Punchline …

The last word: There is no last word.

NEW ZEALAND 2007

Ho hum: 2+ weeks in New Zealand …

Pfizer Ford Gap Chrysler Yahoo microsoft wal*mart ???

???

“ It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

—Charles Darwin

Tom Peters’ X25*

EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

Miller Agency/0316.2007

* In Search of Excellence 1982-2007

Slides at …

tompeters.com*

*Also see “LONG”

EXCELL ENCE????

“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

EXCELLENCE. ASPIRATION.

“Why in the world did you go to Siberia?”

Synonyms Purity Transcendence Virtue Elegance Majesty Antonyms

Mediocrity

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.

EXCELLENCE. INNOVATE. OR. DIE.

We become who we hang out with 1

Measure “Strangeness”/Portfolio Quality Staff Consultants Vendors Out-sourcing Partners Competitors Customers Product Portfolio IS/IT Projects HQ Location Lunch Mates Language (#, Quality) Innovation Alliance Partners (who we “benchmark” against) Strategic Initiatives (LineEx v. Leap) Board

“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

“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

We become who we hang out with 2

Whacky

Wiki Wo rld

Wow

“The Billion-man Research Team: Companies offering work to online communities are reaping the benefits of ‘crowdsourcing.’” —Headline, FT , 0110.07

try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it.

Try it. Try it. Try it. Screw it up.

Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Screw it up.

it. Try it. Try it. try it. Try it.

Screw it up.

Try it. Try it. Try it.

“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

“We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the software.

and again.

We fixed them by doing it over and over, again

We do the same today. While our competitors are still sucking their thumbs trying to make the design perfect, we’re already on prototype version

#

5.

By the time our rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on version

#

10.

It gets back to planning versus acting: We act from day one; others plan how to plan— for months.”

—Bloomberg by Bloomberg

Screw. things.

Up.

Sam’s Secret

#1!

“Reward

excellent failures.

Punish

mediocre successes.” Phil Daniels, Sydney exec

try.

Miss.

try.

READY.

FIRE!

AIM.

No try. No deal.

“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”

—Wayne Gretzky

EXCELLENCE. 4/40.

De-cent ral-iz a-tion!

“If it feels painful and scary—that’s

real

delegation.”

—Caspian Woods, small biz owner

“Best practice” = ZERO Standard Deviation = Whaddawaste

Ex-e cu-tion!

“

Execution is the job of the business leader

.”

—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

“Costco figured out the big , simple things and executed with total fanaticism .”

—Charles Munger, Berkshire Hathaway

Ac-count a-bil-ity!

“GE has set a standard of candor. … There is no puffery. …

There isn’t an ounce of denial in the place.”

—Kevin Sharer, CEO Amgen, on the “GE mystique” (Fortune)

6:15A.M.

DECENTRALIZATION/ everything.

EXECUTION/98.

ACCOUNTABILITY.

6 :15A.M.

Up, Up, Up, Up

the Value-added Ladder.

The Value-added Ladder/ OPPORTUNITY-SEEKING Gamechanging Solutions Services Goods Raw Materials

“

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

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

The Value-added Ladder/ MEMORABLE CONNECTION Spellbinding Experiences Gamechanging Solutions Services Goods Raw Materials

EXCELLENCE. DRAMATIC.

DIFFERENCE.

DOABLE.

“The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of companies, employing

similar similar

with

similar

educational backgrounds, coming up with ideas, producing

similar

prices and

similar

people, with

s

similar imilar

things, quality.” —Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle, Funky Business

7X.

730A 800P.

F12A

.

*

* ’93-’03/10 yr annual return: CB: 29%; WM: 17%; HD: 16%. Mkt Cap: 48% p.a.

Jim’s Group

Jim Penman/“Empire Builders”/ Jan/Feb 2006/Australia MT /

EXCELLENCE. NO EXCUSES.

WallopWal*Mart16* *Or: Why it’s so ABSURDLY EASY to BEAT a GIANT Company

The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16 * Niche-aimed.

Wal*Mart.) (Never, ever “all things for all people,” a “mini * Never attack the monsters head on!

(Instead steal niche business and lukewarm customers.) * “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, Vendors.

ON EMOTION/CONNECTION!!) (BEAT THE BIGGIES

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.

convert ‘needs’ into ‘dreams.’ Sales are the inevitable result.” We — Judy George, Domain Home Fashions

The Value-added Ladder/ EMOTION Dreams Come True Spellbinding Experiences Gamechanging Solutions Services Goods Raw Materials

Kevin Roberts:

Lovemarks

!

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

women.

BOOMERS.

GEEZERS.

women.

BOOMERS.

GEEZERS.

“Forget

China

,

India

and the

Internet

: Economic Growth Is Driven by

Women

.” Economist , April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14 —Headline,

“Women are

the

majority market”

—Fara Warner/ The Power of the Purse

10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE Women Women Women Women make [all] the financial decisions.

control [all] the wealth.

[substantially] outlive men.

start most of the new businesses.

Women’s Women work force participation rates have soared worldwide. [2 of 3] are closing in on “same pay for same job.” Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly [even if the pace is slow for the corner office per se].

Women’s leadership strengths are exceptionally well aligned with new organizational effectiveness & value-added imperatives.

Women are better salespersons than men.

Women buy [almost] everything — commercial as well as consumer goods.

So what exactly is … the point of men?

“AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE:

New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure” TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek

women.

BOOMERS.

GEEZERS.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“People turning 50 today have

more than half

of their adult life ahead of them.”

—Bill Novelli, 50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America

“Little Stuff” (plus): The True “Basics”

Tom Peters/03.14.2007

Thank You!

F L O W E R P O W E R

“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.”

—Henry Clay

The …

Jim Jeffords oversight!

The Manager’s Book of Decencies: How Small gestures Build Great Companies

— Steve Harrison, Adecco

Servant Leadership

— Robert Greenleaf

One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership

founder of Manpower, Inc. — Lance Secretan,

“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?

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

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.

“WHY NOT JUST TELL THE TRUTH?”

—Raymond Carver

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

“The deepest human need is the need to be appreciated.”

William James

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

“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

SWEET SPOT: SEEKING THE DISCOMFORT ZONE.

“ Do one thing every day that scares you.”

—Eleanor Roosevelt

EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.

TALENT.

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 2 years.”

—Ed Michaels, War for Talent

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.

Second: Putting HR a par with finance and marketing.

on

SO YOU’RE A “PEOPLE PERSON”? PROVE IT.

< CAPEX > People!

Brand = Talent.

EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.

TALENT.

LEADERSHIP.

The “9Ps.”

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. Potent.

Positive.

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. 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 , trust.” sacrifice for , —

Howard Schultz, Starbucks (IBD/09.05)

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. Potent.

Positive.

“

Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.”

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. Potent.

Positive.

“The role of the Director is to create a space where the actors and actresses can

become more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being.”

—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech

“In the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management

invites

the workforce itself to change the culture.” —Lou Gerstner

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. Potent.

Positive.

MBWA * *5,000 miles for a 5-minute face-to -face meeting (courtesy super agent Mark McCormick)

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. Potent.

Positive.

“The First step in a ‘dramatic’ ‘organizational change program’ is obvious— dramatic personal change!”

—RG

“

A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.”

—Chinese Proverb

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. Potent.

Positive.

Relentless:

“One of my superstitions had always been when I started to go anywhere or to do anything,

not to turn back

, or stop, until the thing intended was accomplished.”

—Grant

“ Success seems to be largely a matter of

hanging on

after others have let go.”

—William Feather, author

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. Potent.

Positive.

“Leaders

‘do’

people. Period.”

—Anon.

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. Potent.

Positive.

"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.

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. 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

PURPOSE.

PASSION.

Potential.

Presence.

Personal.

PERSISTENCE.

PEOPLE. 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)

Ger on -i mo !