We’ve all used WD-40. It’s the blue and yellow can that solves countless problems in homes around the world. But what most don’t realize is that behind this seemingly simple product lies a profound leadership story that challenges everything we think we know about driving organizational success.
In my conversation with Garry Ridge on The Wisdom Of… Show, the Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company and founder of The Learning Moment shared insights that penetrate to the heart of what truly drives exceptional performance in today’s complex business environment.
“We don’t make mistakes at WD-40,” Garry told me with absolute conviction. “We have learning moments.”
This isn’t just semantics or corporate jargon. It’s a fundamental reframing that transformed a single-product company into a global powerhouse with employee engagement scores touching 93%—nearly triple the global average.
From Product Company to Learning Organization
What struck me most about my conversation with Garry wasn’t the mechanics of WD-40’s growth but the philosophical underpinning that made it possible. While most companies obsess over products, markets, and competition, Garry focused on something far more elemental: creating a “tribe of learning” where belonging and purpose drive everything else.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” Garry explained. “When people feel they belong, when they understand their purpose and contribution, that’s when they perform at their best.”
This people-first approach translated into remarkable business outcomes:
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WD-40’s market value grew from $250 million to $2.5 billion during his tenure
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Employee engagement reached 93% (against a global average of 33%)
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The company maintained a 10-year investor return of 15% compound annual growth rate
The Leadership Framework for a Learning Organization
What makes Garry’s approach particularly valuable is its applicability across industries and organizational sizes. At its core are four principles that any leader can implement:
1. Don’t Kill the Messenger: When someone brings you bad news, your response determines whether they’ll ever bring you important information again. At WD-40, they made it safe to share failures by celebrating learning rather than punishing mistakes.
2. Create Belonging through Purpose: Garry introduced the concept of “tribes” rather than teams—emphasizing the deeper human need for connection and shared purpose. “People will support what they help create,” he noted.
3. Servant Leadership in Practice: Rather than hierarchical power, Garry emphasized servant leadership—where leaders exist to help others succeed. This inverts the traditional pyramid of authority and places leaders at the bottom, supporting everyone else.
4. Values as Decision-Making Tools: By establishing clear values that everyone understood and embraced, decisions could be made faster and with greater alignment across the organization. The values weren’t just wall decorations but active tools used daily.
The Courage to Lead Differently
What truly separates Garry’s approach is that it requires genuine courage. In a business environment obsessed with quarterly results and shareholder value, prioritizing long-term cultural foundations is often seen as soft or secondary.
“Any dumbass can do it,” Garry told me, referencing the title of his forthcoming book. The principles aren’t complex—but they require the courage to lead differently in a world that often rewards short-term thinking.
As I reflected on our conversation, what became clear is that Garry’s success wasn’t built on revolutionary strategy or market disruption, but on the far more challenging task of building human systems that align with how people actually work, learn, and grow.
The wisdom here transcends industries or company sizes: When leaders create environments where people feel they belong, where they understand their purpose, and where they can learn without fear, extraordinary performance naturally follows.
This is the kind of leadership that creates not just financial value, but human value—and that may be the most important measure of all.
Watch the full conversation with Garry Ridge on The Wisdom Of… Show.
