelated to business outcomes.
A Global Phenomenon
The shift wasn’t confined to American corporations. Truong observed similar patterns in European companies across the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. International businesses faced identical pressures to prioritize social agendas over operational performance.
Different companies responded differently. Some maintained their focus on business fundamentals while finding ways to navigate external pressures. Others fully embraced the new paradigm, restructuring operations around diversity goals rather than profit targets.
The divergent outcomes spoke for themselves. Companies that kept performance as their North Star continued to grow and create value. Those that lost that focus struggled.
The Case for Excellence
Truong believes in meritocracy—not as an abstract ideal, but as the practical foundation for business success. His conviction stems from personal experience. At 12 years old, he ran a paper route that taught him lessons he still applies today.
“It taught me the following valuable lessons that shaped me as a person and as a future business leader,” Truong reflected. “Discipline to always be on time. My customers wanted to have their Sunday newspapers on their doorsteps before 8am. This is when they woke up to have the newspapers on their hands with a fresh cup of coffee.”
The work required consistency regardless of conditions. “Discipline of hard work. Rain or snow. Show up on time to deliver the newspapers on time everyday when customers want their papers,” he said.
Most importantly, that paper route taught him about understanding and meeting customer needs. “Some customers want their newspapers in their designated mailboxes. Some want their papers on their porches. Some want their papers below their welcome mats. I needed to remember those needs and meet them consistently. This is how I was able to make them happy and get tips at the end of the month or at Christmas time.”
The parallel to running a corporation became clear to him. “It is not any different from running a company. As CEO, I needed to understand that every consumer has different needs and usage for my products. So you have to modify your approach and message appropriately.”
That early lesson in excellence paid dividends. “As I made my customers happy by doing the above right and consistently, they started to recommend me and the newspapers to their neighbors. This was how I was able to expand my paper route business on the same route that I was doing. I was gaining more business on the route and with roughly the same amount of time.”
The business principle embedded in that experience stuck with him: “Meet and/or exceed your customers’ needs, word of mouth will gain you new customers with just incremental costs and efforts/resources.”
The Meritocracy Debate
Critics sometimes argue that meritocracy is a myth because not everyone starts from the same place. Truong, who started with nothing and built a distinguished career, rejects that framing.
“In the history of mankind, we never had any group of people that started from the same place,” he observed. “There were and are always people that are more fortunate and lucky than you are. On the same token, there were and are always people that are less fortunate and lucky than you are.”
His advice focuses on what individuals can control. “The key here is to work hard and improve everyday from where you are. Don’t complain and compare. Just focus on working hard and improving everyday then over time, one will go very far.”
Truong offered a mathematical perspective on incremental improvement: “For example, if one makes 1% improvement a day everyday for one year, one will be 38 times further ahead vs. one year earlier. Success is 98% hard work and 2% inspiration.”
This principle has driven some of the most remarkable success stories in American business. Immigrants and entrepreneurs who arrived with nothing built thriving enterprises through skill, determination, and innovation. They succeeded because they focused on delivering value, not checking demographic boxes.
Consider Jensen Huang, who worked odd jobs at Denny’s as a young immigrant and went on to found and lead Nvidia to become one of the world’s most valuable companies. His trajectory demonstrates what becomes possible when companies evaluate talent based on capability and internal drive rather than category.
Consequences for Talent and Innovation
The shift from performance-based to politics-based decision-making created serious challenges for talent acquisition and retention. When companies make hiring decisions based on diversity goals instead of merit, the impact extends throughout the organization.
“It sends a strong message that meritocracy is not important and that being average is acceptable,” Truong said. “It is the beginning of a downhill slope for a company.”
High-performing employees began questioning whether their contributions mattered. If advancement depended more on demographic characteristics than achievement, why pursue excellence?
Innovation suffered as well. Breakthrough thinking requires environments where the best ideas win, regardless of their source. When companies filter decisions through political lenses, they inevitably miss opportunities and make costly mistakes.
Young professionals entering the workforce during this period faced particular uncertainty. Many wondered whether they should focus on developing skills or cultivating the right identity markers.
Finding the Path Forward
Can companies be both inclusive and performance-driven? Truong believes they can and should be. Creating opportunities for talented people from all backgrounds strengthens organizations. The question is whether inclusion serves the business mission or replaces it.
For CEOs navigating these pressures today, Truong’s advice is straightforward: “Focus first on understanding your market, your competition, your company’s capabilities and chart out a strategy that maximizes your results for today while building your company’s capabilities for tomorrow.”
The path forward requires returning to first principles. Companies exist to create value—for customers who buy their products, employees who build their success, and owners who invest in their growth. Every decision should advance that mission.
Political and social considerations shouldn’t drive strategy. Market realities should. Customer needs should. Competitive dynamics should. When businesses focus on these fundamentals, they create wealth, opportunity, and progress.
The Cost of Lost Focus
Between 2020 and 2024, corporate America paid a price for letting political pressures override business imperatives. Companies that had dominated their markets for generations suddenly found themselves struggling. Shareholder value eroded. Employee morale declined. Innovation stalled.
The good news is that focus can be regained. Companies can recommit to excellence. Boards can prioritize business performance over political posturing. Leaders can make decisions based on what creates value rather than what satisfies activists.
Truong’s career demonstrates what’s possible when businesses concentrate on doing one thing exceptionally well: delivering value to stakeholders. That principle worked for decades. It still works today. The companies that rediscover it will thrive. Those that don’t will continue to struggle, wondering why political correctness couldn’t save them from market realities.
