Transcript Tom Peters’ The Talent50 02.20.2003 “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” —General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U.

Tom Peters’
The
Talent50
02.20.2003
“If you don’t like
change, you’re going
to like irrelevance
even less.” —General Eric
Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army
“IT MAY SOMEDAY BE SAID THAT THE 21ST
CENTURY BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. …
“Al-Qaeda represents a new and
profoundly dangerous kind of
organization—one that might be called
a ‘virtual state.’ On September 11 a virtual
state proved that modern societies are
vulnerable as never before.”—Time/09.09.2002
“The deadliest strength of America’s new adversaries
is their very fluidity, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld believes. Terrorist networks, unburdened by
fixed borders, headquarters or conventional forces, are
free to study the way this nation responds to threats
and adapt themselves to prepare for what Mr. Rumsfeld
is certain will be another attack. …
“ ‘Business as usual won’t do it,’ he said. His
answer is to develop swifter, more lethal ways to
fight. ‘Big institutions aren’t swift on their feet in
adapting but rather ponderous and clumsy and
slow.’ ”—The New York Times/09.04.2002
From:
To:
Weapon v.
Weapon
Org structure v.
Org structure
“Our military structure
today is essentially one
developed and
designed by
Napoleon.”
Admiral Bill Owens, former Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Eric’s Army
Flat.
Fast.
Agile.
Adaptable.
Light … But Lethal.
Talent/ “I Am An Army Of One.”
Info-intense.
Network-centric.
1. People
First!
“When land was the scarce
resource, nations battled
over it. The same is
happening now for
talented people.”
Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH
Talent!
Tina Brown: “The
first thing
to do is to hire enough
talent that a critical mass
of excitement starts to
grow.”
Source: Business2.0/12.2002-01.2003
Whoops: Jack
didn’t have a vision!*
*GE = “Talent Machine” (Ed Michaels)
2. Soft Is
Hard.
“Soft” Is
“Hard”
- ISOE
3. FUNDAMENTAL
PREMISE: We Are in an
Age
of Talent/ Creativity/
Intellectual-capital
Added.
Age of Agriculture
Industrial Age
Age of Information Intensification
Age of Creation Intensification
Source: Murikami Teruyasu, Nomura Research Institute
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
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
4. Talent
“Excellence” in
Every Part of the
Organization.
5. P.O.T./
Pursuit Of
Talent =
OBSESSION.
Model
25/8/53
Sports Franchise GM*
*48 = $500M
“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”
Les Wexner: From
sweaters to people!
6. Talent Masters
Understand Talent’s
Intangibles.
Visibly energetic/ Passionate/ Enthusiastic … about
everything.
Engaging/ Inspires others. (Inspires the
interviewer!)
Loves messes & pressure.
Impatient/ Action fanatic.
A finisher.
Exhibits: Fat “WOW Project” Portfolio. (Loves to talk about
her work.)
Smart.
Curious/ Eclectic interests/ A little (or more) weird.
Well-developed sense of humor/ Fun to be around.
******
No. 1 re bosses: Exceptional talent selection & development
record. (Former co-workers: “Did you visibly grow while
working with X?” / “How has the department/team grown
on a ‘world-class’ scale during X’s tenure?”)
7. HR Is
“Cool.”
Chicago
November 1999:
HRMAC
“support function” / “cost
center” / “bureaucratic
drag”
or …
Are you “Rock
Stars of the
Age of Talent”
Have you
changed
civilization
today?
Source: HP banner ad
8. HR Sits at
The Head
Table.
DD$21M
9. Re-name
“HR.”
Talent
Department
People Department
Center for Talent Excellence
Seriously Cool People Who Recruit
& Develop Seriously Cool People
Etc.
10. There Is
an “HR
Strategy.”
11. There Is a
FORMAL
Recruitment
Strategy.
The NFL
Standard!
12. There Is a
FORMAL Leadership
Development
Strategy.
13. There is a
“World Class”
Leadership
Development
CENTER.
DD: 0 to 60 in a
flash (months)
14. There Is a
FORMAL STRATEGIC
HR Review Process.
15. The “Top100,”
and Every Unit’s
Top10, Are
Consciously
Managed.
“In most companies, the Talent Review
Process is a farce. At GE, Jack Welch and
his two top HR people visit each division
for a day. They review the top 20 to 50
people by name. They talk about Talent
Pool strengthening issues. The Talent
Review Process is a contact sport at GE; it
has the intensity and the importance of the
budget process at most companies.”—Ed
Michaels
16. “People”/
Talent” Reviews
Are the FIRST
Reviews.
17.
HR Strategy =
Business Strategy.
18. Make it a
“Cause Worth
Signing Up For.”
“Create a
‘cause,’ not a
‘business.’ ”
G.H.:
Leaders don’t just make products
and make decisions.
Leaders make
meaning.
– John Seeley Brown
19. Set Sky
High
Standards.
From “1, 2 or you’re out” [JW]
to …
“Best Talent in each
industry segment to build
best proprietary
intangibles” [EM]
Source: Ed Michaels, War for Talent
20. Enlist
Everyone in
Challenge
Century21.
“If there is nothing
very special about
your work, no matter how
hard you apply yourself, you
won’t get noticed, and that
increasingly means you won’t
get paid much either.”
Michael Goldhaber, Wired
108 X 5
vs.
8X1
= 540 vs. 8 (-98.5%)
IBM’s Project
eLiza!*
* “Self-bootstrapping”/ “Artilects”
E.g. …
Jeff Immelt: 75% of “admin, back
room, finance” “digitalized” in
years.
Source: BW (01.28.02)
BW Cover/02.2003
“IS YOUR JOB NEXT? A
New Round of GLOBALIZATION Is
Sending Upscale Jobs Offshore.
They Include Chip Design, Basic
Research—even Financial
Analysis. Can America Lose These
Jobs and Still Prosper?”
21. Pursue
the Best!
“Differentiation is all about being
extreme, rewarding the best and
weeding out the ineffective. … You
build strong teams by treating
individuals differently. Just look at
the way baseball teams pay 20game winning pitchers and 40-plus
homerun hitters.”—Jack Welch
“best person in
the world” —Arthur
Blank
22. Up or
Out.
“We believe companies can increase their
market cap 50 percent in 3 years. Steve
changed 20 of
his 40 box plant managers to put
more talented, higher paid
managers in charge. He increased
Macadam at Georgia-Pacific
profitability from $25 million to $80 million
in 2 years.”
Ed Michaels, War for Talent
Message: Some
people are
better than other
people. Some people
are a helluva lot
better than other
people.
23. Ensure that
the Review
Process Has
INTEGRITY.
25 = 100*
* “But what do I do that’s more important than developing
people? I don’t do the damn work. They do.”
24. Fork
Over!
“Top performing companies are
two to four times more likely
than the rest to pay
what
it takes to prevent losing
top performers.”
Ed Michaels, War for Talent (05.17.00)
25. Training I:
Train! Train!
Train!
3 Weeks in May
“Training” & Prep: 187
“Work”: 41
(“Other”: 17)
1%
vs.
367%
Divas do it. Violinists do it.
Sprinters do it. Golfers do it.
Pilots do it. Soldiers do it.
Surgeons do it. Cops do it.
Astronauts do it. Why don’t
businesspeople do it?
“Knowledge becomes obsolete
incredibly fast. The
continuing professional
education of adults is the
No. 1 industry in the next 30
years … mostly on line.”
Peter Drucker,
Business 2.0 (22August2000)
Edward Jones’ Training Machine*
146 hours/employee/year
New hires: 4X avg.
3.8% of payroll
* #1, “The 100 Best Companies To Work
For”/Fortune/01.2003
26. Training II:
100% “Business
People.”
27. Training III:
100%
LEADERS.
“I start with the
premise that the
function of leadership
is to produce more
leaders, not more
followers.”—Ralph Nader
Brand You, Big Time!
I AM AN
ARMY OF
ONE
28. Training IV:
Boss as Trainerin-Chief.
Workout = 24
DPY in the
Classroom
29. Open
Communication I:
NO BARRIERS.
“The organizations we created have
become tyrants. They have taken
control, holding us fettered, creating
barriers that hinder rather than help
our businesses. The lines that we
drew on our neat organizational
diagrams have turned into walls
that no one can scale or penetrate
or even peer over.” —Frank Lekanne Deprez &
Rene Tissen, Zero Space: Moving Beyond Organization Limits.
“Dawn Meyerreicks, CTO of the Defense Intelligence Systems Agency, made
one of the most fateful military calls of the 21st century. After 9/11 … her office
quickly leased all the available transponders covering Central Asia. The
implications should change everything about U.S. military thinking in the
years ahead.
“The U.S. Air Force had kicked off its fight against the Taliban with an
ineffective bombing campaign, and Washington was anguishing over whether
to send in a few Army divisions. Donald Rumsfeld told Gen. Tommy Franks to
give the initiative to 250 Special Forces already on the ground. They used
satellite phones, Predator surveillance drones, and GPS- and laser-based
targeting systems to make the air strikes brutally effective.
“In effect, they ‘Napsterized’ the battlefield by cutting out the middlemen
(much of the military’s command and control) and working directly with the
real players. … The data came in so fast that HQ revised operating procedures
to allow intelligence analysts and attack planners to work directly together.
Their favorite tool, incidentally, was instant messaging over a secure
network.”—Ned Desmond/“Broadband’s New Killer App”/Business 2.0/
OCT2002
30. Open
Communication II:
Share (ALL)
Information.
m-“On” or Out of the Loop
“Managers in Finland always keep
their phones on. Customers expect
fast reactions. And if you can’t reach a
superior, you make many decisions
yourself—managers who want to
influence decisions of subordinates
must keep their phones open.” —Risto
Linturi, Finnish m-guru, in Howard Rheingold’s Smart
Mobs
31. 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 college president. He
was
seriously interested in who you
were and what you had to say.”
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
“Leaders are living
individuals whom
employees smell,
feel, touch their
presence.”
#49
32. Embrace
the Whole
Individual.
33. Build
Places of
“Grace.”
“My favorite word is grace –
grace,
saving grace, grace under
fire, Grace Kelly. How we live
whether it’s amazing
contributes to beauty – whether
it’s how we treat other people or
the environment.”
Celeste Cooper, designer
Rodale’s on “Grace” …
elegance … charm …
loveliness … poetry in
motion … kindliness ..
benevolence … benefaction
… compassion … beauty
34. MBWA:
The “Rudy
Rule.”
“The first and greatest
imperative of command
is to be present in
person. Those who
impose risk must be
seen to share it.” —John
Keegan, The Mask of Command
35. Thank
You!
“The deepest human
need to
be appreciated.”
need is the
William James
“The two most powerful things
a kind
word and a
thoughtful
gesture.”
in existence:
Ken Langone, CEO, Invemed Associates [from Ronna
Lichtenberg, It’s Not Business, It’s Personal]
36. Promote for
“people skills.”
(THE REST IS
DETAILS.)
33 Division Titles. 26
League Pennants. 14
World Series: Earl Weaver—0.
Tom Kelly—0. Jim Leyland—0.
Walter Alston—1AB. Tony
LaRussa—132 games, 6 seasons.
Tommy Lasorda—P, 26 games.
Sparky Anderson—1 season.
37. Honor
Youth.
“Why focus on these late teens and twentysomethings? Because they are the first
young who are both in a position to
change the world, and are actually
doing so. … For the first time in history,
children are more comfortable, knowledgeable
and literate than their parents about an
innovation central to society. … The Internet has
triggered the first industrial revolution in history
to be led by the young.”
The Economist [12/2000]
8 Minutes*
—Dr. Sugata Mira, NIIT/ New Delhi/
1999**
*Ignorance to Surfing
**And then there’s oya yubi sedai, the “thumb generation”
38. Provide Early
Leadership
Assignments.
39. Create a
FORMAL System
of Mentoring.
W. L. Gore
Quad/Graphics
40. Diversity!
“Diversity defines the health
and wealth of nations in a new
century. Mighty is the mongrel. The hybrid is hip.
The impure, the mélange, the adulterated, the
blemished, the rough, the black-and-blue, the mixand-match – these people are inheriting the earth.
Mixing is the new norm. Mixing trumps isolation. It
spawns creativity, nourishes the human spirit, spurs
economic growth and empowers nations.”
G. Pascal Zachary, The Global Me:
New Cosmopolitans and the Competitive Edge
CM Prof Richard Florida on
“Creative Capital”: “You cannot
get a technologically
innovative place unless it’s
open to weirdness,
eccentricity and difference.”
Source: New York Times/06.01.2002
“Where do good new ideas come
from? That’s simple! From
differences. Creativity comes
from unlikely juxtapositions.
The best way to maximize differences
is to mix ages, cultures and
disciplines.”
Nicholas Negroponte
Duh!
“We want our associate population to mirror our
customer population at every level, from the executive
suite all the way to the retail floor. In the marketplace,
basically what I want to do is draw a concentric circle
around every one of our 2,300 stores, and I want the
assortment in that store to match the ethnicity of the
neighborhood it’s in. Some neighborhoods are all
Hispanic, so we can put in a full Hispanic format. That’s
what Super Saver is. All the signage is in both
languages. There’s a 100 percent Spanish-speaking
staff in the store.”—Larry Johnston, CEO, Albertsons
41. WOMEN
RULE.*
*Duh.
“AS LEADERS, WOMEN
RULE: New Studies find
that female managers
outshine their male
counterparts in almost
every measure”
Title, Special Report, Business Week, 11.20.00
“American women possess leadership
abilities that are particularly effective in
today’s organizations, yet their abilities
remain undervalued and underutilized.
In the future, what will distinguish one
organization and one country from
another will be its use of human
resources. Today human resource
utilization is not only a matter of social
justice but a bottom-line issue.”
Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret
Women’s Strengths Match New Economy
Imperatives: Link [rather than rank] workers;
favor interactive-collaborative leadership style
[empowerment beats top-down decision making];
sustain fruitful collaborations; comfortable with
sharing information; see redistribution of power
as victory, not surrender; favor multi-dimensional
feedback; value technical & interpersonal skills,
individual & group contributions equally; readily
accept ambiguity; honor intuition as well as pure
“rationality”; inherently flexible; appreciate
cultural diversity.
Source: Judy B. Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret
“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
“Investors are looking more and more
for a relationship with their financial
advisers. They
want someone
they can trust, someone who
listens. In my experience, in general,
women may be better at these
relationship-building skills than are
men.”
Hardwick Simmons, CEO, Prudential Securities
“Thank you”
17 Men: 8
4 Women: 19
“Women speak and hear a language of
connection and intimacy, and men
speak and hear a language of status
and independence. Men communicate
to obtain information, establish their
status, and show independence.
Women communicate to create
relationships, encourage interaction,
and exchange feelings.”
Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret
63 of 2,500 top earners in F500
8% Big 5 partners
14% partners at top 250 law firms
43% new med students; 26% med
faculty; 7% deans
Source: Susan Estrich, Sex and Power
Opportunity!
U.S.
M.Mgt.
41%
T.Mgt.
4%
Peak Partic. Age 45
% Coll. Stud.
52%
G.B. E.U. Ja.
29% 18% 6%
3%
2%
<1%
22
27
19
50% 48% 26%
Source: Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret
Ass Of The Year2002 (?): Maurice Greenberg, A.I.G., on
the Company’s New (All Male) Leadership Team
“In a lot of countries of the world, it
would be very difficult for a woman to
be a good CEO. … I have a
responsibility to do the best we can for
shareholders.” * **
*Source: New York Times/05.05.02
**Wouldn’t you love to watch him tell that … face-toface … to Margaret Thatcher or Carly Fiorina? (I would.)
“Deloitte was doing a great job of hiring highperforming women; in fact, women often earned
higher performance ratings than men in their first
years with the firm. Yet the percentage of women
decreased with step up the career ladder. … Most
women weren’t leaving to raise families; they
had weighed their options in Deloitte’s maledominated culture and found them wanting.
Many, dissatisfied with a culture they perceived as
endemic to professional service firms, switched
professions.”
Douglas McCracken, “Winning the Talent War for Women” [HBR]
“The process of assigning plum
accounts was largely unexamined. …
Male partners made assumptions:
‘I wouldn’t put her on that kind of
company because it’s a tough
manufacturing environment.’ ‘That
client is difficult to deal with.’ ‘Travel
puts too much pressure on women.’ ”
Douglas McCracken, “Winning the Talent War for
Women” [HBR]
Goldsmith College research (UK): Gender
stereotypes re-enforced. Men who extoll
successes rewarded, women not. Men
who face interviewer head on upgraded;
women who look at floor or use sidelong
glances do better. Women who nod
repeatedly do better, not men. Men who
give long answers score well, women who
give short answers do well. (College grads
seeking jobs; HR interviewers—2 M, 2F.)
Source: The Observer/ London/ 01.12.2003
The Core Argument
1. We are in a War for Talent.
2. The war will intensify.
3. Women are under-represented in our leadership
ranks.
4. Women and men are different.
5. Women’s strengths match the New Economy’s
leadership needs—to a striking degree.
6. Women are also the principal purchasers of goods
and services—retail and commercial.
7. Ergo, women are a large part of “the answer” to the
War for Talent issue/opportunity.
42. Diversity Starts
on the Board of
Directors.
“Would Congress [the
Boardroom] be a different
place if half the members
were women?”
From Sex and Power, Susan Estrich
Norwegian Law: Boards must have
at least
women.
43. Hire (&
Protect)
Weird.
enough
weird people in
“Are there
the lab these days?”
V. Chmn., pharmaceutical house, to a lab director (06.01)
The Cracked Ones Let in the Light
“Our business needs a massive
transfusion of talent, and talent, I
believe, is most likely to be found
among non-conformists,
dissenters and rebels.”
David Ogilvy
“Deviance tells
the story of every mass
market ever created. What
Deviants, Inc.
starts out weird and dangerous
becomes America’s next big corporate
payday. So are you looking for the next
mass market idea? It’s out there … way
out there.”
Source: Ryan Matthews & Watts Wacker, Fast Company (03.02)
Saviors-in-Waiting
Disgruntled Customers
Off-the-Scope Competitors
Rogue Employees
Fringe Suppliers
Wayne Burkan, Wide Angle Vision: Beat the Competition by Focusing on
Fringe Competitors, Lost Customers, and Rogue Employees
“Rumsfeld values
mavericks and tries
to protect and
promote them.” —
Newsweek/ 09.16.02
44. Cherish
Boldness!
No Wiggle Room!
“Incrementalism
is innovation’s
worst enemy.”
Nicholas Negroponte
“In the modern military, risk is
anathema to rising stars, who
cannot afford any slip-ups on
their records. ‘Zero defects’ and
‘zero tolerance’ are common
bywords.”—Newsweek/09.16.02
“Reward excellent
failures. Punish
mediocre
successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
45. We Are All
Unique.
Beware Lurking HR Types …
One size
NEVER fits all.
One size fits
one. Period.
48 Players =
48 Projects =
48 different success
measures.
46. Bosses
“Win People
Over.”
WHAT AN IDIOT: “Instead
of employees being in the driver’s
seat, now we’re in the driver’s
seat.”
“Coaching
is winning
players over.”
PJ:
47. GOAL:
Voyages of
Mutual
Discovery.
I am inalterably opposed to
“organization change,”
“empowerment,” “motivation.” The
goal: to awaken the latent talent
already within, by providing
opportunities worthy of the
individual’s investment of her or
his most precious resources …
time and emotional commitment.
Leaders-Teachers Do Not “Transform People”!
Instead leaders-mentors-teachers (1) provide a
context which is marked by (2) access to a luxuriant
portfolio of meaningful opportunities (projects) which
(3) allow people to fully (and safely, mostly—caveat: “they”
don’t engage unless they’re “mad about something”) express
their innate curiosity and (4) engage in a vigorous
discovery voyage (alone and in small teams, assisted by an
extensive self-constructed network) by which those people
(5) go to-create places they (and their mentors-teachersleaders) had never dreamed existed—and then the
leaders-mentors-teachers (6) applaud like hell, stage
“photo-ops,” and ring the church bells
100 times to commemorate the bravery of their
“followers’ ” explorations!
“Firms will not ‘manage the
careers’ of their employees. They
will provide opportunities to
enable the employee to develop
identity and adaptability and
thus be in charge of his or her
own career.”
Tim Hall et al., “The New Protean Career Contract”
“H.R.” to “H.E.D.” ???
Human
Enablement
Department
48. Foster
Independence.
“You must realize that how you invest your
human capital matters as much as how you
invest your financial capital. Its rate of return
determines your future options. Take a job for
what it teaches you, not for what it pays.
Instead of a potential employer asking,
‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’
you’ll ask, ‘If I invest my mental assets with
you for 5 years, how much will they
appreciate? How much will my portfolio of
career options grow?’ ”
Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH
THE rise up and flee
your cubicle STREET
JOURNAL
Adventures in Capitalism
THE I work for a
company called Me
STREET JOURNAL
Adventures in Capitalism
Thriving in 24/7 (Sally Helgesen)
START AT THE CORE. Nimbleness only possible if we
“locate our inner voice,” take regular inventory of
where we are.
LEARN TO ZIGZAG. Think “gigs.” Think lifelong
learning. Forget “old loyalty.” Work on optimism.
CREATE OUR OWN WORK. Articulate your value.
Integrate your passions. I.D. your market. Run your
own business.
WEAVE A STRONG WEB OF INCLUSION. Build your
own support network. Master the art of “looking
people up.”
49.
Enthusiasm!
BZ: “I am a …
Dispenser of
Enthusiasm!”
“A leader is a
dealer in
hope.”
Napoleon
(+TP’s writing room pics)
50. Talent =
Brand.
What’s your company’s …
Employee Value Proposition, per Ed
Michaels et al., The War for Talent
EVP = Challenge,
professional growth,
respect, satisfaction,
opportunity, reward
Source: Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent
The Top 5 “Revelations”
Better talent wins.
Talent management is my job as leader.
Talented leaders are looking for the moon
and stars.
Over-deliver on people’s dreams – they are
volunteers.
Pump talent in at all levels, from all
conceivable sources, all the time.
Source: Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent
MantraM3
Talent = Brand