Welcome to Edition #111 of Gorick's newsletter, where Harvard career advisor and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Gorick Ng shares what they don't teach you in school about how to succeed in your career.
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→ Read time: 3 min
STORY
How Nutella became the bestseller we know today
If you’ve ever stepped into a grocery store, you’ve probably seen it and maybe even bought it: Nutella, the hazelnut chocolate spread that’s a pantry staple around the world.
But did you know that Nutella took 18 years to become the smooth, sweet icon we know today?
It’s 1946 in post-World War II Italy. Facing a cocoa shortage, pastry maker Pietro Ferrero set out to create an “affordable [chocolate] luxury” using small amounts of hard-to-find chocolate and copious amounts of hazelnuts.
His first creation? A solid chocolate-hazelnut loaf called “Giandujot,” sliced and served on bread.
But the block, which had to be cut with a knife, “lacked the creamy, spreadable texture” that we now associate with Nutella.
In 1951, 5 years after his first iteration, Ferrero refined it into a creamier version called “Supercrema.”
Then, 18 years later in 1964, Pietro’s son made a few final adjustments. He simplified the ingredients, improved the texture, put the spread in a glass jar, and gave it a new name. Nutella was born.
Today, 61 years after Supercrema became Nutella, Nutella is one of the most popular spreads in the world. It’s estimated that someone buys a jar of Nutella every 2.5 seconds—which might make sense for a spread with a fan base that celebrates an annual “Nutella Day.”
What does this mean for you?
The next time you see Nutella on the shelves or spoon it straight from the jar, remember the Ferreros—who refined their hazelnut spread over and over until it became the Nutella we all know today.
UNSPOKEN RULE
Keep refining your ideas.
It’s tempting to stop at a first attempt, regardless of whether it works—or flops. As someone who loves the thrill of starting things but less enjoys maintaining things, I get it: It’s tempting to move on, rather than to tweak, tweak, and tweak some more.
But Nutella offers an important reminder that the difference between an “okay” result and a breakthrough often comes down to exactly the thing that many of us dread making: tiny tweaks.
The Ferreros could have stopped with the chocolate loaf. It was a great idea born out of necessity—what else did they need? But they didn’t. They improved it again and again—until they found something better. (Not unlike what Melitta Bentz, inventor of the coffee filter, did with her son’s schoolwork. Tap here to read!)
The same is true in your career. As tempting as it may be to just move on, do what the Ferreros did and ask: “How can this be better?”
Here are 3 easy ways to always get better:
1. When wrapping up a project, ask yourself: “If I had one more week, what would I improve?”
2. After a win, reflect: “What worked—and what could work even better next time?”
3. When presenting an idea, say: “This is version 1—we’re still refining.” (And be prepared to share what you’d do next if you had more time!)
Iteration isn’t a sign you got it wrong—it’s a sign you’re serious about getting it right.
The people who stand out aren’t just the ones with great ideas—they’re the ones who keep making those ideas better.
Keep refining!
See you on Thursday for my AMA,
—Gorick
What’s an “unspoken rule”? They’re the things that separate those who get ahead from those who stumble—and don’t know why. You can learn more about these rules in the workplace in my Wall Street Journal bestselling book called—you guessed it—The Unspoken Rules.
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