Any Dumb-Ass Can Do It
So says the Chairman Emeritus of WD-40
Employee engagement has remained stubbornly at around 30% for years, despite billions of dollars spent on efforts to improve it. Why does so much effort barely move the needle? To explore that question, I sat down with Garry Ridge — longtime CEO and now Chairman Emeritus of WD-40, and author of Any Dumb Ass Can Do It.
What stood out across our entire conversation is how Garry frames culture as the real strategy. You can write the most elegant plan in the world, but if only a third of your people care enough to execute it, the outcome is still mediocre. Flip that to 80% engaged, and suddenly even a “good enough” plan produces extraordinary results.
That’s why he keeps circling back to culture not as a “project” but as a daily practice. It’s never finished. It’s not microwaveable. It’s something you tend for, you own. And when it’s done with authenticity — belonging, purpose, learning, values, coaching — it turns something as utilitarian as WD-40 into what Garry calls a “memories business.” That transformation is the real story: culture isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the multiplier that makes strategy worth the paper it’s printed on.
You can watch the interview above, or listen below: