Excellence.
Now.
Tom Peters/0819.11
EXCELLENCE is not
an "aspiration.”
EXCELLENCE is …
THE NEXT FIVE
MINUTES.
EXCELLENCE is not an "aspiration."
EXCELLENCE is … THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
is your next conversation.
is your next meeting.
is shutting up and listening—really listening.
is your next customer contact.
is saying “Thank you” for something “small.”
is the next time you shoulder responsibility and apologize.
is waaay over-reacting to a screw-up.
is the flowers you brought to work today.
is lending a hand to an “outsider” who’s fallen behind schedule.
is bothering to learn the way folks in finance [or IS or HR] think.
is waaay “over”-preparing for a 3-minute presentation.
is turning “insignificant” tasks into models of … EXCELLENCE.
EXCELLENCE
is … THE
NEXT FIVE
MINUTES.
Or not.
“Mr. Watson, how long
does it take to achieve
excellence?”
“One
minute. …”
“One minute. You
make up your mind
to never again do
something that is not
excellent.”
7/8 Steps to Sustaining Success
You take care of the PEOPLE.
The people take care of the SERVICE.
The service takes care of the CUSTOMER.
The customer takes care of the PROFIT.
The profit takes care of the RE-INVESTMENT.
The re-investment takes care of the RE-INVENTION.
The re-invention takes care of the FUTURE.
(And at every step the only measure is
EXCELLENCE.)
7 Steps to Sustaining Success: And it starts with …
You take
care of the
people.
Leader Job #1 …
Paint
Portraits of
Excellence!
The EXCELLENCE 25: Master the Basics!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21
22.
23.
24.
25.
Read.
Write.
Talk.
LISTEN.
Appreciate.
Kind.
Walk.
Work.
EXECUTE.
EXECUTE
Relentless.
Enthuse.
WOW!
PEOPLE.
Frontline.
ACT.
Anger.
Band.
Apologize.
Weird-out.
Why?
Network I.
Network II.
Wired.
EXCELLENCE.
The EXCELLENCE 25: Master the Basics!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Read. (Outstudy ‘em. Read wide. Read deep.)
Write. (Clear. Concise. Compelling. Powerful.)
Talk. (Presentation MASTERY. Study. Practice-practice-practice.
Storytelling, mastery of.)
LISTEN. (Study. Practice-practice-practice. Understand enormousMATCHLESS power thereof.)
Appreciate. (Engaged. Compassionate. Appreciative always. “Thank you”
rules.)
Kind. (Pays off big-time. K =R =P/Kindness = Repeat business = Profit.)
Walk. (MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. “In touch” as fetish.
Practice.)
Work. (Work harder than the next person.)
EXECUTE. (SWEAT THE DETAILS WITH MANIACAL PASSION. )
EXECUTE. (SWEAT THE DETAILS WITH MANIACAL PASSION. )
Relentless. (Keep on keepin’ on. “Know when to fold ‘em”: No!
Master of “Plan B.”)
Enthuse. (Enthusiasm begets Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm moves
mountains.)
WOW! (Knock-your-socks-off standard for positively everything.)
The EXCELLENCE 25: Master the Basics.
14. PEOPLE. (People 1st. People 2nd. People 3rd … Great-engaged
people>>Great strategy. Best bosses = Best people developers. Your
people are your #1 customers.)
15. Frontline. (First-line supervisors, quality of, determine just about
everything.)
16. ACT. (Most tries wins! READY. FIRE! AIM. “Blame no one. Expect
nothing. Do something.” “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”)
17. Anger. (Impatience. Constantly question the status quo.)
18. Band. (Small, passionate, relentless bands of people change the world!)
19. Apologize. (“I’m sorry,” enormous power thereof.)
20. Weird-out. (Multiple, unusual sources of information and feedback.)
21 Why? (Curiosity power! Always/repeatedly ask and ask and ask: “Why?”)
22. Network I. (Work like a demon on wider-deeper relationships. Think
R.O.I.R./Return On Investment in Relationships. NEVER WASTE A
LUNCH.)
23. Network II. (“Suck down” for success. “Real work” happens 2-3 levels
“down”—master the “working underbelly” of your own/customer/etc.
organizations.)
24. Wired. (Use every trick in the Internet/Co-create/Social Media book.)
25. EXCELLENCE. (The only standard. Always capitalize all letters.)
EX10/Entrepreneurial eXcellence TEN
1. “Insane” PASSION for and commitment to
the idea. (Ray Kroc: “You must be able to see
the beauty in a hamburger bun.”)
2. Can explain the idea in Simple English and
Excite others about its Uniqueness in ONE
MINUTE (or less).
3. Good ACCOUNTANT (Loves the #s)/“Wise-man
[-woman]”/50-50 Partner.
4. Devotee of the Experimental Method (“Try
it. NOW.” Fail. Forward. FAST.)/Master of
“Plan B”/RELENTLESS/RESILIENT.
5. Patience in HIRING/“Great place to work”
from the get-go.
6. “d”iversity (Any-all dimensions)/M-F balance.
7. Exude Decency-Character-Integrity.
8. Playfulness/Fun.
9. Sweat the details (EXECUTION = Strategy).
10.
EXCELLENCE. Period.
The “19 Es” of EXCELLENCE
Enthusiasm! (Be an irresistible force of nature! Be fire! Light fires!)
Exuberance! (Vibrate—cause earthquakes!)
Execution! (Do it! Now! Get it done! Barriers are baloney! Excuses are
for wimps! Accountability is gospel! Adhere to coach Bill Parcells’
doctrine: “Blame nobody!! Expect nothing!! Do something!!”)
Empowerment! (Respect! Appreciation! Ask until you’re blue in the face,
“What do you think?” Then: Listen! Liberate! 100.00% innovators!)
Edginess! (Perpetually dance at the frontier and a little, or a lot, beyond.)
Enraged! (Maintain a permanent state of mortal combat with the
status-quo!)
Engaged! (Addicted to MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. In touch.
Always.)
Electronic! (Partner with the whole wide world 60/60/24/7 via all manner
of
electronic community building and entanglement. Crowdsourcing
wins!)
Encompassing! (Relentlessly pursue diversity of every flavor! Diversity
per se generates big returns!) (Seeking superb leaders: Women rule!)
Emotion! (The alpha! The omega! The essence of leadership! The
essence of sales! The essence of design! The essence of life itself!
Acknowledge it! Use it!)
The “19 Es” of EXCELLENCE
Empathy! (Connect! Connect! Connect! Click with others’ reality and
aspirations! “Walk in the other person’s shoes”—until the soles
have holes!)
Ears! (Effective listening in every encounter: Strategic Advantage No. 1!
Believe it!)
Experience! (Life is theater! It’s always showtime! Make every contact
a “Wow” ! Standard: “Insanely Great”/Steve Jobs; “Radically
Thrilling”/BMW.)
Eliminate! (Keep it simple!! Furiously battle hyper-complexity and
gobbledygook!!)
Errorprone!
(Ready! Fire! Aim! Try a lot of stuff, make a lot of booboos.
CELEBRATE the booboos! Try more stuff, make more booboos! He
who makes the most mistakes wins! Fail! Forward! Fast!)
Evenhanded! (Straight as an arrow! Fair to a fault! Honest as Abe!)
Expectations! (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
hit it.”)
Eudaimonia! (The essence of Aristotelian philosophy: True happiness is
pursuit of the highest of human moral purpose. Be of service!
Always!)
EXCELLENCE! (The only standard! Never an exception! Start NOW!
No excuses!)
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A Bias for Action
Close to the Customer
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
Productivity Through People
Hands On, Value-Driven
Stick to the Knitting
Simple Form, Lean Staff
Simultaneous Loose-Tight
Properties”
“Breakthrough” 82*
People!
Customers!
Action!
Values!
*In Search of Excellence
In Search of Excellence “twitter-ized”/
Cherish your
people, cuddle your
customers, wander
around, “try it” beats
“talk about it,” pursue
Excellence, tell
the truth.
<140 Characters:
127/Q.E.D.
“[This year’s] graduates are told [by
commencement speakers] to pursue
happiness and joy. But, of course, when you
read a biography of someone you admire, it’s
rarely the things that made them happy that
compel our admiration. It’s the things they
did to court unhappiness—the things they did
that were arduous and miserable, which
sometimes cost them friends and aroused
It’s excellence, not
happiness, that we admire
most.” —David Brooks, “It’s Not About You,” oped,
hatred.
New York Times, 30 May 2011
“[This year’s] graduates are told [by commencement
speakers] to pursue happiness and joy. But, of course,
when you read a biography of someone you admire,
it’s rarely the things that made them happy that
compel our admiration. It’s the things they did to
court unhappiness—the things they did that were
arduous and miserable, which sometimes cost them
It’s
excellence, not
happiness, that we
admire most.”
friends and aroused hatred.
—David Brooks,
“It’s Not About You,” Oped, New York Times, 30 May 2011
“Excellence …
can be obtained if you:
... care more than others think
is wise;
... risk more than others think
is safe;
... dream more than others think
is practical;
... expect more than others think
is possible.”
Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
Excellence.
Always.
If not Excellence,
what?
If not Excellence
now, when?