+1/-1
S&P 500
+1/-1*
*Every …
!
2 weeks
Source: Richard Foster (via Rita McGrath/HBR/12.26.13
“Just like other members of
the board, the algorithm gets
to vote on whether the firm
makes an investment in a
specific company or not. The
program will be the sixth
member of DKV's board.”
LONG
Tom Peters’
Re-Imagine
!
EXCELLENCE
Gulf International Convention & Exhibition Center/10 June 2014
(slides at tompeters.com; also see excellencenow.com)
Part
Part
Part
Part
Part
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
INTRODUCTION/EXCELLENCE
PEOPLE FIRST, SECOND …
INNOVATION IMPERATIVE
VALUE-ADDED STRATEGIES
LEADERSHIP/EXTREME
SOLUTIONS
Part
Part
Part
Part
Part
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
INTRODUCTION/EXCELLENCE
PEOPLE FIRST, SECOND …
INNOVATION IMPERATIVE
VALUE-ADDED STRATEGIES
LEADERSHIP/EXTREME
SOLUTIONS
“The greatest
shortcoming of the
human race is our
inability to
understand the
exponential
function.”
1/721:
—Albert A. Bartlett
“If I had to
pick one failing
of CEOs, it’s
that …
—Co-founder of one of the largest investment services firms in the USA/world
“If I had to pick one failing of
they
don’t read
enough.”
CEOs, it’s that …
Your principal
moral obligation as a leader is to
develop the skillset, “soft” and
“hard,” of every one of the people
in your charge (temporary as well
as semi-permanent) to the
maximum extent of your abilities.
The good news: This is also the
#1 mid- to long-term …
profit maximization strategy!
CORPORATE MANDATE #1 2014:
“The root of our problem is not
that we’re in a Great Recession
or a Great Stagnation, but rather
that we are in the early
Great
Restructuring
throes of a
.
Our technologies are racing ahead,
but our skills and organizations
are lagging behind.”
Source: Race AGAINST the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
“Automation has become so
sophisticated that on a typical
passenger flight, a human pilot holds
the controls for a grand total of …
3 minutes
. [Pilots]
have become, it’s not much of
an exaggeration to say,
computer operators.”
Source: Nicholas Carr, “The Great Forgetting,” The Atlantic, 11.13
“Human level
capability has not
turned out to be a
special stopping point
from an engineering
perspective. ….”
Source: Illah Reza Nourbakhsh, Professor of Robotics, Carnegie Mellon, Robot Futures
“Meet Your
Next Surgeon:
Dr. Robot”
Source: Feature/Fortune/15 JAN 2013/on Intuitive Surgical’s
da Vinci
/multiple bypass heart-surgery robot
China/Foxconn:
1,000,000
robots/next 3 years
Source: Race AGAINST the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
Robot Wars!
“The combination of new
market rules and new
technology was turning
the stock market into, in
a war of
robots.”
effect,
—Michael Lewis, “Goldman’s Geek
Tragedy,” Vanity Fair, 09.13
“Steve, you’re costing
me a hundred
nanoseconds.
Can you at least cross
it diagonally?”
[$100M/Millisecond]
$100,000,000/Millisecond: “Spivey* was
all over him about the slightest detours. For
instance, every so often the right-of-way crossed
over from one side of the road to the other, and
the line needed to cross the road within its
boundaries. These constant road crossings
irritated Spivey—Williams was making sharp right
‘Steve, you’re costing
me a hundred nanoseconds,’ he’d
and left turns.
‘Can you at least cross it
diagonally?’ ”
say.
—Michael Lewis, Flash Boys
*Dan Spivey, Spread Network, $300M, 3 milliseconds (15-12), Chicago-NJ
G
R
I
N
enetics
obotics
nformatics
anotechnology
G
R
I
N
enetics
obotics
nformatics
anotechnology*
#1: GRIN and BEAR it? GRIN and
SAVOR it?
*Decision
Antifragile*:
Things That Gain
From Disorder
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb
*Not to be confused with … RESILIENCE
EVERYTHING.
EVERYBODY.
EVERYWHERE.
IoT
IoE
IoT/The Internet of Things
IoE/The Internet of
Everything
M2M/Machine-to-Machine
Ubiquitous computing
Embedded computing
Pervasive computing
Industrial Internet
Etc.* ** ***
*“More Than 50
BILLION connected devices by 2020” —Ericsson
**Estimated 212 BILLION connected devices by 2020—IDC
***“By 2025 IoT could be applicable to $82 TRILLION of output or
approximately one half the global economy”—GE [The WAGs to end all WAGs!]
“Ford is working with the
healthcare industry on a
solution that would notify a
nearby hospital if you were
having a heart attack in your
car, which can send an
ambulance before you even
know you’re having one. …”
—Daniel Kellmereit & Daniel Obodovski, The Silent Intelligence: The Internet of Things
SENSOR PILLS: “… Proteus Digital Health is one of several
pioneers in sensor-based health technology. They make a
silicon chip the size of a grain of sand that is embedded
into a safely digested pill that is swallowed. When the chip
mixes with stomach acids, the processor is powered by
the body’s electricity and transmits data to a patch worn
on the skin. That patch, in turn, transmits data via
Bluetooth to a mobile app, which then transmits the data
to a central database where a health technician can
verify if a patient has taken her or his medications.
“This is a bigger deal than it may seem. In 2012, it was
estimated that people not taking their prescribed
medications cost $258 BILLION in emergency room visits,
hospitalization, and doctor visits. An average of 130,000
Americans die each year because they don’t follow their
prescription regimens closely enough..” [The FDA approved
placebo testing in April 2012; sensor pills are ticketed to
come to market in 2015 or 2016.]
Source: Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data and the
Future of Privacy
“Robotics will drive this very
innovation. Landing page tuning will
bust out of the Internet and become
‘interaction tuning.’ Companies will
apply their analytics engines to
all interaction opportunities with
people everywhere: online, in the
car, in a supermarket isle, on the
sidewalk, and of course in your
home.” —Illah Reza Nourbakhsh, Professor of Robotics,
Carnegie Mellon, Robot Futures
Walmart SV =
1,500
!
EXCELLENCE
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
“Why in the
world did you
go to
Siberia?”
An emotional, vital,
innovative, joyful, creative,
entrepreneurial endeavor that elicits
maximum
Enterprise* (*at its best):
concerted human
potential in the
wholehearted pursuit of
EXCELLENCE in
service of others.**
**Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
Hard is Soft.
Soft is Hard.
Wall Street Journal, 0910.13: “What matters most to a
company over time? Strategy or culture?”
Dominic Barton,* MD, McKinsey & Co.: “Culture.”
Bill Walsh,* NFL Hall of Fame Coach: “Culture precedes
positive results. It doesn’t get tacked on as an afterthought
on the way to the victory stand.”
Lou Gerstner,* former CEO, IBM: “If I could have chosen not
to tackle the IBM culture head-on, I probably wouldn’t have.
My bias coming in was toward strategy, analysis, and
measurement. In comparison, changing the attitude and
behaviors of hundreds of thousands of people is very, very
hard. Yet I came to see in my time at IBM
that culture isn’t just one aspect of the
game—IT IS THE GAME.”
*Note that all three of these CEOs are/were charter members of the Hard-ass School of Management.
This was a realization that emerged for each one over time, but is stated here—UNEQUIVOCALLY.
“Of Service”
ORGANIZATIONS
EXIST TO SERVE.
PERIOD.
LEADERS LIVE TO
SERVE. PERIOD.
WINNERS’
!
Rules
Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed’: THE THREE RULES:
How Exceptional Companies Think*:
1. Better before cheaper.
2. Revenue before cost.
3. There are no other rules.
(*From a database of over 25,000 companies from hundreds of industries covering 45 years, they
uncovered 344 companies that qualified as statistically “exceptional.”)
Jeff Colvin, Fortune: “The Economy Is Scary … But Smart
Companies Can Dominate”:
They manage for value—not for EPS.
They keep developing human capital.
They get radically customer-centric.
WINNERS
!
THE RED
CARPET
STORE
(Flemington NJ)
The Magicians of Motueka & the Mittelstand Trifecta
W.A. Coppins Ltd.*
(Coppins Sea Anchors/
PSA/para sea anchors)
*Textiles, 1898; thrive on
“wicked problems”
U.S. Navy STLVAST (Small To Large Vehicle At Sea
Transfer); custom fabric from W. Wiggins Ltd./Wellington
(specialty nylon, “Dyneema,” from DSM/Netherlands)
—e.g.,
+1/-1
S&P 500
+1/-1*
*Every …
!
2 weeks
Source: Richard Foster (via Rita McGrath/HBR/12.26.13
“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 …
Source: Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics
“I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from
life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for
Buy a
very large
one and just
wait.”
myself?’ The answer seems obvious:
—Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail:
Evolution, Extinction and Economics
“Mr. Foster and his McKinsey colleagues collected
detailed performance data stretching back
years for
1,000
found that
U.S. companies.
40
They
NONE
of
the long-term survivors managed to
outperform the market. Worse, the
longer companies had been in the
database, the worse they did.”
—Financial Times
MITTELSTAND*
*“agile creatures darting between
the legs of the multinational
monsters”
(Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 10.10)
Middle-sized
NicheMicro-niche
Dominators!
I love
"Own" a niche through Excellence!
“BE THE BEST.
IT’S THE ONLY
MARKET THAT’S
NOT CROWDED.”
From: Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best
Independent Stores in America, George Whalin
Small Giants:
Companies That Choose to Be
Great Instead of Big
Retail Superstars:
Inside the 25 Best
Independent Stores
in America
—by George Whalin
RETAIL SUPERSTARS: INSIDE THE 25 BEST
INDEPENDENT STORES IN AMERICA—George Whalin
JUNGLE JIM’S INTERNATIONAL MARKET, FAIRFIELD, OH:
“An adventure in ‘shoppertainment,’ begins in the parking lot
and goes on to
1,600 cheeses and, yes, 1,400
varieties of hot sauce—not to mention 12,000 wines priced
from
$8-$8,000
you by
a bottle; all this is brought to
4,000 vendors. Customers come from every
corner of the globe.”
BRONNER’S CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND, FRANKENMUTH, MI,
POP 5,000: 98,000-square-foot “shop” features
Christmas ornaments,
50,000
6,000
trims, and anything
else you can name pertaining to Christmas.
Going “Social”/Location and Size Independent:
SM/SX/SE/SO/SB
“Today, despite the fact that we’re just a little swimming
pool company in Virginia, we have the most trafficked
swimming pool website in the world. Five years ago, if
you’d asked me and my business partners what we do, the
answer would have been simple, ‘We build in-ground
‘We are
the best teachers … in
the world … on the subject of
fiberglass swimming pools’ Now we say,
fiberglass swimming pools, and we
also happen to build them.’”
—Jay Baer, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help, Not Hype
Small (Entrepreneurial) BUSINESS:
Training Inc. , a 14-person
unit* in a 50-person HR
department in a $200M
business unit in a $3B
corporation—aiming for
Excellence & WOW!
*PSF/
Professional Service Firm (See my …
Professional Service Firm 50: Fifty Ways to Transform Your
“Department” Into A Professional Service Firm Whose
Trademarks Are Passion and Innovation.)
Part
Part
Part
Part
Part
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
INTRODUCTION/EXCELLENCE
PEOPLE FIRST, SECOND …
INNOVATION IMPERATIVE
VALUE-ADDED STRATEGIES
LEADERSHIP/EXTREME
SOLUTIONS
“Business has to
give people
enriching,
rewarding
lives …
#1/4,096
“Business has to give people enriching,
or it's
simply not
worth doing.”
rewarding lives …
—Richard Branson
“The greatest satisfaction for management has come not from the
financial growth of Camellia itself, but rather from having participated
in the vast improvement in the living and working conditions of its
employees, resulting from the investment of many tens of millions of
pounds into the tea gardens’ infrastructure of roads, factories,
hospitals, employees’ housing and amenities. … Within the Camellia
Group there is a strong aesthetic dimension, an intention that it
should comprise companies and assets of the highest quality,
operating from inspiring offices and manufacturing in state of the
Above all, there is a deep
concern for the welfare of each
employee. This arises not only from
a sense of humanity, but also from
the conviction that the loyalty of a
secure and enthusiastic employee
will in the long-term prove to be an
invaluable company asset.”
art facilities. …
—Camellia: A Very Different Company
[$600M/$160M/$100M]
“In a world where customers wake up
every morning asking, ‘What’s new, what’s
success
depends on a company’s
ability to unleash initiative,
imagination and passion of
employees at all levels —and this
different, what’s amazing?’
can only happen if all those folks are
connected heart and soul to their work
[their ‘calling’], their company and their
mission.” —John Mackey and Raj Sisoda, Conscious Capitalism:
Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business
“You have to
treat your
employees like
customers.”
—Herb Kelleher,
upon being asked his “secret to success”
Source: Joe Nocera, NYT, “Parting Words of an Airline Pioneer,”
on the occasion of Herb Kelleher’s retirement after 37 years at Southwest
Airlines (SWA’s pilots union took out a full-page ad in USA Today
thanking HK for all he had done) ; across the way in Dallas, American
Airlines’ pilots were picketing AA’s Annual Meeting)
"When I hire
someone, that's
when I go to
work for
them.”
—John DiJulius, "What's the Secret to
Providing a World-class Customer Experience"
"If you want staff to
give great service,
give great service to
staff."
—Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman's
EXCELLENT
customer experience
depends … entirely …
on EXCELLENT
employee experience!
If you want to WOW your
FIRST
customers,
you
must WOW those who
WOW the customers!
“Contrary to conventional
corporate thinking,
treating retail workers
much better makes
everyone (including their
employers) much richer.”
—New York Times/ 01.05.14, Adam Davidson, Planet Money/NPR (Cited in
particular, “The Good Jobs Strategy,” by M.I.T. professor Zeynep Ton)
Wegmans (was #1 in USA)
Container Store (was #1 in USA)
Whole Foods
Costco
Publix
Darden Restaurants
Build-A-Bear Workshops
Starbucks
Oath of Office: Managers/Servant Leaders
Our goal is to serve our customers brilliantly and profitably over
the long haul.
Serving our customers brilliantly and profitably over the long
haul is a product of brilliantly serving, over the long haul, the
people who serve the customer.
Hence, our job as leaders—the alpha and the omega and
everything in between—is abetting the sustained growth
and success and engagement and enthusiasm and
commitment to Excellence of those, one at a time, who
directly or indirectly serve the ultimate customer.
We—leaders of every stripe—are in the “Human Growth and
Development and Success and Aspiration to Excellence
business.”
“We” [leaders] only grow when “they” [each and every one of our colleagues] are
growing.
“We” [leaders] only succeed when “they” [each and every one of our colleagues]
are succeeding.
“We” [leaders] only energetically march toward Excellence when
“they” [each and every one of our colleagues] are energetically marching
toward Excellence.
Period.
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
7 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 & Excellence
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.)
Brand =
Talent.
Training As
Investment
#1
In the Army, 3-star
generals worry about
training. In most
businesses, it's a “ho
hum” mid-level staff
function.
Training [OBVIOUSLY!]
#1:
Police. Fire.
Military. Opera.
Symphony.
Theater. Sports.
Etc.
Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer your top paid “C-level” job (other than CEO/COO)?
If not, why not?
Are your top trainers paid as much as your top marketers and engineers?
If not, why not?
Are your training courses so good they make you giggle and tingle?
If not, why not?
Randomly stop an employee in
the hall: Can she/he
meticulously describe her/his
development plan for the next
12 months?
If not, why not?
Why is your world of business any different than the (competitive) world of rugby,
football, opera, theater,
the military?
If “people/talent first” and hyper-intense continuous training are laughably
obviously for them, why not you?
Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer your top paid “C-level” job (other than CEO/COO)?
If not, why not?
Are your top trainers paid as much as your top marketers and engineers?
If not, why not?
Are your training courses so good they make you giggle and tingle?
If not, why not?
Should be able to get immediate
answer upon stopping anyone at
any time and asking, “What have
you learned today?”
If not, why not?
Why is your world of business any different than the (competitive) world of rugby,
football, opera, theater,
the military?
If “people/talent first” and hyper-intense continuous training are laughably
obviously for them, why not you?
“The role of the Director is to
create a space where the actors
become
more than they’ve ever
been before,
more than they’ve
dreamed of being.”
and actresses can
—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer your top paid “C-level”
job (other than CEO/COO)?
If not, why not?
Are your top trainers paid as much as your top marketers
and engineers?
If not, why not?
Are your training courses so good they make you giggle
and tingle?
If not, why not?
Randomly stop an employee in the hall: Can she/he
meticulously describe her/his development plan for the
next 12 months?
If not, why not?
Why is your world of business any different than the
(competitive) world of rugby, football, opera, theater,
the military?
If “people/talent first” and hyper-intense continuous
training are laughably obviously for them, why not you?
Gamblin’ Man
Bet: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training
as expense rather than investment.
Bet: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training
as defense rather than offense.
Bet: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training
as “necessary evil” rather than
“strategic opportunity.”
Bet: >> 8 of 10 CEOs, in 45-min
“tour d’horizon” of their business,
would not mention training.
Your [boss] job is
safer if every one of your
team members is
committed to
Boss & RPD:
RPD/Radical
Personal
Development.
Actively support one
and all!
Education As
Priority
#1
“Every child is born an artist.
The trick is to remain an artist.”
—Picasso
“All human beings are
entrepreneurs.” —Muhammad Yunus
“Human creativity is the
ultimate economic resource.”
—Richard Florida
"Creativity can no longer be
treated as an elective.” —John Maeda
The very best and the
very brightest and the
most energetic and
enthusiastic and
entrepreneurial and techsavvy of our university
graduates must—must,
not should—be lured
into teaching!
RADICAL curricular revision
imperative. (STEM/STEAM.)
RADICAL digital strategy.
REVOLUTIONARY new approach to
teacher recruitment/development.
RADICAL re-assessment of tertiary
education (E.g., “MOOC-ization.”)
RADICAL re-assessment business ed.
RADICAL role re-assessment by
corporations.
(Good news: Nobody’s got it right. Kids are doing it without you—if you’ll let them.)
human
beings are
entrepreneurs. When we
Muhammad Yunus:
“All
were in the caves we were all self-employed
. . . finding our food, feeding ourselves.
That’s where human history began . . . As
civilization came we suppressed it. We
became labor because they stamped us, ‘You
are labor.’ We forgot that we are
entrepreneurs.” —Muhammad Yunus/
The News Hour/PBS/1122.2006
The Memories
That Matter
The Memories That Matter
The people you developed who went on to
stellar accomplishments inside or outside
the company.
The (no more than) two or three people you developed who went on to
create stellar institutions of their own.
The long shots (people with “a certain something”) you bet on who
surprised themselves—and your peers.
The people of all stripes who 2/5/10/20 years
later say “You made a difference in my life,”
“Your belief in me changed everything.”
The sort of/character of people you hired in general. (And the bad
apples you chucked out despite some stellar traits.)
A handful of projects (a half dozen at most) you doggedly pursued that
still make you smile and which fundamentally changed the way
things are done inside or outside the company/industry.
The supercharged camaraderie of a handful of Great Teams aiming to
“change the world.”
“In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it
worships and admires money, but at the end of the day
it doesn’t. It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it
doesn’t, not really. The world admires, and wants to
hold on to, and not lose, goodness. It admires virtue. At
the end it gives its greatest tributes to generosity,
honesty, courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that,
brought into the world, make it better. That’s what it
really admires. That’s what we talk about in eulogies,
because that’s what’s important.
We don’t say, ‘The thing about Joe
was he was rich!’ We say, if we
can … ‘The thing about Joe was
he took good care of people.’ ”
—Peggy Noonan, “A Life’s Lesson,” on the astounding response to the
passing of superstar journalist Tim Russert, Wall Street Journal , June 21-22, 2008
“The Gross National Product
does not include the beauty of our
poetry or the intelligence of our
public debate. It measures neither
our wit nor our courage, neither
our wisdom nor our learning,
neither our compassion nor our
devotion. It measures everything,
in short, except that which makes
life worthwhile.”
—RFK
A 15-Point
Human Capital
Asset Development
Manifesto
World Strategy Forum/
The New Rules: Reframing Capitalism
Tom Peters/Seoul/0615.12
A 15-Point Human Capital Development
Manifesto
“Corporate social responsibility” starts at
home—i.e., inside the enterprise! MAXIMIZING
1.
GDD/Gross Domestic Development of the
workforce is the primary source of mid-term and
beyond growth and profitability—and maximizes
national productivity and wealth. (Re
profitability: If you want to serve the customer
with uniform Excellence, then you must FIRST
effectively and faithfully serve those who serve
the customer—i.e. our employees, via
maximizing tools and professional development.)
2. Regardless of the transient external situation,
development of “human capital” is always the #1
priority. This is true in general, in particular in
difficult times which demand resilience—and
uniquely true in this age in which IMAGINATIVE
brainwork is de facto the only plausible survival
strategy for higher wage nations. (Generic
“brainwork,” traditional and dominant “whitecollar activities, is increasingly being performed
by exponentially enhanced artificial intelligence.)
3. Three-star generals and admirals (and
symphony conductors and sports coaches and
police chiefs and fire chiefs) OBSESS about
training. Why is it likely (Dead certain?) that in
a random 30-minute interview you are unlikely
to hear a CEO touch upon this topic? (I would
hazard a guess that most CEOs see IT
investments as a “strategic necessity,” but see
training expenses as “a necessary evil.”)
4. Proposition/axiom: The CTO/Chief TRAINING
Officer is arguably the #1 staff job in the
enterprise, at least on a par with, say, the CFO
or CIO or head of R&D. (Again, external
circumstances—see immediately above—are
forcing our hand.)
Source: A 15-Point Human Capital Asset Development Manifesto/
World Strategy Forum/The New Rules: Reframing Capitalism/Seoul/0615.12
The training budget takes precedence over
the capital budget. PERIOD. It’s easier fun to get
5.
your picture taken next to a new machine. But
how do you get a photo of a new and much
improved attitude in a key distribution center?
But the odds are 25:1 that the new attitude will
add more to the bottom line than will the
glorious state-of-the-art machine.
Human capital development should routinely
sit atop any agenda or document associated
with enterprise strategy. Most any initiative you
6.
undertake should formally address implications
for and contributions to human capital asset
development.
Your principal
moral obligation as a leader is to
develop the skillset, “soft” and
“hard,” of every one of the people
in your charge (temporary as well
as semi-permanent) to the
maximum extent of your abilities.
The good news: This is also the
#1 mid- to long-term …
profit maximization strategy!
CORPORATE MANDATE #1 2014:
In Good Business, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi argues
persuasively that business has become the center of
society. As such, an obligation to community is front &
center. Business as societal bedrock, has the
“SUM OF
HUMAN WELL-BEING.”
RESPONSIBILITY to increase the
Business is NOT "part of the community." In terms of
how adults collectively spend their waking
hours … business
IS the community. And should
act accordingly. The (REALLY) good news: Community
mindedness is a great way [the BEST way?] to
have spirited/committed/customer-centric work
force—and, ultimately, increase [maximize?]
profitability!
Addenda: The Mauritius Doctrine
On 16 April 2014, I spoke to 1,300 SME chiefs in Mauritius at a conference
organized by The National Productivity and Competitiveness Council, and
that included the Vice Prime Minister. I upped the stridency of my tone relative
not to government actions—but relative to business’ obligation to develop its
work force. Moreover, I asserted this was as true for a 6-person business
as for a 6,000-person outfit. Yes … wee companies can (and ought)
become “training/development maniacs.”
Especially in uncertain
times which are sapping global employment security, it is
the … foremost moral responsibility … of businesses to
abet the radical development of their employees.
Honing my new/uncompromising message:
National productivity improvement is less about a few giants than about
incremental efforts by the great mass of small businesses.
But the
truly radical notion is that “training & development
maniacs” applies to the 5-person enterprise as much as it
does to the giant.
My training [& development] message in general is extreme.
Part
Part
Part
Part
Part
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
INTRODUCTION/EXCELLENCE
PEOPLE FIRST, SECOND …
INNOVATION IMPERATIVE
VALUE-ADDED STRATEGIES
LEADERSHIP/EXTREME
SOLUTIONS
/48
(No kidding)
READY.
FIRE!
AIM.
H. Ross Perot (vs “Aim! Aim! Aim!” /EDS vs GM/1985)
“The first EDSer to see a
snake kills it. At GM, the first
thing you do is organize a
committee on snakes. Then
you bring in a consultant who
knows a lot about snakes.
Third thing you do is talk
about it for a year.”
—H. Ross Perot, EDS founder, former GM board member
“WE HAVE A
‘STRATEGIC
PLAN.’ IT’S
CALLED DOING
THINGS.”
— Herb Kelleher
“We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were omissions
We
fixed them by doing it over and over,
again and again. We do the same today. While our
we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the software.
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
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may
THE MOST
VALUABLE CORE
COMPETENCE an
be
innovative organization can
hope to have.” —Michael Schrage
“EXPERIMENT
FEARLESSLY”
Tactic #1
Source: BusinessWeek, “Type A Organization Strategies: How to Hit a Moving Target”—
“RELENTLESS TRIAL
AND ERROR”
Source: Wall Street Journal, cornerstone of effective approach to “rebalancing” company
portfolios in the face of changing and uncertain global economic conditions (11.08.10)
Scrum Management
1. Organize the work in short cycles.
2. Management doesn’t interrupt the team during
a work cycle.
3. The team reports to the client, not the manager.
4. The team decides how much time work will
take.
5. The team decides how much work it can do in
an iteration.
6. The team decides how to do the work in the
iteration.
7. The team measures its own performance.
8. Define work goals before each cycle starts.
9. Define work goals through user stories.
10. Systematically remove impediments.
Source: Steve Denning/Forbes/0429.11
Lesson47:
WTTMSW
WHOEVER
TRIES
THE
MOST
STUFF
WINS
"How often I found
where I should be
going only by setting
out for somewhere
else.”
— Buckminster Fuller
FAIL.
FORWARD.
FAST.
“FAIL.
FORWARD.
FAST.”
High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
“REWARD
excellent failures.
PUNISH mediocre
successes.”
—Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes:
Whoever Makes
the Most Mistakes
Wins: The Paradox
of Innovation
Ideas Economy:
CAN YOUR
BUSINESS FAIL
FAST ENOUGH TO
SUCCEED?
Source: ad for Economist Conference/0328.13/Berkeley CA (caps are Economist)
WTTMSASTMSUTFW
WTTMSASTMSUTFW
WHOEVER
TRIES
THE
MOST
STUFF
AND
SCREWS
THE
MOST
STUFF
UP
THE
FASTEST
WINS
Pursuing
Inefficiency
“The secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast
and furious and
numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“The Silicon Valley of
today is built less atop
the spires of earlier
triumphs than upon
the rubble of earlier
debacles.”
—Paul Saffo
“The essence
of capitalism is
encouraging failure,
not rewarding
success.”
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb/Reason TV/0124.13
We Are
What
We Eat
“You will become like
the five people you
associate with the
most—this can be
either a blessing or a
curse.”
—Billy Cox
“It is hardly possible to
overrate the value of placing human
beings in contact with persons dissimilar to themselves, and with
modes of thought and action unlike
those with which they are familiar.
Such communication has always
been, and is peculiarly in the
present age, one of the primary
sources of progress.” —John Stuart Mill
Diversity:
The “We are what we eat”/
“We are who we hang out with”
Axiom: At its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership decision
(employee, vendor, customer, etc.,
etc.) is a strategic decision about:
“Innovate,
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”
Measure/Manage: Portfolio “Strangeness”/ “Quality”
1. Customers
2. Vendors
3. Out-sourcing Partners
4. Acquisitions
5. Purposeful “Theft”
6. Diversity/“d”iversity
7. Diversity/Crowd-sourcing
8. Diversity/Weird
9. Diversity/Curiosity
10. Benchmarks
11. Calendar
12. MBWA
13. Lunch/General
14. Lunch/Other functions
15. Location/Internal
16. Location/HQ
17. Top team
18. Board
WE ARE THE
COMPANY
WE KEEP!
MANAGE IT!
“DON’T
BENCHMARK,
FUTURE
MARK!”
Impetus: “The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed” —William Gibson
“DON’T
BENCHMARK,
‘OTHER’ MARK!”
!
CROWD POWER
“The Billion-man
Research Team:
Companies offering
work to online
communities are
reaping the benefits of
‘crowdsourcing.’”
—Headline, FT
CURIOSITY
!
“What is your most
marked characteristic?”
Vanity Fair:
Mike Bloomberg:
“Curiosity.”
“Who’s the most
interesting person
you’ve met in the last
90 days? How do I
get in touch with
them?”
—Fred Smith
“Do one thing
every day that
scares you.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
Ouch
!
“The Bottleneck …
“The Bottleneck is at the …
“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 …
Top of the
Bottle”
— Gary Hamel/Harvard Business Review
REVERSE
Ageism
Merited?
60 IS THE NEW 40!
70 IS THE NEW 50!
?
35 IS THE NEW 65
Innovate
or Die:
Measure It!
Innovation Index: How many
of your Top 5 Strategic
Initiatives/Key Projects
score 8 or higher [out of 10]
on a “Weird”/“Profound”/
“Wow”/“Game-changer”
Scale? (At least 3???)
Innovation Index: Move every
2
project (definition)
notches up on the
“WOWification
Scale” … THIS WEEK.
“WOWification”
…
TOTALLY UN-related
!
to project size
Innovate
or Die:
Ubiquitous
Iron Innovation Equality Law:
The quality and
quantity and
imaginativeness
of innovation shall be
the same in all
functions —e.g., in HR and
purchasing as much as in marketing or
product development.*
Part
Part
Part
Part
Part
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
INTRODUCTION/EXCELLENCE
PEOPLE FIRST, SECOND …
INNOVATION IMPERATIVE
VALUE-ADDED STRATEGIES
LEADERSHIP/EXTREME
SOLUTIONS
TGRs:
8/80
Customers describing their service
experience as “superior”:
8%
Companies describing
the service experience they provide as
“superior”:
80%
—Source: Bain & Company survey of 362 companies, reported in John DiJulius,
What's the Secret to Providing a World-class Customer Experience?
“May I clean
your glasses,
sir?”
“Let me help
you down the
jetway.”
BEGINS
(and ENDS)
It
in the …
PARKING
LOT*
*Disney
“It’s simple, really,
Tom. Hire for s,
and, above all,
promote for s.”
—Starbucks regional manager,
on why so many smiles at Starbucks shops
<TGW
and …
>TGR
[Things Gone
WRONG-Things Gone RIGHT]
“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
TGRS.
MANAGE ’EM.
MEASURE ’EM.*
*I use “manage-measure” a lot. Translation: These are
not “soft” ideas; they are exceedingly important things
that can be managed—AND measured.
C
*Chief e
O*
Xperience Officer
LBTs
LITTLE =
Big carts =
Source: Walmart
2X: “When Friedman
slightly
curved
the right angle of an
entrance corridor to one property, he
was ‘amazed at the magnitude of change
in pedestrians’ behavior’—the percentage
onethird to nearly two-thirds.”
who entered increased from
—Natasha Dow Schull, Addiction By Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas
Machine Gambling
“Pleasing” odor #1 vs.
“pleasing” odor #2:
+45% revenue
Source: “Effects of Ambient Odors on Slot-Machine Useage in Las Vegas
Casinos,” reported in Natasha Dow Schull, Addiction By Design:
Machine Gambling in Las Vegas (66% revenue, 85% profit)
DESIGN
Design Rules!
APPLE market cap
> Exxon Mobil*
*August 2011
“Design is
treated like
a religion at
BMW.”* —Fortune
*APPLE market cap > Exxon Mobil (August 2011)
“With its carefully conceived mix of colors and
textures, aromas and music,
STARBUCKS
is more indicative of our
era than the iMac. It is to the Age of Aesthetics
what McDonald’s was to the Age of Convenience
or Ford was to the Age of Mass Production—the
touchstone success story, the exemplar of … the
aesthetic imperative. … ‘Every Starbucks
store is carefully designed to
enhance the quality
of everything the customers see,
touch, hear, smell or taste,’ writes
CEO Howard Schultz.”
—Virginia Postrel, The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic
Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture and Consciousness
Hypothesis:
DESIGN is the
principal difference
love and
hate!*
between
*Not “like” and “dislike”
Design is …
NEVER
neutral.
C
*Chief
O*
Design Officer
DESIGN =
EVERYTHING!
“We don’t have a good language to talk
about this kind of thing. In most people’s
vocabularies, design means veneer. … But
to me, nothing could be further from the
DESIGN IS
THE FUNDAMENTAL
SOUL OF A MANMADE CREATION.”
meaning of design.
—Steve Jobs
“Design is everything.
Everything is design.”
“We are all designers.”
Inspiration: The Power of Design: A Force for
Transforming Everything, Richard Farson
GREAT DESIGN =
ONE-PAGE
BUSINESS PLAN
Source: Jim Horan
“If you can’t write your
movie idea on the
back of a
business
card, you ain’t got
a movie.”
—Samuel Goldwyn
DESIGN:
Your next
email …
Initiate a …
“Design Review”
Today
(Of Everything)
“Only one company
can be the cheapest.
All others must use
design.”
—Rodney Fitch, Fitch & Co.
Source: Insights, definitions of design, the Design Council [UK]
“Businesspeople don’t
need to ‘understand
designers better.’
Businesspeople need
to be designers.”
—Roger Martin/Dean/Rotman Management School/University of Toronto
N
C O
& Social
Business
CMO/Marketing
CXO/eXperience
CNO/eNgagement
“Customer engagement is moving
from relatively isolated market
transactions to deeply connected
and sustained social
relationships. This basic change
in how we do business will make
an impact on just about
everything we do.”
Social Business By Design: Transformative Social Media Strategies
For the Connected Company —Dion Hinchcliffe & Peter Kim
Biz 2014: Get Aboard the “S-Train”
SM/Social Media.
SX/Social eXecutives.
SE/Social Employees.
SO/Social Organization.
SB/Social Business.
“Branding” is about:
Everything AND Everyone =
Social Media/
Social Executives/
Social Employees/
Social Organization/
Social Business =
Table stakes by 2017
Marbles, a Ball and Social Employees ay IBM
“Picture a ball and a bag of marbles side by side. The
two items might have the same volume—that is, if you
dropped them into a bucket, they would displace the
same amount of water. The difference, however, lies in
the surface area, Because a bag of marbles is
comprised of several individual pieces, the
combined surface area of all the marbles far
outstrips the surface area of a single ball. The
expanded surface area represents a social brand’s
increased diversity. These surfaces connect and
interact with each other in unique ways, offering
customers and employees alike a variety of paths
toward a myriad of solutions. If none of the paths prove
to be suitable, social employees can carve out new
paths on their own.” —Ethan McCarty, Director of Enterprise Social Strategy,
IBM (from Cheryl Burgess & Mark Burgess,
The Social Employee
IBM Social Business Markers/2005-2012
*433,000 employees on IBM Connection
*26,000 individual blogs
*91,000 communities
*62,000 wikis
*50,000,000 IMs/day
*200,000 employees on Facebook
*295,000 employees/800,000 followers
of the brand
*35,000 on Twitter
Source: IBM case, in Cheryl Burgess & Mark Burgess, The Social Employee
Teva Canada
SharePoint: Joint problem
solving/collaboration within
supply chain org
Strategy-Nets: Supply chain
plus sales, marketing,
customer service
Moxie: blogs, wikis, joint doc
editing, etc.
Source: Dion Hinchcliffe & Peter Kim, Social Business By Design
Seven Characteristics of the Social Employee
1. Engaged
2. Expects Integration of the
Personal and Professional
3. Buys Into the Brand’s Story
4. Born Collaborator
5. Listens
6. Customer-Centric
7. Empowered Change Agent
Source: Cheryl Burgess & Mark Burgess,
The Social Employee
“Success” >>
“Satisfaction”
“You are headed
for commodity
hell if you don’t
have services.”
)
M
IBM
IB
to
“Lou, with all the money
I’ve spent with you guys
on ‘the best this or that,’
in fact this AND that,
why in the hell hasn’t
my business been
transformed?”
Planetary Rainmaker-in-Chief!
“[CEO Sam] Palmisano’s
strategy is to expand tech’s
borders by pushing users—
and entire industries—toward
radically different business
models. The payoff for IBM would be
access to an ocean of revenue—Palmisano
estimates it at $500 billion a year —
that technology companies have never been
able to touch.” —Fortune
“You are headed
for commodity
hell if you don’t
have services.”
—Lou Gerstner, on IBM’s coming revolution (1997)
PS
UPS
U
to
“UPS used to be a trucking company
Now it’s
a technology
company with
trucks.”
with technology.
—Forbes
“Big Brown’s New Bag: UPS Aims to
Be the Traffic Manager for
Corporate America” —Headline/BW
“UPS wants to take over the sweet
spot in the endless loop of goods,
information and capital that all the
packages [it moves] represent.” —ecompany.com
“It’s all about solutions. We work
with customers on creating and
running better, stronger, cheaper
supply chains.” —Bob Stoffel, UPS senior exec
“Rolls-Royce now
earns more from tasks
such as managing clients’
overall procurement
strategies and
maintaining aerospace
engines it sells than it
does from making them.”
—Economist
discrete
boxes* to
UTC/Otis + UTC/Carrier:
“integrated
building
systems”
*elevators, air conditioners
IDEO’s Progression
Product Design
to
Product Design Training
to
Corporate Innovation/
Culture Training/Consulting
MasterCard
Advisors
Huge: “Customer
Satisfaction with
product/Service”
to
“CUSTOMER
SUCCESS”
Universal Value Added:
The
PSF
(or bust)
Solution
The Professional Service Firm50: Fifty Ways to Transform
Your “Department” into a Professional Service Firm Whose
Trademarks are Passion and Innovation!
Sarah:
“ Mom, what
do you do?”
Sarah:
Mom:
“ Mom, what
do you do?”
“I’m ‘overhead’—the
‘bureaucrat’ who runs the
‘cost center’ called
‘Human Resources.”
Anne:
“ Mom, what
do you do?”
“Anne, my human
resources team and I
are the ‘Rock Stars of
Mom:
the Age of Talent.’ We
drive our division’s
strategic success.”
Department Head/“Cost center”/“Overhead” to …
Managing
Partner,
HR
Inc.
[IS, R&D, etc.]
Small (Entrepreneurial) BUSINESS:
Training Inc. , a 14-person
unit* in a 50-person HR
department in a $200M
business unit in a $3B
corporation—aiming for
Excellence & WOW!
*PSF/
Professional Service Firm (See my …
Professional Service Firm 50: Fifty Ways to Transform Your
“Department” Into A Professional Service Firm Whose
Trademarks Are Passion and Innovation.)
Are you/your gang the …
“Principal
Engine of
Value Added”
Big Idea:
“Corporation” as
MEGA“PSF”
Part
Part
Part
Part
Part
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
INTRODUCTION/EXCELLENCE
PEOPLE FIRST, SECOND …
INNOVATION IMPERATIVE
VALUE-ADDED STRATEGIES
LEADERSHIP/EXTREME
SOLUTIONS
Conrad
Hilton …
CONRAD HILTON, at a gala celebrating
his career, was called to the podium
“What were
the most important
lessons you learned
in your long and
distinguished
career?” His answer …
and asked,
“Remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub.”
IS
“EXECUTION
STRATEGY.”
—Fred Malek
“Amateurs talk
about strategy.
Professionals
talk about
logistics.”
—General Omar Bradley
WOW!!
Observed closely: The use of
or
“we”
“I”
during a
job interview.
Source: Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman, chapter 6, “Hiring for Values,”
Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic
MBWA
Managing
By
Wandering
Around
You = Your
calendar/
Your calendar
NEVER lies.
You = Your
calendar*
*The calendar
NEVER
lies.
MBWA 4
MBWA 8
MBWA 12
“The
4 most
important
words in any
organization are …
THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN ANY ORGANIZATION
“WHAT
DO YOU
THINK?”
ARE …
Source: courtesy Dave Wheeler, posted at tompeters.com
MBWA 8:
Change the World With EIGHT Words
What do you think?*
How can I help?**
*Dave Wheeler: “What are the four most important words in the boss’ lexicon?”
**Boss as CHRO/Chief Hurdle Removal Officer **********************************
MBWA 12:
Change the World
With TWELVE Words
What do you think?*
How can I help?**
What have you learned?***
*Dave Wheeler: “What are the four most important words in the boss’ lexicon?”
**Boss as CHRO/Chief Hurdle Removal Officer **********************************
***What [new thing] have you learned [in the last 24 hours]? ********************* *
Acknowledgement.
“The deepest principal
in human nature is the
craving* to be
appreciated.”
—William James
*“Craving,” not “wish” or “desire” or “longing”/Dale
Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
(“The BIG Secret of Dealing With People”)
“Employees who
don't feel significant
rarely make
significant
contributions.”
—Mark Sanborn
ONE at
a Time
one
“If there is any
‘secret’
to effectiveness, it is
concentration. Effective
executives do first things first …
and they do one
thing at a time.”
—Peter Drucker
1 Mouth,
Ears
“The doctor
interrupts
after …*
*Source: Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think
18 …
18 …
seconds!
[An obsession with] Listening is ... the ultimate mark
of
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
is
is
is
is
...
...
...
...
the heart and soul of Engagement.
the heart and soul of Kindness.
the heart and soul of Thoughtfulness.
the basis for true Collaboration.
the basis for true Partnership.
a Team Sport.
a Developable Individual Skill.* (*Though women
are far better at it than men.)
the basis for Community.
the bedrock of Joint Ventures that work.
the bedrock of Joint Ventures that grow.
the core of effective Cross-functional
Communication* (*Which is in turn Attribute #1 of
organization effectiveness.)
[cont.]
Respect
.
*Listening is of the
utmost … STRATEGIC
importance!
*Listening is a proper …
CORE VALUE !
*Listening is … TRAINABLE !
*Listening is a …
PROFESSION !
Suggested addition to your statement of Core
“We are Effective
Listeners—we treat
Listening EXCELLENCE as
the Centerpiece of our
Commitment to Respect
and Engagement and
Community and Growth.”
Values:
Responsiveness/
Apology/
“I’m sorry!”
“I regard apologizing as the
most magical, healing,
restorative gesture human
beings can make. It is the
centerpiece of my
work with executives who
want to get better.”
—Marshall Goldsmith, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There:
How Successful People Become Even More Successful.
THE PROBLEM IS
RARELY/NEVER THE
PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE TO THE
PROBLEM INVARIABLY
ENDS UP BEING THE
REAL PROBLEM.*
*PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS!
THERE ONCE
WAS A TIME WHEN A
Relationships
(of all varieties):
THREE-MINUTE
PHONE CALL WOULD
HAVE AVOIDED SETTING OFF THE
DOWNWARD SPIRAL THAT
RESULTED IN A COMPLETE
RUPTURE.*
*divorce, loss of a BILLION $$$ aircraft sale, etc., etc.
XFX =
#1
EXPLICITLY &
VISIBLY &
RELENTLESSLY
MANAGE TO XFX
STANDARD!
XFX = #1*
*Cross-Functional eXcellence
NEVER
WASTE A
LUNCH!
% XF
lunches*
*
Measure!
Monthly! Part of
evaluation! [The PAs Club.]
XFX/Typical Social Accelerators
1. EVERYONE’s [more or less] JOB #1: Make friends in other functions!
(Purposefully. Consistently. Measurably.)
2. “Do lunch” with people in other functions!! Frequently!! (Minimum
10% to 25% for everyone? Measured.)
3. Ask peers in other functions for references so you can become
conversant in their world. (It’s one helluva sign of ... GIVE-A-DAMNism.)
4. Religiously invite counterparts in other functions to your team
meetings. Ask them to present “cool stuff” from “their world” to your
group. (Useful. Mark of respect.)
PROACTIVELY SEEK EXAMPLES OF “TINY”
ACTS OF “XFX” TO ACKNOWLEDGE—
PRIVATELY AND PUBLICALLY. (Bosses: ONCE
A DAY … make a short call or visit or send an
email of “Thanks” for some sort of XFX
gesture by your folks and some other
function’s folks.)
5.
6. Present counterparts in other functions awards for service to your
group. Tiny awards at least weekly; and an “Annual All-Star
Supporters [from other groups] Banquet” modeled after superstar
salesperson banquets.
!
The ONE Secret
If the regimental commander lost most of his
2nd lieutenants and 1st lieutenants and captains
If he
lost his sergeants it
would be a
catastrophe. The Army and the
and majors, it would be a tragedy.
Navy are fully aware that success on the
battlefield is dependent to an extraordinary
degree on its Sergeants and Chief Petty
Officers. Does industry have the same
awareness?
Is there ONE “secret” to
productivity and employee
satisfaction?
YES!
The Quality of your Full
Cadre of …
1st-line Leaders.
“People leave
managers not
companies.”
—Dave Wheeler
2/year =
Legacy.
2/year =
legacy.
Promotion Decisions
“life and
death
decisions”
Source: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
“A man should never
be promoted to a
managerial position if his
vision focuses on people’s
weaknesses rather than on
their strengths.” —Peter Drucker,
The Practice of Management
Evaluation.
EVALUATING
#1
PEOPLE =
DIFFERENTIATOR
Source: Jack Welch, now Jeff Immelt on
GE’s top strategic skill (
!!!!)
SelfEvaluation.
“Being aware of
yourself and how you
affect everyone around
you is what
distinguishes a superior
leader.” —Edie Seashore (Strategy +
Business #45)
“How can a high-level leader like _____ be
so out of touch with the truth about
himself? It’s more common than you
In fact, the higher
up the ladder a leader
climbs, the less accurate his
self-assessment is likely to
be. The problem is an acute lack of
would imagine.
feedback [especially on people issues].”
—Daniel Goleman (et al.), The New Leaders
"Everyone thinks
of changing the
world, but no one
thinks of changing
himself"
- Leo Tolstoy
Hiring.
“development can help great people
be even better— but
if
I had a dollar to spend, I’d
70 cents
spend
getting the right person in
the door.”
—Paul Russell, Director, Leadership and
Development, Google
the
most important
aspect of business
and yet remains woefully
misunderstood.”
“In short, hiring is
Source: Wall Street Journal, 10.29.08,
review of Who: The A Method for Hiring,
Geoff Smart and Randy Street
Reductionist (!!)
Leadership
Training
Are you a
“professional”
when it comes to
HIRING people?
Are you a
“professional”
when it comes to
EVALUATING
people?
Reductionist Leadership Training
“Aggressive ‘professional’ listener.”
Expert at questioning. (Questioning “professional.”)
Meetings as leadership opportunity #1.
Creating a “civil society.”
Expert at “helping.” (Helping “professional.”)
Expert at holding productive conversations.
Fanatic about clear communications.
Fanatic about training.
Master of appreciation/acknowledgement.
Effective at apology.
Creating a culture of automatic helpfulness by all to all.
Presentation excellence.
Conscious master of body language.
Master of hiring. (Hiring “professional”)
Master of evaluating people.
Time manager par excellence.
Avid practitioner of MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around.
Avid student of the process of influencing others per se.
Student of decision-making and devastating impact of irrational aspects
thereof.
Brilliantly schooled student of negotiation.
Creating a no-nonsense execution culture.
Meticulous about employee development/100% of staff.
Student of the power of “d”iversity (all flavors of difference).
Aggressive in pursuing gender balance.
Making team-building excellence everyone’s daily priority.
Understanding value of matchless 1st-line management.
Instilling “business sense” in one and all.
14,000
20,000
14,000/eBay
20,000/Amazon
30/Craigslist
Kevin Roberts’ Credo
1. Ready. Fire! Aim.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
If it ain’t broke ... Break it!
Hire crazies.
Ask dumb questions.
Pursue failure.
Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!
Spread confusion.
Ditch your office.
Read odd stuff.
10.
AVOID MODERATION!
14,000
20,000
14,000
20,000
14,000/eBay
20,000/Amazon
30/Craigslist
“There’s no use trying,’ said Alice.
‘One cannot believe impossible
things.’ ‘I daresay you haven’t had
much practice,’ said the Queen.
‘When I was your age, I always did it
for half an hour a day. Why,
sometimes I’ve believed as
many as six impossible
things before breakfast.’”
— Lewis Carroll
“We all agree your
theory is crazy. The
question, which
divides us, is
whether it is crazy
enough.”
—Niels Bohr, to Wolfgang Pauli
“We are crazy. We should do
something when people say
If people
say something is
‘good’, it means
someone else is
already doing it.”
it is ‘crazy.’
—Hajime Mitarai, Canon
Kevin Roberts’ Credo
1. Ready. Fire! Aim.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
If it ain’t broke ... Break it!
Hire crazies.
Ask dumb questions.
Pursue failure.
Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!
Spread confusion.
Ditch your office.
Read odd stuff.
10.
AVOID MODERATION!
HOT
Language
“INSANELY GREAT”
STEVE JOBS
“RADICALLY THRILLING”
BMW
“Insanely great” —Steve Jobs
“Radically thrilling” —BMW
“Astonish me!” —Sergei Diaghilev
“Build something great!” —Hiroshi Yamauchi/CEO Nintendo, to a game designer
“Make it immortal!” —David Ogilvy, to an ad copywriter
Raise your sights!
Blaze new trails!
Compete with the immortals!
—David Ogilvy, on Ogilvy & Mather’s corporate culture
Wanted by Ogilvy & Mather International:
Trumpeter Swans —David Ogilvy
“Every project starts with the same question: ‘How can we do what has never been done before?’”
—Stuart Hornery, Lend Lease
“Let us create such a building that future generations will take us for …
lunatics.” —church hierarchs at Seville
“We are crazy.
We should do something when people say it is ‘crazy.’ When people say something is ‘good,’
it means someone else is already doing it.” —Hajime Mitarai, former CEO, Canon
“You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner. You’ve got to be out on the …
lunatic fringe.”
—Jack Welch
Kevin (“Lovemarks”) Roberts’ Credo
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Ready. Fire! Aim.
If it ain’t broke ... Break it!
Hire crazies.
Ask dumb questions.
Pursue failure.
Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!
Spread confusion.
Ditch your office.
Read odd stuff.
10.
Avoid moderation!
Note:
TWO Americans; EIGHT non-Americans (Scotsman,
2 Japanese, Aussie, Russian, German, Spaniard, Kiwi)
Innovation Index: How many of your
“Top Five Projects” score eight or
higher (out of 10) on a “Weird”
/“Profound”/ “WOW”/“Game-changer”
Scale?
WOW-ification Index: Move every
project (definition) that scores six
or less two notches up on the
“WOW-ification Scale” within the next
two weeks. If your principal current
project scores six or less, bring it up
one (or two!) notches by noon on
Monday.* (*This tweet was written on a Sunday.)
WINNERS’
!
Rules
Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed’: THE THREE RULES:
How Exceptional Companies Think*:
1. Better before cheaper.
2. Revenue before cost.
3. There are no other rules.
(*From a database of over 25,000 companies from hundreds of industries covering 45 years, they
uncovered 344 companies that qualified as statistically “exceptional.”)
Jeff Colvin, Fortune: “The Economy Is Scary … But Smart
Companies Can Dominate”:
They manage for value—not for EPS.
They keep developing human capital.
They get radically customer-centric.