Tom Peters’ Excellence. Always. Shanghai/25-27 April 2009 To appreciate this presentation [and ensure that it is not a mess], you need Microsoft fonts: NOTE: “Showcard Gothic,” “Ravie,” “Chiller” and “Verdana”

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Transcript Tom Peters’ Excellence. Always. Shanghai/25-27 April 2009 To appreciate this presentation [and ensure that it is not a mess], you need Microsoft fonts: NOTE: “Showcard Gothic,” “Ravie,” “Chiller” and “Verdana”

Tom Peters’
Excellence.
Always.
Shanghai/25-27 April 2009
To appreciate
this presentation [and ensure
that it is not a mess], you need
Microsoft fonts:
NOTE:
“Showcard Gothic,”
“Ravie,” “Chiller”
and “Verdana”
AGENDA
Part ONE … EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS./25.04
Part TWO … INNOVATION IMPERATIVE,
the NEXT STEP/26.04
Part THREE … PEOPLE-PEOPLE-PEOPLE.
PERIOD./26-7.04
Part FOUR … LEADERSHIP for EXCELLENCE
& INNOVATION/27.04
AGENDA
Part ONE … EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS./25.04
Part TWO … INNOVATION IMPERATIVE,
the NEXT STEP/26.04
Part THREE … PEOPLE-PEOPLE-PEOPLE.
PERIOD./26-7.04
Part FOUR … LEADERSHIP for EXCELLENCE
& INNOVATION/27.04
Part TWO
Tom Peters’
Excellence.
Always.
Innovation.
Shanghai/24-26 April 2009
Slides at …
tompeters.com
Try it. Try it. Try it
ry it. Try it. Screw
up. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Screw it up
t. Try it. Try it. try
“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 make the design
perfect, we’re already on prototype version
#5.
By the time our rivals are
ready with wires and screws, we are on version
#10. It gets back to planning
versus acting: We act from day
one; others plan how to plan—
for months.” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
“We have a
‘strategic plan.’
It’s called doing
things.”
— Herb Kelleher
“Experiment
fearlessly”
Source: BW0821.06, Type A Organization Strategies/
“How to Hit a Moving Target”—Tactic #1
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may
the most
valuable core
competence an
be
innovative organization can
hope to have.” —Michael Schrage
“You can’t be a serious
innovator unless and until
you are ready, willing and
able to seriously play.
‘Serious play’ is not an
oxymoron; it is the essence
of innovation.”
—Michael Schrage, Serious Play
“SkunkWorks”/ “ParallelUniverse”
“the
solution”
Source: Scott Bedbury (Others: 3M, Google, Shell, NAVFAC)
“Fail .
Forward.
Fast.”
High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
“FAIL, FAIL
AGAIN. FAIL
BETTER.”
—Samuel Beckett
“Reward
excellent failures.
Punish mediocre
successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
“The secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast
and furious and
numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“You miss
100% of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
Try it. Try it. Try it
ry it. Try it. Screw
up. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Screw it up
t. Try it. Try it. try
Excellence1982: 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”
Little =
Big carts =
Source: Wal*Mart
Bag sizes = New markets:
Source: PepsiCo
Socks =
10,000
Round
= 2X/allx
“Paint it
white!”
— On Hashem Akbari’s [Lawrence Livermore labs] powerful program
to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions; using conservative
reduce 44 billion tons of CO2
assumptions, it could
emissions by cooling buildings, roads, entire cities (The Guardian, 0116.09)
“Design is everything.
Everything is design.”
“We are all designers.”
Inspiration: The Power of Design: A Force for
Transforming Everything, Richard Farson
De-central-iza-tion!
“‘Decentralization’
is not a piece of
paper. It’s not me.
It’s either in your
heart, or not.”
—Brian Joffe/BIDvest
Enemy
#1
I.C.D.
Inherent/Inevitable/
Immutable Centralist Drift
Note 1:
Note 2: Jim Burke’s 1-word vocabulary: “No.”
NEW DECENTRALIZATION: “Cisco, [CEO
John] Chambers argues, is the best
possible model for how a global
business can operate: as a
distributed idea engine
where leadership emerges
organically, unfettered by a
central command.”
—”Revolution in San
(Chambers: “We now have a
whole pool of talent who can lead these working
groups—like mini CEOs and COOs.”) (Top blog:
engineering director 5 levels down)
Jose,” Fast Company, Dec-Jan 08-09
Ex-ecu-tion!
“Execution is
strategy.”
—Fred Malek
“Execution is
the job of the
business
leader.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram
Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“Costco figured out the
big, simple things
and executed with
total fanaticism.”
—Charles Munger, Berkshire Hathaway
Ac-counta-bil-ity!
30%
MH: 80%
CF:
(no salesfolk)
(salesfolk)
6:15A.M.
DECENTRALIZATION.
EXECUTION.
ACCOUTABILITY.
6:15A.M.
Base
Case
You don’t
get better
by being
bigger. You
Dick Kovacevich:
“I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs
seeking escape from life within huge corporate
structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for
Buy
a very large one
and just wait.”
myself?’ The answer seems obvious:
—Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail:
Evolution, Extinction and Economics
“Mr. Foster and his McKinsey colleagues
collected detailed performance data stretching
back
40 years for 1,000
They found that
U.S. companies.
none
of
the long-term survivors managed to
outperform the market. Worse, the
longer companies had been in the
database, the worse they did.”
—Financial Times
Forget > “Learn”
“The problem is never how to get
new, innovative thoughts into your
mind, but how to get the old
ones out.”
—Dee Hock
“Data drawn from the real world
attest to a fact that is beyond
Everything
in existence tends
to deteriorate.”
our control:
—Norberto Odebrecht, Education Through Work
#4 Japan
#2T USA
#2T China
#4 Japan
#3 USA
#2 China
#1 Germany
Reason!!!
Mittelstand
Or …
Goldmann
Produktions
(11/50%/$5M/”dip and coat,” expensive pigments
vs “through coloring,” fades Bekro Chemie)
Jim Penman/
Jim’s Group
Jim’s Mowing Canada
Jim’s Mowing UK
Jim’s Antennas
Jim’s Bookkeeping
Jim’s Building Maintenance
Jim’s Carpet Cleaning
Jim’s Car Cleaning
Jim’s Computer Services
Jim’s Dog Wash
Jim’s Driving School
Jim’s Fencing
Jim’s Floors
Jim’s Painting
Jim’s Paving
Jim’s Pergolas [gazebos]
Jim’s Pool Care
Jim’s Pressure Cleaning
Jim’s Roofing
Jim’s Security Doors
Jim’s Trees
Jim’s Window Cleaning
Jim’s Windscreens
Note: Download, free, Jim Penman’s book:
What Will They Franchise Next? The Story of Jim’s Group
We are the
company
we keep
“You will become
like the five people
you associate with
the most …
this can be either a blessing or a curse.”
—Billy Cox
The “We are what we eat”
axiom: At its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership
decision (employee, vendor,
customer, etc) is a strategic
decision about:
“Innovate,
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”
Measure “Strangeness”/Portfolio Quality
Staff
Consultants
Vendors
Out-sourcing Partners (#, Quality)
Innovation Alliance Partners
Customers
Competitors (who we “benchmark” against)
Strategic Initiatives
Product Portfolio (LineEx v. Leap)
IS/IT Projects
HQ Location
Lunch Mates
Language
Board
“Don’t
benchmark,
futuremark!”
Impetus: “The future is already here; it’s just
not evenly distributed” —William Gibson
CUSTOMERS:
“Future-defining
customers may account for
only 2% to 3% of your
total, but they represent a
crucial window on the
future.”
Adrian Slywotzky, Mercer Consultants
“[CEO A.G.] Lafley has shifted P&G’s focus
on inventing all its own products to
others’
inventions at
least half the
time.
developing
One successful
example, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, based on a product
found in an Osaka market.” —Fortune
Axiom: Never use a vendor
who is not in the top
quartile (decile?) in
their industry on R&D
spending!*
*Inspired by Hummingbird
“The Billion-man
Research Team:
Companies offering
work to online
communities are
reaping the benefits of
‘crowdsourcing.’”
—Headline, FT, 0110.07
Rob McEwen/CEO/
Goldcorp Inc./
Red Lake
gold
Wikinomics: How Mass
Collaboration Changes Everything,
Don Tapscott & Anthony Williams
Source:
“Diverse groups of problem solvers—groups
of people with diverse tools—consistently
outperformed groups of the best and the
brightest. If I formed two groups, one
random (and therefore diverse) and one
consisting of the best individual performers,
the first group almost always did better. …
Diversity trumped
ability.”
—Scott Page, The Difference: How
the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups,
Firms, Schools, and Societies Diversity
CM Prof Richard Florida on “Creative
“You cannot get a
technologically
innovative place … unless
it’s open to weirdness,
eccentricity and
difference.”
Capital”:
Source: New York Times/06.01.2002
“The Creative Age is
wide
open
game.”
a
—Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class
94%
of loans to …
women*
*Microlending; “Banker to the poor”; Grameen Bank;
Muhammad Yunus; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner
“The
Bottleneck Is at
the Top of the Bottle”
“Where are you likely to find people with the least diversity of
experience, the largest investment in the past, and the greatest
reverence for industry dogma:
At the top!”
— Gary Hamel/Harvard Business Review
X =XFX*
*Excellence = Cross-functional Excellence
Never
waste a
lunch!
????
% XF
lunches*
*Measure!
(Way) Underutilized Lever
Space!
Space!
Space!
Space!
Geologists +
Geophysicists +
A little bit of love =
Oil
>100 feet =
100 miles
The “XF-50”: 50 Ways to
Enhance Cross-Functional
Effectiveness and Deliver
Speed, “Service Excellence”
and “Value-added
Customer ‘Solutions’”*
*Entire “XF-50” List is at Appendix ONE
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up
the Value-added Ladder.
EXCELLENCE.
VALUE-ADDED LADDER.
NO LESS THAN
“BUSINESS ADVANTAGE.”
“M” = $0
IB :
$55B*
M
*Also HP-EDS
Planetary Rainmaker-in-Chief!
“Palmisano’s strategy is
to expand tech’s borders
by pushing users—and
entire industries—toward
radically different
business models. The payoff for IBM
would be access to an ocean of revenue—Palmisano
estimates it at $500 billion a year —that technology
companies have never been able to touch.” —Fortune
“THE GIANT STALKING BIG OIL: How
Schlumberger Is
Rewriting the Rules of the Energy
Game.”: “IPM [Integrated Project
Management] strays from
[Schlumberger’s] traditional role
as a service provider and moves
deeper into areas once dominated
by the majors.”
Source: BusinessWeek cover story, January 2008
“Big Brown’s New Bag: UPS Aims
to Be the Traffic Manager for
Corporate America” —Headline/BW
“UPS wants to take over the
sweet spot in the endless loop
of goods, information and
capital that all the packages
[it moves] represent.” —ecompany.com
(E.g., UPS Logistics manages the logistics of 4.5M Ford vehicles,
from 21 mfg. sites to 6,000 NA dealers)
Huge: Customer
Satisfaction
versus
Customer
Success
The Value-added Ladder
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
(USA, EU)
(China, Germany, Japan)
The Value-added Ladder/TRANSFORMATION
Customer Success/
Gamechanging
Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
Era #1/Obvious Value: “Our ‘it’ works, is
delivered on time” (“Close”)
Era #2/Augmented Value: “How our ‘it’
can add value—a ‘useful it’ ” (“Solve”)
Era #3/Complex Value Networks: “How our
‘system’ can change you and deliver
‘business advantage’ ” (“CultureStrategic change”)
Source: Jeff Thull, The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap,
Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale
Centerpiece:
PSF*
*Professional Services Firm
Are you the …
“Principal
Engine of
Value Added”
PSF/Professional Service Firm/Beliefs
Profession: Calling/Passion to make a
difference/Excellence (always)
point of view: know exactly what we
stand for/
“Dramatic Difference”
Client: enduring, test-the-limits
relationship/Trusted advisor
Solution: Rock His-her World/ “wow”/
implemented “Culture change”/
>>>>>> “satisfaction”
The
quality and quantity
and imaginativeness
of innovation shall
be the same in all
functions —e.g., in HR and
Iron Innovation Equality Law:
purchasing as much as in marketing or
product development.
EXCELLENCE.
VALUE-ADDED LADDER.
SPELLBINDING
EXPERIENCES POWERED
BY “SOULFUL” DESIGN.
“Experiences
are as distinct
from services as
services are from
goods.”
—Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore, The
Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a
Stage
BEGINS
(and ENDS)
It
in the …
parking
lot*
*Disney
The case of the
2-cent
candy
<TGW
and …
>TGR
[Things Gone WRONG-Things Gone RIGHT]
C
*Chief e
O*
Xperience Officer
Acquire vs maintain*:
Higher “market share”
current customers
*Recession goal:
The Value-added Ladder/ MEMORABLE CONNECTIONS
Spellbinding Experiences
Powered By “Soulful”
Design*
*
Customer Success/
Implemented Gamechanging Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
*Blending Beauty, Usability, Theatricality (Degree: MFA/
Master of Fine Arts, “D-school,” Cultural Anthropology)
“Design is
treated like
a religion at
BMW.”
—Fortune
All Equal Except …
“At Sony we assume that all
products of our competitors have
basically the same technology, price,
performance and features.
Design is the only
thing that differentiates one
product from another in the
marketplace.”
—Norio Ohga
“We don’t have a good language to talk
about this kind of thing. In most people’s
vocabularies, design means veneer. …
But to me, nothing could be further from
the meaning of design.
Design is
fundamental
soul of a man-made
the
creation.”
—Steve Jobs
“With its carefully conceived mix of colors and textures,
Starbucks
aromas and music,
is more indicative of
our era than the iMac. It is to the Age of Aesthetics what
McDonald’s was to the Age of Convenience or Ford was to
the Age of Mass Production—the touchstone success
story, the exemplar of … the aesthetic imperative. …
‘Every Starbucks store is carefully
designed to enhance the quality
of everything the customers see,
touch, hear, smell or taste,’ writes CEO
Howard Schultz.”
-—Virginia Postrel, The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic
Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture and Consciousness
DESIGN is the
PRINCIPAL
DIFFERENTIATOR
between
Axiom:
“LOVE” and
“HATE”!
Message: Men
cannot
design
for women’s needs.
“Forget China,
India and the
Internet: Economic
Growth Is Driven
by
Women.”
Source: Headline, Economist
“Since 1970, women
have held two
out of every
three new jobs
created.”
—FT, 10.03.2006
“Women are
the majority
market”
—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
most significant
variable in every
“The
sales situation is the
gender
of the buyer, and
more importantly, how the
salesperson communicates
to the buyer’s gender.”
—Jeffery Tobias Halter, Selling to Men, Selling to Women
The Perfect Answer
Jill and Jack buy
slacks in black…
Cases! Cases! Cases!
McDonald’s
(“mom-centered” to “majority
consumer”; not via kids)
Home Depot (“Do it [everything!] Herself”)
P&G (more than “house cleaner”)
DeBeers (“right-hand rings”/$4B)
AXA Financial
Kodak (women = “emotional centers of the household”)
Nike
(> jock endorsements; new def sports; majority consumer)
Avon
Bratz (young girls want “friends,” not a blond stereotype)
Source: Fara
Warner/The Power of the Purse
“Women don’t buy
They
join them.”
brands.
EVEolution
2.6 vs.
Age 3
days, baby
girls 2X eye
contact.
“People powered”:
Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women
“Women speak and hear a language
of connection and intimacy, and men
speak and hear a language of status and
independence. Men communicate to
obtain information, establish their status,
and show independence. Women
communicate to create relationships,
encourage interaction, and exchange
feelings.”
—Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret
“Goldman Sachs in Tokyo has
developed an index of 115
companies poised to benefit from
women’s increased purchasing
power; over the past decade the
value of shares in Goldman’s
basket has risen by 96%, against
Tokyo
the
stockmarket’s
rise of 13%.” —Economist, April 15
“AS LEADERS,
WOMEN
RULE:
New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male
counterparts in almost every measure”
TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE
Women make [all] the financial decisions.
Women control [all] the wealth.
Women [substantially] outlive men.
Women start most of the new businesses.
Women’s work force participation rates have
soared worldwide.
Women are closing in on “same pay for same
job.”
Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly
[even if the pace is slow for the corner
office per se].
Women’s leadership strengths are exceptionally well
aligned with new organizational effectiveness
imperatives.
Women are better salespersons than men.
Women buy [almost] everything—commercial
as well as consumer goods.
So what exactly is the point of men?
“One thing is certain: Women’s rise to power, which is
linked to the increase in wealth per capita, is happening
in all domains and at all levels of society. Women are no
longer content to provide efficient labor or to be
consumers with rising budgets and more autonomy to
spend. … This is just the beginning. The phenomenon
will only grow as girls prove to be more successful than
For a number of
observers, we have already
entered the age of
‘womenomics,’ the economy as
thought out and practiced
by a woman.” —Aude Zieseniss de Thuin, Financial
boys in the school system.
Times, 10.03.2006
“ ‘Womenomics,’ the
economy as
thought out and
practiced by a
woman.”
—Aude Zieseniss de Thuin,
Financial Times, 10.03.2006
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“People turning 50
more
than half of
today have
their adult life
ahead of them.”
—Bill Novelli,
50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America
44-65:
“New
Customer
Majority” *
*45% larger than 18-43; 60% larger by 2010
Source: Ageless Marketing, David Wolfe & Robert Snyder
“Marketers attempts at reaching
those over 50 have been miserably
No market’s
motivations and
needs are so
poorly understood.”
unsuccessful.
—Peter Francese, founding publisher, American Demographics
“Baby-boomer
Women: The
Sweetest of
Sweet Spots for
Marketers”
—David Wolfe and Robert
Snyder, Ageless Marketing
We are the Aussies & Kiwis & Americans & Canadians.
We are the Western Europeans & Japanese. We are the
fastest growing,
the biggest, the
wealthiest, the
boldest, the most
(yes) ambitious,
the most
experimental
& exploratory,
the most different, the most indulgent, the most
difficult & demanding, the most service & experience
obsessed, the most vigorous, (the least vigorous,) the
most health conscious, the most female, the most
profoundly important commercial market in the history
we will be the
Center of your universe
for the next twenty-five
years. We have arrived!
of the world—and
The Venturesome
Economy: How
Innovation Sustains
Prosperity in a More
Connected World
By Amar Bhidé
Sustainable Innovation:
Systemic. Very complex. The
NECESSARY COMBINATION (very
dense network) of EVERYTHING from the
development of the Basic Science to numerous
INTERMEDIATE
Stages to Sales
Recruiting and Training and Ads. Essential: Clever and
AGGRESSIVE
CONSUMERS* (“venturesome
numerous
consumption”). Path to success or failure …
UNPREDICTABLE. FYI: The
World is NOT FLAT.
*From Transistor at Bell Labs to on-line gamers.
Source: Amar Bhidé, The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation
Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World
Sustainable Innovation: Systemic. Very complex. The COMBINATION
(very dense network) of EVERYTHING
Basic
Science*
from the
to Sales Recruiting and Training
PIONEER CONSUMERS (“venturesome
consumption”). Path to success or failure … UNPREDICTABLE.
and Ads. Essential: Clever and numerous
*Of modest value [& origin mostly
ENTIRE
INNOVATION CHAIN is in
irrelevant] unless the
place and aggressively interacting-competing.
Source: Amar Bhidé, The Venturesome Economy: How
Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World
Sustainable Innovation /“Breakthrough Ideas”:
(1) High # of Stages/Stageswithin Stages
(1) Importance of
Intermediate Stages
(3) Engaged Mega-scrum
of Users/Consumers
as Participative/Decisive
“Pull” Mechanism (e.g., UPS
vs. FedEx)
Source: Amar Bhidé, The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation
Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World
1913:
1960:
1980:
2000:
2007:
32%*
26%
22%
27%
26%
Source: “The Future of American Power,”
Fareed Zakaria, Foreign Affairs, vol 87, no. 3
*U.S. share of world output
Innovation Index: How many
of your Top 5 Strategic
Initiatives/Key Projects score
8 or higher [out of 10] on a
“Weird”/ “Profound”/
“Wow”/“Game- changer”
Scale?
Appendix ONE
The “XF-50”: 50 Ways
to Enhance
Cross-Functional
Effectiveness and Deliver
Speed, “Service Excellence”
and “Value-added
Customer ‘Solutions’”
1. It’s our organization to make work—or not. It’s not “them,” the outside
world that’s the problem. The enemy is us. Period.
2. Friction-free! Dump 90% of “middle managers”—most are advertent or
inadvertent “power freaks.” We are all—every one of us—in the Friction
Removal Business, one moment at a time, now and forevermore.
3. No “stovepipes”! “Stove-piping,” “Silo-ing” is an Automatic Firing
Offense. Period. No appeals. (Within the limits of civility, somewhat
“public” firings are not out of the question—that is, make one and all
aware why the axe fell.)
4. Everything on the Web. This helps. A lot. (“Everything” = Big word.)
5. Open access. All available to all. Transparency, beyond a level that’s
“sensible,” is a de facto imperative in a Burn-the-Silos strategy.
6. Project managers rule!! Project managers running XF (cross-functional)
projects are the Elite of the organization, and seen as such and treated as
such. (The likes of construction companies have practiced this more or
less forever.)
7. “Value-added Proposition” = Application of integrated resources. (From
the entire supply-chain.) To deliver on our emergent business raison
d’etre, and compete with the likes of our Chinese and Indian brethren, we
must co-operate with anybody and everybody “24/7.” IBM, UPS and many,
many others are selling far more than a product or service that works—
the new “it” is pure and simple a product of XF co-operation; “the product
is the co-operation” is not much of a stretch.
8. “XF work” is the direct work of leaders!
9. “Integrated solutions” = Our “Culture.” (Therefore: XF = Our culture.)
10. Partner with “best-in-class” only. Their pursuit of Excellence helps us
get beyond petty bickering. An all-star team has little time for anything
other than delivering on the (big) Client promise.
11. All functions are created equal! All functions contribute equally! All =
All.
12. All functions are “PSFs,” Professional Service Firms. “Professionalism”
is the watchword—and true Professionalism rise above turf wars. You are
your projects, your legacy is your projects—and the legacy will be skimpy
indeed unless you pass, with flying colors, the “works well with others”
exam!
13. We are all in sales! We all (a-l-l) “sell” those Integrated Client Solutions.
Good salespeople don’t blame others for screw-ups—the Client doesn’t
care. Good salespeople are “quarterbacks” who make the system workdeliver.
14. We all invest in “wiring” the Client organization—we develop
comprehensive relationships in every part (function, level) of the Client’s
organization. We pay special attention to the so-called “lower levels,” short
on glamour, long on the ability to make things happen at the “coalface.”
15. We all “live the Brand”—which is Delivery of Matchless Integrated
Solutions which transform the Client’s organization. To “live the brand” is
to become a raving fan of XF co-operation.
16. We use the word “partner” until we want to barf! (Words matter! A lot!)
17. We use the word “team” until we want to barf. (Words matter! A lot!)
18. We use the word “us” until we want to barf. (Words matter! A lot!)
19. We obsessively seek Inclusion—and abhor exclusion. We want more
people from more places (internal, external—the whole “supply chain”)
aboard in order to maximize systemic benefits.
20. Buttons & Badges matter—we work relentlessly at team (XF team)
identity and solidarity. (“Corny”? Get over it.)
21. All (almost all) rewards are team rewards.
22. We keep base pay rather low—and give whopping bonuses for excellent
team delivery of “seriously cool” cross-functional Client benefits.
23. WE NEVER BLAME OTHER PARTS OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR
SCREWUPS.
24. WE TAKE THE HEAT—THE WHOLE TEAM. (For anything and
everything.) (Losing, like winning, is a team affair.)
25. “BLAMING” IS AN AUTOMATIC FIRING OFFENSE.
26. “Women rule.” Women are simply better at the XF communications
stuff—less power obsessed, less hierarchically inclined, more group-team
oriented.
27. Every member of our team is an honored contributor. “XF project
Excellence” is an “all hands” affair.
28. We are our XF Teams! XF project teams are how we get things done.
29. “Wow Projects” rule, large or small—Wow projects demand by
definition XF Excellence.
30. We routinely attempt to unearth and then reward “small gestures” of
XF co-operation.
31. We invite Functional Bigwigs to our XF project team reviews.
32. We insist on Client team participation—from all functions of the Client
organization.
33. An “Open talent market” helps make the projects “silo-free.” People
want in on the project because of the opportunity to do something
memorable—no one will tolerate delays based on traditional functional
squabbling.
34. Flat! Flat = Flattened Silos. Flat = Excellence based on XF project
outcomes, not power-hoarding within functional boundaries.
35. New “C-level”? We more or less need a “C-level” job titled Chief
Bullshit Removal Officer. That is, some kind of formal watchdog whose
role in life is to make cross-functionality work, and I.D. those who don’t
get with the program.
36. Huge (H-U-G-E) co-operation bonuses. Senior team members who
conspicuously shine in the “working together” bit are rewarded Big Time.
(A million bucks in one case I know—and a non-cooperating very senior
was sacked.)
37. Get physical!! “Co-location” is the most powerful “culture changer.
Physical X-functional proximity is almost a guarantee (yup!) of
remarkably improved co-operation—to aid this one needs flexible
workspaces that can be mobilized for a team in a flash.
38. Ad hoc. To improve the new “X-functional Culture,” little XF teams
should be formed on the spot to deal with an urgent issue—they may
live for but ten days, but it helps the XF habit, making it normal to be
“working the XF way.”
39. “Deep dip.” Dive three levels down in the organization to fill a
senior role with some one who has been pro-active on the XF
dimension.
40. Formal evaluations. Everyone, starting with the receptionist, should
have an important XF rating component in their evaluation.
41. Demand XF experience for, especially, senior jobs. The military
requires all would-be generals and admirals to have served a full tour in
a job whose only goals were cross-functional. Great idea!
42. Early project “management” experience. Within days, literally, of
coming aboard folks should be “running” some bit of a project,
working with folks from other functions—hence, “all this” becomes as
natural as breathing.
43. “Get ’em out with the customer.” Rarely does the accountant or
bench scientist call one the customer. Reverse that. Give everyone
more or less regular “customer-facing experiences.” One learns
quickly that the customer is not interested in our in-house turf battles!
44. Put “it” on the–every agenda. XF “issues to be resolved” should be
on every agenda—morning project team review, weekly exec team
meeting, etc. A “next step” within 24 hours (4?) ought to be part of the
resolution.
45. XF “honest broker” or ombudsman. The ombudsman examines XF
“friction events” and acts as Conflict Resolution Counselor. (Perhaps a
formal conflict resolution agreement?)
46. Lock it in! XF co-operation, central to any value-added mission,
should be an explicit part of the “Vision Statement.”
47. Promotions. Every promotion, no exceptions, should put XF
Excellence in the top 5 (3?) evaluation criteria.
48. Pick partners based on their “co-operation proclivity.” Everyone must
be on board if “this thing” is going to work; hence every vendor, among
others, should be formally evaluated on their commitment to XF
transparency—e.g., can we access anyone at any level in any function of
their organization without bureaucratic barriers?
49. Fire vendors who don’t “get it”—more than “get it,” welcome “it” with
open arms.”
50. Jaw. Jaw. Jaw. Talk XF cooperation-value-added at every opportunity.
Become a relentless bore!
51. Excellence! There is a state of XF Excellence per se. Talk about it.
Pursue it. Aspire to nothing less.