Transcript Tom Peters’ X25* EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. Innovate. Or. Die. Mauritius/24 May 2007 *In Search of Excellence 1982-2007

Tom Peters’ X25*
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
Innovate. Or. Die.
Mauritius/24 May 2007
*In Search of Excellence 1982-2007
Slides at …
tompeters.com
All you need
to know …
You = Your
calendar*
*Calendars
never lie
All you need
except
for …
to know …
Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his life,
was asked, “What was the most important lesson you’ve learned
in you long and distinguished career?”
His immediate answer:
“remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub”
This is it:
All you need
to know …
Thank
you,
Ann!!!
Thank
you!!!
FLOWER
POWER
Cause
Space
(worthy of commitment)
(room for/encouragement
for initiative)
Decency
(respect, humane)
Truly,
All you need
to know …
80,000,000*
* N America, W Europe, Japan (800,000,000)
All you need
to know …
The last
word:
There is
no “last
word.”
“It is not the
strongest of the
species that survives,
nor the most
intelligent, but the
one most responsive
to change.”
—Charles Darwin
“Better By Design”: A National Strategy
NZ = Design
Excellence
All you need
to know …
And, finally,
All you need
to know …
0/800
0/800:
normal!
F(Anger/Passion)
>>>> f(Pushback
from Threatened
Fat-cats &
Bureau-crats)
“Intelligent people
can always come up
with intelligent
reasons to do
nothing.”
—Scott Simon
All you need
to know …
Game plan: The
unvarnished
Basics
Excellence. Always.
Soft is Hard. Hard is soft.
Innovate. Or die.
Up, up, up the value added “ladder.”/
“New” markets.
Talent time! Brand you! Creative age!
Leadership.
Excellence! Always!
Soft is hard. Hard is soft. (People, customers “hard,” #s “soft”)
25 (“Blinding flash of the obvious”)
Wow! (Passion! Enthusiasm! Hot language! “Insanely great”—Steve Jobs)
Wow EVERYWHERE (Jim’s Group, Basement Systems Inc)
Innovate. Or die.
Top line obsession!!! (CRO/Chief Revenue Officer; Sales>Marketing; “cost cutting = death spiral”—VH)
Innovation = Mess (“What makes God laugh?” “People making plans.”)
1/100 (Big over-rated/Mega-mergers destroy value/“Built to last” chimera
“Built to last” v “Built to rock the world” (TP’s love affair with Netscape)
“Last word” = There is no last word!
0/800 (We are who we hang out with/Weird for weird times)
Lead the customer!
Whacky Wild WikiWorld! (Electronic planetary scrum.)
Try stuff!!!!!!!!! (R.F.A., S.A.V.) (Ready. Fire. Aim. Screw Around Vigorously.)
Fail. Forward. Fast. (“Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.)
Try MORE stuff!!! (“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”)
Parallel Universe (Jill Ker Conway, Starbucks’ 1%, Intel V.C. fund, China!)
4/40 (4 “learnings” in 40 years: Decentralization, Execution, Accountability, 6:15AM)
Lord Nelson (“Other admirals more afraid of losing …”)
Up, Up, Up the VA Ladder (Solutions/PSF, Experience; Dreamketing; Lovemark)
Women rule! (Buy all ! Control all wealth! Better leaders!)
$15,000,000,000,000/7 of 13 (Boomers. Geezers. Wealth. Half of life still to go)
Brand You (Or else!)
PSF!!! (All)
Talent = Brand (“Leaders do people,” “connoisseur of talent,” Send ’em on bold Quests,
HR rules! <CapEx$$, >PeopleX$$$ ) (Think: Wegmans)
195,000 (Healthcare: Quality-Safety/EMR/DSS, Prevention-Wellness, Public Health #1!)
“Teach to test” = Evil! (The Creative Age is a wide-open game.” —Richard Florida)
Leadership/12Ps (Purpose. Passion. Potential. Presence. Personal. Pissed off.
Playful. Persistence. People. Peculiar. Potent. Positive.)
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
Basics! (Decency. Flowers. Grace. Respect. Servant. Host. Etc.)
Honestly,
All you need
to know …
“You do not merely want to
be the best of the best. You
want to be
considered the
only ones who do
what you do.”
—Jerry Garcia
All you
need to
know …
“Excellence can be obtained if you:
... care more than others think
is wise;
... risk more than others think
is safe;
... dream more than others think
is practical;
... expect more than others think
is possible.”
Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by
K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
EXCELLENCE????
“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
“It is generally much easier to
organization
kill an
than change it
substantially.”
—Kevin Kelly, Out of Control
EXCELLENCE.
CIRCA 1982.
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”
Importance of Success Factors by Various
“Gurus”/(Unreliable) Estimates by Tom Peters
Strategy
Systems People
Passion
Porter
50%
20
20
10
Drucker
25%
35
25
15
Bennis
25%
20
30
25
Peters
15%
20
35
30
EXCELLENCE.
1982.
Hard is soft.
Soft is hard.
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
Hard Is Soft (Plans, #s)
Soft Is Hard (people,
customers, values,
relationships))
R.O.I.R.
Measure #1:
R.O.I.R.*
*Return On
Investment In
Relationships
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
2006.
Why in the
World did you
go to Siberia?
Enthusiasm.
Emotion. Excellence. Energy.
Excitement. Service. Growth.
Creativity. Imagination. Vitality.
Joy. Surprise. Independence.
Spirit. Community. Limitless
human potential. Diversity.
Profit. Innovation. Design.
Quality. Entrepreneurialism.
The Peters Principles:
Wow!
An emotional,
vital, innovative, joyful,
creative, entrepreneurial
endeavor that elicits maximum
Enterprise* ** (*at its best):
concerted human
potential in the
wholehearted service of others.**
**Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
“BUSINESS
IS ABOUT
POWER.”
—Joanne
Lipman, editor, on
Portfolio
“Make sure your executive team includes
top talent in design, engineering and
manufacturing, because that’s
your
only!
to build! Cars!
People! Want! to
buy!. Hot styling sells them and quality
priority—
keeps them sold.”
— Lee Iacocca,
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
“enterprises that Matter & change the
game … offer solutions & experiences
that surprise , amaze, and transform
perceptions of what’s possible —and
stick like super-glue in customers’
minds.* such offerings are brilliantly
conceived and flawlessly delivered by
unconventional, creative, hypercommitted, energetic talent from within
& outside the organization.” —Tom Peters
E.g.: Apple, Whole Foods, Cirque du Soleil, Starbucks, Wegmans, London Drugs, Griffin
Hospital/Planetree Alliance, John Laing Homes, RE/MAX, Sewell Autos, Jim’s Group,
The Met/Big Picture, Virgin, Commerce Bank, Google, Basement Systems Inc.,
Ford (circa 1917), IBM (circa 1970), Wannamaker’s (circa 1880)
“To me business isn’t about
wearing suits or pleasing
stockholders. It’s about
being true to yourself,
your ideas and focusing on
the essentials.” —Richard Branson
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
“Every time we come to a
comfort zone, we will find a way
out.” “No Cloning.” “‘Reinvent
the brand’ with each new show.”
“A typical day at the office for
me begins by asking, ‘What
is impossible that I
am going to do
today?’”
—Daniel Lamarre, president,
Cirque du Soleil
“Do one thing
every day
that scares
you.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
UNIVERSAL.
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
Basement
Systems
Inc.
*Basement Systems Inc.
*Larry Janesky
*Dry Basement Science (115,000!)
*1993: $0; 2003: $12M;
2006:
$50,000,000+
EXCELLENCE.
REVENUE.
MATTERS.
MOST.
“TOP LINE TOM.”
“Our whole
story is
growing
revenue.”
—Vernon Hill (Top-line driven; standard
is bottom-line driven by cost cutting)
“Analysts … preferred cost cutting, as long as
they could see two or three years of EPS growth. I preached revenue
and the analysts’ eyes would glaze over. Now revenue is ‘in’ because
They
said, ‘Oh my gosh, you
need revenues to grow
earnings over time.’
Well, Duh!”
so many got caught, and earnings went to hell.
—Dick Kovacevich, Wells Fargo
C
*Chief
O*
Revenue
Officer
WE ARE
ALL IN
Fred Reichheld’s
Question :
The Ultimate
Customer satisfaction is
best measured* by one “simple”
“how likely
are you to
recommend ______
to a friend?”
question,
* “Net Promoter Score”
Incidentally …
“TAKE THIS QUICK QUIZ: Who manages more
things at once? Who puts more effort into their
appearance? Who usually takes care of the
details? Who finds it easier to meet new
people? Who asks more questions in a
conversation? Who is a better listener? Who
has more interest in communication skills?
Who is more inclined to get involved? Who
encourages harmony and agreement? Who has
better intuition? Who works with a longer ‘to
do’ list? Who enjoys a recap to the day’s
events? Who is better at keeping in touch with
others?”
Source: Selling Is a Woman’s Game: 15 Powerful Reasons Why Women Can
Outsell Men, Nicki Joy & Susan Kane-Benson
EXCELLENCE.
INNOVATE.
OR.
DIE.
“To grow, companies
need to break out of a
vicious cycle of
competitive
benchmarking and
imitation.”
—W. Chan Kim & Renée
Mauborgne, “Think for Yourself —
Stop Copying a Rival,” Financial Times
Characteristics of the “Also rans”*
“Minimize risk”
“Respect the chain
of command”
“Support the boss”
“Make budget”
*Fortune, article on “Most Admired Global Corporations”
EXCELLENCE.
INNOVATION.
THE REAL STORY.
Tom Peters/03.29.2007
The Mess
Is The
Message!
Period!
What makes
God laugh?
People
making
plans!
The Mess Is the Message! Period!
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution
of the United States —Charles Beard (1913)
The Box: How the Shipping
Container Made the World
Smaller and the World Economy
Bigger —Marc Levinson
Tube: The Invention of Television —David & Marshall Fisher
Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse,
and the Race to Electrify the World —Jill Jonnes
The Soul of a New Machine —Tracy Kidder
Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA —Brenda Maddox
The Blitzkrieg Myth —John Mosier
EXCELLENCE.
INNOVATE.
OR.
DIE.
You don’t
get better
by being
bigger. You
Dick Kovacevich:
“When asked to name just one big
merger that had lived up to
expectations, Leon Cooperman,
former cochairman of Goldman Sachs’
Investment Policy Committee,
I’m sure there
are success stories out
there, but at this
moment I draw a
blank.” —Mark Sirower, The Synergy Trap
answered:
“Not a single company that
qualified as having made a
sustained transformation
ignited its leap with a big
acquisition or merger. Moreover,
comparison companies—those that failed to make a
leap or, if they did, failed to sustain it—often tried to
make themselves great with a
big acquisition or merger. They failed to grasp the
simple truth that while you can buy
your way to growth, you cannot buy your way to
greatness.” —Jim Collins/Time/2004
“Acquisitions are about
buying market share. Our
challenge is to
create markets.
There is a big difference.”
—Peter Job, former CEO, Reuters
Daimler. And
Dumb. Both
Start with
“d.”
“Marriage
in heaven”
—Daimler-
Benz and Chrysler exchange vows, circa 1998
(Jürgen Schrempp)
“the divorce on
earth”
—Daimler exec, circa 2007, on
probable Cerberus private equity purchase of
Chrysler from Daimler
“Schrempp is one of the last
dinosaurs of Germany Inc. He
represents a strategy of acquiring
assets and building empires that
just didn’t work.” —Arndt Ellinghorst, analyst,
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein
“His bets went sour one by
one.” —WSJ on Jurgen Schrempp’s conglomeration (05.15.2007)
“Obviously, we overestimated the
potential for synergies.” —Dieter Zetsche,
CEO, Daimler
DaimlerChrysler/’98-’07:
Duh, Duh, Duh, Duh and … Duh
Manifold Synergies/No
Severe Scale limits/Yes
Culture clashes/Yes
Rushmorean ego issues/Yes
Customer acceptance /No
Mission impossible?
$36B/’98
minus $675M/‘07
InnoTacs
We become
who we hang
out with
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
The “Hang Out Axiom”: At
its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership
decision (employee,
vendor, customer, etc)
is a strategic decision
about:
“Innovate,
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”
Why Do I love Freaks?
(1) Because when Anything Interesting happens … it was
a freak who did it. (Period.)
(2) Freaks are fun. (Freaks are also a pain.) (Freaks are
never boring.)
(3) We need freaks. Especially in freaky times. (Hint:
These are freaky times, for you & me & the CIA & the
Army & Avon.)
(4) A critical mass of freaks-in-our-midst
automatically make us-who-are-not-so-freaky at least
somewhat more freaky. (Which is a Good Thing in freaky
times—see immediately above.)
(5) Freaks are the only (ONLY) ones who succeed—as in,
make it into the history books.
(6) Freaks keep us from falling into ruts. (If we listen to
them.) (We seldom listen to them.) (Which is why most
organizations are in ruts. Make that chasms.)
“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
“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
Find ’em!
“Somewhere in your
organization, groups of
people are already doing
things differently and better.
To create lasting change, find
these areas of positive
deviance and fan the flames.”
—Richard Pascale & Jerry Sternin,
“Your Company’s Secret Change Agents,” HBR
F(Anger/Passion)
>>>> f(Pushback
from Threatened
Fat-cats &
Bureau-crats)
send ’em on
a quest!
Organizing Genius / Warren Bennis
and Patricia Ward Biederman
“Groups become great only when
everyone in them, leaders and
members alike, is free to do his or
her absolute best.”
“The best thing a leader can do for a
Great Group is to allow its
members to discover their
greatness.”
Leadership’s Mt Everest/Mt Excellence
“free to do his or her
absolute best” …
“allow its members to
discover their
greatness.”
Concoct a
Parallel
universe!
“SkunkWorks”/ “ParallelUniverse”
“the
solution”
Source: Scott Bedbury (Others: 3M, Google, Shell, NAVFAC)
SkunkWorks/
“Skunks” (!!!)
“Parallel
Universe” …
China!!!!!!!
Concoct a
Parallel
universe!
Playmate!*
Playpen!
Prototype!
*Can be Client, supplier … as well as Insider
Where to look for “Playmates”:
F.F.F.F.
(Find a Fellow Freak Faraway)
Demos!
Heroes!
Stories!
Women as
innovation
force!
94%
of loans to …
women*
*Microlending; “Banker to the poor”; Grameen Bank;
Muhammad Yunus; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner
“Women are
the majority
market”
—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
Women:
Principal
Change Agents/
Health, family
& Finance
Speed/
Tempo/
is-it
FedEx
Economy”
“the
—headline/New York Times
Anything/
Anywhere/
Anytime
“Any3”:
Power Tools
For Power
Strategies
Speed/
Tempo/
o.o.d.a.
loops
Messin’ with their
minds: He who has
the quickest
“O.O.D.A. Loops”*
wins!
*Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. /Col. John Boyd
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 have a
‘strategic plan.’
It’s called doing
things.”
— Herb Kelleher
“This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing
how few oil people really understand that
you only find
oil if you drill
wells.
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
“Experiment
fearlessly”
Source: BW0821.06, Type A Organization Strategies/
“How to Hit a Moving Target”—Tactic #1
SERIOUS
PLAY
“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
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may
the most
valuable core
competence an
be
innovative organization can
hope to have.” —Michael Schrage
“Learn not to
be careful.”
—Photographer Diane Arbus
to her students (Careful = The sidelines, from
Harriet Rubin in The Princessa)
“The key to a great
painting is the nerve,
after weeks of effort,
to ‘bet the painting’
on the next brush
stroke,”
Master musician, San Francisco
Screw.
things.
“Fail .
Forward.
Fast.”
High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
Sam’s
Secret
#1!
“Reward
excellent failures.
Punish mediocre
successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
try.
Miss.
READY.
FIRE!
No try.
No deal.
“You miss
100% of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
Conscious
measurement
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?
personal
“The First step in a
‘dramatic’
‘organizational change
program’ is obvious—
dramatic personal
change!” —RG
“To change minds
effectively, leaders make
particular use of two
stories that
they tell and the lives
tools: the
that they lead.”
Changing Minds
—Howard Gardner,
EXCELLENCE.
4/40.
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
“If if feels
painful and
scary—that’s
real delegation”
—Caspian Woods, small biz owner
The True Logic* of Decentralization:
6 divisions = 6 “tries”
6 divisions = 6 DIFFERENT leaders =
6 INDEPENDENT “tries” = Max
probability of “win”
6 divisions = 6 very DIFFERENT
leaders = 6 very INDEPENDENT
“tries” = Max probability of “far
out”/”3-sigma” “win”
*“Driver”: Law of Large #s
Ex-ecu-tion!
“Execution is
the job of the
business
leader.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram
Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“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
(1) sum of Projects =
Goal (“Vision”)
(2) sum of Milestones =
project
(3) rapid Review +
Truth-telling =
accountability
Ac-counta-bil-ity!
30%
MH: 80%
CF:
(no salesfolk)
(salesfolk)
“Monkeys
can’t live in
midair!”
—Bob Townsend
6:15A.M.
“But it’s
only
2am!”
“Where are you going? … But it’s
only 2am. … You see, you can live
your life at 120 miles an hour, and
that’s pretty impressive. But it’s
not good enough. Unless you live
at 150 miles an hour, the world
will pass you by,” HRH Prince Alwaleed*
*1 day: 573 people met separately, 200 phone calls, 100 text messages, etc
Source: “Prince Alwaleed, Inside the private world of the Middle East’s
most powerful investor” cover story, The Business, 0519.07
DECENTRALIZATION.
EXECUTION.
ACCOUTABILITY.
6:15A.M. (2a.m.)
EXCELLENCE.
INNOVATE.
OR.
DIE.
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up
the Value-added Ladder.
EXCELLENCE.
VALUE-ADDED LADDER I.
SOLVE IT.
“Big Brown’s New Bag: UPS
Traffic
Manager for
Corporate
America”
Aims to Be the
—Headline/BW/2004
Huge: Customer
Satisfaction
versus
Customer
Success
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up
the Value-added Ladder.
The Value-added Ladder/ STUFF ‘N’ THINGS
Goods
Raw Materials
The Value-added Ladder/Stuff & TRANSACTIONS
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
The Value-added Ladder/ OPPORTUNITY-SEEKING
Customer Success/
Gamechanging
Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
“The business of selling is not just about matching viable
It’s
equally about managing the
change process the customer
will need to go through to
implement the solution and
achieve the value promised by
the solution. One of the key differentiators of
solutions to the customers that require them.
our position in the market is our attention to managing change
and making change stick in our customers’ organization.”*
(*E.g.: CRM failure rate/Gartner: 70%)
—Jeff Thull, The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap,
Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale
The Value-added Ladder/ OPPORTUNITY-SEEKING
Implemented
Gamechanging
Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
EXCELLENCE.
VALUE-ADDED LADDER II.
EXPERIENCE IT.
“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
“The [Starbucks] Fix” Is on …
“We have
identified a ‘third
place.’
And I really believe
that sets us apart. The third place is
that place that’s not work or home. It’s
the place our customers come for
refuge.” —Nancy Orsolini, District Manager
Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!”
“What we sell is the
ability for a 43year-old accountant
to dress in black
leather, ride through
small towns and have
people be afraid
of him.”
Harley exec, quoted in Results-Based Leadership
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up
the Value-added Ladder.
The Value-added Ladder/ MEMORABLE CONNECTION
Spellbinding
Experiences
Gamechanging Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
“ … focus on
‘engagement,’ not
‘experience’ …”
Caution:
—Martin Buber, I and Thou, 1927
(from Steve Yastrow, We)
C
*Chief e
O*
Xperience Officer
EXCELLENCE.
DRAMATIC.
DIFFERENCE.
DOABLE.
“The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of
companies, employing
similar
similar
similar
similar
similar
people, with
educational backgrounds, coming up with
similar
similar
ideas, producing
with
prices and
things,
quality.”
—Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle, Funky Business
This is not
a “mature
category.”
This is an
“undistinguished
category.”
#1/100
“Best Companies to
Work for”/2005
EXCELLENCE.
NO EXCUSES.
Excellence.
Bank on it.
(commerce bank.)
Commerce Bank: From “Service” to “Experience”
7X. 730A800P. F12A.*
*’93-’03/10 yr annual return: CB: 29%;
WM: 17%; HD: 16%. Mkt Cap: 48% p.a.
The Commerce Bank Model
“cost cutting
is a death
spiral.”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank
Created a Super-growth Business in a No-growth Industry,
Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
“Our whole
story is
growing
revenue.”
—Vernon Hills (Top-line driven; standard
is bottom-line driven by cost cutting)
The Commerce Bank Model
“over-invest in our
people, over-invest
in our facilities.”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank
Created a Super-growth Business in a No-growth Industry,
Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
The Commerce Bank Model
“we want
them in our
stores.”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank
Created a Super-growth Business in a No-growth Industry,
Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
The Commerce Bank Model
“we don’t accept the 80/20 theory.
We believe every customer has
value, that you can’t tell which
one is the high-value customer
over time, and that that
philosophy degrades the brand.”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank
Created a Super-growth Business in a No-growth Industry,
Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
The Commerce Bank Model
“every computer at commerce bank has a
special red key on it that
says, ‘found something stupid that we are doing
that interferes with our ability to service the
customer? Tell us about it, and if we agree, we
will give you $50.’”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank
Created a Super-growth Business in a No-growth Industry,
Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
WallopWal*Mart16*
*Or: Why it’s so ABSURDLY EASY
to BEAT a GIANT Company
The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16
*Niche-aimed. (Never, ever “all things for all people,” a “miniWal*Mart.)
*Never attack the monsters head
business and lukewarm customers.)
on! (Instead steal niche
*“Dramatically
Different”
(La Difference ... within our community, our
industry regionally, etc … is as obvious as the end of one’s nose!) (THIS IS
WHERE MOST MIDGETS COME UP SHORT.)
*Compete on value/experience/intimacy, not price. (You
ain’t gonna beat the behemoths on cost-price in 9.99 out of 10 cases.)
*Emotional bond with Clients,
ON EMOTION/CONNECTION!!)
Vendors. (BEAT THE BIGGIES
The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16
*Hands-on, emotional leadership. (“We are a great &
cool & intimate & joyful & dramatically different team working to
transform our Clients lives via Consistently Incredible
Experiences!”)
*A community
out of it!)
star! (“Sell” local-ness per se. Sell the hell
*An
incredible experience, from the first to last
moment—and then in the follow-up! (“These guys
are cool! They ‘get’ me! They love me!”)
*DESIGN DRIVEN! (“Design” is a premier weapon-inpursuit-of-the sublime for small-ish enterprises, including the
professional services.)
The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16
*Employer of choice. (A very cool, well-paid
place to work/learning and growth experience in at
least the short term … marked by notably progressive
policies.) (THIS IS EMINENTLY DO-ABLE!!)
*Sophisticated
use of information
technology. (Small-“ish” is no excuse for “small
aims”/execution in IS/IT!)
*Web-power! (The Web can make very small very
big … if the product-service is super-cool and one
purposefully masters buzz/viral marketing.)
*Innovative! (Must keep renewing and expanding
and revising and re-imagining “the promise” to
employees, the customer, the community.)
The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16
*Brand-Lovemark* (*Kevin Roberts) Maniacs!
(“Branding” is not just for big folks with big budgets. And modest
size is actually a Big Advantage in becoming a local-regionalniche “lovemark.”)
*Focus
*
on women-as-clients. (Most don’t. How stupid.)
Excellence!
(A small player … per me …
has no right or reason to exist unless they are in Relentless
Pursuit of Excellence. One earns the right—one damn day and
client experience at a time!—to beat the Big Guys in your chosen
niche!)
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up
the Value-added Ladder.
The Value-added Ladder/ MEMORABLE CONNECTION
Spellbinding
Experiences
Gamechanging Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
EXCELLENCE.
SOUL I.
DESIGN.
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
“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
‘Every
Starbucks store is carefully designed
to enhance the quality of everything
the customers see, touch, hear, smell
or taste,’ writes CEO Howard Schultz.”
of … the aesthetic imperative. …
-—Virginia Postrel, The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic
Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture and Consciousness
O*
C
*Chief
Design
Officer
Westin’s …
Heavenly
Bed
EXCELLENCE.
SYSTEMS.
DESIGN.
K.I.S.S.
450/8
Great design =
One-page
business plan
(Jim Horan)
First Steps: “Beauty Contest”!
1. Select one form/document:
invoice, airbill, sick leave policy,
customer returns claim form.
2. Rate the selected doc on a scale of
1 to 10 [1 = Bureaucratica
Obscuranta/Sucks; 10 = Work of
Art] on four dimensions:
Beauty. Grace.
Clarity. Simplicity.
3. Re-invent!
4. Repeat, with a new selection,
every 15 working days.
“One bank is currently
claiming to … ‘leverage its global
footprint to provide effective financial
solutions for its customers by providing
a gateway to diverse markets.’”
—Charles Handy
“I assume that it is just
saying that it is there to
‘help its customers
wherever they are’.”
—Charles Handy
EXCELLENCE.
VALUE-ADDED LADDER III.
DREAM IT.
Furniture vs. Dreams
“We do not sell ‘furniture’ at Domain.
We sell dreams. This
is accomplished by addressing the
half-formed needs in our customers’
heads. By uncovering these needs,
we, in essence, fill in the blanks. We
convert ‘needs’ into ‘dreams.’
Sales are the inevitable
result.”
— Judy George, Domain Home Fashions
“No longer are we only an insurance
provider. Today, we also offer
our customers the products
and services that help them
achieve their dreams —
whether it’s financial security, buying
a car, paying for home repairs, or even
taking a dream vacation.” —Martin
Feinstein, CEO, Farmers Group
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up
the Value-added Ladder.
The Value-added Ladder/ EMOTION
Dreams Come True
Spellbinding Experiences
Gamechanging Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
EXCELLENCE.
SOUL II.
THE STORY.
“Storytelling
is the core
of culture.”
—Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch,
College Inc., and Museumworld, James Twitchell
Market Power =
Story Power
C
O*
*Chief Storytelling Officer
EXCELLENCE.
VALUE-ADDED LADDER III.
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE.
“Brands have
run out of
juice. They’re
dead.”
—Kevin Roberts/Saatchi & Saatchi
Kevin Roberts:
Lovemarks!
“When we were working
through the essentials of a
Mystery
Lovemark,
was always at the top of the
list.”
—Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, Kevin Roberts
Tattoo Brand: What %
of users would tattoo the
brand name on their body?
Top 10 “Tattoo Brands”*
Harley .… 18.9%
Disney .... 14.8
Coke …. 7.7
Google .... 6.6
Pepsi .... 6.1
Rolex …. 5.6
Nike …. 4.6
Adidas …. 3.1
Absolut …. 2.6
Nintendo …. 1.5
*BRANDsense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch,
Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound, Martin Lindstrom
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up
the Value-added Ladder.
The Value-added Ladder/ ECSTASY
Lovemark
Dreams Come True
Spellbinding Experiences
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
“NEW”
MARKETS.
E-nor-mous
Stra-te-gic
opp-or-tun
women.
BOOMERS.
GEEZERS.
women
BOOMERS
“Forget China,
India and the
Internet: Economic
Growth Is Driven
by
Women.”
—Headline,
Economist, April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
Women’s Trifecta+
*Buy
*Wealth
*Lead
+ECLIPSE
OF MALES
(Old/Retire; Young/Poorly educated)
Not Just America …
“Boys Falling
Seven Years
Behind Girls
at GCSE Level”
—headline, Weekly Telegraph, UK, 10.25.06
“Women are
the majority
market”
—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
?????????
Home Furnishings … 94%
Vacations … 92% (Adventure Travel … 70%/ $55B travel equipment)
Houses … 91%
D.I.Y. (major “home projects”) … 80%
Consumer Electronics … 51% (66% home computers)
Cars … 68% (90%)
All consumer purchases … 83%
Bank Account … 89%
Household investment decisions … 67%
Small business loans/biz starts … 70%
Health Care … 80%
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
A World of Difference
Build Sales and Share by Tapping into
the Buying Power of Women
Martha
Barletta
T r e n d S i g h t™
Author, Marketing to Women
President & CEO, The TrendSight Group
Powered by Microsoft Office® Live Meeting
The Perfect Answer
Jill and Jack buy
slacks in black…
“Women don’t buy
They
join them.”
brands.
EVEolution
Selling to men:
The
TRANSACTION Model
Selling to Women:
The
RELATIONAL Model
Source: Selling to Men, Selling to Women, Jeffery Tobias Halter
2.6 vs.
1. Men and women are different.
2. Very different.
3. VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.
4. Women & Men have a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y
nothing in common.
5. Women buy lotsa stuff.
6. WOMEN BUY A-L-L THE STUFF.
7. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1.
8. Men are (STILL) in charge.
9. MEN ARE … TOTALLY, HOPELESSLY
CLUELESS ABOUT WOMEN.
10. Women’s
Market =
Opportunity
No. 1.
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.
DOMINATE.
ECONOMIC.
GROWTH.
“Forget China,
India and the
Internet: Economic
Growth Is Driven
by
Women.”
—Headline,
Economist, April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
“AS LEADERS,
WOMEN
RULE:
New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male
counterparts in almost every measure”
TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
New (4 of 7) Value-added “Ladder”:
Plays to Women’s Inherent Strengths!
Lovemark/F
Dreams Come True/F
Spellbinding Experiences/F
Gamechanging Solutions/F
Services/F
Goods/M
Raw Materials/M
women
BOOMERS
GEEZERS
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 of the world—and we will
be the Center of your universe for the
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“People turning 50
more
than half of
today have
their adult life
ahead of them.”
—Bill Novelli,
50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America
20
$14,000,000,000,000$25,000,000,000,000
BOOMERS.
GEEZERS.
MONEY.
ALL.
NOW.
Subject: Marketers & Stupidity
“It’s 18-44,
stupid!”
Subject: Marketers & Stupidity
Or is it:
“18-44
is stupid,
stupid!”
2000-2010 Stats
18-44: -1%
55+: +21%
(55-64:
+47%)
Boomers’-Geezers’-Women’s Trifecta+
*Buy/all
*Wealth/all
*time left/ lots
*Eclipse of males/retire-die
44-65:
“New
Customer
Majority” *
*45% larger than 18-43; 60% larger by 2010
Source: Ageless Marketing, David Wolfe & Robert Snyder
“Baby-boomer
Women: The
Sweetest of
Sweet Spots for
Marketers”
—David Wolfe and Robert
Snyder, Ageless Marketing
Possession Experiences /“Desires for
things”/Young adulthood/to 38
Catered Experiences/ “Desires to be
served by others”/Middle adulthood
Being Experiences/“Desires for
transcending experiences”/Late
adulthood
Source: David Wolfe and Robert Snyder/Ageless Marketing
2006/Top 10% of U.S. Earners*
Luxury goods for the home …. -5.7%
Fashion & jewelry …………...… -8.7%
Luxury cars …………………….. -0.9%
Experiential luxury** …..… +10.7%
* “The wealthy are increasingly spending more on doing things
than owning things” /Unity Marketing
**Travel, dining, entertainment, spa & beauty
Source: European Business (04.2007)
Boomer Days/Richard
Branson:
Virgin Night
Clubs to … Virgin
Health Clubs
Brand Loyalty: Stable
or Unstable/Fickle?
Serial Monogamy:
A Personal Odyssey
Tom Peters/0411.07
Beer: National Boh to Bud to Anchor Steam to Zilch
Car: Chevrolet (1942-1962) to misc to Subaru
Biz Clothes: Various warehouses to Brooks to Nordstrom to Milan
Biz: Big (U.S. Navy, McKinsey) to Small (de facto self-employed)
Sports clothes: Misc-cheap to Northface
Spouse: “Sexy broad” (wife #1) to Best friend/Brainy (+sexy)
School: Cornell to Stanford to RISD (Go Nads!)
Pens: Cross to Bic
Food: Safeway to Whole Foods
Music: Beatles to Queen
Home Furnishings: With it to Comfortable
Home: SF Bay Area to West Tinmouth VT
Favorite sport: Lacrosse-Crew to Speed Walking-Trekking-Rowing
Favorite MLB, NFL: Orioles-Baltimore Colts to A’s-Raiders (Warriors!)
Favorite magazine: Life to Wired
Favorite media: Print-Radio to Web-Radio
Favorite airline: TWA to American to Lufthansa
Home: East to West
Vacations: USA to New Zealand
Price: Cheap to Varied (Wal*Mart to Milan)
Hotel: Ramada/Holiday Inns to Four Seasons/Leading Hotels
Restaurants: McDonald’s to Hole in the wall
Stores: Misc/Big to Little shops
Loyalty: Serial monogamy (just as loyal now as then; “love ’em, then leave ’em”)
Pause.
“Little
Stuff.”
Thank
You!
“Courtesies of a small and
trivial character are the
ones which strike
deepest in the grateful
and appreciating heart.”
—Henry Clay
Leader as Servant
Decency as the bedrock of
effective corporate culture
Host, Hostmanship,
Welcoming Leader as
metaphor for those who
would seek the
wholehearted engagement
of others
“We do no great
things, only small
things with great
love.” —Mother Teresa
THE PROBLEM
IS RARELY THE
PROBLEM.
THE PROBLEM IS
RARELY/NEVER THE
PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE
TO THE
PROBLEM INVARIABLY
ENDS UP BEING THE
REAL PROBLEM.*
*RMN, M Stewart, WJC, “Scooter” Libby
OFTEN AS
NOT/MORE OFTEN
THAN NOT THE
UNDERLYING
PROBLEM IS NOT
MUCH OF A
PROBLEM.
Relationships
THERE
ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN A
(of all varieties):
THREE-MINUTE
PHONE CALL WOULD
HAVE AVOIDED SETTING OFF
THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL
THAT RESULTED IN A
COMPLETE RUPTURE.
RESPECT
“It was much later that I realized
Dad’s secret. He gained respect by
giving it. He talked and listened to
the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley
who shined shoes the same way he
talked and listened to a bishop or a
He was
seriously interested in
who you were and what
you had to say.”
college president.
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
“The deepest
human need is
the need to be
appreciated.”
William James
“Ph.D. in leadership. Short
course: Make a short list of
all things done to you that
you abhorred. Don’t do them
to others. Ever. Make
another list of things done to
you that you loved. Do them
to others. Always.” — Dee Hock
“You can make more
friends in two months by
becoming interested in
other people than you can
in two years by trying to
get other people interested
in you.” —Dale Carnegie
“He had done nothing to sell me on his
business, yet he had given me the most
Because
his sole concern had
been my welfare and the
success of my business.”
powerful sales pitch of my life.
—Jim Penman, on learning how to sell (What Will
They Franchise Next? The Story of Jim’s Group)
“If you don’t
listen,
you don’t sell
anything.”
—Carolyn Marland/Managing Director/Guardian Group
THE ONE THING
YOU NEED TO
KNOW
(Marcus Buckingham)
“The mediocre manager believes that most
things are learnable and therefore that the
essence of management is to identify ach
person’s weaker areas and eradicate them.
The great manager believes the opposite.
He believes that the most influential
qualities of a person are innate and
therefore that the essence of management
is to deploy these innate qualities as
effectively as possible and so drive
performance.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing
You Need to Know
Priorities
“I used to have a rule for myself that at any point in
time I wanted to have in mind — as it so happens,
also in writing, on a little card I carried around with
me — the three big things I was trying to get done.
Three.
Not two.
Not four.
Not five.
Not ten.
Three.”
— Richard Haass, The Power to Persuade
“Really Important
Roger’s
Rule of
Stuff”:
Three!
“Dennis, you need a …
‘To-don’t ’
List !”
“The one thing you need
to know about sustained
individual success:
Discover what you don’t
like doing and
stop
doing it.”
—Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
End Pause.
EXCELLENCE.
BEDROCK.
TALENT.
“THE FUTURE BELONGS TO …
SMALL POPULATIONS …
WHO BUILD EMPIRES OF THE MIND
… AND WHO IGNORE THE TEMPTATION OF—
OR DO NOT HAVE THE OPTION OF—
EXPLOITING NATURAL RESOURCES.”
Source: Juan Enriquez/As the Future Catches You
Hire very
good
people!
“We believe companies can increase their market cap
50 percent in 3 years. Steve Macadam at Georgia-
Pacific …
changed
20 of his
40 box plant managers
to put more talented,
higher paid managers in
charge. He increased profitability from
$25
million to
$80
million in
—Ed Michaels, War for Talent
2
years.”
C
O*
*Chief talent acquisition Officer
EMPHASIZE
THE “SOFT
SKILLS.”
A Few Lessons from the Arts
Each hired and developed and evaluated in unique ways
(23 contributors = 23 unique contributions = 23 pathways =
23 personalities = 23 sets of motivators)
Attitude/Enthusiasm/Energy paramount
Re-lent-less!
“Practice is cool” (G Leonard/Mastery)
Team and individual
Aspire to EXCELLENCE = Obvious
Ex-e-cu-tion
Talent = Brand = Duh
“The Project” rules
Emotional language
Bit players. No.
B.I.W. (everything)
Delta events = Delta rosters (incl leader/s)
Q: “If it were your $50K
[life’s savings] and my
$50K, what sort of Waiters
would we look for?”
A: “Enthusiasts!”
SO YOU’RE A
“PEOPLE
PERSON”?
PROVE IT.
“The leaders of Great Groups
love talent and know
where to find it. They
revel in the talent
of others.”
—Warren Bennis &
Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius
PARC’s Bob Taylor:
“Connoisseur
of Talent”
SO YOU’RE A
“PEOPLE
PERSON”?
PROVE IT.
A review of Jack and Suzy Welch’s Winning claims there are but
two key differentiators that set GE “culture” apart from the herd:
First: Separating financial forecasting and performance
measurement. Performance measurement based, as it usually is, on budgeting
leads to an epidemic of gaming the system. GE’s performance measurement is
divorced from budgeting—and instead reflects how you do relative to your past
performance and relative to competitors’ performance; i.e., it’s about how you
actually do in the context of what happened in the real world, not as compared to a
gamed-abstract plan developed last year.
Putting HR on
a par with finance
and marketing.
Second:
SO YOU’RE A
“PEOPLE
PERSON”?
PROVE IT.
< CAPEX
> People!
The Value-added Ladder/ OPPORTUNITY-SEEKING
Implemented
Gamechanging
Solutions (People intensive)
Services (People & Capital intensive)
Goods (Capital intensive)
Raw Materials (Capital intensive)
LIVE FOR
TALENT!
Our Mission
To develop and manage talent;
to apply that talent,
throughout the world,
for the benefit of clients;
to do so in partnership;
to do so with profit.
WPP
Brand =
Talent.
EVP/IBP = Remarkable
challenge, rapid professional
growth, respect, satisfaction,
fun, stunning opportunity,
exceptional reward, amazing
peer group, full membership in
Club Adventure, maximized
future employability
Source: Ed Michaels, The War for Talent; TP
“I have always
believed that the
purpose of the
corporation is to be
a blessing to the
employees.”
—Boyd Clarke
EXCELLENCE.
BEDROCK.
LEADERSHIP.
“12 Ps.”
Tom Peters/04.18.2007
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
st
“21 -century
Leadership” =
Baloney!
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“People want to be part of
something larger than
themselves. They want to be
part of something they’re
really proud of, that they’ll
fight for, sacrifice for ,
trust.”
—Howard Schultz, Starbucks (IBD/09.05)
“If you want to build
a ship, don’t gather
people together to collect
wood ,and don’t assign
them tasks and work,
but instead teach them
to long for the sea.”
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince)
“A leader is
a dealer in
hope.”
—Napoleon
(+TP’s writing room pics)
USN&WR: What traits do successful activists share?
“They
have hope, and
they imbue others
with hope.”
Studs Terkel, age 91:
“Management has a lot to do with
answers. Leadership is a function of
questions. And the first question for a
‘Who do
we intend to
be?’ Not ‘What are we going to
leader always is:
do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’”
—Max De Pree, Herman Miller
Ah, kids: “What is your vision for
the future?” “What have you
accomplished since your first book?”
“Close your eyes and imagine me
immediately doing something about
what you’ve just said. What would it
be?” “Do you feel you have an
obligation to ‘Make the world a
better place’?”
Leader Job One
Paint
Portraits of
Excellence!
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“Nothing is so
contagious as
enthusiasm.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“A man
without a
smiling face
must not open
a shop.”
—Chinese Proverb
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“The role of the Director is to create a
space where the actors and
become more
than they’ve ever been
before, more than
they’ve dreamed of
being.”
actresses can
—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
Organizing Genius / Warren Bennis
and Patricia Ward Biederman
“Groups become great only when
everyone in them, leaders and
members alike, is free to do his or
her absolute best.”
“The best thing a leader can do for a
Great Group is to allow its
members to discover their
greatness.”
Leadership’s Mt Everest/Mt Excellence
“free to do his or her
absolute best” …
“allow its members to
discover their
greatness.”
“In the end, management
doesn’t change culture.
Management
invites
the workforce itself to
change the culture.”
—Lou Gerstner
Why in the
World did you
go to Siberia?
An emotional,
vital, innovative, joyful,
creative, entrepreneurial
endeavor that elicits maximum
Enterprise* ** (*at its best):
concerted human
potential in the
wholehearted service of others.**
**Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
Jim’s
Group
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
MBWA*
*5,000 miles for a 5-minute face-to
-face meeting (courtesy superagent Mark McCormick)
“It’s always
showtime.”
—David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“You must
be
the change you
wish to see in the
world.”
Gandhi
Questions: What do others think of you? [Are you sure?] What
do you think of you? [Are you sure?] What is your impact on
others? [Are you sure?] What is your impact on others? [Are
you sure?] What is your impact on others? [Are you sure?]
What are the “little things” you (perhaps unconsciously) do that
cause people to shrivel—or blossom? [Are you sure?] What do
you want? [Are you sure?] Are you aware of your changing
moods? [Are you sure?] How fragile is your ego? [Are you sure?]
Do you have a true confidant? [Are you sure?] Do you perform brief
or not-so-brief self-assessments? Do you talk too much? [Are you
sure?] Do you know how to listen? [Are you sure?] Do you
listen? [Are you sure?] What is your style of “hashing things
out”? Are you perceived as (a) arrogant, (b) abrasive (c) attentive,
(d) genuinely interested in people, (e) etc? [Are you sure?] Are
you flexible? Have you changed your mind about anything important
in a while? Are you comfortable-uncomfortable with folks on the
front line? Do you think you’re “in touch with the pulse of
things around here”? [Are You Sure?] Are you too
emotional/intuitive? Are you too unemotional/rational? Do you
spend much time with people who are new to you? [Do you think
questions like this are “so much BS”?]
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“Courtesies of a small and
trivial character are the
ones which strike
deepest in the grateful
and appreciating heart.”
—Henry Clay
End Personal
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
Pissed Off* **
*As in “I’m pissed off and I’m not gonna take it any more …”
**Innovation Stems from Irritation
(Re-imagining Results from Rage)
“Dreaming,” necessary,
or not?
TP, personal: “dream” =
concrete, practical
imaginings about the
opposite of things that
piss me off (TP “advantages”: low
boiling point, long memory, dogged determination)
“I’ve
been thinking …”
Michael Porter:
“I’m mad as
hell, and I’m not
going to take it
anymore”
TP:
F(Anger/Passion)
>>>> f(Pushback
from Threatened
Fat-cats &
Bureau-crats)
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“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
SERIOUS
PLAY
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
“This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing
how few oil people really understand that
you only find
oil if you drill
wells.
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
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
Relentless: “One of
my superstitions had always been
when I started to go anywhere or
not to
turn back , or stop,
to do anything,
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
Grant had an
extreme, almost phobic
dislike of turning back
and retracing his steps.
peculiarity of his character:
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
“incredible
power of
endurance”
—political
colleague, on Nicolas Sarkozy, repeatedly written off by the public and
the celestial powers of French politics (FT, 0515.07)
Success =
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902),
Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright,
Mary Ann McClintock, Jane Hunt
(07.13.1848/Seneca falls ny)
+
72 years, 1 month, 5 days
(08.18.1920/nashville tn)
“Success seems to be
largely a matter
of hanging on
after others have
let go.”
—William Feather, author
Relent
25
2,500
63
48
5,000,000
2,500,000
15
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
‘do’
“Leaders
people.
Period.”
—Anon.
< CAPEX
> People!
“Leaders
‘SERVE’
people.
Period.”
—Anon.
Servant Leadership/Robert Greenleaf
1. Do those served grow as
persons?
2. Do they, while being served,
become healthier wiser, freer,
more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants?
Leaders Understand:
Brand =
Talent.
“Sorry, I’ve got to go—the
HR people get on me if I
don’t go do my ‘shake handschat up’ duty”
—president, large
division of large company in the _______
industry
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“Normal” =
“o for 800”
“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
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
The greatest danger
for most of us
is not that our aim is
too high
and we miss it,
but that it is
too low
and we reach it.
Michelangelo
Kevin Roberts’ Credo
1. Ready. Fire! Aim.
2. If it ain’t broke ... Break it!
3. Hire crazies.
4. Ask dumb questions.
5. Pursue failure.
6. Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!
7. Spread confusion.
8. Ditch your office.
9. Read odd stuff.
10.
Avoid moderation!
"The reasonable man adapts
himself to the world. The
unreasonable one persists in
trying to adapt the world to
himself. Therefore, all
progress depends upon the
unreasonable man.” —GB Shaw,
Man and Superman: The Revolutionists' Handbook.
“Never doubt that a small
group of committed
people can change the
world. Indeed it is
the only thing that
ever has.” —Margaret Mead
“In Tom’s world, it’s
always better to try a
swan dive and deliver a
colossal belly flop than
to step timidly off the
board while holding
your nose.”
—Fast Company /October2003
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
On NELSON:
“Our whole
story is
growing
revenue.”
—Vernon Hill (Top-line driven; standard
is bottom-line driven by cost cutting)
The Commerce Bank Model
“cost cutting
is a death
spiral.”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank
Created a Super-growth Business in a No-growth Industry,
Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
pissed off.
Playful.
PERSISTENCE.
PEOPLE.
Peculiar.
Potent.
Positive.
“Excellence can be obtained if you:
... care more than others think is wise;
... risk more than others think is safe;
... dream more than others think
is practical;
... expect more than others think
is possible.”
Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by
K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
"Life is not a journey to the
grave with the intention of
arriving safely in one pretty
and well preserved piece, but
to skid across the line
broadside, thoroughly used
up, worn out, leaking oil,
shouting ‘GERONIMO!’ ”
—Bill McKenna, professional motorcycle racer
(Cycle magazine 02.1982)
Geron-imo!