Grant Todd had just established a consulting firm when he began advising a start-up commercial carpet firm (today called Interface Inc.) in 1974. He became a company employee in 1977 and was promoted to a succession of executive roles that contributed to the company going public, becoming the industry-leader and making the Fortune 500 list.
As a leader at Interface, Mr. Todd directed a series of marketing and organizational successes. The acquisition and market introduction of a proprietary anti-microbial carpet-integrated chemical called Intersept is one extraordinary example of his applied ingenuity. This first opened the health care market segment then developed into a worldwide proprietary Environsense initiative for commercial structures.
The global scope of Mr. Todd’s experience enlarged when he was named CEO of Interface Flooring Systems in 1987. In this position Mr. Todd was responsible not only for North America but also for exports to Europe and the Pacific Basin. He led international marketing initiatives, which resulted in double-digit sales growth for Interface.
When his responsibilities expanded, so did Mr. Todd’s scope for creative thinking. While CEO of Guilford of Maine Specialty Textiles, also a global player, he led an empowerment team to reduce worker compensation costs by over 50% and improved safety statistics and quality management so dramatically that the company was awarded one of the Governor of Maine’s Awards of Excellence. More remarkably, these achievements occurred while Guilford maintained a market share lead of 60% and realized a 60% growth in operating income over a two-year period.
In the process of accomplishing such successes, Mr. Todd became increasingly involved with the achievement methods themselves. As a result, he opted for early retirement and turned his full attention to organizational development in 1995.
Today, in addition to spearheading several consulting projects, he is one of a select group of consultants authorized to convey the most effective, proven methodologies for organizational thinking. The Serious Creativity process is designed for organizations seeking innovation skills and the Strategic Leadership skills are designed for organizations seeking higher levels of discretionary effort from their employee culture.
Mr. Todd has created a methodology for a unique application to the deliberation process in court trials. The process has been endorsed by a national committee of State Trial Judges and has been used in actual trials by both Judges and Juries.