EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. Tom Peters/Gaborone/19June 2006 *1 of 5 EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. This is not a “mature category.”
Download ReportTranscript EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. Tom Peters/Gaborone/19June 2006 *1 of 5 EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. This is not a “mature category.”
EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.
Tom Peters/Gaborone/19June 2006
*1 of 5
EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.
This is
not
a “mature category.”
This is an
“ un
distinguished
category.”
7X. 730A 800P. F12A.*
* ’93-’03/10 yr annual return: CB: 29%; WM: 17%; HD: 16%. Mkt Cap: 48% p.a.
Wegmans
#1/100
“ Best Companies to Work for”
/
2005
“It’s simple, really, Tom. Hire for
s ,
and, above all, promote for
s.” —Starbucks middle manager/field
Donnelly’s Weatherstrip Service
Weymouth MA
Manhole Cover Madness and More ….
Bonus
Stating the Obvious:
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
OFTEN AS NOT/MORE OFTEN THAN NOT THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM IS IN FACT NOT MUCH OF A PROBLEM.
PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS. PERIOD.
* *From Whole Foods to IBM to the corner deli
POWER WORDS!
“ I’m sorry.”
Relationships (of all varieties) : THERE ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN A THREE-MINUTE PHONE CALL WOULD HAVE AVOIDED SETTING OFF THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL THAT RESULTED IN A COMPLETE RUPTURE.
Stating the Obvious:
MORE POWER WORDS/IDEAS
Thank You!
“The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.”
—Ken Langone
MBWA
* *5,000 miles for a 5-minute face-to -face meeting (courtesy super agent Mark McCormack)
Say it with …
F L O W E R S
POWER IDEAS!
You must care.
—General Melvin Zais
HTSH: Engage!* Commit! Engage! Try! Fail! Get up! Try again! Fail again! Try again! But never, ever stop moving on! Progress for humanity is engendered by those who join and savor the fray by giving one hundred percent of themselves to their dreams! Not by those timid souls who remain glued to the sidelines, stifled by tradition, and fearful of losing face or giving offense to the reigning authorities.
Key words: Commit! Engage! Try! Fail! Persist!
*HTST/ Hands That Shape Humanity , Tom Peters’ contribution to a Bishop Tutu Foundation travelling exhibit
“You must
be
the change you wish to see in the world.”
Gandhi
Manhole Cover Madness and More ….
Bonus
Manhole Cover Madness and More ….
Chicagoland’s Mystery Disappearances …
THREE BILLION NEW CAPITALISTS
—Clyde Prestowitz
EXCELLENCE. THE MANDATE.
“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”
—General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff. U. S. Army
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but to change.” the one most responsive —Charles Darwin
“We are in a brawl with no rules.”
—Paul Allaire
Sam’s Secret
#1!
“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 No. 5. By the 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
“ This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing how few oil people really understand that
only find oil if you drill wells.
You may
you
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
“Reward
failures. excellent
Punish
mediocre successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
Nelson’s secret:
“[Other] admirals more frightened of losing than anxious to win”
EXCELLENCE. STARTERS.
Radio City Music Hall September 2005
Franchise Lost!
TP:
“
How many of you really
crave
a new Chevy?”
[600] NYC/IIR/061205
P.P.E.E.R.R.E.
People.
Product.
Execution.
Enthusiasm.
Relentless.
Re-invent.
Excellence.
Did one of ’em ever turn to the other and say: forth Alice, age 17 “Wow, I wonder what unimaginable new tools, otherwise not possible, will be brought for my daughter , because of this deal?”
EXCELLENCE. THE WORD.
Synonyms Purity Transcendence Virtue Elegance Majesty Antonyms
Mediocrity
EXCELLENCE. GAMECHANGER.
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics” 1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties”
What is In Search of Excellence all about: People.
Emotion. Engagement. Exuberance. Action-Execution. Empowerment. Independence. Initiative. Imagination. Great Stories. Incredible Adventures.
Trust. Caring. Fun. Joy. Customer-centrism. Profit.
Growth. “Brand You.” “Dramatic Differences.” Experiences that Make You “Gasp.” Excellence. Always.
ExIn*: 1982-2002/Forbes.com
DJIA EI : : $10,000 yields $85,000 $10,000 yields $140,050 *Forbes/ Excellence Index /Basket of 32 publicly traded stocks
EXCELLENCE. CAUSES.
ADVERSARIES.
Hardball: Are You Playing to Play or Playing to Win? by George Stalk & Rob Lachenauer/HBS Press “The winners in business have always played hardball .” “ Unleash massive and overwhelming force.” “ Exploit anomalies.” “ Threaten your competitor’s profit sanctuaries.” “Entice your competitor into retreat.” Approximately 640 Index entries: Customer/s
(service, retention, loyalty), 4 . People ( employees, motivation, morale, worker/s), 0 . Innovation ( product development, research & development, new products), 0 .
M.I.A
.*: Sell.
Talk.
(Life = Sales.) Talent.
(Present.) Do.
(Recruit-Develop-Retain.) Management.
Listen.
(Interview.) (Execution-Implementation.) Project (Create. Solicit support. Execution. Adoption Client “Culture Change.”) Product.
(USMA, etc.) Change.
(“It.”) Innovation.
Creativity. “Buzz-building.” Politics.) E.Q.
(Connect.) (Lasting impact.) cultural Effectiveness.) (Brand You life-lifestyle.) (Design. Leadership.
“Culture” Diversity.
(Cross Career Creation.
Wellness.
(Life.) *B.Schools (“M.I.A.” or at most “B.I.A.”—barely in action)
Causes/1966-2006 Implementation/Small Wins (Stanford GSB/PhD thesis; 1st on implementation per se) EXCELLENCE Soft “Ss”/7-S (as a worthy business pursuit) Management Style/Corporate Culture (Waterman Peters complete “business model”; waaaaay beyond Strategy & Structure) Structure > Strategy Soft Change Levers (“We shape our structures, then they shape us …”—Churchillian paraphrase) (> structure; symbols, patterns & settings) Close to the Customer (novel idea, circa 1982) MBWA (Managing By Wandering Around —courtesy a much more intimate than today HP) Productivity through People Re-imagine!/Innovate or Die!
Mergers (novel idea, circa 1982) Chaos/Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organizations Middle-sized companies are cool Small-ish/Scale & Synergy limits-delusions/anti-Big
Causes/1966-2006 Women/Market opportunity Women/Leaders Wow! Weird!
(Hot language) (right for the times) Design/Design-as-soul Passion!/Enthusiasm!/Exuberance! (as Leader Lever #1) Brand You (or else) PSF = Bedrock (add value or bust —every group must demonstrate economic viability) PSF + Brand You + WOW Projects = New Biz Logic Sales/+R > -C (increasing revenue more important than cutting cost) HealthCare/Wellness-Safety-H5N1 Brand = Talent (best roster wins) New VA Ladder/Products-Services-SOLUTIONS EXPERIENCES-DREAMKETING (Dream Marketing) LOVEMARK Different > > Better Boomers & Geezers/marketing to new “mega-segment”
Adversaries B-schools (crappy at soft skills, implementation, leadership) Strategy-is-all By-the-numbers management Dis-passionate management Focus groups Intuition discounted Leading as an intellectual task Leading without passion Cool language in Hot times Dilbert (accepting cubicle slavery) Bigness per se (severe scale limitations —even at Microsoft) White guys! (not really, but enough already) 18-44 emphasis in marketing (geezers > youth for foreseeable future) -Cost > +Revenue (cost cutting more important than organic revenue growth) CI (continuous improvement in an age of discontinuous world) LESS THAN THE NO-HOLDS-BARRED PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.
“Why in the world did you go to Siberia?”
The Peters Principles: Enthusiasm.
Emotion. Excellence.
Energy. Excitement. Service. Growth. Creativity. Imagination. Vitality. Joy. Surprise. Independence. Spirit. Community. Limitless human potential. Diversity. Profit.
Innovation. Design. Quality. Entrepreneurialism. Wow.
Business* ** (*at its best) : An emotional, vital, innovative, joyful, creative, entrepreneurial endeavor that elicits maximum concerted human potential in the wholehearted service of others.
*** ** Excellence. Always.
***Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
Business:
The Ultimate Creative Endeavor.
Business:
The Ultimate Personal Development Growth Experience.
Business:
The Ultimate Transcendent Service Opportunity .
EXCELLENCE. YOU & ME.
“ 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
“This is the true joy of Life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one … the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” —GB Shaw/ Man and Superman
“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body—but rather a skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow, what a ride!’ ” —anon.
“My only goal is to have no goals.
The goal, every time, is that film, that very moment.” —Bernardo Bertolucci
Action:
“You Only Find Oil If You Drill Wells”
CONTEXT
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but
the one most responsive to change.”
—Charles Darwin
TP/BW on BigCo Sin #1:
“
too much talk, too little do”
“
Ninety percent of what we call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done .” – Peter Drucker
“Forbes100” from 1917 to 1987: 39 members of the Class of ’17 were alive in ’87; 18 in ’87 F100; 18 F100 “survivors” underperformed the market by 20%; just 2 (2%), GE & Kodak , outperformed the market 1917 to 1987.
S&P 500 from 1957 to 1997: 74 members of the Class of ’57 were alive in ’97; 12 (2.4%) of 500 outperformed the market from 1957 to 1997.
Source: Dick Foster & Sarah Kaplan, Creative Destruction:
Why Companies That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market
“I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for myself?’ The answer seems obvious:
Buy a very large one and just wait.”
—Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail:
Evolution, Extinction and Economics
A BIAS FOR ACTION
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics” 1.
A Bias for Action
2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties”
“Never forget
implementation
boys. In our work it’s what I call the
‘missing 98 percent’
of the client puzzle.”
—Al McDonald/McKinsey
“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
only find oil if you drill wells.
You may
you
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 (80%)
“We made mistakes. 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
No. 5
. By the 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
Sam’s Secret
#1!
“
Fail faster. Succeed sooner.”
David Kelley/IDEO
Fail. Forward. Fast.
–High-tech Exec/PA
“Reward
failures. excellent
Punish
mediocre successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
Boyd on TEMPO
“The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.”
—James Yorke, mathematician, on chaos theory in The New Scientist
He who has the quickest O.O.D.A. Loops * wins!
* Observe. Orient. Decide. Act./Col. John Boyd
70-10/Nebraska/Unk QB 643 yards K.State/ Linemen spread wide/All legals go out for pass/Defenders confused & tire
(Boyd/Tempo is not speed/“Re-arrange the mind of the enemy”—T.E. Lawrence)/ “By changing the geometry of the game, and pushing the limits of space and time on the gridiron, Mike Leach is taking Texas Tech to some far out places.” —Michael Lewis (NY Times Magazine, 12.04.05, on Mike Leach/Texas Tech)
“In war, delay is fatal.” —Napoleon “The only way to whip an army is to go out and fight it.” —Grant “ … demonstrating the tactic that would become his hallmark: the immediate move to seek out the enemy and attack him” — John Mosier, on Grant “A good plan executed right now is far preferable to a ‘perfect’ plan executed next week.” —Patton
“METABOLIC MANAGEMENT”
The Leadership11 1. Talent Management
2. Metabolic Management
3. Technology Management 4. Barrier Management 5. Forgetful Management 6. Metaphysical Management 7. Opportunity Management 8. Portfolio Management 9. Failure Management 10. Cause Management 11. Passion Management
“The secret of fast progress is inefficiency , fast and furious and numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“If things seem under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”
—Mario Andretti
“I’m not comfortable unless I’m uncomfortable.”
—Jay Chiat
Bossidy on EXECUTION
“ Execution the job business leader.” is of the
—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
“
Realism is the heart of execution.”
—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/ 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
Action8/ VPMR+ /Peters on Bossidy *External Focus (Competitors/Customers) *Realism/Truth-telling * Vision * Projects (Must add up to Vision) * Milestones *Commitment/Energy * RapidReview *Consequences (+/-)
TACTIC #1
Culture of Prototyping “Effective prototyping may be the most valuable core competence an innovative organization can hope to have.” Michael Schrage
EXCELLENCE. 4/40.
De-cent ral-iz a-tion!
Ex-e cu-tion!
Ac-count a-bil-ity!
6:15A.M.
K.I.S.S.
450/8
“ I wanted GE to operate with the speed, informality, and open communication of a corner store. Corner stores often have strategy right. With their limited resources, they have to rely on laser-like focus on doing one thing very well.” —Jack Welch/ Fortune /04.05
Lee’s Rule:
Run It off a Blackberry!
“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.
BIAS
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics” 1.
A Bias for Action
2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties”
Importance of Success Factors by Various “Gurus”/ Estimates (Unreliable) by Tom Peters Porter Strategy 45% Systems 20 Passion/ Leadership Execution 20 15 Drucker Bennis Peters 35% 30 15 20 20% 20 35 25 15% 20 30 35
MBWA
MBWA
Mark McCormack :
5,000 miles for a 5 min. meeting
!
LET US MARCH
“In classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, ‘How well he spoke,’ but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said,
‘Let us march.’”
—Adlai Stevenson
Let us march.
Nelson’s secret:
“[Other] admirals more frightened of losing than anxious to win”
“A year from now you may wish You had started today.”
—Karen Lamb
You only find oil if you drill wells
.
—T he Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter
TP/Chile:
“I don’t know if ‘it’ is possible.’ I do know it’s ‘necessary.’”
Leadership
23
Leadership23 1. Enthusiasm. Energy. Exuberance.
2. Action. Execution.
3. Tempo. Metabolism.
4. Relentless.
5. Master of Plan B.
6. Accountability.
7. Meritocracy.
8. Leaders “do” people. Mentor. (“Success creation business.”) 9. Women. Diversity.
10. Integrity. Credibility. Humanity. Grace.
11. Realism.
12. Cause. Adventures. Quests.
13. Legacy.
14. Best story wins.
15. On the edge. (“Wildest chimera of a moonstruck mind.”) 16. “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” 17. Different > Better. (“Only ones who do what we do.”) 18. MBWA. Customer MBWA.
19. Laughs.
20. Repot. Curiosity. Why?
21. You = Calendar. “To Don’t.” Two.
22. Excellence. Always.
23. Nelsonian! (“Other admirals more afraid of losing than anxious to win.”)
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW*
*more or less
Cause
“Create a
‘cause,’
not a ‘business.’’
—Gary Hamel
“ Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a leader always is:
‘Who do we intend to be?’
Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’” —Max De Pree, Herman Miller
“
We are a ‘life Success Company”’
—Dave Linegar, founder, RE/MAX
Artist
Leader Job 1
Paint Portraits of Excellence
!
“I never, ever thought of myself as a businessman.
I was interested in creating things I would be proud of.”
—Richard Branson
People
Brand = Talent.
“Leaders ‘
do’
people.”
—Anon.
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
Decency
“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 college president.
He was seriously interested in who you were and what you had to say.” —Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
Grace
“Thank you”
“The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.”
—Ken Langone
Rodale’s on “Grace” … elegance … charm … loveliness … poetry in motion … kindliness .. benevolence … benefaction … compassion … beauty
Intangibles
“Hard is soft. Soft is hard.”*
*In Search of Excellence
Self management
“ The First step in a ‘dramatic’ ‘organizational change program’ is obvious— dramatic personal change!”
—RG
You = Your Calendar
“ You must world.”
be
the change you wish to see in the
Gandhi
“Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe.” —Winston Churchill
MBWA
“A body can pretend to care, but they can’t pretend to be there.”
— Texas Bix Bender
“You can’t lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.”
—John Peers, President, Logical Machine Corporation
Curiosity
“Why?”
Ears
“If you don’t listen, you don’t sell anything.”
—Carolyn Marland/MD/Guardian Group
Conformity
“ To grow, companies need to break out of a vicious cycle of competitive benchmarking and imitation.”
—W. Chan Kim & René Mauborgne, “Think for Yourself —Stop Copying a Rival,” Financial Times /08.11.03
“The short road to ruin is to emulate the methods of your adversary.”
— Winston Churchill
Action
“We have a ‘strategic’ plan. It’s called doing things.”
— Herb Kelleher
Focus
“ Dennis, you need a ‘To-don’t ’ List !”
“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
Change
“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”
—General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff. U. S. Army
“
I’m not comfortable unless I’m uncomfortable.”
— Jay Chiat
Richard & Kevin
Sir Richard’s Rules:
Follow your passions.
Keep it simple.
Get the best people to help you.
Re-create yourself.
Play.
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!
Passion & Enthusiasm
“
Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
I am a dispenser of enthusiasm.”
—Ben Zander
“A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.”
—Chinese Proverb* *Courtesy Tom Morris, The Art of Achievement
Hustle
“Most important, he
upped the energy level
Motorola.” —Fortune on Ed Zander/08.05
at
Sunny
“A leader is a dealer in hope.”
Napoleon
Aim High
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
“ Beware of the tyranny of making Small Changes to Small Things. Rather, make
Big
Changes to Things.”
Big
—Roger Enrico, former Chairman, PepsiCo
Dream
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
—Mary Oliver
Sell
.
“ Everyone lives by selling something.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson
Experience
Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!”
“
What we sell is the ability for a 43-year-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
$415/SqFt $798/SqFt
No Limits
“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
The Irreducible209+/ Sales122/60TIBs
Tom Peters/0607.2006
The
Irreducible209
A frustrated participant at a seminar for investment bankers in Mauritius listened impatiently to my explanation of differences of opinion among me, Mike Porter, Gary Hamel, Jim Collins, etc. Finally, he’d had enough.
“What, if anything,” he asked, “do you believe ‘for sure’?”
I mumbled something, but his query started rumbling around in my mind. Three days later, wandering on a Sunday in London, the idea of “the irreducibles” occurred to me —and I started jotting down notes on stuff I do indeed believe “for sure.” Before I knew it, a few days later, the list had grown to 209 items. Hence “The Irreducible209” that follows.
Tom Peters
1. Hare 1, Tortoise 0.
2. Tempo.
(O.O.D.A.) (Hare-y times.) 3. MBWA.
4. Appreciation.
(“Motivator” #1.) (Can’t be faked. Good.) 5. 9. Decency.
6. Hurry.
7. Time out.
8. One matters. Big change. Short time.
(Alt not work.) 10. Excellence. Always.
11. 14. Passion. Energy. Hustle. Enthusiasm.
Exuberance.
13. Emotion.
Hard is soft.
(Move mountains. No alt.) 12. You must care.
(Soft is hard.)
15. Men. Women. Different. Contend. Connect.
16. Women. Buy. All. (RU listening?) 17. Quality. (“Mind blowing.” Beyond 6 -Sigma.) 18. Re-invent. Re-pot.
(Required.) 19. Jaywalk.
20. Big change. Small # of people. (Always.) 21. 23. Experiment. Now.
22. Failure. Normal. Most failures, most success. (Fail. Forward. Fast.) 24. “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” 25. Women leaders. (Altered times.) 26. Extremism. (Good business. Bad politics.) 27. Innovation source. Only. Extreme irritation.
28. Smile.
29. You must care.
30. Mentor. (Highest ROI.) 31. Best “roster” wins.
32. 34. 36. Wow.
(Okay in biz.) 33. We all have customers. (Biz. Personal.) All contacts = Experiences.
35. Cirque du Soleil. (Peerless.) Leaders create space for growth.
37. Quests.
(Only.) 38. High aspirations, “high” results. (Self-fulfilling prophecy.) 39. Attitude 1, Skills 0.
(Mostly.) (Attitude 1, Skill 0.3?) 40. Sometimes: Skill 1, Attitude 0.1.
41. Must “love,” not “like.” 42. Wegman’s.” (No excuses. “Mere” groceries.) 43. Less than your best. Cheating.
44. Brand You. (No alt.) 45. Self-sufficiency. (Biggest LT turn-on.) 46. In the moment.
47. The moment wins.
48. Tomorrow = Never.
49. 51. Action 1, Plan 0.1.
50. “Execution” can be a “system.” Realism.
52. Own up. Move on.
53. Accountability.
54. 55. Feedback. Necessary. Fast. (R.F.A. in 56. Work hard > Work smart.
“RFA times.”) Customers. Listen. Lead.
57. “On stage.” Always. (GW, FDR, RG = Supreme actors.) (Mostly.) (Paradox.)
58. Master statistical analysis.
59. Excellence = Set the table.
60. Legacy. (Will it have mattered?) 61. “Great.” (Why not?) 62. Radicals rule. (Think … Olympics.) 63. !!! = Good.
64. Red 1, Brown 0. (Red times.) 65. Talk. Listen. (“Big 2.” Master.) 66. Politics. (Normal-inevitable state of affairs. Master.) 67. Student. Forever.
68. 69. Don’t belittle.
70. “Why?” Respect.
(Question #1.) 71. All we have: this moment.
(“Moments matter most”?) 72. Now. (Procrastination. Death.)
73. Exercise.
74. Paint. (Leader. Portraits of Excellence.) 75. Best story wins.
76. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” 77. 80. Two “big ones.” Max. (Priorities.) 78. No “I” in Team. (“I” in Win.) 79. “I” in Win. (No “I” in Team.) 85. Different 1, Better 0.
(Not.) Leadership. (Not.) (Still.) (Everything.) (Better = 0.1) 81. Imitation = Mistake. (Learn, from who?) 82. Choose/battle the “right” competitor.
83. Schools. Creativity. Entrepreneurship.
84. MBAs. Creativity. Entrepreneurship. Design. Under-rated. Wildly.
86. You = Calendar.
(Calendar. Never. Lies.) 87. Laugh.
88. Handshake. (Quantity. Quality.) 89. Don’t fold your hands in front of your chest. Ever. (Never.) 90. Grace.
(“Works” in biz.) 91. Weird. Wins.
92. Crazy times. Crazy orgs.
93. Internet. All.
(Weird times.) 94. Women. Boomers-Geezers. Market. All.
95. Passion. (Repeat. So what?) 96. Energy. (Repeat. So what?) 97. Hustle. (Repeat. So what?) 98. Enthusiasm. (Repeat. So what?) 99. Exuberance. (Repeat. So what?) 100. Smile. (Repeat. So what?) 101. Care. (Repeat. So what?)
102. Simplicity. Redundancy. Resilience. Bloody mindedness. Visible optimism.
(Success.) 103. Act. (Repeat. So what?) 104. Appreciate. (Repeat. So what?) 105. 107. 109. Fun.
(Biz. Why not?) 106. Joy. (Biz. Why not?) Sales = Life.
108. Marketing = Life.
Long term. “Top line.” 110. Great company = Creates the most individual success stories.
(RE/MAX) 111. Talent first, performance byproduct.
112. Sustained Wow* 1, “Shareholder value,” 0.2 (*Product, People.) 113. Commitment, by invitation only.
114. Creativity, by invitation only. 115. HR = #1.
116. (Ought to.) Face-to-face.
(5K miles, 5 minutes.)
117. Negotiation. Make all winners.
120. (Save face.) 118. Grace makes enemies friends.
119. Network.
Invest in relationships with weird.) . (Think ROIR.
Return On Investment in Relationships.) 118. Relationship investment. Forethought.
Calendar item. Intensity.
119. Innovation. Easy. (Hang out 120. Weird = Win. (Weird times.) 121. “The bottleneck is at the top of the bottle.” 122. Good Board = Weird Board. (At least, surprising.) 123. No contention, no progress.
124. “Crucial conversations.” “Crucial 127. confrontations.” (Study. Learn. Do.) 125. Honest feedback.
126. Gaspworthy. Yes. “Insanely great.” 128. “Astonish me.” 129. “Make it immortal.” 130. “Will you remember it in 20 years?” 131. No small opportunities. (Reframe.) 132. One playmate, one playpen = Enough.
133. End run. Sensible.
134. Allies are there for the finding.
135. Find successes. Build on successes.
137. (Pos > Neg. Encourage > Fix.) 136. Somebody’s doing it today. Find ’em.
Someone is living 2016 in 2006.
(Find ’em. Study ’em.)
138. Don’t “benchmark,” “futuremark.” (2016. Happening. Somewhere.) 139. “PMA.” It works.
140. There are no experts. (You are the expert.) 141. Life is short. 142. “Sustained success.” Fat chance.
Make today matter. (“Sustained.” Ha.) 143. Collaborate. (Networked world.) 144. Go solo. (Individual. Unit of Intellectual Capital.) 145. There are no “perfect” plans.
Sense of purpose.) 147. Never rest.
148. Get some sleep.
150. Ambiguity = Opportunity.
(Do. Wins.) 146. Plans motivate. (Right or wrong. 149. Winning = Embracing paradox.
151. Resilience.
152. Relentless-ness.
153. None. Above. Comeuppance.
(GM. Sears. U.S. Steel. DEC.) 154. Be yourself. Period.
155. Never work with jerks. Including customers. (Life. Too short.) 156. Under-promise, over-deliver.
157. Talent. (Powerful word.) 158. “Customer = Anyone whose actions affect your results.” 159. Competition stinks. (Seek the soft spots where you can dominate.) 160. K.I.S.S./Keep It Simple, Stupid.
161. Beauty. (Good biz word.) 162. “See the beauty in a hamburger bun.” (Go. Ray.)
163. Own up. Quick. ( Denial. Cancer.) 164. Celebrate. Often.
165. 78 people = 78 approaches.
166. Weed. Ceaselessly.
Rules. Non-stop.) (Each. Unique.) (Prune. Stupid. 167. 171. 176. Get out of the way.
(You = The problem.) 168. Smile. Sunny. Optimism. (If it kills you.) 169. Flowers. (Cheery workplace.) 170. Enjoy. (Or get the hell.) Be intolerant of “sour.” 172. No “quick trigger” on promotion.
(Too important.) 173. Evaluation = Lots of study-time.
174. Evaluation = “Life or death” to evaluee.
175. “360” evaluation. No fad.
Exit when you’re done .
(1 = Major pollution) (Done.
Sooner than you think.)
177. Today. Now. My Project. Am. Is. I. Period.
178. “Beautiful” systems. (Good biz phrase.
Not oxymoron.) 179. Build on strengths > Fix weaknesses.
180. “To don’t” = “To do.” “To do” ?) (“To don’t” > 181. Leaders “Do” People.
(Period.) 182. Leaders enjoy leading.
183. Serious leadership training = Serious.
184. Priorities. Obvious. (Or else.) 185. 5 “Priorities” = 0 Priorities. (3 “Priorities” = 0 Priorities?) 186. People. First. Last. Always.
187. It. Is. Always. The. People.
188. Handshake. (Quantity. Quality.) 189. Don’t fold your hands in front of your chest. Ever. (Never.) 190. Simplicity. Redundancy. Resilience.
Bloody-mindedness. Visible optimism.
(Success.) (Repeat.) 191. Employee Entrance = Guest Entrance.
192. Put the customer SECOND.
(Thanks, Hal.) 193. Flowers. (Or did I say that before?
No matter if I did.) 194. Big Mergers don’t work. Small acquisitions can/do work — if you don’t screw with their energy.
195. Instinctively “head for the front line.” (In all contexts.) 196. Success = DDMMPR/"D-squared, M “ M squared, PR” = DramDiff + Money-Financial Acumen + Good arketing” Instincts + Stellar People + Resilience Find it.
(The “fab five”: What.
Every. Small. Biz. Needs.) (Big too.) 197. Core Mechanism (“Game Solutions”): PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”) + Wow! Projects (“Different” vs “Better”) + Brand You (“Distinct” or “Extinct”) -changing 198. 2011/2016 has already happened.
199. Kids “know” kids. Oldies “know” oldies.
Women “know” women.
(Staff accordingly.) 200. Everybody is my customer.
201. Cosset “vendors.” 202. I want to run a Housekeeping department.
(And you?) 203. The military doesn’t follow the “military model.” (Initiative = Excellence.) 204. No such thing as “going to absurd lengths” to serve the Customer.
(So don’t sleight.) (HSM & Lefties.) 205. Forget the “customer.” All = “Clients.” 206. It takes decades to get over “sleights.” 207. Don’t “dumb down.” Ever.
208.
209.
NO LESS THAN EXCELLENCE.
EVER.
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
Work In Progress XXX. One size fits. One. Only. (Evaluations. Period.) XXX. Teaching. Individualized. Only. (6 billion people = 6 billion learning trajectories.) (Montessori.) XXX. First impression. Matters. Shapes all that comes.
Hard to overcome. (Understatement.) XXX. Jerks. Don’t work with. (Life = Too short.) XXX. Manage [the hell out of] first impressions.
XXX. Last impression. Matters. Dominates memory.
Hard to overcome. (Understatement.) XXX. Manage [the hell out of] last impressions.
XXX. Plain English.
XXX. K.I.S.S. (450/8.) XXX. $798. $55,000,000,000. 3,000,000,000. 7AM-7PM. 6:15AM.
XXX. Donnelly Weatherstrip rules.
XXX. Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing. NOT.
GE (more or less) : The Sales122: 122 Ridiculously Obvious Thoughts About Selling Stuff Tom Peters/0402.2006
This list was first prepared for GE Energy sales & marketing people in January. It started with a half-dozen items, and grew like Topsy. Possibly, given its origins, it’s a little tilted toward complex, engineering based sales. In any event, it makes a perfect companion to “The Irreducibles209.” This, too, is effectively a list of “irreducibles.”
Tom Peters
1. “Strategy” overrated, simply “doin’ stuff” underrated. See Kelleher and Bossidy: “We have a ‘strategic plan,’ it’s called doing things.”—Herb Kelleher. “Execution is a systematic process of rigorously discussing hows and whats, tenaciously following through, and ensuring accountability.” — Things Done. Action has its own logic The Dr Phil of ...
— Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting ask Genghis Khan, Rommel, COL John Boyd, U.S. Grant, Patton, W.T. Sherman.
2. What are you personally great at? (Key word: “great.”) Play to strengths! “Distinct or Extinct.” You should aim to be “outrageously good”/B.I.W. at a niche area (or more).
3. Are you a “personality,” a de facto “brand” in the industry? 4. Opportunism (with a little forethought) mostly wins. (“Successful people are the ones who are good at Plan B.”) 5. Little starts can lead to big wins. Most true winners — think search & Google — start as something small. Many big deals — Disney & Pixar — could have been done as little er deals if you’d had the guts to jump before the value became obvious.
6. Non-obvious targets have great potential. Among many other things, everybody goes after the obvious ones. Also, the “non mark.) obvious” are often good Partners for technology experiments.
7. The best relationships are often (usually?) not “top to top”! (Often the best: hungry division GMs eager to make a 8. IT’S RELATIONSHIPS, STUPID— DEEP AND FROM MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS.
9. In any public-sector business, you must become an avid student of “the politics,” the incentives and constraints, mostly non-economic, facing all of the players. Politicians are usually incredibly logical — if you (deeply!) understand the matrix in which they exist.
10. Relationships from within our firm are as important — often more important — as those from outside — again broad is as important as deep. Allies projects!
— avid supporters!
— within and from non-obvious places may be more important than relationships at the Client organization. Goal: an “insanely unfair ‘market share’” of insiders’ time devoted to your
“Everyone lives by selling something.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson
11. Interesting outsiders are essential to innovative proposal and sales teams. An “exciting” sales -proposal team is as important as a prestigious one.
12. Is the proposal-sales team weird enough on the prowl for interesting new stuff.) typically a waste of (professional) time. 15. Don’t short “makes my day” for a key Client player— — weirdos come up with the most interesting, game-changer ideas. Period.
13. Lunch with at least one weirdo per month. (Goal: always 14. Gratuitous comment: Lunches with good friends are -change (time, money, depth) the proposal process. Miss one tiny nuance, one potential incentive that and watch the whole gig be torpedoed. 16. “Sticking with it” sometimes pays, sometimes not— never do, after a literal lifetime. (Ah, life.) 17. WOMEN ARE SIMPLY BETTER AT RELATIONSHIPS it takes a lot of tries to forge the best path in. Sometimes you —don’t get hung up — particularly in tech firms — on what industries countries “ women can’t do.” (Or some such bullshit.)
18. Work incessantly on your “story”— value — (“Storytelling is the core of culture.” — James Twitchell) Storyteller! (“A key – perhaps the key most economic value springs from a good story (think Perrier)! In sensitive public or quasi-public negotiations, a compelling story is of immense politics is about the tension among competing stories. (If you don’t believe me, ask Karl Rove or James Carville.)
Branded Nation: The
Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld, 19. Call this 18A, or 18 repeat: Become a first-rate – to leadership is the effective communication of a story.”— stories than advanced math — Howard Gardner, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership) 20. Risk Assessment & Risk Management is more about i.e., brilliant scenario construction.
21. Good listeners are good sales people. Period.
22. Lousy listeners are lousy sales people. Period. 23. GREAT LISTENERS ARE GREAT SALES PEOPLE. (Listening “skills” are hard to learn and subject to immense effort in pursuit of Mastery. A virtuoso “listener” is as rare as a virtuoso cello player.) (“If you don’t listen, you don’t sell anything.”— Carolyn Marland/MD/Guardian Group)
24. Things that are funny to me (American) are often-mostly not funny to those in other cultures. (Humor is as fine-edged as it gets, and rarely travels.) 25. You don’t know Jack Squat about other peoples’ cultures— especially if you are a typically myopic American. (Like me.) 26. Are you a great interviewer? It’s a make or break skill. (Think Barbara Walters’ skill at extracting unwanted truths from pros in persona-protection ... in front of 10s of millions of people.
27. Are you a great (not merely “good”) presenter? Mastering presentation skills is a life’s work— Harvey Mackay’s “Mackay 66”— out of control. Hooray for me.) 30. You can’t do it all— indifferent at. Hubris sucks.
with stupendous payoff.
28. Work like hell on the Big 2: LISTENING/INTERVIEWING, PRESENTING. These are “the essence of [sales] life”— and usually picked-up in an amateurish fashion. Mistake! (Become a “professional student” of these two areas, achieve Mastery.) 29. Are you good at flowers? Think: FLOWER POWER! (see what you should know about a Client; e.g., birthdays & anniversaries.) (My “flowers budget” is be clear at what you are good at, bad at,
“If you don’t listen, you don’t sell anything.”
—Carolyn Marland/ Managing Director/ Guardian Group
31. The point is not to “prove yourself.” (That’s ego -talk.) Let the best person present to the Client or sooner.) the long haul the so (E.g.: “We”— — No other goal is worthy.
the Client & me —perhaps a “lower level” geek. (“Control freaks” get their just desserts in the long haul— 32. The numbers will more or less take care of themselves over if the relationship/s is/are solid gold.
33. The Gold Standard in selling: INDISPENSABLE to the Client. 34. Never stop growing-broadening-deepening the relationship. The key to “indispensability” is to get the Client more and more … and more … and then more … imbedded in “our” web. Hence called “selling process” is only the first step!
35. USE THE WORD “WE” … CONSTANTLY & RELIGIOUSLY! —“are going to change the world with this service.”) 36. Don’t waste your time on jerks—it’ll rarely work out in the mid- to long-term.
37. Genius is walking away from lousy “scores” (deals)— and accepting the attendant heat. Big Business is the premier home to Big Egos overpaying by a factor of 2 to 22 with billion$$$$ at stake. (Think Jerry Levin and AOL Time Warner.)
38. You haven’t a clue as to how this situation will actually play out — be prepared to move fast in a different direction.
39. Keep your word.
40. KEEP YOUR WORD.
41. Underpromise (i.e., don’t over pay the piper. (GAMECHANGING — -promise; i.e., cut yourself a little slack) even if it costs you business — winning is a long-term affair. Over-promising is Sign #1 of a lack of integrity. You will 42. There is such a thing as a “good loss”—if you’ve tested something new and developed good relationships. A half-dozen honorable, ingenious losses over a two-year period can pave the way for a Big Victory in a New Space in year 3.
43. It’s a competitive world out there. New, innovative products are harder to sell than old stand-bys. Nonetheless, you will be a long-term star to the extent that you are willing to push the harder-to-sell-at-the-moment Innovative Products that cement long-term Client success (Indispensability!) — even if it means a #s hit this quarter. PART OF YOUR JOB: TAKE CLIENTS ON AN
ADVENTURE THAT PUTS THEM AHEAD OF THE GAME CALLED
hopefully) COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE!
44. Think “legacy”— — Mary Oliver) what the hell is all this really about for you and the world? (“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” 45. THERE ARE NO “MODERATES” IN THE HISTORY BOOKS! 46. Keep it simple! (Damn it!) No matter how “sophisticated” the product. If you can’t explain it in a phrase, a page, or to your 14 year old ... you haven’t got it right yet.
47. Know more than the next guy. Homework pays. (of course it’s obvious— but in my work it is too often honored in the breach.) 48. Regardless of project size, winning or losing invariably hinges on a raft of “little stuff.” Little stuff is and always has been everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
—or, “one man’s little stuff is another man’s 7.6 Richter deal egg on your face — breaker.” 49. In public settings in particular, face saving is all. When something changes, allow the other guy to come out looking like a winner, especially if he has lost. (Even if you must accept the he will always remember you!) 50. Don’t hold grudges. (It is the ultimate in small mindedness— and incredibly wasteful and ineffective. There’s always tomorrow.)
51. IT’S ALWAYS “THE POLITICS”—wee private-sector deal or giant public sector deal. (Every player, small or large, is angling for something. Master the calculus of advantage.) 52. To beat the “turnover problem” in key Client posts amidst long negotiations, invest outrageous amounts of time building a wide & deep set of relationships with mid-level (& lower!!) “plodding” “careerists.” The invisible careerists are the bedrock upon which repeated success is built! (My “Capitol Hill Axiom”: It’s the 24 kettles of fish short — -year-old LA who in the end briefs the Senator right before she goes to the Floor to vote.) 53. Speaking of “she”: Gender differences are Enormous— dealing with a woman and dealing with a man are different you must become an A+ student of gender differences. (E.g.: Men are typically more interested in the term “score.” Women are more interested in the long term consequences.) 54. “LITTLE PEOPLE” OFTEN HAVE BIG FRIENDS.
55. This is not war, damn it. All parties can win (or not lose, anyway). And losing bidders can walk away from a deal with increased respect for you and your team.
56. Never, ever dump on a competitor — the Tom Watson IBM glory-days mantra.
57. Never forget the “Law of Cousins!” In developing nations in particular, power brokers at all levels are at least cousins! Consideration for a second cousin can pay off big time.
58. Speaking of “favors,” jail sucks.
59. Work hard beats work smart. (Mostly.) 60. REPEAT: HE/SHE WHO HAS THE MOST-BEST RELATIONSHIPS WINS. RELATIONSHIPS ARE THE ESSENCE OF THE WORK OF THE SALESPERSON. THE HARD ... AND LONG ... WORK OF THE SALESPERSON. 61. Mano v mano “hardball” is seldom the answer— wider networks win. called “big negotiations” are essentially irrelevant.
63. If every then you are not taking any serious risks. 64. Phones beat email. end runs based and patient multi-level relationship building via deeper 62. If the deal is wired from below, truly wired, than the so quarter is a “little better” than the prior quarter—
“Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.
” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
65. A THREE-MINUTE CALL TODAY CAN AVOID A GAME-LOSER OF A FIASCO NEXT MONTH. There was always a time when a little thing could have been addressed that headed off a subsequent big thing. As to avoiding that call, didn’t someone say, “Pride goeth before the fall”?
66. Be hyper-organized about relationship management not catch-as-catch can. (Football analogies are cute 68. “THANK YOU” NOTES: World’s highest (But, gawd, does this take a gentle touch.) business of creating the maximum # of winners — — political understanding pays the private-school tuition.) — you are in the anthropology business. Study the great pols! Brilliant NRM (network relationship management) is not accidental! It is but deep 67. Obsess on ROIR (Return On Investment In Relationships).
-return investment!!
69. The way to anyone’s heart: Doing a nice thing for their kid. 70. Scoring off other people is stupid. Winners are always in the among adversaries at least as much as among “partners.” 71. Your colleagues’ successes are your successes. Period. (Trust me, my greatest personal success — financially as well as artistically — has been creating a bigger pond in which everyone wins, even if my “market share” is down.)
72. Lend a helping hand, especially when you don’t have the time. E.g. share relationships what you had to say.” — — the more you give away the more you get in return (just like they say in church). 73. Listen up: “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 college president. He was seriously interested in who you were and Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect. (I.e., Respect is Cool.) 74. Mentoring is a thrill its buns off for them!
— must not open a shop.”— and the practical payoff is enormous. The best mentors have the whole world working 75. Hire for enthusiasm. Promote for enthusiasm. Cherish enthusiasm. REMOVE NON-ENTHUSIASTS — THEY ARE CANCERS. (“Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.”— Samuel Taylor Coleridge. “A man without a smiling face Chinese Proverb.) 76. IT’S ALWAYS YOUR PROBLEM — you sold it to them.
77. It’s never over: While there may be an excellent service activity in your company, the “relationship” belongs to You! Hence the “aftersales” “moments of truth” are at least as— after-the-fact go-between with your company.
78. Don’t get too hung up on “systems integration”— foremost, the individual bits have got to work.
79. For God’s sake don’t over promise on “systems integration”—it’s nigh on impossible to deliver.
first & 80. On the other hand … winners clamber Up the Value SUCCESSFUL SALES PEOPLE ARE IN THE “SOLUTIONS BUSINESS”— no matter how jargony that may sound.
if not more than*--important to the Continuing Relationship as the sale “transaction” itself. (*I vote for “more than.”) You’ll get your biggest “points” with the Client for being an effective -added Ladder, and offer ever so much more than “mere” product. ALL
81. “Systems” / “Solutions” selling means grappling directly with “culture change” in Client organizations. (“The business of selling is not just about matching viable solutions to the customers that require them. 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”— BUYS — Jeff Thull, The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale) 82. Shit happens. That’s what they pay you for.
83. This is not a “GE” or “Ben & Jerry’s” sale— especially over the long haul.
it is a Joe Jones/Jane Jones sale. YOU ARE THE “BRAND” THE CLIENT 84. Duh: You make money, the company makes money — on repeat business.
85. Master — yes, you —the “PR” Game. “Word of Mouth” is not accidental! You want Word of Mouth? Make it happen! 86. GOAL #1: MAKE YOUR CLIENT A HERO 87. “Decent margins,” over the mid — YOU ARE NOT THERE TO GET CREDIT. (“Taking credit” is for egomaniacs. And losers.) - to long-term, are a product of better relationships, not better “negotiating skill.” (Mostly.)
“You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner. You’ve got to be out there on the lunatic fringe.”
—Jack Welch
88. In the immortal words of ex-GE Vice Chairman Larry Bossidy, more or less, “Realism rocks.” (“Bullshit artist” and “great salesperson,” contrary to conventional wisdom, are Diametric Opposites. “Truthteller” and Great Salesperson is more like it.) 89. Be the first to tell the Client bad news (e.g., slipped delivery); his intelligence sources will tell him fast Truthteller!
expert, to become an industry resource.
— you want to be there first with your story and to enhance your rep as 90. Work like hell to get a reputation as a valued industry 91. Work the Trade Association angle for all its worth — it may take a decade to pay off ORG!
— e.g., when you become an officer or are on an important panel or testify Before Congress.
92. PAY YOUR DUES IN THE CLIENT ORG AND IN YOUR OWN 93. It’s all bloody tactics.
94. You must ... LOVE .... the product! (Period.) 95. YOU MUST LOVE THE PRODUCT!
96. Don’t over schedule. “Running late” is inexcusable at any level of seniority; it is the ultimate mark of self-importance mixed with contempt.
97. Women are better salespeople. (See Addendum.) 98. Women alone understand Women.
99. Actually, Women by and large understand Men better than Men understand Men.
100.Women purchasers buy Stories and recommendations.
101. Women take longer to become Loyal purchasers, but then stay Loyal.
102. Men buy Stats.
103. Men decide fast, but are fickle.
104. Men & Women are … VERY, VERY … Different.
105. Women buy most things. Consumer. Increasingly, professional goods and services.
106. Women’s Market is Opportunity #1.
107. Boomers. Many, many. Lots & lots & lots of … $$$.
108. Boomers-Geezers are very different purchasers than those in other categories.
109. It takes time to get to know people. (DUH.) 110. The very idea of “efficiency” in relationship development is ... STUPID.
111. MBWA (still) rules.
112. “Preparing the soil” is the “first 98 percent.” (Or more.) 113. WORK THE PHONES!
114. Rule 5K-5M: 5K miles for a 5-Minute meeting often makes sense. (Yes, often.) (Even with constrained travel budgets.) (Thanks, super-agent Mark McCormack.) 115. Become a student! Study great salespeople! (Including Presidents.) (“Natural” is a little bit true— but then Naturals are always the ones who study hardest — e.g., Jerry Rice.) 116. Become a student! Yes, you can study Relationship Building. So, study … 117. Beware complexifiers and complicators. (Truly “smart people” ... Simplify things.)
118. The smartest guy in the room rarely wins — alas, he usually is aware he’s the smartest guy. (And needn’t waste his time on that “soft relationship crap.”) 119. Be kind. It works.
120. Be especially kind when there are screw-ups. (There’s plenty of time later to Play the Great Accountability Game.) 121. Presidents never tire of being treated like Presidents.
122. Luck matters. So: Good luck!
ADDENDUM: Women Rock … as Salespersons (From Item #98.) And the answers are?
“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?
inclined to get involved?
agreement? Who has better intuition? Who has more interest in communication skills? Who is more Who encourages harmony and Who works with a longer ‘to do’ list?
Who enjoys a recap to the day’s events?
others?” Who is better at keeping in touch with Source: Selling Is a Woman’s Game: 15 Powerful Reasons Why Women Can Outsell Men, Nicki Joy & Susan Kane-Benson
Tom’s
60TIBs*
*TIB = This I Believe
EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.
1. TECHNICOLOR RULES! (Passion Moves Mountains!)
2. Audacity Matters!
3. Revolution Now!
4. Question Authority! (& Hire Disrespectful People.)
5. Disorganization Wins! (LOVE THE MESS!)
6. Think 3M: Markets Matter Most. ONLY EXTREME COMPETITION STAVES OFF STALENESS. (You can take the boy out of Silicon Valley, but you can’t take Silicon Valley out of the boy!)
7. Three Hearty Cheers for Weirdos. (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Scott McNealy, Craig Venter et al.)
8. Message 2006: Technology Change (Info sciences, Biosciences) Is in Its Infancy! (WE AIN’T SEE NOTHIN’ YET!)
9. Everything Is Up For Grabs! Volatility Is Thy Name! (Forever & Ever. Amen.) RE INVENT … OR DIE!
10. Big Stinks. (Mostly.) (VERY Mostly.)
11. “Permanence” Is a Snare & a Delusion.
(Forget “Built to Last.” It’s Yesterday’s Idea.) (Try “Built for Impact.”)
12. “Kaizen” (Continuous Improvement) Is VDS/ V ery … Dangerous … Stuff.
13. DESTRUCTION RULES!
14. Forget It! (“Learning” = Easy. “Forgetting” = Nigh on Impossible.)
15. Innovation Is Easy: Hang Out with Freaks.
(Employees, Board Members, Customers, Suppliers, Alliance Partners, Consultants.)
16. Boring Begets Boring. (Cool
Begets Cool.)
17. Think “Portfolio.” (We’re All V.C.s.)
18. Perception Is All There Is. (“Insiders” … ALWAYS … overestimate the Radicalism of What They’re Up To.)
19. Action … ALWAYS … Takes Precedence. Think: R.F!A./Ready. Fire! Aim. (REWARD SUCCESS. REWARD FAILURE. PUNISH … INACTION.)
20. He Who Makes &
Tests the Quickest & Coolest Prototypes Reigns!
21. Haste Makes Waste.
(SO GO WASTE!)
22. Screwups are … the … Mark of Excellence. (“Do It Right the First Time” Is a Very Stupi Idea.)
23. Play Hard! Play Now! (Cherish Play!)
24. TALENT TIME!
(He/She Who Has the Best “Roster” Rules!)
25. Re-do Education. Totally. (FOSTER CREATIVITY … NOT UNIFORMITY.) (THE NOISIEST CLASSROOM WINS.)
26. Diversity’s Hour Is Now!
27.
SHE
Is the Best Leader!
…
28. MARKETING MANTRA:
Embrace the “BIG THREE” Demographics.
(1) SHE … is the Customer. (For everything.) (2) Rapidly Aging Boomers Have … ALL THE MONEY. (3) Green Matters. (TRILLIONS OF $$$$$ Are at Stake.) (NOBODY … Gets It.) (Mere “Programs” Will Not Suffice.)
29. Re-boot Healthcare. (UNDERSTATEMENT.)
30. WHAT ARE WE SELLING?
“Experiences” & “Solutions” > “Quality” &
“Satisfaction.” (The Traditional Value-added Equation Is Being Set on Its Ear.)
31. DESIGN = New Seat of the Soul.
32. Branding Is for … EVERYONE. He Who Has the … BEST STORY … Takes Home the Marbles.
33. DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE = Only Difference.
34. WORDS/Language Matters … a Lot. (E.g.: Three Hearty Cheers for “Wow”!)
35. WHAT MATTERS IS STUFF THAT MATTERS. (Query #1:
“Are You Proud of It?”)
36. eALL. (IS/IT: Half-way = No Way.)
37. DREAM … Big! DREAM … Enormous! DREAM … Gargantuan!
(These Are XXX Times.)
38. THINK MIKE! (Michelangelo: “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.”)
39. There Is Only … ONE BIG ISSUE: (Crappy) Cross functional Communication.
40. Stop Doing Dumb Stuff. (SYSTEMATIZE THE PROCESS OF “UN DUMBING.”)
41. Beautiful Systems Are … BEAUTIFUL.
42. The … WHITE COLLAR REVOLUTION … Will Devour Everything in Its Path.
43. Take Charge of Your Destiny! BrandYou Moment! DISTINCT … OR EXTINCT!
44. “Powerlessness” Is a State of Mind! Think: King. Gandhi. DeGaulle.
45. Pursue
Adventure … in Every Task.
46.
EXCELLENCE … Is a State of Mind.
(Excellence Takes a Minute.) (No Bull.)
47. SHOW UP! (If You Care, You’re There.)
48. YOUR CALENDAR KNOWS ALL.
(You = Calendar.)
(Mind Your “TO DON’T” List.)
49. LIFE IS SALES. (The Rest Is Details.)
50. Boss Mantra #1: “I DON’T KNOW.” (“I Don’t Know” = Permission to Explore.)
51. Management Role 1: GET OUT OF THE WAY. (Clear the Way.)
(“Manager” = Hurdle Removal Professional.)
52. Epitaph from Hell:
“He Woulda Done Some Truly Cool Stuff … But His Boss Wouldn’t Let Him.”
53. Change Takes However Long You Think It Takes. (Eschew … “Incrementalism.”)
54. Respect! (Rule 1: Don’t Belittle!)
55. “Thank You” Trumps All!
56. Integrity Matters!
Integrity = Credibility.
(Dennis K. Is a Jerk.)
57. SOFT IS HARD. HARD IS SOFT.
(Numbers Are Soft. People Are Not.)
58. Try Sunny! (Sunny Begets Sunny.
Gloomy Begets Gloomy.)
59. DISPENSE
ENTHUSIASM
!
60. FUN …Is Not a 4 Letter Word. So, too … JOY. (And GRACE.)