Transcript In Search of Excellence/1982-2012 Excellence Attribute #1: A Bias For Action! Tom Peters/17 February 2012

In Search of Excellence/1982-2012
Excellence Attribute
#1:
A Bias For
Action!
Tom Peters/17 February 2012
The research on what became In Search of Excellence began in 1977.
The first publication of our fledgling effort appeared in BusinessWeek in
July 1978. It included a list of eight “attributes of excellence” teased
from our mountain of data. The first of the eight was, “Do it. Fix it. Try it.”
To our surprise as much as anyone else’s, the eight attributes stayed
intact through a gajillion drafts and presentations and then the book’s
publication in 1982, though a word or two did change. Now #1 was “A Bias
for Action.”
This is the 30th anniversary of the book’s appearance, and while much
has changed, if I were to update it, “A Bias for Action” would retain its #1
spot. If possible, in fact, it’s even more important in these destabilized
times. One recent research effort, aimed at advising bosses on adapting
to the whacky [now and forever more] times, suggested that the #1 key to
success was “experiment fearlessly.” Sounds suspiciously like “a bias for
action” to me!
Along the way, no surprise, I’ve collected a ton of “stuff” on this dear-tomy-head-and-heart topic—in my MOAP/Mother Of All Presentations the
bias for action animates a prominent section, which is one of the longest.
But I thought that in the process I’d pass this version, un-annotated, along
in the “for what it’s worth” category.
A Bias for Action. FIRST in 1982. FIRST in 2012. And no change
predicted—for institutions OR individuals!
Overture
“We have a
‘strategic
plan.’ It’s
called doing
things.”
— Herb Kelleher
is
“Execution
strategy.”
—Fred Malek
“Can
do!”*
*U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalions/
Seabee motto
READY.
FIRE!
AIM.
—Ross Perot (vs. “Aim! Aim! Aim!”)
BLAME NO ONE.
EXPECT NOTHING.
DO SOMETHING.
Source: Locker room sign posted by NFL
football coach Bill Parcells
"Thinking is the enemy
of creativity. It's selfconscious and anything
self-conscious is lousy.
You simply must …
Do things.”
—Ray Bradbury
“To Be
somebody or to
John Boyd:
Do something”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
Fall seven
times, stand
up eight
—Japanese proverb
“You miss
100%
of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
The Action Faction
Bossidy+
Perot+
Peters & Waterman
Peters+
Hayek+
Boyd
Kelley+
Grant+
Nelson+
Bossidy+
Former GE Vice Chairman-former Allied CEO Larry Bossidy, a tough-asthey-come operating executive, wrote, with business guru Ram Charan,
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. Absurd as it may
sound, this may well be the first primetime book on execution per se. And
a remarkable book it is. And execution is, of course, first and foremost a
“bias for action” game!
“Execution is
the job of the
business
leader.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“I saw that leaders placed too much
emphasis on what some call highlevel strategy, on intellectualizing
and philosophizing, and not enough
on implementation. People would
agree on a project or initiative, and
then nothing would come of it.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“The person who is a little less
conceptual but is absolutely determined
to succeed will usually find the right
people and get them together to achieve
objectives. I’m not knocking education
or looking for dumb people. But if you
have to choose between someone with a
staggering IQ and an elite education
who’s gliding along, and someone with a
lower IQ but who is absolutely
determined to succeed, you’ll always do
better with the second person.”
—Larry Bossidy (Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done)
“The head of one of the large management consulting firms
asks [members of a client organization, ‘And what do you
do that justifies your being on the payroll?’ The great
majority answer, ‘I run the accounting department,’ or ‘I am
in charge of the sales force’ … Only a few say, ‘It’s my job
to give our managers the information they need to make
the right decisions,’ or ‘I am responsible for finding out
what products the customer will want tomorrow.’ The man
who focuses on efforts and stresses his downward
authority is a subordinate no matter how exalted his rank
But the man who focuses on
contributions and who takes
responsibility for results, no matter
how junior, is in the most literal sense
of the phrase, ‘top management.’ He
holds himself responsible for the
performance of the whole.” —Peter Drucker
or title.
“When assessing candidates, the
first thing I looked for was energy
and enthusiasm for execution.
Does she talk about the thrill
of getting things done, the
obstacles overcome, the role
her people played —or does she
keep wandering back to strategy
or philosophy?” —Larry Bossidy, Execution
WOW!!
Observed closely: The use of
or
“we”
“I”
during a
job interview.
Source: Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman, chapter 6, “Hiring for Values,”
Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic
“Execution is a systematic
process of rigorously
discussing hows and
whats, tenaciously
following through, and
ensuring accountability.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
The Leader’s Seven Essential Behaviors
*Know your people and your
business
*Insist on realism
*Set clear goals and priorities
*Follow through
*Reward the doers
*Expand people’s capabilities
*Know yourself
Source: Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“Realism is
the heart of
execution.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/Execution:
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
(1) Sum of Projects =
Goal (“Vision”)
(2) Sum of Milestones =
Project
(3) Rapid Review +
Truth-telling =
Accountability
“robust
dialogue”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
Beware the “Can’t Do” Merchants!
“Andrew Higgins, who built
landing craft in WWII, refused to
hire graduates of engineering
schools. He believed that they only teach
you what you can’t do in engineering school. He
started off with 20 employees, and by the middle
of the war had 30,000 working for him. He turned
out 20,000 landing craft. D.D. Eisenhower told
me, ‘Andrew Higgins won the war for us. He did
it without engineers.’ ” —Stephen Ambrose/Fast Company
"Thinking is the enemy
of creativity. It's selfconscious and anything
self-conscious is lousy.
You simply must …
Do things.”
—Ray Bradbury
“Intelligent people
can always come up
with intelligent
reasons … to do
nothing.”
—Scott Simon
"Never be afraid to try;
remember ... amateurs
built the ark,
professionals built the
Titanic."
—Author Unknown
Ye gads: “Thomas
Stanley has not
only found no correlation
between success in school and
an ability to accumulate wealth,
he’s actually found a negative
correlation. ‘It seems that school-related evaluations
are poor predictors of economic success,’ Stanley concluded. ‘What
did predict success was a willingness to take risks. Yet the successfailure standards of most schools penalized risk takers. Most
educational systems reward those who play it safe. As a result,
those who do well in school find it hard to take risks later on.’”
—Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes, Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins
“Tom, we normally
start at …
6:15A.M.”*
*GE [of course—which is my point here] sector
boss informs me that he’s giving me a break
—my speech will start at a slovenly 6:30AM
“Can
do!”*
*U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalions/
Seabee motto
Dick/DAY
(Build! Period!)
Dan/NIGHT (Flawless
report on what not
built)*
*My two Seabee commanding officers (Vietnam/1966-1968):
Richard Anderson, Daniel ________
is
“Execution
strategy.”
—Fred Malek
“Costco has figured out
the big, simple
things and executed
with total
fanaticism.”
—Charles Munger, Berkshire Hathaway
“In real life, strategy
is actually very
straightforward. Pick
a general direction
… and implement
like hell.” —Jack Welch
Perot+
READY.
FIRE!
AIM.
—Ross Perot (vs. “Aim! Aim! Aim!”)
The larger than life H. Ross Perot sold EDS to
GM in the 1980s, and went on the car giant’s
Board. A few years later he was asked by a
Fortune writer to explain the difference
between the two companies.
He said that at EDS the strategy was marked by
unrelenting urgency. He called it …
Fire. Aim.”
“Ready.
I.e., stop talking and get on
with it—now!
By comparison, he said, at GM the “strategy”
was one of constant delay, or “Ready. Aim. Aim.
Aim. Aim . …”
(Alas, well into the 1st decade of the new century GM’s problems/
unwieldy bureaucracy remained pretty much unchanged.)
R.A.F./Ready. Aim. Fire.
1980-2000: R.F.A./Ready. Fire! Aim.
2000-20??: F.F.F./Fire! Fire! Fire!
1950-1980:
“We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were
omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the
software. We fixed them by doing it over and over,
again and again. We do the same today. While our
competitors are still sucking their thumbs trying to
we’re already on
prototype version No. 5. By the
make the design perfect,
time our rivals are ready with wires and screws,
we are on version No. 10. It
gets back to planning versus
acting: We act from day one;
others plan how to plan
—for months.”
—Bloomberg by Bloomberg
“Burt Rutan wasn’t a fighter jock; he was an engineer who
had been asked to figure out why the F-4 Phantom was flying
pilots into the ground in Vietnam. While his fellow engineers
attacked such tasks with calculators, Rutan insisted on
considering the problem in the air. A near-fatal flight not
only led to a critical F-4 modification, it also confirmed for
Rutan a notion he had held ever since he had built model
The way to make a
better aircraft wasn’t to sit
around perfecting a design, it was
to get something up in the air and
see what happens, then try to fix
whatever goes wrong.”
airplanes as a child.
—Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8, “Messy Leadership,”
from A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
“What are Rutan’s management rules? He
insists he doesn’t have any. ‘I don’t like
rules,’ he says. ‘Things are so easy to change
if you don’t write them down.’ Rutan feels
good management works in much the same
Instead
of trying to figure out the best
way to do something and
sticking to it, just try out an
approach and keep fixing it.”
way good aircraft design does:
—Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8, “Messy Leadership,”
from A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
“Downplaying up-front design, not matching employees’
tasks to their experience and training, eschewing
specialization, creating a culture that glorifies questions and
mistakes, not acting like a CEO—how has all this worked out
for Rutan? Scaled Composites has managed 88 consecutive
profitable quarters in an industry that is perennially profit
challenged. The firm’s regular clients include NASA and most
of the big aerospace companies—and it is known as the go-to
concern when a need arises for an aircraft that flies higher or
faster or farther or more nimbly or less expensively than any
Scaled Composites has rolled
out 26 new types of aircraft in 30
years, at a time when giant aerospace
companies struggle to get a single new
aircraft out in a decade.”
other has.
—Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8, “Messy Leadership,”
A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
“One Rutan principle is not to worry so
much about the formal background of
the engineers he hires or to look for
the sorts of specialties normally sought
after by aerospace companies. Instead,
he looks for people who share his
passion for aircraft design and who can
work on anything from a fuselage to a
door handle or are willing to learn
how. He then gives those people free
rein.” —Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8, “Messy
Leadership,” A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
“A Rutan principle is that it’s useful
to have everyone questioning
everything the company does all the
time, and especially have people
questioning their own work. Rutan
makes sure that when employees
point out their mistakes, they’re
applauded rather than
reprimanded.” —Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8,
“Messy Leadership,” A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may
the most
valuable core
competence an
be
innovative organization can
hope to have.” —Michael Schrage
Think about It
!
Innovation =
Reaction to the
Prototype*
*E.g., No prototype, nothing to think about.
Source: Michael Schrage
“Demo
or die!”
Source: This was the approach championed by Nicholas Negroponte
which vaulted his MIT Media Lab to the forefront of IT-multimedia
innovation. It was his successful alternative to the traditional
MIT-academic “publish or perish.” Negroponte’s rapid-prototyping
version was emblematic of the times and the pace and the enormity
of the opportunity. (NYTimes/0426.11)
“This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is
amazing how few oil people really
you only
find oil if you drill
wells.
understand that
You may think you’re finding
it when you’re drawing maps and
studying logs, but you have to drill.”
Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter
“While many people think big oil is
responsible for virtually all new discoveries,
over the years about
percent
80
of the oil found in the
United States has been brought in by
wildcatters
such as Mr.
Findley, says Larry Nation, spokesman for the
American Association of Petroleum
Geologists.”
—WSJ, “Wildcat Producer Sparks Oil Boom in Montana”
find
… only
oil if you
drill
...
Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter
A man approached JP Morgan, held up an envelope, and said,
“Sir, in my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which
I will gladly sell you for $25,000.”
“Sir,” JP Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope,
however if you show me, and I like it, I give you my word as a
gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.”
The man agreed to the terms, and handed over the envelope.
JP Morgan opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper.
He gave it one look, a mere glance, then handed the piece of
paper back to the gent.
And paid him the
agreed-upon $25,000 …
The miracle “formula” …
1. Every morning, write a
list of the things that
need to be done that
day.
2.
Do them.
Source: Hugh MacLeod/tompeters.com/NPR
“Never forget
implementation boys.
In our work it’s what I
call the ‘missing 98
percent’ of the client
puzzle.”
—Al McDonald, Managing Director, McKinsey & Company
“A good plan
executed right
now beats a great
plan executed
next week.”
—Patton
“We are in a
brawl with
no rules.”
—Paul Allaire
[Only] answer to “We are in a brawl with no rules”:
S.A.V.
Screw
Around
Vigorously!*
*TP
“We are in a brawl
with no rules.” (Allaire)
Axiom:
“The world will
not be kind to those who
‘play by the rules’.” (Peters)
Implication:
Strategy:
R.F.A./S.A.V.
(Perot/Peters)
“Ever notice
that ‘What the
hell’ is always
the right
decision?”
Source: a shrewd observation, attributed to an unknown Hollywood scriptwriter
NB: I admit it. I found the quote, not at a Harvard B. School exec program, but in a nearby
Cambridge novelty shop. There’s a message here—not least of which is to consider the value
of the $4.00 card vs. a $4,000-a-day program at the HBS? The card, however, cost a lot more
than $4; I ordered a couple of hundred, and give them away like candies at seminars.
“We have a
‘strategic
plan.’ It’s
called doing
things.”
— Herb Kelleher
Peters &
Waterman
“Do it.
Fix it.
Try it.”
Tom Peters/Business Week/07.1978
(Principal #1/first publication of
“Attributes of Excellence”)
In Search of Excellence/1982/The Bedrock “Eight Basics”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A Bias for Action
Close to the Customer
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
Productivity Through People
Hands On, Value-Driven
Stick to the Knitting
Simple Form, Lean Staff
Simultaneous “Loose-Tight
Properties”
Peters+
/46
For me it started in the U.S. Navy in 1966. I was a junior officer in
U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion NINE, a part of the
fabled U.S. Navy Seabees. The Seabees motto has been, since
birth in 1942, “Can do.” In my first deployment to Vietnam, the
“Can do” spirit was drummed into my head.
It “took.”
Life is hopelessly complex, and to say anything “for sure” is a
stretch. I’ve, in fact, got but one exception to that rule—one “for
sure” that was hatched in 1966 and which animates my life and
my work in 2012 …
46
years later!
Lesson46*:
WTTMSW*
*Only thing I’ve learned “for sure,” 1966-2012
Whoever
Tries
The
Most
Stuff
Wins
Better yet:
WTTMSTFW
Whoever
Tries
The
Most
Stuff
The
Fastest
Wins
Better yet:
WTTMS(ASTMSU)TFW
Whoever
Tries
The
Most
Stuff
(And
Screws
The
Most
Stuff
Up)
The
Fastest
Wins
Whoever
Tries
The
Most
Stuff
And
Screws
The
Most
Stuff
Up
The
Fastest
Wins!
“Experiment
fearlessly”
Tactic #1
Source: BusinessWeek, “Type A Organization Strategies: How to Hit a Moving Target”—
“… relentless
trial and error”
Source: Wall Street Journal, cornerstone of effective approach to “rebalancing” company
portfolios in the face of changing and uncertain global economic conditions (11.08.10)
“The difference between Bach and his forgotten
peers isn’t necessarily that he had a better ratio
of hits to misses. The difference is that the
mediocre might have a dozen ideas, while Bach,
in his lifetime, created more than a thousand
full-fledged musical compositions. A genius is a
genius, psychologist Paul Simonton maintains,
because he can put together such a staggering
number of insights, ideas, theories, random
observations, and unexpected connections that
he almost inevitably ends up with something
‘Quality,’
‘is a
probabilistic function of
quantity.’”
great.
Simonton writes,
—Malcolm Gladwell, “Creation Myth,” New Yorker, 0516.11
“Quality is a
probabilistic
function of
quantity.”
WD40
Water
Displacement
40 Tries*
*The magic potion includes “40” in its name—it took the inventor 40 tries to get it right!
Hayek+
F.A. Hayek, Nobel prize winner in economics, said, in effect, that
economic growth is a function of getting a lot of stuff going and
“winning” (growing) courtesy the “law of large numbers.” Much of
the secret is the absence of a plan—let lotsa stuff happen, and
some unimaginable great stuff will be part of the picture.
Economic Progress/Growth:
“Spontaneous
Discovery
Process”
—F.A. Hayek
[Rapid] Trial and Error =
Heart of the scientific method
Engine of natural selection
Basis for economic growth
Key to business success
What makes
God laugh?
People
making
plans!
The Mess
Is The
Message!
Period!
“By indirections
find directions
out.”
—Hamlet, II. i
“Containerization … is a remarkable
achievement. No one foresaw how the box would
transform everything it touched—from ships and ports to
patterns of global trade. Containerization is a monument
to the most powerful law in economics, that of
This history
ought to be humbling to fans of modern
management methods. Careful planning
and thorough analysis, those business
school basics, may have their place, but
they provide little guidance in the face of
disruptive changes that alter an
industry’s very fundamentals.” —Marc Levinson,
unanticipated consequences. …
author of The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the
World Economy Bigger (2006 was the 50th anniversary of containerization)
“No one rises so
high as he who
knows not where
he is going.”
—Cromwell
“My only goal is to
have no goals. The
goal, every time, is
that film, that very
moment.” —Bernardo Bertolucci
“We normally shoot a few takes,
even if the first one is terrific …
because what I’m really hoping for
is a ‘mistake.’ I think that most of
the really great moments in my
films were not planned. They were
things that naturally occurred and
we said, ‘Wow, look at that—that’s
something we want to keep.’ That’s
when you hit the truth button with
the audience.” —Robert Altman,
on his Academy Award winning “Gosford Park”
Surprise,
Transformation
& Excellence
Through
Spontaneous
Discovery
The Limits of “Systems Thinking”:
Surprise, Transformation & Excellence
Through Spontaneous Discovery (1 of 2)
This summer [2009] was the summer of brush clearing.
And, it turned out, much more.
It started as simple exercise. After a day or two, scratches from head to toe,
and enjoyment, I set myself a goal of clearing a little space to get a better view
of one of the farm ponds. That revealed something else … to my surprise.
At a casual dinner, I sat next to a landscaper, and we got to talking about our
farm and my skills with clipper, saw, etc. In particular, she suggested that I do
some clearing around a few of our big boulders. Intrigued, I set about clearing,
on our main trail, around a couple of said boulders. I was again amazed at the
result.
That in turn led to attacking some dense brush and brambles around some
barely visible rocks that had always intrigued me—which led to “finding,” in
effect, a great place for a more or less “Zen garden,” as we’ve taken to calling
it.
Which led to … more and more. And more.
(Especially a rock wall, a hundred or so yards long, that is a massive wonder—
next year I’ll move up the hill behind it—I can already begin to imagine what
I’ll discover, though my hunch will be mostly “wrong,” and end up leading me
somewhere else.)
The Limits of “Systems Thinking”:
Surprise, Transformation & Excellence
Through Spontaneous Discovery (2 of 2)
To make a long story short:
I now have a new hobby, and maybe, ye gads, my life’s work for years to
come. This winter I’ll do a little, but I also plan to read up on outdoor spaces,
Zen gardens, etc; visit some rock gardens—spaces close by or amidst my
travels; and, indeed, concoct a more or less plan (rough sketches) for next
spring’s activities—though I’m sure that what I do will move forward mostly by
what I discover as I move forward. (what discovers itself may actually be a
better way to put it—there’s a “hidden hand” here.) As I’m beginning to see it,
this is at least a 10-year project—maybe even a multi-generation project.
I proceeded by trial and error and instinct, and each experiment led
to/suggested another experiment (or 2 or 10) and to a greater understanding
of potential—the “plan,” though there was none, made itself. And it was far, far
better (more ambitious, more interesting, more satisfying) than I would have
imagined. In fact, the result to date bears little or no relationship to what I
was thinking about at the start—a trivial self-designed chore may become the
engine of my next decade; the “brushcutting project” is now leading Susan and
I to view our entire property, and what it might represent, in a new light.
I was able to do much more than I’d dreamed—overall, and project by project.
“Systems thinking”? It would have killed the whole thing.
Is “everything connected to every thing else”? Well, sure. But I had no idea
how everything was connected to everything else until I began (thank you,
Michael Schrage) “serious play.”
I proceeded by trial and error and instinct,
and each experiment led to/suggested
another experiment (or 2 or 10) and to a
greater understanding of potential—the
“plan,” though there was none, made itself.
And it was far, far better (more ambitious,
more interesting, more satisfying) than I
would have imagined. In fact, the result to
date bears little or no relationship to what I
was thinking about at the start—a trivial
self-designed chore may become the engine
of my next decade; the “brushcutting project”
is now leading Susan and I to view our
entire property, and what it might becomerepresent, in a new light.
Boyd
He who has the
quickest
“O.O.D.A.
Loops”* wins!
*Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. /Col. John Boyd
John Boyd was called by some the most important military
strategist since Sun Tzu. The core idea he presents is keep
moving, keep zigging and zagging—the opponent is kept off
balance and in a constantly reactive mode.
I do not equate business competition with warfare; e.g., there’s
plenty of room for me and my competitors and overall industry
growth is good for all of us. On the other hand, the Boyd concept
is sound—and in a gyrating world can usefully apply to many if
not most settings.
OODA Loop/Boyd Cycle
“Unraveling the competition”/ Quick
Transients/ Quick Tempo (NOT JUST
SPEED!)/ Agility/ “So quick it is
disconcerting” (adversary over-reacts
or under-reacts)/ “Winners used
tactics that caused the enemy to
unravel before the fight” (NEVER
HEAD TO HEAD)
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“Fast Transients”
“Buttonhook turn”
(YF16: “could flick from one
maneuver to another faster
than any aircraft”)
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“Blitzkrieg is far more than lightning thrusts
that most people think of when they hear the
term; rather it was all about high operational
tempo and the rapid exploitation of
opportunity.” —Robert Coram, Boyd
“Re-arrange the mind
of the enemy”
—T.E. Lawrence
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”
Ali
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)
—
F86 vs. MiG/Korea/10:1
Bubble canopy (360 degree view)
Full hydraulic controls (“The F86
driver could go from one maneuver to
another faster than the MiG driver”)
MiG: “faster in raw acceleration and
turning ability”; F86: “quicker in
changing maneuvers”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“The stuff has got to
be implicit. If it is
explicit, you can’t do
it fast enough.”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
Kelley+
“Fail faster.
Succeed
Sooner.”
David Kelley/IDEO
Making mistakes is often considered anathema—especially when
one is in school.
How absurd!
How sick!
We advance …
ONLY … THROUGH “ERROR & TRIAL.”
“Fail.
Forward.
Fast.”
High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
“No matter.
Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better.”
—Samuel Beckett
“The secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast
and furious and
numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“Natural selection is death. ...
Without huge amounts
of death, organisms
do not change over
time. ... Death is the mother
of structure. ... It took four
billion years of death ... to
invent the human mind ...”
— The Cobra Event
“The Silicon Valley of
today is built less
atop the spires of
earlier triumphs than
upon the rubble of
earlier debacles.”
—Paul Saffo, tech futurist, Palo Alto
“He was
not afraid
to fail”*
*David Glass, former CEO, Walmart, to TP, on …
Sam Walton’s principal success secret
“Reward
excellent failures.
Punish mediocre
successes.”
—Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
“If people tell me
they skied all day
and never fell down,
I tell them to try a
different mountain.”
—Michael Bloomberg (BW/0625.07)
“In business, you reward
people for taking risks.
When it doesn’t work out
you promote them—because
they were willing to try new
things. If people tell me
they skied all day and never
fell down, I tell them to try
a different mountain.”
—Michael Bloomberg (BW/0625.07)
“No man ever
became great ...
except through
many and great
mistakes.”
—William Gladstone
(from Timeless Wisdom, compiled by Gary Fenchuk)
“I have missed more than 9,000
shots in my career; I have lost
almost 300 games; 26 times I
have been trusted to take the
game winning shot—and missed. I
have failed over and over and
over again in my life. And that is
why I succeed.”
—Michael Jordan
… and that
is why I
succeed
Read It!
Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes:
Whoever Makes
the Most Mistakes
Wins: The Paradox
of Innovation
"A man's errors
are his portals of
discovery."
—James Joyce
"Barn's burnt
down … now I
can see the
moon."
—Masahide, Japanese poet
“It is not enough to
‘tolerate’ failure—
you must
‘celebrate’
failure.”
—Richard Farson (Whoever Makes the
Most Mistakes Wins)
Grant+
“The only way to
whip an army is
to go out and
fight it.” —Grant
Source: John Mosier, Grant
U.S. Grant (Ulysses Simpson or “Unconditional Surrender” Grant)
is arguably America’s most effective general. While others
dithered, Grant succeeded by, regardless of circumstances, such
as an undermanned force, gettin’ on with gettin128128’ on. He
was on the move—and come hell and high water he would never
move in any direction other than forward. The latter sounds like a
vacuous nostrum—but to Grant it was the essence of his
character and thence success.)
Grant
from the “seminal” biography by:
Jean Edward Smith
“A generation of American officers had been schooled to believe the
art of generalship required rigid adherence to certain textbook
theorems.”/151 “The nature of Grant’s greatness has been a riddle
to many observers. … did not hedge his bets … disregarded explicit
instructions … nothing to fall back on … violating every maxim held
dear by the military profession … new dimension: ability to learn
from the battlefield … finished near the bottom of his [West Point]
class in tactics … carried the fight to the enemy … maintain the
momentum of the attack … military greatness is the ability to
recognize and respond to opportunities presented.”/152-3 “Grant
had an aversion to digging in.”/153 “Grant had an intangible
advantage. He knew what he wanted.”/153 “Grant’s seven-mile dash
changed the course of the war.”/157 “The one who attacks first will
be victorious.”/158 “dogged”/159 “unconditional surrender”/162
“simplicity and determination”/166 “quickness of mind that allowed
him to make on the spot adjustments … [his] battles were not
elegant set-piece operations”/166 “[other Union general] preferred
preparation to execution … became a friend of detail … suffered
from ‘the slows’ …”/170 Message to Halleck from McClellan: “Do not
hesitate to arrest him” [following great victory]/172 … “learned how
to withstand attacks from the rear” [Army politics]/179
“He never credited the enemy with the capacity to take the
offensive.”/185 “tenacity [like Wellington]”/187 “I haven’t despaired
of whipping them yet” [at avery low point]/195 “Both sides seemed
defeated and whoever assumed the offensive was sure to win.”/200
… “inchoate bond [between Grant and soldiers]”/201 … “The genius
of Grant’s command style lay in its simplicity. Grant never burdened
his division commanders with excessive detail. … no elaborate staff
conferences, no written orders prescribing deployment. … Grant
recognized the battlefield was in flux. By not specifying movements
in detail, he left his subordinate commanders free to exploit
whatever opportunities developed.”/202 “If anyone other than
Grant had been in command, the Union army certainly would have
retreated.”/204 Lincoln (urged to fire Grant): “I can’t spare this
man; he fights.”/205 “Grant turned defeat into Union victory.”/206
“moved on intuition, which he often could not explain or
justify.”/208 “instinctive recognition that victory lay in relentlessly
hounding a defeated army into surrender.”/213 Nathan Bedford
Forrest, successful Confederate commander: “amenable to no
known rules of procedure, was a law unto himself for all military
acts, and was constantly doing the unexpected at all times
and places.”/213
“The genius of Grant’s command style
lay in its simplicity. Grant never
burdened his division commanders
with excessive detail. … no elaborate
staff conferences, no written orders
prescribing deployment. … Grant
recognized the battlefield was in flux.
By not specifying movements in
detail, he left his subordinate
commanders free to exploit whatever
opportunities developed.”
—Jean Edward Smith/GRANT
“The commanding general would be in the field”/228 Lincoln:
“What I want, and what the people want, is generals who will fight
battles and win victories. Grant has done this and I propose to stand
by him.”/231 “retains his hold upon the affections of his men”/232
“Grant’s moral courage—his willingness to choose a path frrom
which there could be no return—set him apart from most
commanders … were [Grant and Lee] were uniquely willing to take
full responsibility for their actions.”/233 “ … modest … honest …
nothing could perturb … never faltered …”/233 “plan was
breathtakingly simple but fraught with peril”/235 “demonstrating
the flexibility that had become his hallmark”/238 “But like any West
Point trained general, he had difficulty comprehending what Grant
was up to …”/240 “recognized the value of momentum … throw off
balance … blitzkreig … traveling light … headquarters in the
saddle”/243 “acted as quartermaster”/243 [rushed away so that he
couldn’t receive Halleck’s order] … “like Lord Nelson … telescope to
his blind eye” … “pressing ahead on his own”/245 “focus on the
enemy’s weakness rather than his own”/250
“recognized the value of
momentum … throw
[opponent] off balance …
blitzkreig … traveling light
… headquarters in the
saddle” —Jean Edward Smith/GRANT
Metabolic
Management*
TP:
*Leader consciously responsible for tempo/
momentum/metabolic rate of the organization
"The art of war is simple
enough. Find out where
your enemy is. Get at him
as soon as you can. Strike
at him as hard as you can
and as often as you can,
and keep moving on." —Grant,
courtesy Richard Cauley at tompeters,com
(original source unknown)
“The art of war does not
require complicated
maneuvers; the simplest are
the best, and common sense
is fundamental. From which
one might wonder how it is
generals make blunders; it is
because they try to be
clever.” —Napoleon on Simplicity, from Napoleon
on Project Management by Jerry Manas.
Napoleon’ “six winning principles”: Exactitude (sweat the details).
Speed. Flexibility. Simplicity. Character. Moral Force.
Simplicity: “The art of war does not require complicated
maneuvers; the simplest are the best, and common sense is
fundamental. From which one might wonder how it is generals
make blunders; it is because they try to be clever.”
Character: “A military leader must possess as much character as
intellect. Men who have a great deal of intelligence and little
character are the least suited. … It is preferable to have much
character and little intellect.”
Source: Jerry Manas, Napoleon on Project Management
“Above all the troops appreciated Grant’s unassuming manner. Most
generals went about attended by a retinue of immaculately tailored staff
officers. Grant usually rode alone, except for an orderly or two to carry
messages if the need arose. Another soldier said the soldiers looked on
Grant ‘as a friendly partner, not an arbitrary commander.’ Instead of cheering
as he rode by, they would ‘greet him as they would sddress one of their
neighbors at home. ‘Good morning, General,’ ‘Pleasant day, General’ …
There was no nonsense, no sentiment; only a plain businessman of the
republic, there for the one single purpose of getting that command over the
river in the shortest time possible.’” [Grant: 5-feet 8-inches with a
slouch]/232 After the victory at Chattanooga: “The [Union senior] officers
rode past the Confederates smugly without any sign of recognition except
by one. ‘When General Grant reached the line of ragged, filthy, bloody,
despairing prisoners strung out on each side of the bridge, he lifted his hat
and held it over his head until he passed the last man of that living funeral
cortege. He was the only officer in that whole train who recognized us as
being on the face of the earth.’”/ 281 “Grant was unhappy about going into
winter quarters. He saw no reason to keep the army idle, and the pause
would give the rebels time to reorganize.”/282
“The [Union senior] officers rode past the
Confederates smugly without any sign
of recognition except by one. ‘When
General Grant reached the line of
ragged, filthy, bloody, despairing
prisoners strung out on each side of
the bridge, he lifted his hat and held it
over his head until he passed the last
man of that living funeral cortege. He
was the only officer in that whole train
who recognized us as being on the
face of the earth.’*”
*quote within a quote from diary of a Confederate soldier
From LEE KENNETT’s SHERMAN: “Grant tended to be a simple
listener when these two strategies [for taking Vicksburg] were being
discussed. His own preference may have been impelled as much by
natural inclination as by any arguments he heard. He wrote
afterward: ‘One of my superstitions had always been when I started
to go anywhere or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop, until the
thing intended was accomplished.’”/ 202
“One of my superstitions
had always been when I
started to go anywhere or
to do anything, not to turn
back, or stop, until the
thing intended was
accomplished.” —Grant
“This [adolescent] incident [of getting from point A to point B] is
notable not only because it underlines Grant’s fearless
horsemanship and his determination, but also it is the first known
example of a very important peculiarity of his character:
Grant had an extreme,
almost phobic dislike of
turning back and retracing
his steps. If he set out for somewhere, he would get
there somehow, whatever the difficulties that lay in his way. This
idiosyncrasy would turn out to be one the factors that made him
such a formidable general. Grant would always, always press on—
turning back was not an option for him.”
—Michael Korda, Ulysses Grant
CWVA to MBWA: “In these
days of telegraph and
steam I can command
while traveling and
visiting about.” —U.S. Grant
Managing By Wandering
Around” —HP circa 1980
Source: Ulysses S. Grant, by Geoffrey Perret
TP’s take: Intuition takes precedence (listen attentively but act on
intuition) … Move today > perfect plan tomorrow [subsequent Patton
line] … Great advantage: When moving, you know what you’re up to
and you’re moving [the one sitting still is, thence, always reactive]
[Boyd: quickest O.O.D.A. loops/Observe. Orient. Decide. Act.
Disorient enemy] … Action! ... Keep moving! … Engage! … Offense!
[weakness-strength: can’t even imagine enemy counter-attacking;
little conception of defense] … Momentum! …. Keep ‘em off balance
… … Adjust … Adapt … … Opportunism! … Constantly revise in
accordance with conditions and opportunities in the field [life =
excellence at “Plan B”] … Doggedness … Relentless!! [trait shaped
in early childhhood] … Never retreat … Simplicity! … Wide latitude
for division commanders … minimum written orders, conferences,
etc … keep his own council … HQ is Grant & his horse … no retinue!
… commune with soldiers/exude quiet confidence/Approachable …
decent … Self-accountability! … Evade orders (or ignore) … Share
harm & hardship … total victory/ demand “unconditional
surrender”—G’s first claim to fame [Nelson: other Admirals avoid
loss, friend and foe as in Grant’s case vs Nelson’s seek victory] …
[Life 101: politics between the Generals:
E.g., Grant & Halleck]
Relent
“It is no use saying ‘We
are doing our best.’ You
have got to succeed
in doing what is
necessary.”
—Winston Churchill
“Success seems to
be largely a matter
of hanging on
after others have
let go.”
—William Feather, author, entrepreneur
“If Richard [Holbrooke]
calls and asks you for
something, just say ‘Yes.’
If you say ‘No,’ you’ll
eventually get to yes, but
the journey will be very
painful.” —Henry Kissinger on the late diplomatproblemsolver Richard Holbrooke
72/1/5/909
Success/Suffrage
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902),
Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright,
Mary Ann McClintock, Jane Hunt
(Lunch/Seneca Falls, NY/07.13.1848)
+
72 years, 1 month, 5 days, 909 elections
(08.18.1920/Nashville, TN)
=
The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
(which gave women the right to vote)
Nelson+
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
On NELSON:
U.S. Grant and Horatio Nelson were cut to the same measure
from the same bolt of cloth. Immediate forward action was their
virtually religious watchword. Moreover, and among other things,
both were known for their love, returned, of their soldiers and
sailors—and the leeway for action they gave to their subordinate
commanders.
The Nelson Baker’s Dozen
1. Simple-clear scheme (“Plan”) (Not wildly imaginative) (Patton: “A good plan
executed with vigor right now tops a ‘perfect’ plan executed next week.”)
2. SOARING/BOLD/CLEAR/UNEQUIVOCAL/WORTHY/NOBLE/INSPIRING
“GOAL”/“MISSION”/“PURPOSE”/“QUEST”
3. “Conversation”: Engagement of All Leaders
4. Leeway for Leaders: Select the Best/Dip Deep/Initiative demanded/Accountability
swift/Micromanagement absent
5. LED BY “LOVE” (Lambert), NOT “AUTHORITY” (Identify with sailors!)
6. Instinct/Seize the Moment/“Impetuosity” (Boyd’s “OODA Loops”: React more
quickly than opponent, destroy his “world view”)
7. VIGOR! (Zander: leader as “Dispenser of Enthusiasm”)
8. Peerless Basic Skills/Mastery of Craft (Seamanship)
9. Workaholic! (“Duty” first, second, and third)
10. LEAD BY CONFIDENT & DETERMINED & CONTINUOUS & VISIBLE EXAMPLE (In
Harm’s Way) (Gandhi: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”/
Giuliani: Show up!)
11. Genius (“Transform the world to conform to their ideas,” “Triumph over rules”)
(Gandhi, Lee-Singapore) , not Greatness (“Make the most of their world”)
12. Luck! (Right time, right place; survivor) (“Lucky Eagle” vs “Bold Eagle”)
13. Others principal shortcoming: “ADMIRALS MORE FRIGHTENED OF LOSING
THAN ANXIOUS TO WIN”
Source: Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia’s God of War
Nelson’s Way: A Baker’s Dozen/Short
1. Simple scheme.
2. Noble purpose!
3. Engage others.
4. Find great talent, let it soar!
5. Lead by Love!
6. Trust your gut, not the focus group: Seize the Moment!
7. Vigor!
8. Master your craft.
9. Work harder than the next person.
10. Show the way, walk the talk, exude confidence! Start a Passion
Epidemic!
11. Change the rules: Create your own game!
12. Shake of the pain, get back up off the ground, the timing may
well be
right tomorrow! (E.g., Get lucky!)
13. By hook or by crook, quash your fear of failure, savor your
quirkiness
and participate fully in the fray!
Source: Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia’s God of War
Insubordinate (when it comes to
delays)/N
Action-oriented/Offense/
Total victory/N
Relentless
Troop Commander par Excellence/N
Leeway to Commanders/N
“He above all encouraged (and
prepared) his subordinates to
seize the initiative whenever
necessary, particularly in the
fog of war —and the men who
served under him knew what
he expected.” —Jay Tolson, on
“The Nelson Touch,” The Battle That Changed The World
Fisherisms
Do right and damn the odds.
Stagnation is the curse of life.
The best is the cheapest.
Emotion can sway the world.
Mad things come off.
Haste in all things.
Any fool can obey orders.
History is a record of exploded ideas.
Life is phrases.
Source: Jan Morris, Fisher’s Face, Or, Getting to Know the Admiral
“We must have no tinkering!
No pandering to sentiment!
No regard for
susceptibilities! We must be
ruthless, relentless, and
remorseless.” —Jan Morris, Fisher’s Face, Or,
Getting to Know the Admiral
Q.E.D.:
“You miss
100%
of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky