Conrad
Hilton …
Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his
career, was called to the podium and
“What were the
most important
lessons you learned
in your long and
distinguished
career?” His answer …
asked,
“REMEMBER
TO TUCK THE
SHOWER
CURTAIN INSIDE
THE BATHTUB.”
You get ’em in the
door with “location,
location, location”—and
a terrific architect. You
keep ’em coming back
with the tucked in
shower curtain!*
*Profit rarely comes from transaction #1;
it is a byproduct of transaction #2, #3, #4 …
IS
“EXECUTION
STRATEGY.”
—Fred Malek
“The score
takes care of
itself.”
—Bill Walsh
“When assessing candidates, the first thing I
looked for was energy and enthusiasm for
Does she talk about
the thrill of getting things
done, the obstacles
overcome, the role her
people played —or does she
execution:
keep wandering back to
strategy or philosophy?”
—Larry Bossidy, Execution
LONG
Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALIGNMENT.
Corporate Visions
19 September 2013
(Slides at tompeters.com and excellencenow.com)
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 who entered increased
from one-third to nearly twothirds.” —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)
Glaring Eyes:
-62%
Source: PLOS ONE (via The Atlantic CITIES /0429.13)
“When I work with experimental digital gadgets, I am always reminded of
how small changes in the details of a digital design can have profound
unforeseen effects on the experiences of the people who are playing with
it. The slightest change in something as seemingly trivial as the ease of
For
instance, Stanford University
researcher Jeremy Bailinson has
demonstrated that changing the
height of one’s avatars in
immersive virtual reality
transforms self-esteem and
social self-perception. Technologies are
use of a button can sometimes alter behavior patterns.
extensions of ourselves, and, like the avatars in Jeremy’s lab, our identities
can be shifted by the quirks of gadgets. It is impossible to
work with information technology without also engaging in
social engineering.” —Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget
“[Cheetos] is one of the most
marvelously constructed foods
on the planet, in terms of
pleasure. [The puff’s ability to
melt in the mouth] is called
‘vanishing caloric density.’ If
something melts down quickly,
your brain thinks that there’s no
calories in it. You can just keep
eating it forever.” —Steven Witherly,
food scientist
Source: Michael Moss, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
Bag sizes = New markets:
Source: PepsiCo
Big carts =
Source: Wal*Mart
120-oz container to ketchup-bottle size laundrydetergent concentrate (100% conversion): 1/4th
packaging; 1/4th weight; 1/4th cost to ship;
1/4th space on ships, trucks, shelves. 3
95M #s plastic resin saved,
125M #s cardboard conserved, 400M
less gallons of water shipped, 500K
gallons less diesel fuel, 11M less #s CO2
years:
released)
Source: Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Walmart’s Green Revolution , Edward Humes
LITTLE =
<TGW
and …
>TGR
[Things Gone
WRONG-Things Gone RIGHT.]
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.
(1) Amenable to rapid
experimentation/
failure “free” (PR, $$)
(2) Quick to implement/
Quick to Roll out
(3) Inexpensive to
implement/Roll out
(4) Huge multiplier
(5) An “Attitude”
(1) Half-day/Generate
25 ideas
(2) One week/5 experiments
(3) One month/Select best 2
(4) 60-90 days/Roll out
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?
“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
“Perception
is all
there is”
COMEBACK
[BIG, QUICK RESPONSE]
>>
PERFECTION
“Design is everything.
Everything is design.”
“We are all designers.”
Inspiration: The Power of Design: A Force for
Transforming Everything, Richard Farson
Design Rules!
APPLE market
cap
> Exxon Mobil*
*August 2011
“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]
Retail Superstars:
Inside the 25 Best
Independent Stores
in America
—by George Whalin
Jungle Jim’s International Market, Fairfield, Ohio: “An
adventure in
‘shoppertainment,’
as Jungle Jim’s
1,600
cheeses and, yes, 1,400 varieties of hot
sauce —not to mention 12,000 wines priced
from $8 to $8,000 a bottle; all this is brought to
you by 4,000 vendors. Customers come from every
calls it, begins in the parking lot and goes on to
corner of the globe.”
Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Michigan,
98,000-square-foot “shop” features the
likes of 6,000 Christmas ornaments, 50,000
trims, and anything else you can name if it pertains to
pop 5,000:
Christmas.
Source: George Whalin, Retail Superstars
Basement Systems Inc.
THE RED
CARPET
STORE
(Joel Resnick/Flemington NJ)
“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
“… IT IS
THE
GAME.”
139,380 former
patients from 225 hospitals:
Press Ganey Assoc:
NONE
of THE top 15
factors determining Patient Satisfaction
referred to patient’s health outcome
P.S. directly related to Staff Interaction
P.P.S. directly correlated with Employee
Satisfaction
Source: Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
“There is a misconception that supportive interactions require
more staff or more time and are therefore more costly. Although
labor costs are a substantial part of any hospital budget, the
interactions themselves add nothing to the budget.
KINDNESS IS
FREE.
Listening to patients or answering
their questions costs nothing. It can be argued that negative
interactions—alienating patients, being non-responsive to their
needs or limiting their sense of control—can be very costly. …
Angry, frustrated or frightened patients may be combative,
withdrawn and less cooperative—requiring far more time
than it would have taken to interact with them initially in a
positive way.” —Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton,
Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
“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
[Yet] I
came to see in my time at
IBM that culture isn’t just
thousands of people is very, very hard.
one aspect of the game
IT IS THE
GAME.”
—
—Lou Gerstner, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance
“What matters most
to a company over time?
Strategy or culture?
WSJ/0910.13:
Dominic Barton, MD, Mc Kinsey & Co.:
“Culture.”
B(I) >
B(O)
“crack the code on
how your company
can develop and
live
its
unique story”
“Let me
help you
down the
jetway.”
“In a world where customers wake up
every morning asking, ‘What’s new,
what’s different, what’s amazing?’
success depends on a company’s
ability to unleash initiative,
imagination and passion of
employees at all levels—and this 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
“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
“the joy*
of work”
—John Mackey and Raj Sisoda, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business
*See also, Joy Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love
—Richard Sheridan (Menlo Innovations)
*2/3 vote by team after 90-days probation
for new member to achieve fulltime status
*Total transparency re compensation
*All 7 members of exec team exact same
pay package including bonuses
*Cash plus bonuses of highest paid no
more than 19X average
*Exact same benefits package for all
employees including CEO, though adjusted
for seniority
*Benefits package decided by all hands
vote every 3 years
—John Mackey and Raj Sisoda, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic
Spirit of Business (“Conscious Hiring and Retention Practices”)
Hard is Soft.
Soft is Hard.
Hard is Soft.
Soft is Hard.
Hard
Soft
[numbers, plans]
[people/relationships]
is Soft.
is Hard.
“The notion that corporate law
requires directors, executives, and
employees to maximize shareholder
wealth simply isn’t true. There is no
solid legal support for the claim
that directors and executives in U.S.
public corporations have an
enforceable legal duty to maximize
shareholder wealth. The idea is
fable.” —Lynn Stout, professor of corporate and business law,
Cornell Law school, in The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting
Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public
“On the face of it,
shareholder value is the
dumbest idea in the world.
Shareholder value is a
result, not a strategy. …
Your main constituencies
are your employees, your
customers and your
products.” —Jack Welch, FT, 0313.09, page 1
“BUSINESS HAS TO
GIVE PEOPLE
ENRICHING,
REWARDING LIVES …
“BUSINESS HAS TO GIVE PEOPLE ENRICHING,
OR IT'S
SIMPLY NOT
WORTH
DOING.”
REWARDING LIVES …
—Richard Branson (1/4,096)
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.”
“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"
"When I hire someone, that's when I
go to work for them.” —John DiJulius
So what
ONE
THING will you to do
TODAY to foster
employees’/an
employee’s growth?
“Employees who
don't feel significant
rarely make
significant
contributions.”
—Mark Sanborn
"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
customers then
you must first WOW
those who WOW the
customers!
Hard is Soft.
Soft is Hard.
Hard
Soft
[numbers, plans]
[people/relationships]
is Soft.
is Hard.
EMPLOYEES FIRST, CUSTOMERS SECOND:
Turning Conventional Management Upside Down
Vineet Nayar/CEO/HCL Technologies
“hostmanship”/
“consideration
renovation”
hostmanship
“The path to a
culture paradoxically does not go through
the guest. In fact it wouldn’t be totally wrong to say that the guest has nothing to
do with it. True hostmanship leaders focus on their employees. What drives
exceptionalism is finding the right people and getting them to love their work and
see it as a passion. ... The guest comes into the picture only when you are ready to
ask, ‘Would you prefer to stay at a hotel where the staff love their work or where
“We went
through the hotel and made a ...
‘consideration renovation.’ Instead of
redoing bathrooms, dining rooms, and
guest rooms, we gave employees new
uniforms, bought flowers and fruit, and
changed colors. Our focus was totally on
management has made customers its highest priority?’”
the staff. They were the ones we wanted
to make happy. We wanted them to wake up every morning excited
about a new day at work.” —Jan Gunnarsson and Olle Blohm, Hostmanship:
The Art of Making People Feel Welcome.
“ … The guest comes into
the picture only when you
are ready to ask, ‘Would you
prefer to stay at a hotel
where the staff love their
work or where management
has made customers its
highest priority?’”
“We are a
‘Life
Success’
Company.”
Dave Liniger, founder, RE/MAX
“The organization would
ultimately win not
because it gave agents
more money, but
because it gave them
a chance for better
lives.” —Phil Harkins & Keith Hollihan,
Everybody Wins, on
RE/MAX
100%
THE DREAM MANAGER
—Matthew Kelly
“An organization can only become the-best-version-of-itself to
the extent that the people who drive that organization are
striving to become better-versions-of-themselves.” “A
company’s purpose is to become the-best-version-of-itself. The
What is an employee’s purpose?
Most would say, ‘to help the company
achieve its purpose’—but they would be
wrong. That is certainly part of the
employee’s role, but an employee’s
primary purpose is to become the-bestversion-of-himself or –herself. … When a
question is:
company forgets that it exists to serve customers, it quickly
Our employees are our
first customers, and our most important
customers.”
goes out of business.
“OUR EMPLOYEES
ARE OUR FIRST
CUSTOMERS, AND
OUR MOST
IMPORTANT
CUSTOMERS.”
“I start with the
premise that the
function of leadership
is to produce more
leaders, not more
followers.” Ralph Nader
—
“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
“No matter what the
situation, [the great manager’s] first
response is always to think
about the individual
concerned and how things
can be arranged to help that
individual experience
success.”
—Marcus Buckingham,
The One Thing You Need to Know
If the manager’s sole task is to
make team members
successful— then what is
your [manager] plan to
make each individual
more successful within
the coming week?
BRAND =
TALENT.
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
… NO LESS THAN
CATHEDRALS
IN WHICH
THE FULL AND AWESOME
POWER OF THE IMAGINATION
AND SPIRIT AND NATIVE
ENTREPRENEURIAL FLAIR OF
DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS IS
UNLEASHED IN PASSIONATE
PURSUIT OF … EXCELLENCE.
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.
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
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.)
“The leaders of Great
Groups … love talent
… and know where to find
revel in …
the talent of
others.”
it. They …
—Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward
Biederman, Organizing Genius
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.”
“life and
death
decisions”
Promotion Decisions
“life and
death
decisions”
Source: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
2/YEAR =
LEGACY.
“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
Andrew Carnegie’s Tombstone Inscription …
Here lies a man
Who knew how to enlist
In his service
Better men than himself.
Source: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
From
sweaters to
people!*
Les Wexner:
*Limited Brands founder Les Wexner queried on astounding longterm success—said, in effect, it happened because he got
as excited about developing people as he had been about
predicting fashion trends in his early years
53 = 53
“The key difference between checkers and
chess is that in checkers the pieces all move
the same way, whereas in chess all the pieces
DISCOVER
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT
EACH PERSON AND
CAPITALIZE ON IT.”
move differently. …
—Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
Evaluating people =
#1 differentiator
Source: Jack Welch/Jeff Immelt on GE’s
strategic skill (
!!!!)
#1
70 CENTS
“Development can help great
people be even BETTER—BUT
IF
I HAD A DOLLAR TO
SPEND, I’D SPEND 70
CENTS 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
“This is not about getting the
right answer. The thing that
you will be evaluated on is
whether you bring out all the
best qualities in your partner.
Your job is to make the other
applicant look as good as
possible.”
—James Goebel, co-founder, Menlo Innovations
Source: Joy Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love
—Richard Sheridan (Menlo Innovations)
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
… this will be
the woman’s
century …
“I speak to you with a feminine
voice. It’s the voice of democracy,
of equality. I am certain, ladies
and gentlemen, that this will be
the woman’s century. In the
Portuguese language, words
such as life, soul, and hope are
of the feminine gender, as are
other words like courage and
sincerity.” —President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil,
1st woman to keynote the United Nations General Assembly
“Forget CHINA,
INDIA and the
INTERNET: Economic
Growth Is Driven by
WOMEN.”
Source: Headline, Economist
W>
2X (C + I)*
*“Women now drive the global economy. Globally, they control about $20
trillion in consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as
$28 trillion in the next five
years
. Their $13 trillion in total yearly earnings could reach $18
trillion in the same period.
In aggregate, women represent a growth market bigger than China and
India combined—more than twice as big in fact. Given those numbers, it would be foolish to ignore or underestimate
the female consumer. And yet many companies do just that—even ones that are confidant that they have a winning
strategy when it comes to women. Consider Dell’s …”
Source: Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre, “The Female Economy,” HBR, 09.09
“Women are
THE majority
market”
—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
“AS
LEADERS,
WOMEN
RULE:
New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male
counterparts in almost every measure”
TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
Women’s Strengths Match New
Economy Imperatives: Link [rather than
rank] workers; favor interactivecollaborative 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: Women Managers
“Power Women 100”/Forbes 10.25.10
26 female CEOs of Public Companies:
Vs. Men/Market:
+28% *
(*Post-appointment)
Vs. Industry:
+15%
“Headline 2020:
Women Hold
80
Percent of
Management and
Professional Jobs”
Source: The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will
“C-level”?!!
Why is intensiveextensive training
obvious for the army &
navy & sports teams &
performing arts
groups--but not for
the average business?
In the Army, 3-star
generals worry about
training. In most
businesses, it's a “ho
hum” mid-level staff
function.
“training, TRAINING
and M-O-R-E
T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G”
—CINCPAC Nimitz to CNO King/actual emphasis in written communication
/1943/on #1 need for U.S. Navy in South Pacific
Container Store
270/16
10/>100
I would hazard a guess
that most CEOs see IT
investments as a
“strategic necessity,”
but see training
expenses as “a
necessary evil.”
(1) Training merits
“C-level” status!
(2) Top trainers should
be paid a king’s
ransom—and be of
the same caliber as
top marketers or
researchers.
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.)
“The median worker is
losing the race against
the machine.”
—Erik Brynjolfsson and
Andrew McAfee, Race Against the Machine
“A bureaucrat is an
expensive microchip.”
—Dan Sullivan, consultant and executive coach
“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. Our
throes of a
technologies are racing ahead,
but our skills and organizations
are lagging behind.”
Source: Race AGAINST the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
“Algorithms have already written symphonies
as moving as those composed by
Beethoven, picked through legalese with
the deftness of a senior law partner,
diagnosed patients with more accuracy than a
doctor, written news articles with the
smooth hand of a seasoned reporter, and
driven vehicles on urban highways with far
better control than a human
driver.”
Automate This: How
Algorithms Came to Rule the World
—Christopher Steiner,
Legal industry/Pattern
Recognition/Discovery (ediscovery algorithms):
500 lawyers to …
ONE
Source: Race AGAINST the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
SERGEANTS
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?
Employee retention & satisfaction & productivity:
Overwhelmingly
based on the
first-line
manager!
Source: Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules:
What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently
“People leave
managers not
companies.”
—Dave Wheeler
four most
important
words in any
“The
organization are …
THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN ANY ORGANIZATION
“WHAT
DO YOU
THINK?”
ARE …
Source: courtesy Dave Wheeler, posted at tompeters.com
Some Help With Helping …
Help works when the recipient subsequently feels
smarter—not dumber.
Regularly help too soon—and you will set up expectation of inaction until your "help" is provided.
Help poorly conveyed spawns powerlessness
and resentment in recipient.
Helping requires a sniper's rifle or surgeon's
scalpel—not a shotgun or machete.
Helping strategies vary [significantly] from individual to individual—leave the “cookie cutter” at
home.
Effectively "helping" may
be the most difficult
leadership task of all!
"Help" is only truly successful when the recipient
says, and believes: "I did it myself!"
Near truism: Nobody wants help. But we would
all liked to have received help.
"Don't be helpful. Be available.
Helpful people are a nuisance."
Guitarist Robert Fripp:
“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”)
“Acknowledge” …
perhaps the most
powerful word (and
idea) in the English
language—and
manager’s tool kit!
"Good leaders make
people feel that
they're at the very
heart of things, not
at the periphery.”
—Warren Bennis
“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, sacrifice
for , trust.” —Howard Schultz, Starbucks
“THE DOCTOR
INTERRUPTS
AFTER …*
*Source: Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think
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
organizational effectiveness.)
[cont.]
Respect
.
LISTEN =
“PROFESSION” =
STUDY = PRACTICE =
EVALUATION =
ENTERPRISE VALUE
“It’s amazing how this
seemingly small thing—
simply paying fierce
attention to another, really
asking, really listening,
even during a brief
conversation—can evoke
such a wholehearted
response.”
Fierce Conversations:
—Susan Scott,
Achieving Success at Work and in Life, One Conversation at a Time
IS THERE A FULL-BORE
TRAINING COURSE IN
"LISTENING" FOR
100% OF
EMPLOYEES, CEO
TO TEMPS? IF NOT,
THERE [DAMN WELL]
OUGHT TO BE.
Best Listeners Win …
“IF YOU DON’T
LISTEN, YOU
DON’T SELL
ANYTHING.”
—Carolyn Marland
10 Essential Selling Principles Most Salespeople Get Wrong
1. Assuming the problem that the prospect communicates is
the real problem.
2. Thinking that your sales “presentation” will seal the deal.
3.
Talking too much.
4. Believing that you can sell anybody anything.
5. Overeducating the prospect when you should be selling.
6. Failing to remember that salespeople are decisionmakers, too.
7. Reading minds.
8. Working as an “unpaid consultant” to seal the deal.
9. Being your own worst enemy.
10. Keeping your fingers crossed that a prospect doesn’t
notice a problem.
Source: Forbes/0503.13
**8 of 10 sales
presentations fail
**50% failed sales
presentations … talking
“at” before listening!
—Susan Scott, “Let Silence Do the Heavy Listening,” chapter title,
Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life,
One Conversation at a Time
“I always write
‘LISTEN’ on
the back of my hand
before a meeting.”
Source: Tweet viewed @tom_peters
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.
Lunch!
XFX = #1*
*Cross-Functional eXcellence
Never
waste a
lunch!
“Allied commands depend on
mutual confidence
and this confidence is
gained, above all
development
of friendships.”
through the
—General D.D. Eisenhower, Armchair General*
*“Perhaps his most outstanding ability [at West Point]
he made friends and earned
the trust of fellow cadets who came from
widely varied backgrounds; it was a quality that would pay
was the ease with which
great dividends during his future coalition command.”
% 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-DAMN-ism.)
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.)
5. 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.)
6. Present counterparts in other functions awards for service
to your group. Tiny awards at least weekly; and an “Annual AllStar Supporters [from other groups] Banquet” modeled after
superstar salesperson banquets.
Everyone,
starting with the
receptionist, should have a
significant XFX rating
component in their
evaluation. (The “XFX
Performance” should be
among the Top 3 items in all
managers’ evaluations.)
Formal evaluations.
"It became necessary to develop
medicine as a cooperative science;
the clinician, the specialist, the
laboratory workers, the nurses
uniting for the good of the patient,
each assisting in the elucidation of
the problem at hand, and each
dependent upon the other for
support.”
—Dr. William Mayo,
1910
“Competency is
irrelevant if we don’t
share common
values.”
—Mayo Clinic exec, from Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman,
“Orchestrating the Clues of Quality,” Chapter 7 from Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic
"The personnel committees on all three
campuses have become aggressive in
addressing the issue of physicians who
are not living the Mayo value of
exhibiting respectful, collegial behavior
Some
physicians have been
suspended without pay
or terminated.”
to all team members.
—Leonard Barry & Kent Seltman,
Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic
hundreds of
times better here
“I am
[than
because of
the support system. It’s like
you were working in an
organism; you are not a
single cell when you are out
there practicing.’”
in my prior hospital assignment]
—quote from Dr. Nina Schwenk, in
Chapter 3, “Practicing Team Medicine,” from Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman,
from Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic
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
eLunch!
“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
MillerCoors: Gender imbalance. Women of Sales peer
support. Private network, Attrition plummeted.
Teva Canada: Supply chain excellence achieved. SharePoint/troubleshooting/Strategy-Nets/hooked to other
functions; Moxie social tools, document editing, etc.
IBM: Social business tools/30 percent drop in project
completion time/300K on LinkedIn, 200K on Facebook
Bloomberg: Mobil social media analytics prelude to stock
performance
Intuit: struggling against H&R Block temp
staffing/customers #1 asset/Live Community, focused on
help with transactions (not general, embedded in TurboTax
Social Business By Design: Transformative Social Media Strategies
For the Connected Company —Dion Hinchcliffe & Peter Kim
Wow
Hard is Soft.
Soft is Hard.
Hard
Soft
[numbers, plans]
[people/relationships]
is Soft.
is Hard.
Zappos 10 Corporate Values
Deliver
“WOW!”
Embrace and drive change.
Create fun and a little weirdness.
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded.
Pursue growth and learning.
Build open and honest relationships with
communication.
Build a positive team and family spirit.
Do more with less.
Be passionate and determined.
Be humble.
Source: Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com
through service.
“INSANELY GREAT”
Steve Jobs
“RADICALLY THRILLING”
BMW
“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
“Normal” =
“0for 800”
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?
Skinning
Cats
There is more
than one way to
skin a cat!*
REQUIRES
*Every project
(if you’re smart) an
outside look by one/some Seriously Weird Cat/s
—in pursuit of whacked-out options.
14,000
20,000
14,000/eBay
20,000/Amazon
30/Craigslist
Where’s
your “Craig’s List
Every project:
[WOW!]
option”?
“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
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!
“If you ask me what I
have come to do in
this world, I who am
an artist, I will reply:
I am here to live my
life out loud.”
— Émile Zola
“If I had any epitaph that I
would rather have more than
any other, it would be to say
disturbed
the sleep of my
generation.”
that I had …
—Adlai Stevenson
“I WANT TO BE THOROUGHLY
USED UP WHEN I DIE. … Life is
no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a
sort of splendid torch which I
have got hold of for the
moment, and I want to make it
burn as brightly as possible
before handing it on to future
generations.” —George Bernard Shaw
"The object of life's
journey is not to arrive at
the grave safely in a well
preserved body, but rather
to skid in sideways, totally
worn out, shouting,
'Holy Shit, What a
Ride!!!’ ”
—Mavis Leyrer
(feisty OCTOGENARIAN, living in Seattle)
WOW!