CafePharma Exec To Lilly Exec: Hear No Evil?
10 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // November 9th, 2007 // 9:09 am
You may recall that Lilly USA president Deidre Connelly, at an industry conference the other day, took a swipe at online forums that attract disgruntled sales reps. And she cited CafePharma, which some deride as an electronic bathroom wall, as “outlets for people who don’t have the courage to speak out with their ideas†for improving their role and the performance of their companies.
Now, CafePharma is striking back. In a rare instance in which the web site is getting involved in a discussion, the CafePharma team chastises Connelly for attacking the anonymity of CafePharma posters and suggests Lilly execs don’t do enough to foster an open enviroment in their own workplace. Here is an excerpt from the remarks by Michael Bryan, one of the site’s owners….
“Is anonymous speech the province of cowards? That seems to be the position of Eli Lilly USA President, Deirdre Connelly…In actuality, anonymous speech has played an important and celebrated role in this country’s history. The importance of anonymous speech has also been cited repeatedly in Supreme Court rulings.
During the period leading up to Revolutionary War some of the important information flow was delivered via anonymous “pamphlets†(yes, some of the pamphlets contained useless information just as some of the posts on cafepharma contain useless information). One of the most famous acts leading up to the revolution, the Boston Tea Party, was carried out under the cloak of anonymity/disguise. And of course, the Federalist Papers were published under a pseudonym.
Like any useful tool, anonymity can be misused. Certainly, cowards may use it to attack individuals unfairly. However, Ms. Connelly labeled even those who make anonymous posts intended to improve their roles or companies as cowards. To make such a statement she would seemingly have to feel that Eli Lilly has created what virtually no other company in existence has created – a culture that truly embraces criticism and negative feedback.
Maybe they have created such a culture (backed up by policies), but it strains the imagination to believe that they have done so. It is hard to imagine that DMs at Lilly are really open to complaints about IC plans, marketing pieces, call plans, etc. It is even harder to imagine that DMs feel comfortable passing complaints from the field up the line. Based on some of the comments on cafepharma in response to Ms. Connelly’s comments it would seem that Lilly has not yet succeeded in creating such a culture.
That is not surprising since virtually no other company has created an environment that accepts legitimate complaints from the field with equanimity and takes them seriously. That is why cafepharma and similar sites are valuable to both the individual employees and companies alike. If CafePharma did not exist, it is unlikely that upper management in the pharmaceutical industry would hear much (or any) truly candid feedback from the field. Since each layer of management tends to filter, polish and dilute complaints from front line employees, those at the top rarely hear the urgency or seriousness of issues voiced by those in the field.
We can accept that Ms. Connelly truly wants to improve her company and listen to legitimate feedback from employees. However, it is likely that the real reason most of those in management don’t like sites like cafepharma is because it is impossible for the company to control discourse on the sites. When real complaints are made public in a reasoned and intelligent manner, it is more difficult for the companies to ignore them. While, those in upper management may not want to hear such complaints, it is actually to their advantage to have a venue where they can learn of real issues in the field and respond to them before it is too late.
We applaud Ms. Connelly for going into the field to get a first hand look at the issues and conditions that front line employees face on a daily basis. No doubt the knowledge gained on such visits will be very helpful to her as she works to improve her company. However, if she truly wants to hear candid feedback from field level employees about real concerns and issues, we encourage her to begin to read the posts on CafePharma again. Because until Eli Lilly does the seemingly impossible, there is almost no other way for her to hear the true concerns of those on the front lines.
Rob
I have been in the industry for 15 years in a variety of field roles and I feel that Cafe Pharma is primarily the domain of disenfranchised, disgruntled and down right poisenous individuals. What could be a great forum for idea sharing is just a forum for trash talking and complaining.
Matt
You gotta bet that whomever the ’some’ is that described CafePharma as “an electronic bathroom wall” is pharmaceutical company PR rep.
They (drug companies) do a great job trying to spin things. They’ve got to stay one step ahead of critisism. Bashing or minimizing critics and critical sources is one of their specialties, but confronting the facts is hardly their string suit.
Cheryl
well, at my company, the only time the company addressed issues..products going OFF patent, sale of company, product promotion changes was when it was posted on CP. The very next day-each and everytime. If it wasnt for CP, we would know NOTHING. thanks CP! I agree- no names and vicious slandering is necessary. I’ve been in industry since 1997 and 2003 I discovered CP, and I’ve nevr been more empowered going into interviews, up on my company changes and the direction a company is truely going. the bottom line is companies lie to us coming in-making it appear rosier than it really is. Now WE KNOW and can decide before 3 years of our life is given up.
Larry
I think the CafePharma response is a well-thought out and balanced view. Having worked in Pharma at a variety of management levels and in a range of field roles I believe I can see both sides; there is a very fine line sometimes between what might be seen as constructive criticism but viewed from above as just ‘negative’ wingeing; hence the ‘keep your head down and get on with it approach’ from many representatives which could exclude potentially valuable feedback. Anonymous feedback thus provides a useful tool for the front line guys to get things off their chests and for senior management to investigate further - hopefully without a witchhunt - so surely a win-win situation?
FraudPI
“outlets for people who don’t have the courage to speak out with their ideas�?
Ask any Pharma employee who has retained the ability to think rationally what happens when they “speak out with their ideasâ€.
Big Pharma doesn’t want new ideas.
Das Credo is their mantra.
MD
Ms. Connelly is way off base. For most pharma employees, blogs are the only way that they can speak out. With Big Pharma full of big fat corporate sharks that are ready to completely devour anyone who questions their authoritarian rule, an employee is never safe from retaliation. This is especially true if they question the ethics of sales and marketing practices.
Deidre should spend her time policing her own company as Lilly is frequently under the gun for their blatant off-label promotion and misdeeds. Besides, she probably only wants to see names so she can ruin more careers! If she needs advice, just check with Fred Hassan and Carrie Cox of Schering-Plough as they’re the experts in the field.
CA
What a bunch of crap from Ms. Connelly. She’s obviously a delusional witch on wheels, ready to behead anyone who has an issue with her dictatorial rule. If she kept her own house in line, she wouldn’t have to worry with what people said.
Pharma Giles
One can hardly blame Ms. Connelly for her remarks if she has only made a cursory review of typical CP content. A casual visitor may well think that it is just a way to keep up to date with the latest in sexual deviancy, playground insults and gossip amongst pharma reps, rather than a forum for industry professionals.
That said, in amongst all of the filth and whining on CP there are some genuine pearls of information, humour and wisdom, which is why I would never want it to change. The light censorship by CP moderators is a good thing as it encourages all contributions. It’s a shame that some users drag it down.
It is probably too much to ask those who run our industry to actually dig through the dirt to find the good stuff and take it on board. But CP and its (ab)users can hardly complain when an exec dismisses all of CP as cowardly whining by the disgruntled rather than, say, just the 90% of it that is.
…writes a cowardly disgrunt…
Catherine Fields
Yes, I am one of those “casual visitors” and I do heavily rely on Cafepharma and Coreyaham to inform me of what is going in the pharmaceutical industry. I am one of the thousands of crazy people that want to enter into this work force. This is how I desire to help others.
I need to know who is happy, who is not, and who is preforming wonderful things for patients that need the help of this industry.
Maybe everyone should not forget who is really the boss, I am incorrect in thinking that it is the CONSUMER? Without them do you even have a job? Are they not the ones who pay for your product. Think about it.
I do understand both sides of this and I can tell you from an outsider that this seems to be an issue that time will heal.
Employees do need to vent and executives do need to know that their employees are promoting great things about their company. If this is not happening, maybe there should be a little communication in an environment that would not jeopardize someone’s living hood. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to image what they are thinking and feeling. How does that make you feel? Would you want to have their job knowing what you know now? Is this an issue that you really want to terminate someone that your company has spent over a hundred thousand dollars to train? Use the STAR approach to this. Give these employees a chance to speak privately, they just might put this passion back into their jobs and do great things. Everyone preforms much better when they feel that they are PART OF THE TEAM. Please don’t forget where you started and how you felt each day about your job.
I encourge everyone who wrote about this to go to their local women’s shelter and see if this stuff matters to the people that need your products the most. After all this is the season of really helping others.
By the way, I did I mention that I am looking for a pharmaceutical rep position hopefully in Nashville,TN.? Let me know if you want someone who lets this fly over their head and works each day until the detail is successfully completed no matter what time it is. (You do have to say that I am creative and have guts posting on this forum.) You can get my e-mail address from pharmalot.
Former Lilly Executive
I was an Executive Director / Vice President at Eli Lilly and poor Eli is rolling over in his grave with what the leaders of that company have done to his vision and his values. Lilly is a company that does not want to hear anything negative and if you speak up they will hunt you down and drive you from their little kingdom faster than you can imagine. I’ve worked for several pharmaceutical companies at the Executive Director and Vice President level and Lilly is the only company that practices active dismissal of change agents and individuals that will challenge the status quo. They drink of the Kool-Aid on a regular basis and you either drink of it or you get out of Lilly as it won’t be pleasant. I applaud Cafe Pharma in their response which is spot on and for providing a medium for individuals to express opinions and facts that are not allowed to be spoken in the halls of Lilly. The individuals that run Lilly should learn the lesson of the Berlin Wall or go move to China where free speech is not tolerated.