Weaver says the "little blue book" sent a clear message: "People understand that they are responsible for their career, their path through Levi's. You are the author of your own life now."

2. "The Lunch Box"

Question: How do you prepare thousands of people to apply for jobs they've never heard of in an organization that's never existed?

Answer: "Mapping Your Future," a collection of materials (known as "the lunch box") describing the new Levi's and the process for staffing it. It contains booklets for outlining design principles behind the new company, posters tracing the interview-and-evaluation process, even a career-planning workbook. Unveiled in November 1994, it became the most important self-help tool in the change process.

"We have lots of people who haven't done a job interview in 10 years," says Paula Piccirilli, a member of the "Mapping Your Future" team. "I don't care what level you're at, that's scary."

Levi's distributed nearly 4,500 lunch boxes -- 4,000 in English, about 400 in Spanish. Nearly 1,500 employees attended follow-up workshops. The material, everyone agrees, had a genuine impact.

"One sales executive told us he spent 60 hours poring over the information," says Piccirilli. "He was an extreme case. He also wound up as a vice president in the Dockers organization."

3. "Graphic Gameplan"

At Levi Strauss & Co., as at so many companies, more work is becoming teamwork. But it's not always easy for new teams to agree on key objectives and priority action items. Enter the Graphic Gameplan.

The Gameplan process (which requires a full day to complete) invites team members to discuss themselves and their work and to post notes as the conversation proceeds. The group creates, in one giant display, a visual overview of the group's resources and work challenges. A finished Gameplan includes a team portrait, critical success factors, key obstacles, major work categories.

The Gameplan has become a popular tool inside Levi's -- in part because it's built around conversation, in part because the output is so visual. "People have taken it up without anyone helping them," says Susan Weaver. "We have a colleague in Brazil to whom we send stuff. She did a Gameplan with a team there. A few weeks later, she told us, there were new Gameplan displays in three different meeting rooms. People were doing it themselves, in Portuguese. It's just so usable."

Sidebar: Voices

1. Lynne Danner, Asia Transition Manager, Age: 46, Years at Levi's: 10

"I used to be a product developer in the Womanswear division. Today I'm a change agent. I'm based in San Francisco but I 'commute' to Singapore. I spend 40% of my time in Asia and I work with people from eight different countries.

"The difference between where Asia was at the end of 1994, when we started the transition process, and where we are today is incredible. The first time I went to Pakistan, I walked into a conference room and there was a guy sitting in the back, arms folded across his chest, very defensive, very cynical. His attitude was, 'Who are you and why are you telling me these things?' Eighteen months later this same guy is a real leader. He's totally changed his style.

"Not that it's easy. Our managers are starting to discuss what the changes have been like for them -- the difficulties, the challenges, the benefits. I tell them I'm in the same boat. I applied for a couple of jobs in the new organization and didn't get them. I'm proof that there's life for unsuccessful job candidates."

2. Linda Reid, Education Manager, Age: 47, Years at Levi's: 3

"I was part of the team that created "Mapping Your Future." There were lots of reactions the first time we distributed the 'lunch boxes' -- none of which I bargained for.

"I thought it was going to make people happy: 'Here's a kit to help with your journey.' It certainly didn't. It made people mad. It was overwhelming. It has been a big deal for us to create this thing, and the response was 'uh-oh.'

"Things have changed since then. People understand that their individual success is in their own hands. That doesn't mean everyone is happy about it. There's a difference between understanding something and liking it."

3. Dan Corich, Customer Relations Manager, Age: 39, Years at Levi's: 17

"In March 1995 we hired 25 people to work in St. Louis on a team dedicated to providing service to the May Co., one of our biggest customers. In fact, my colleagues and I were the first people at Levi's to go through the new hiring process. Right now I'm sitting in a conference room looking out the window. And what do I see? May Co. headquarters. We are literally across the street.