TOM PETERS’
LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP
San Antonio
28 March 2000
(Day #88 of the New Millennium)
All Slides Available [NOW] at …
tompeters.com
Hen scratches @
37,000 feet …
Microsoft = R.O.W.
Microsoft > GM + Ford +
Boeing + Lockheed Martin +
Deere + Caterpillar + USX +
Weyerhaeuser + Union Pacific +
Kodak + Sears + Marriott +
Safeway + Kellogg
Source: Business Week data through 5-99
Microsoft = R.O.W. (II)
Microsoft > GM + Ford Boeing + Lockheed
Martin + Deere + Caterpillar + USX + Weyerhaeuser + Union
Pacific + Kodak + Sears + Marriott + Safeway + Kellogg
+ McDonald’s + Bank One +
General Mills + American Airlines
+ United Airlines + + Delta Air
Lines + US Airways +
Quaker Oats
Source: Yastrow Marketing (through 11-23-99)
Pentium III 800MHz: $42,893.00/#
Hermes Scarf: $1,964.29
Saving Private Ryan on DVD: $874.75
Mercedes-Benz: $18.98
Hot-rolled steel: $0.19
Source: Fortune (3.20.00)
No Wiggle Room!
“Incrementalism is
innovation’s worst
enemy.”
Nicholas Negroponte
Just Say No …
“I don’t intend to be known
as the ‘King of the
Tinkerers.’ ”
CEO, large financial services company
(New York, 5-99)
64/24
Goal?
“It means nothing
less than the total
reinvention of
this company.”
Jacques’ New New Ford
Ford + MSN CarPoint
Ford + Yahoo!
Ford + Oracle
Ford + HP/MCIWorldcom
Etc.
Etc.
Tony(White)-World
Perkin-Elmer to PE Corp./
Sell “core bus.”/ Dump NAME!
Now: PE Biosystems,
Celera Genomics (Craig Venter)
$1.5B (’95) to $24B
“Medicine looks likely to
change more in the next
20 years than it has in
the last 200.”
British Medical Journal (11-11-99)
“There is probably going
to be more confusion in
the business world in the
next decade than there
has been in any decade
in history.”
Steve Case (2-00)
“We are in a
brawl with no
rules.”
Paul Allaire
S.A.V.
TP2000: A broken Record
GE Power Systems
Anheuser Busch
FitLinxx
Yellow Freight
Fidelity
Time Inc.
Web
Total Reinvention
Consumer Control
Speed
Terror/
Opportunity
Brand Power/
Communication Imperative
T.T.D.s
The next slide is the first of many
“T.T.D.” activities. I.e.: Things To Do.
These are by and large shorthand
forms of training exercises I use.
Also: Most of these T.T.D. slides have
accompanying Notes.
(See following slide.)
Tom Peters
T.T.D./True or False:
“incrementalism”
VERSUS
“innovation”?
Notes Page
• This is a daunting issue. There is no “right
answer.” But it merits constant, conscious
debate. Consider the value of incremental
change. [Kaizen, etc.] And discuss whether or
not this thwarts “BIG” initiatives aimed at
wholesale reinvention.
• Also: Consider … “Can we do both?” [I’m not
sure.] P.S.: This crucial issue holds for Finance
Departments as much as Product Divisions. And
it holds for the smallest and newest of
businesses! THIS DEBATE IS WORTH LOTS OF
TIME! KEEP IT PRACTICAL!
Seminar Y2K
Brand Everything:
Distinct or Extinct!
Brand It!
Now, More Than Ever!
“The increasing difficulty in
differentiating between products and
the speed with which competitors take
up innovations will assist in the rise
and rise of the brand.”
Gillian Law and Nick Grant,
Management [New Zealand]
Part I: Forces @ Work
Part II: Brand Inside
Part III: Brand Outside
Part IV: Brand Leadership
Forces @ Work
The Destruction
Imperative!
Forget > Learn
“The problem is never
how to get new,
innovative thoughts into
your mind, but how to get
old ones out.”
Dee Hock
“When asked to name just one big
merger that had lived up to
expectations, Leon Cooperman,
former cochairman of Goldman
Sachs’ Investment Policy Committee,
answered: ‘I’m sure there are success
stories out there, but at this moment I
draw a blank.’ ”
Mark Sirower, The Synergy Trap
“Acquisitions are about
buying market share.
Our challenge is to
create markets. There
is a big difference.”
Peter Job, CEO, Reuters
“We chose not to do a
discounted cash flow
analysis of their future
earnings. We wanted their
talent and we wanted
their intellectual
property.”
Art Reidel, CEO, Pharsight
“Our ideal acquisition is a small
startup that has a great
technology product on the
drawing board that is going to
come out in six to twelve months.
We buy the engineers and the
next generation product. …”
John Chambers, Cisco
Dept. Head I = Sports G.M.
Dept. Head II = V.C.
G.M. = The Recruitment and
Development of Top Talent.
[Period!]
V.C. = Bets on “Talent.” Bets
on Projects. [Period!]
Silicon Valley Success Secrets
“Pursuit of risk”: 4 of 20 in V.C.
portfolio go bust; 6 lose money; 6
do okay; 3 do well; 1 hits the
jackpot
Source: The Economist
“R & D”
Intel’s venture fund:
275 investments, $3.5B
Source: Fast Company (12-99)
T.T.D.
Discuss the G.M./V.C.
“strategy” as it applies to
your unit.
Notes Page
• What do “G.M.s” do? [Invite one to talk to
your group.] Do you do what they do? If
not, why not? How about a “G.M.
Strategy”?
• Repeat the above for the Life of a Venture
Capitalist.
T.T.D.
Evaluate your portfolio of
projects [and people]: Are
you placing enough
interesting [long shot?]
bets?
Notes Page
• Be brutally honest!
• Hint: This holds for you and me as
individuals as well as for our unit.
C.E.O.
to
C.D.O.
The Gales of Creative Destruction
+29M = -44M + 73M
+4M = +4M - 0M
Paradox Redux
Atlanta: +113,600 = #1 metro area
Layoffs [major]: BellSouth,
Lockheed, Coca-Cola
Built to Last v. Built to Flip
“The problem with Built to Last is that it’s a
romantic notion. Large companies are
incapable of ongoing innovation, of
ongoing flexibility.”
“Increasingly, successful businesses will
be ephemeral. They will be built to yield
something of value – and once that value
has been exhausted, they will vanish.”
Fast Company (03-00)
Message from Seattle?
Top 3 Americans >
48 poorest nations
Source: Newsweek 12-99
“ALL OF THESE ‘CONVERSATIONS’
TODAY ABOUT ‘THE WEB’ WILL
APPEAR SO BLOODY DAMN SILLY AND
PEDESTRIAN TEN … FIVE? … THREE?
… YEARS FROM NOW.”
— Tom Peters (11-99)
P.S.: Read
Ray Kurzweil’s The Age
of Spiritual Machines: When
Computers Exceed Human
Intelligence
“Researchers say they have found
a way to mate human cells with
circuitry in a ‘bionic chip’ … The
tiny device – smaller and thinner
than a strand of hair – combines a
healthy human cell with an
electronic circuitry chip.”
AP/AOL/02-00
iSmell from Digiscents*
*On sale 12-00 (AOL/03-03-00)
T.T.D.
How do you rate as a …
C.D.O.?
Notes Page
• So … what … exactly … are you doing to
DESTROY what you [and yours] are
today? List every Project that aims to
ATTACK today’s “culture” and
assumptions. Be specific!
Brand Inside
PSF 1:
Brand Org!
108 X 5
vs.
8 X 1*
* 540 vs. 8
And Now the Equivalent …
White Collar
Revolution!
“The coefficient of friction
associated with the grunge
of business is amazing!”
Michael Schrage
Cemex and FDX!
CCC Information
Services!
Swissair
e>booking
e>ticket
e>check-in
e>track
e>info
And …
50M @ $20,000 = $1T*
*Michael Dertouzos, MIT, on India’s
“back office” outsourcing potential
[02-08-00/Delhi]
The Pincer 5
“Destructive” entrepreneurs/ Global
Competition
“White Collar Robots”
THE INTERNET!
[E.g.: GM + Ford + DaimlerChrysler]
Global Outsourcing
[E.g.: India, Mexico]
Speed!!
The Mother of All Predictions
The Internet
Destructive Competition
Speed
White Collar Robots
White Collar Outsourcing
T.T.D.
Discuss: Is my “90% in
10+ years” extreme?
Notes Page
• I admit that some say I’m over-the-top
here. I honestly don’t think I am. Try and
imagine your HR/Whatever Dept. fully
automated with numerous tasks
outsourced … to India or Ireland.
“Assetless
Company”
J.B.
RR on Sara Lee
“The most profitable
businesses in the future will act
as knowledge brokers, linking
insights into what’s available
with insights into the
customer’s individual needs
and preferences.”
The “&-!!+#$% in the middle”*
Jim Clark on Healtheon/WebMD
* ’twixt docs, patients and providers; $300B in
waste (?); source: Michael Lewis,
The New New Thing
[ Incidentally …
CEO Jeff Arnold
Age: 30
First Start-up: Age 24]
“We want to be the
air traffic controllers
of electrons.”
Bob Nardelli,
GE Power Systems
T.T.D.
Does your vision
involve a critical
position in the
industry’s
Spider’s Web?
Notes Page
• Try to depict your industry … or your
department … with all its
interconnections. E.g.: What if every task
you perform became a “for profit” task in
which you became an “industry expert”?
E.g.: As an HR Dept. in the utility industry,
what if you started the premier dot.com
industry Talent Bank?
PSF 1.0
Professional Service
Firm Conversion Kit /
Release 1.0
PSF 1.0
Department Head
to …
Managing Partner,
HR [IS, etc.] Inc.
Why are there no
books on how to create
a “Cool, Rocking,
WOW-producing
Finance Department”?
Credo
“WORK
WORTH
PAYING FOR”
“support function” / “cost
center” / “bureaucratic
drag”
or …
“Rock Stars of the ‘Age of
Talent’ ”
“Real” PSF …
–Think Inc. (Mindset = Step No.1!)
–Clients rule! / Engage Clients in
deep dialog/ “Join us in an
Adventure” / Fire duds!
–Work = WOW Projects (100%!)
–Embrace the Politics of
Implementation!
–Practice serial monogamy!
–Master “the economics”! (WWPF!)
“Real” PSF …
–WE HELP PEOPLE!
–Co-habit with the Client!
–Create a Culture of Urgency!
–Love thy Support Staff!
–You need a Methodology! /
Obsess on R&D!
–BECOME A “CONNOISSEUR
OF TALENT”!
Real PSF …
WE OWN THIS PLACE!
THIS IS COOL STUFF!
WE ARE THE WORLD!
The “7Ps” of PSF 1.0
Projects!
Passion!
Provocation!
Partnership!
Politics!
Professionalism!
Performance!
T.T.D.
Use the prior slide as a
checklist relative to every
activity [project] your unit
is working on.
T.T.D.
Compare: “Department
Head” versus
“Managing Partner,
Finance Inc.”
Notes Page
• See our book, the Professional Service
Firm50, re the differences between a
traditional “Dept.” and a full-fledged
“PSF.” Our “The Work Matters” manifesto
– at tompeters.com – also covers this.
C.I.O.
to
C.E.F.R.N.S.*
*Chief Evangelist For
Really Neat Stuff
Seminar Y2K/Brand Inside
Message:
Distinct … or
Extinct!
Brand Inside
PSF 2:
Brand Work!
“Reward excellent
failures. Punish
mediocre
successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
But Does It Matter ????
“On time, on budget …
who cares?”
anon. seminar participant (4/99)
“You really got to me. So
many of our information technology
projects take on a life of their own,
and I know they’ll never end up as
more than ‘mediocre successes.’ ”
CEO, F100 financial
services company (10-98)
WOW Project Anatomy
I. Create!
II. Sell!
III. Implement!
IV. Exit!
I. Create!
Reframe!
THERE ARE NO “SMALL” PROJECTS!
Observe & Record!!
Head for the trenches!
You gotta love it!
Measure: WOW!, Beauty, Raving Fans,
Impact!
Build a no-baloney Business Plan
Create community. Now!
Obsess on … the End User. Now!
Reframers’ Rules:
Rule 1: Never accept an
assignment as given!
Rule 2: You’re never so powerful
as when you are “powerless”!
Rule 3: Every “small” project
contains the entire enterprise
DNA!
T.T.D.
Examine that “small”/
“annoying” project you’re
working on. Can it be re-cast as
a WOW/ Culture Change
Project? What are the hidden
assumptions about customers/
suppliers/ employees?
Notes Page
• I am adamant: Every project can be made
into a “big deal” if your head is in the right
place. So … now … COMPLETELY REINVENT THAT “SMALL” PROJECT YOU
ARE WORKING ON! No bull! E.g.: What
about a “Memorial Day Employee Picnic
that signals a whole new attitude toward
our staff”?
Measures
–WOW!
–Beauty!
–Raving Fans!
–Impact!
E.g.: WOW Scale
1. … Dull as dishwater
.
5. … Gets the job done
.
7. … “Good work!”
.
10. … A serious “Braggable”!
T.T.D.
MEASURE … NOW
… P-L-E-A-S-E!
Notes Page
THIS IS MY #1
GOAL FOR THE
WHOLE DAMN
SEMINAR … THAT YOU [AND
• NO BALONEY:
YOURS] WILL MEASURE EVERY PROJECT
AGAINST MY FOUR KEY CRITERIA: WOW!,
BEAUTY, RAVING FANS, IMPACT.
• [P-L-E-A-S-E.]
Kaiser: 4.15.29
Liberty Ship
2 years
240 days
9 hours
4 days, 15 hours, 29 minutes
[Just Say “No” to …
S-t-r-e-t-c-h]
WOW Project “Acid Test”
Can you explain it with zest to your 14-year-old?
“Every project we take
on starts with a question:
How can we do what’s
never been done
before?”
Stuart Hornery, CEO, Lend Lease
II. Sell!
Master “The Pitch”!
Build Buzz. Consciously.
Network maniacally!
Preach to the choir!
Forget your enemies. [Surround and
marginalize!]
Money kills!
SELL, SELL, SELL!
III. Implement!
- Live, eat, sleep … Quick Prototype!
- Play!
- Keep on recruiting! (Sell!)
- Obsess on the End User Community!
(Sell!)
- Become a Milestone Maniac! / a Timeline
Tyrant! / a List Freak! / find Ms. Last 2%!
- Appoint a Marketing Director!
- Keep the WOW! front and center!
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may be
the most valuable core
competence an innovative
organization can hope to
have.”
Michael Schrage
“You can’t be a serious innovator
unless and until you are ready,
willing and able to seriously play.
‘Serious play’ is not an oxymoron;
it is the essence of innovation.”
Michael Schrage, Serious Play
Think about It!?
Innovation = Reaction to
the Prototype
Michael Schrage
T.T.D./ Prototyper’s Laws
Define a small, practical test of something on a
page or less of text. Now.
Gather “found” materials … on the [very] cheap.
Find a/one partner-“customer” who’ll provide a
test site.
Set a very tight deadline of about 5 days for the
next concrete step.
Conduct the test! Debrief A.S.A.P.
Set the next test date. Now. [No more than 5
days hence.]
Notes Page
• The idea is to establish a “rhythm of
prototyping” that defines every project.
T.T.D./ Secret No. 1: Go horizontal: Find
a (one!) “line” ally in “the Boonies”
Secret No. 2: “Powerless” allies are
Cool!
Secret No. 3: Passion Rules!
Secret No. 4: Become a Prototyping
Maniac!
Secret No. 5: Embrace Politics /
“Community Organizing”!
Notes Page
• Main Idea: YOU ARE NOT “POWERLESS.” Seek
out allies in strange places … and get going! DO
NOT WASTE TIME “SELLING UP.”
• Attitude: You are the Gandhi/King of your
“mission.”
• So: IDENTIFY THE FOLKS YOU WANT TO PLAY
WITH RE THAT INCREDIBLY COOL IDEA YOU
HAVE!
K2K
IV. Exit!
“Sell out!” / Embrace “The Suits”!
Recruit a passionate Ms./Mr.
Follow-up!
Seed your freaks into the
mainstream!
Celebrate!
Exit!
SOOOO … HOW MANY OF
YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE
“BACK HOME” AT WORK ON
NO-BALONEY …
WOW* PROJECTS!
* WOW = Will be remembered fondly/
bragged about 5+ years from now
Epitaph from Hell …
Joe T. Jones
1942 - 2000
HE WOULDA DONE SOME
REALLY COOL STUFF
BUT …
HIS BOSS WOULDN’T LET HIM!
T.T.D.: Now!
– List all projects
– Carefully describe a “WOW Outcome” for
you and the Client
– Score (!) all projects on WOW, Beauty,
Impact, Raving Fan-hood
– Pick one project with a high combined score
– Draft a one-page New Description that
emphasizes WOW, Beauty, etc.
– Circulate and edit … for three days
– Reduce to 5 bullet points
Notes Page
•DO IT!
•NOW!
The greatest danger
for most of us
is not that our aim is
too high
and we miss it,
but that it is
too low
and we reach it.
Michelangelo
Characteristics of the “Also Rans”
“minimize risk”
“respect the chain of command”
“support the boss”
“make budget”
Source: Fortune on “most admired
global corporations” (10/26/98)
[We are not trying to “WOW you
up.”
We think you are/have WOW.
We are trying to give you
permission to be WOW.]
Seminar Y2K/Brand Inside
Message:
Distinct … or
Extinct!
1) Turn ignition key.
2) Shift into drive.
3) Press foot firmly on the
throat of mediocrity.
Source: Mercedes ad
Brand Inside
PSF 3:
Brand You!
DISTINCT … OR EXTINCT!
“If there is nothing very special
about your work, no matter how
hard you apply yourself, you won’t
get noticed and that increasingly
means you won’t get paid much,
either.”
Michael Goldhaber, Wired
“If one quarter can’t make
the journey, that’s the way it
has to be.”
Carly Fiorina (1-00/Forbes)
Personal “Brand Equity” Evaluation
– I am known for [2 to 3 things]; next year at this time I’ll
also be known for [1 more thing].
– My current Project is challenging me …
– New things I’ve learned in the last 90 days include …
– My public “recognition program”
consists of …
– Additions to my Rolodex in the last 90 days include …
–My resume is discernibly different
from last year’s at this time …
T.T.D./Personal “Brand Equity”
– I am known for [2 to 3 things]; next year at this time I’ll
also be known for [1 more thing].
– My current Project is challenging me …
– New things I’ve learned in the last 90 days include …
– My public “recognition program”
consists of …
– Additions to my Rolodex in the last 90 days include …
–My resume is discernibly different
from last year’s at this time …
Notes Page
• Soooooo … perform a PBE evaluation.
VERY CAREFULLY! Do alone. With spouse
or best pal. With an informal group of
colleagues. As boss: Make this a regular,
major exercise; perhaps include [or make
centerpiece of] the formal HR evaluation
scheme. My categories are not
sacrosanct, merely suggestive. [Hint: This
process is proven!]
They “Get it”?!
– stone mason
– electrician
– plumber
– tiler
– cabinet maker
– contractor
– blacksmith
– well driller
– blaster
– sheep shearer
– etc.
Icon Woman …
–Totally turned on by her work!
–“It” matters / a WOW Project!
–“It” is … COOL!
–“It” is … BEAUTIFUL!
–She is … in your face!
–She is an … adventurer!
–She is … CEO of her own life!
Icon Woman …
- She is … at least … a little funky!
–Her curiosity is … insatiable!
–She thinks screwups are …
as normal as breathing!
–She hangs out with some …
seriously rad Dudes!
–She is not God. She is not Bionic
Woman. She is … determined
to make a damned difference!
“Well-behaved
women rarely
make history.”
Anita Borg,
Institute for Women and Technology
Icon Woman Meets the Web …
– submits resume on the Web
– recruited on the Web
– hired on the Web
– trained on the Web
– creates and conducts projects with
virtual teams on the Web
– manages project and client
follow-up on the Web
– manages career/reputation-building
on the Web
“The Brand Called URL”/
Nathan Shedroff, Vivid Studios
“24 X 7 storefront
devoted exclusively to
The Brand Called You.”
T.T.D./Soooo…
How’s your
Web site?
Notes Page
• So … how is it? MY 18-YEAR-OLD SON
HAS ONE! It’s fly-phat.
R.D.A.
Rate: 15%?, 25%?
Therefore: Formal “Investment
Strategy”/R.I.P.
R.I.P.
10 … Major job change [new area of
concentration]; major offsite
educational investment; extensive
sabbatical [oddball learning
experience of > 2 months];
exceptional community project
[presidency of fundraising drive, run
for school board].
R.I.P.
5 ... Extensive course work in oddball
area of passionate interest; major offthe-job activity [community
involvement, learn to play the cello,
study Chinese].
1 … Company training, as directed.
T.T.D./Your R.I.P.
IS IT … FORMAL?
IS IT ... WOW!?
Notes Page
• We think “R.I.P.s” are imperative! So …
please take these two questions seriously
and literally!
T.T.D./R.I.P.
Use by yourself.
Use with your mates.
Use [quantitatively?] as a
measure of departmental/ P.S.F.
renewal.
Use in formal eval process.
Notes Page
• The whole idea is to make “R.I.P.s” a/the
centerpiece – formally – of measuring unit
“freshness.” E.g.: SCORE EVERYONE’S
“R.I.P.” ON ITS BOLDNESS/WOW.
Training Y2K
Anytime, anywhere!
Whatever!
Concocted by the employee
[“Training Account”]
Tapping into Intrinsic Motivation
“If you, David Weinberger, want to
make your customers happy, it’s
more to demonstrate that you’re a
capable dude – not because
you’re concerned for your client’s
mental state.”
from The Cluetrain Manifesto
“The pursuit of working free is not the
pursuit of freedom from responsibility
or from the demands of bosses,
companies or customers. It is about
choosing to work in a way that is truly
responsible to yourself – a way that is
in synch with your own choices, values
and concerns.”
Tim Gallwey,
The Inner Game of Work
Self-control =
Engagement =
Effectiveness*
* “How Pilots Fly the Plane Varies a Lot
from Airline to Airline” (WSJ/031400);
PD on mbo
“Everything can be taken from
man but one thing: the last of
human freedoms - to choose
one’s own attitude in any set of
circumstances, to choose
one’s own way.”
Victor Frankl, Auschwitz survivor
T.T.D./So….
HOW DO WE TURN THIS
INTO A PLACE WHERE
PEOPLE WANT TO FEEL
GREAT ABOUT THEIR OWN
PERFORMANCE?
Notes Page
• If our Cluetrain Manifesto pals are right, a lot of
the “do or die for the customer” stuff is pure
hooey. What we need is folks out to improve –
daily! – on their Personal Bests. WHAT CAN WE
DO TO FOSTER THAT? Hint: this rings true to
me as a seminar giver in 2000 and a waiter back
in the 1960s. A “great night” had lots more to do
with “satisfying me” than “serving the
customer.”
H.R. to H.E.D. ???
Human
Enablement
Department
“Firms will not ‘manage the
careers’ of their employees. They
will provide opportunities to
enable the employee to develop
identity and adaptability and
thus be in charge of his or her
own career.”
Tim Hall et al., “The New Protean Career Contract”
Seminar Y2K/Brand Inside
Message:
Distinct … or
Extinct!
When you love
what you do,
you’re alive.
jobs.com
“I don’t think
there’s anything
worse than being
ordinary.”
American Beauty
T.T.D./Assignment
Construct a 1/8-page or
1/4-page ad for
Brand You … for the
Yellow Pages
Notes Page
•THIS IS A BIG
DEAL. TAKE IT
SERIOUSLY. [“Yellow
Pages ads” are the centerpiece of our
formal Brand You training programs.]
[ T.T.D.: How About It?
Replace your current
evaluation process with
Yellow Pages ads.]
Notes Page
• NO BULL! Some of our Clients have gone
this far. And report stunning results. If you
can’t do this formally, try it informally.
“You are the storyteller
of your own life, and you
can create your own
legend or not.”
Isabel Allende
T.T.D./Cluetrain Manifesto
Relax!
Have a sense of humor!
Find your voice and use it!
Tell the truth!
Don’t panic!
Enjoy yourself!
Be Brave!
Be curious!
Play more!
Dream always!
Listen up!
Rap on!
Notes Page
• This is one tough standard to hold
ourselves to! Perhaps start by putting this
on a 5-inch x 7-inch card … and referring
to it several times a day.
Bill Parcells’ World/
Brand You World!
BLAME NOBODY!
EXPECT NOTHING!
DO SOMETHING!
NY Post (9/99)
Brand Inside
PSF 4:
Brand Talent!
Issue Y2K
The Great War
for Talent!
There is no “talent shortage” …
if …
you are a
GPTW*
*Great Place To Work
Alan Kay on
PARC’s Bob Taylor
“He was a
connoisseur of
talent.”
T.T.D./
ARE YOU?
Notes Page
• There’s perhaps no more difficult “test”:
AM I A NO-BALONEY CONNOISSEUR OF
TALENT? Use a quantitative measure.
A Connoisseur of Talent …
– Spends time on Talent!
– Becomes a student of Talent!
– Puts Talent “on the agenda”!
– Practices D.I.Y.
– Uses Plain English! (If you want “sunny” …
ask for “sunny”!)
– Creates Workspaces that foster energy,
entrepreneurship and creativity!
– Recruits from oddball places! /
Recruits Oddballs!
“Our business needs a
massive transfusion of
talent. And talent, I believe,
is most likely to be found
among non-conformists,
dissenters and rebels.”
David Ogilvy
Axiom: Never hire
anyone without an
aberration in their
background. (Find the
One Ton Cookie Man!)
A Connoisseur of Talent …
– Recruits M.I. (Gardner: Logical-mathematical,
linguistic, artistic, musical, bodily-kinesthetic,
intrapersonal-self, interpersonal-others)
– Recruits arts!
– Becomes de facto C.D.O. (Chief Diversity
Officer)
– Turns the pay scale upside down! / Pays Talent!
– Rewards & Promotes all on Talent
Development Skills!
– Spouts the Gospel of Renewal! (R.D.A./ R.I.P.)
“Every school I visited was
participating in the systematic
suppression of creative
genius.”
“From cradle to grave the
pressure is on: BE NORMAL!”
Gordon MacKenzie
“Where do good new ideas come from? ...
That’s simple! From differences.
Creativity comes from unlikely
juxtapositions. The best way to
maximize differences is to mix ages,
cultures and disciplines.”
Nicholas Negroponte
The NAESP …
Attributes of Those Who “Made” the 10th
Grade History Book
–Committed!
–Determined to make a difference!
–Focused!
–Passionate!
–Irrational about their life’s project!
–Ahead of their time / Paradigm
busters!
–Impatient! / Action Obsessed
Attributes of Those Who “Made” the 10th Grade
History Book
–Made lots of people mad!
–Flouted the chain of command!
–Creative / Quirky / Peculiar! / Rebels! /
Irreverent!
–Masters of improv / Thrive on chaos
/ Exploit chaos!
Attributes of Those Who “Made” the 10th Grade
History Book
–Forgiveness > Permission
–Bone honest!
–Flawed as the dickens!
– “In touch” with their followers’
aspirations
–Damn good at what they do!
Just Say “No” to “Grout”!
Participant: “Don’t you need
‘grout’ between the tiles?”
“No!”
TP:
[med staff,
NFL Special Teams,waiters,
PFCs, cymbals player,
bit parts, waiters]
TP’s Ideal Job:
Head of Housekeeping!
“Conformity is the
enemy of freedom
and the jailer
of growth.”
J.F.K.
“The boundaries for
acceptable weirdness have
dramatically expanded.”
Michael Schrage
Yes!
Director of Bringing in
the Really Cool People
All You Need to Know?
Chief Evangelist For Really
Neat Stuff
Director Of Bringing In The
Really Cool People
T.T.D.
STEAL THESE
TWO JOB
TITLES!
Talent = Brand
Brand Outside
=
Brand Inside
“Corporate Religion is a completely new way
of thinking about companies. Today, the
product is still the main communication
highway in the company. When companies
make the shift to selling solutions, brands and
attitudes … communicating the company’s
attitudes and values becomes the
decisive parameter for success. It
demands that you find out who you are
as a company.”
Jesper Kunde, Corporate Religion
Culture Change is not “Corporate.”
Culture Change is not a “Program.”
Culture change does not take “Years.”
Culture Change does not start “Today.”
Culture Change starts Right
Culture Change
Now!
Lives in the Moment!
Culture Change is
Entirely in Your Hands!
What Do I “Do” First?
One Minute
Excellence!*
*Thomas Watson
T.T.D.
Construct a formal
“Great War for Talent
Strategy” for
your unit!
Notes Page
• Key word: FORMAL!
Seminar Y2K/Brand Inside
Message:
Distinct … or
Extinct!
Brand Outside
Context:
No “Commodities”!
In the Beginning …
“The audit has become a
commodity.”
Big 5 audit partner to TP
Quality Not Enough!
“Quality as defined by few defects
is becoming the price of entry for
automotive marketers rather than
a competitive advantage.”
J.D. Power
Quality Not Enough!
“While everything may be
better, it is also increasingly
the same.”
Paul Goldberger on retail, “The Sameness
of Things,” The New York Times
What’s Special?
“Customers will try ‘low cost
providers’ because the Majors
have not given them any clear
reason not to.”
Leading Insurance Industry
Analyst (10-98)
“We make over three new
product announcements a
day. Can you remember
them?
Our customers can’t!”
Carly Fiorina
“The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of
similar companies, employing similar
people, with similar educational
backgrounds, coming up with similar
ideas, producing similar things, with
similar prices and similar quality.”
Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale,
Funky Business
Driver: In Search of Excelllence (’82)
to The Circle of Innovation (’97)
A proliferation of
[good/niche] products and
[good/niche] competitors
Changing tastes and preferences
challenge the leaders [from GM to
P&G to Pfizer to Nations Bank to
IBM to HP to Coca Cola]
The “10X/10X
Phenomenon”
10 Times Better/
10 Times Less Different
“When we did it ‘right’
it was still pretty
ordinary.”
Barry Gibbons on
“Nightmare No. 1”
Pretzel Crumb-less-ness Plus …
“The Ritz Carlton Experience
enlivens the senses, instills
well-being and fulfills even the
unexpressed wishes and needs of
the guest.”
from the Ritz Carlton Credo
“We want to create
waves of lust
for our product.”
Andy Grove (on the Pentium
Processor)
“You do not merely want to
be the best of the best. You
want to be considered
the only ones who do
what you do.”
Jerry Garcia
Lust Hierarchy
Satisfy … Conform to
Requirements … Exceed
Expectations …
Delight! … WOW! … Lust! …
ONLY ONES WHO DO WHAT
WE DO!
Aarrgh!
“Quality is conformance
to requirements, not
goodness.”
Phil Crosby
What Jerry Should
Have Said???
“You do not merely want to be the
best of the best, you want to be
considered in conformance with
requirements.”
Lessons from the “LVA” World
Granite Rock
Nypro
Nirvana!
- Nordstrom
- Four Seasons
- Adirondack Guide Boat
- OXO
- Ziplocs
- Magnificent Mile
Why?
Cool!/Surprising!
Reliable!
Friendly!/Comfortable!
Aesthetically pleasing!
T.T.D.
And your favorites?
Why? (Pay attention to the flavor of
the words you use)
Translation to your/
“finance world,” etc.?
Notes Page
• Think about the words you use to
describe “stuff” you really LOVE. Do
those terms apply to your unit’s products
and services? If you talk about a
“compelling” movie or novel or theatrical
performance, why not a “compelling
business process”?
Context: “No” to “inevitable
commoditization”
S1: Lead the Customer!
S2: Master E-Commerce!
S3: Women Rule! (and the elderly)
S4: Design Rules! (too)
S5: It’s the Experience!
Bottom Line: Glorious Age of the
BRAND!
Context: “No” to “inevitable
commoditization”
S1: Lead the Customer!
S2: Master E-Commerce!
S3: Women Rule! (and the elderly)
S4: Design Rules! (too)
S5: It’s the Experience!
Bottom Line: Glorious Age of the
BRAND!
Brand Outside
Strategy 1:
Lead the Customer!
“The customer is a rear
view
mirror, not a guide to the future.”
George Colony, Forrester Research
“If you worship at the throne of the
voice of the customer, you’ll get only
incremental advances.”
Joseph Morone, President, Bentley College
Early Customer Rejection
Post-Its [12 years!]
Chrysler Minivans
VCRs
Fax machines
FedEx
CNN
Heart-assist pumps
Etc.
Source: Fortune
Good = Bad/ 1 of 30,000
“We are crazy. We should do
something when people say it is
If people say
something is ‘good’, it
means someone else is
already doing it.”
‘crazy.’
Hajime Mitarai, Canon
“Wealth in this new regime flows
directly from innovation, not
optimization. That is, wealth is not
gained by perfecting the known,
but by imperfectly seizing the
unknown.”
Kevin Kelly, New Rules for the New Economy
“Lead” customers!
K2K redux!
T.T.D.: Do You K2K?
Are you working with
[numerous] weird, far
out customers? [As
opposed to “biggest”
customers?]
Notes Page
• Trust me! You will be as Cool as your
Coolest Clients. Cool Clients co-invent the
future with us. Soooo … WHAT’S YOUR
COOL CLIENT PORTFOLIO LOOK LIKE?
[Hint: “Biggest” are rarely “coolest.”]
Benchmarking, Perils of …
“The best swordsman in the world doesn’t
need to fear the second best swordsman
in the world; no, the person for him to be
afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who
has never had a sword in his hand before;
he doesn’t do the thing he ought to do,
and so the expert isn’t prepared for him;
he does the thing he ought not to do and
often it catches the expert out and ends
him on the spot.”
Mark Twain
Amen!
“The Age of the
Never Satisfied
Customer”
Regis McKenna
Context: “No” to “inevitable
commoditization”
S1: Lead the Customer!
S2: Master E-Commerce!
S3: Women Rule! (and the elderly)
S4: Design Rules! (too)
S5: It’s the Experience!
Bottom Line: Glorious Age of the
BRAND!
Brand Outside
Strategy 2:
Use E-Commerce
to Re-invent the
Business!
$35,000,000. = ???
Dell’s Web sales …
daily
2X = 100 days
(Internet traffic)
2X = 9 months
(network capacity)
Source: Red Herring (1-00)
I-24 to 1-28: BizRate.com Online
Shopping Index [Consumer Goods]
52 Weeks:
+622%
Source: The Industry Standard/02-00
[AOL delivers
more mail than
the USPS!
Source: Fortune 2-00]
T.T.D.: Study!!
Read: Business
2.0
Red Herring
Wired
The Industry Standard
Notes Page
• YOU MUST [M-U-S-T] BECOME AN AVID
INTERNET STUDENT! PERIOD! SO …
HOWYADOING?
Tomorrow Today: Cisco!
$7B of $10B
Save $500M (service and tech
support)
C.Sat e >> C.Sat H
Customer Engineer
Chat Rooms ($1B?)
Cherry Picking
Vertical Markets
Plasticsnet.com: $370B;
sellers pay $5K to $8K for
“storefront”; 5% to 10% cut
Hook: community services
(database, catalogs, forums,
industry job bank, etc.)
T.T.D.: Message!
COMMUNITY!/
COMMUNITY
SERVICES!
Notes Page
• Web Secret No.1: COMMUNITY – as in,
User Community – RULES! So: How do
your online Community Development
Activities rate?
SoftWatch (MS)
“Manage relationships across the healthcare
continuum”/ Amir Kishon
Establish e-relationships with customers/retain
customers/collect data
Patients record info + receive feedback/ Online
access to nurses
Community with others with MS
Etc.
Source: Start-Up
B2B = No.1
CarStation (auto-body shops),
ChemConnect (chemicals),
Collabria (commercial printing),
DigitalThink (corporate training),
E-Steel (steel), Medibuy (medical
supplies), Portera (knowledge
workers), Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc.
GM/Ford/DaimlerChrysler (02-27)
Auto parts supply “Co.”
$240B (+$500B)
I.P.O.
W.W. Grainger*
2X phone/fax
*$220B “MRO” market (per Business 2.0/02-00)
B2B
1999 – 2004: 50X
2004: $7.4 T
Source: GartnerGroup
(per Reuters 1-26-00)
Welcome to
D.I.Y. Nation!
“Changes in business processes will
emphasize self service. Your costs as
a business go down and
perceived service goes up
because customers are conducting it
themselves.”
Ray Lane, Oracle
Shop in your
Underwear
Source: SM’d logo for www.ae.com
ae = American Eagle Outfitters
Psych 101:
Strongest Force on Earth?
My need to be in
perceived control of
my universe!
Anne Busquet/ American Express
Not: “Age of the Internet”
Is: “Age
of Customer
Control”
“IT enables total
transparency. People with
access to relevant information are
beginning to challenge any type of
authority. The stupid, loyal and
humble customer, employee or citizen
is dead.”
Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale,
Funky Business
Patricia Seybold’s “Basics”:
The E-Customer Bill of Rights
Don’t waste my time!
Remember who I am!
Make it easy for me to order and
procure service!
Customize your products and
services for me!
Source: customers.com
T.T.D.: Message!
THE
CUSTOMER IS
IN CONTROL!
Notes Page
• Do you Joyfully “allow” the Customer to
lead you around by the nose? Is this truly
his/her site? Her/his “home”?
[ Cases: Customers.com
American Airlines
National Semiconductor
Hertz
Amazon.com
Babson College
National Science Foundation
Bell Atlantic
Wells Fargo
Cisco Systems
Dell
Etc.]
“In the network economy, the
Website becomes the company’s
primary interface to the customer.
The user interface becomes the
marketing materials, store front,
store interior, sales staff and postsales support all rolled into one.”
Jakob Nielsen,
Designing Web Usability
Read This. No: INGEST This!
Jakob Nielsen
Designing Web Usability:
The Practice of Simplicity*
*www.useit.com
“Most companies would do more
business on the Internet if they
fired their entire marketing
department and replaced it with
people who could produce
interactive content that actually
made it easier for users to buy.”
Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group
Red Herring (01/00)
75% of online
shoppers don’t
complete their
purchase!
T.T.D.: Message!
SIMPLICITY!
Notes Page
• READ JAKOB NIELSEN’S BOOK! Hold
your site to the Exacting Nielsen
Standard! [Be ruthless … on yourself.]
“Where does the Internet rank
in priority?
It’s No. 1, 2, 3,
and 4.”
Jack Welch
Change … Or Die!
“Most of the brick and mortars look at the
Internet as an add-on business … until
they get a major scare. Then they either
change or die. … You have to put all your
heart and soul in that direction, the way
Charles Schwab and Dell did.”
Flip Filipowski, divine interVentures (Red
Herring)
“Even if executives of established
businesses grasp the impact of new
technologies … they still face a massive
competitive disadvantage precisely
because they are incumbents. … They
do complex financial calculations and
get bogged down in internal political
debates. Insurgents have no such
inhibitions.”
Philip Evans & Thomas Wurster,
Blown to Bits
There are 2 Kinds of …
Defense*
vs.
Offense**
*Fend off upstarts.
**Reinvent our marketspace!
The Way “They” Talk!
“I have this chance for …
changing the world.”
Marco Boerries, Sun, re StarOffice
(Business 2.0, 2-00)
T.T.D.
Most important Y2K
question: Are you &
yours “dealing with” the
Web … or “embracing it”
as “central to our
being”?
Notes Page
• SPEND A
“TTD”!
LOT OF TIME ON THIS
Jargon Bath!
Bureaucracy free …
Systemically integrated …
Internet intense …
Knowledge based …
Time and location free …
“Instantly” responsive …
Customer centric …
Mass customization enabled.
Translation …
Bureaucracy free = Flat org, no B.S.
Systemically integrated = Whole supply chain
tightly wired/ friction free
Internet intense = Do it all via the Web
Knowledge based = Open access
Time and location free = Whenever, wherever
“Instantly” responsive = Speed demons
Customer centric = Customer calls the shots
Mass customization enabled = Every product
and service rapidly tailored to client
requirements
Message: The
“distributor” is dead.
Long live the valueadded, knowledgeintensive “business
partner.”
“E-business is the
final nail in the coffin
for bureaucracy at
GE.”
Jack Welch/
GE Annual Report 2000
[ Words to Live By …
“Hierarchy is an
organization with its face
toward the CEO and its ass
toward the customer.”
Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale,
Funky Business]
03.26.00: Getting Right Down
to Brass Tacks …
Bricks & Mortar?
Clicks & Mortar?
All Clicks All the time?
#1: ANY IDIOT WHO THINKS
CONSUMERS ARE GOING
TO GIVE UP THE
IN-STORE SHOPPING
EXPERIENCE FOR THE
INTERNET IS JUST THAT.
AN IDIOT.
#2: ANY IDIOT WHO THINKS
WE ARE STILL GOING TO
BE HANGING OUT IN
STORES 15 YEARS FROM
NOW IS JUST THAT.
AN IDIOT.
TP: ANY IDIOT WHO THINKS
THEY KNOW WHICH ONE
OF THE ABOVE TWO
STATEMENTS IS TRUE
IS JUST THAT.
AN IDIOT.
Context: “No” to “inevitable
commoditization”
S1: Lead the Customer!
S2: Master E-Commerce!
S3: Women Rule! (and the elderly)
S4: Design Rules! (too)
S5: It’s the Experience!
Bottom Line: Glorious Age of the
BRAND!
Brand Outside
Strategy 3:
Women Rule!
?????????
Home Furnishings … 94%
Vacations … 92%
Houses … 91%
Bank Account … 89%
Health Care … 75%
Etc.
48% working wives > 50%
80% checks
61% bills
53% stock (mutual fund boom)
43% > $500K
95% financial decisions/
29% single handed
Women … 49% of Web users; 6
of 10 new users; 83% of wired
women are primary decision
makers for family healthcare,
finances, education.
Source: Business Week (11-99)
$3.3T + $1.5T = $4.8T*
* Larger than Japan!
Most Under-reported story!
9M*/27.5M(1 of 4)/
$3.6T
[> Germany]
* 400K in ’72
Sources: NFWBO, Cognetics, Business Wire (03.06.00)
New golfers … 37%
Basketball … 13.5M
1 in 27 (’70) … 1 in 3 (’96)
1874?
1874 … Jock Strap
1977 … Jogbra
1977 ... 25K
1996 … 42M
Yeow!
1970 … 1%
2000 … 50%
OPPORTUNITY
NO. 1!*
[* No shit!]
T.T.D.: Study!
Does anybody in your
industry do “it” right?
Brilliantly?
[If so … how?]
Notes Page
•STUDY!
[Damn it!]
Carol Gilligan/ In a Different Voice
Men: Get away from authority, family
Women: Connect
Men: Self-oriented
Women: Other-oriented
Men: Rights
Women: Responsibilities
FemaleThink/ Popcorn
“Men and women don’t think the same
way, don’t communicate the same way,
don’t buy for the same reasons.
“He simply wants the transaction to
take place. She’s interested in creating
a relationship. Every place women go,
they make connections.”
Women and Financial Advisors
Women want … a plan, to be
listened to, to be taken seriously,
to read about it, to think about it.
Women do not want … an
in-your-face sales pitch
Source: Kathleen Boyle, Wheat Boyle Butcher Singer
Women and Healthcare
Women are … more dissatisfied,
frustrated by the way they are treated
and spoken down to by physicians,
seek more information, are more pressed
for time … and make 75% of health care
decisions and control 2/3 of health care
$$$$ [and constitute 2/3 of health care
employees].
Source: Patricia Braus, Marketing Healthcare to Women
Marketing to Women: Help Them
Save Time!
80% … work
86% … cook
58% … run errands with kids
38% … take child to school
21% … go to the gym
21% … take outside classes
How Many Gigs You Got, Man?
“Hard to believe … Different criteria”
“Every research study we’ve done
indicates that women really care
about the relationship with their
vendor.”
Robin Sternbergh/ IBM
T.T.D.
Do you [clearly]
understand the
difference between
men’s and women’s
purchasing habits?
Notes Page
• Again:
STUDY!
• [It took me years to get a handle on “this
stuff.”]
Not!!
“Year of the
Woman”
Enterprise Reinvention!
Recruiting
Hiring/Rewarding/ Promoting
Structure
Processes
Measurement
Strategy
Culture
Vision
Leadership
THE BRAND ITSELF!
Commander Kathleen
McGrath, USN *
U.S.S. Jarrett
*First American woman to take a Warship to
sea as Commanding Officer! (03.00)
“What kind of car does
Mommy want?”
“I didn’t know
[company] were giving
company cars to
secretaries.”
Source: UK financial services CEO,
12/99
Not a Morality Play!
“It is critical that we all understand
that IBM is not marketing to women
entrepreneurs because it is the thing
to do, or even the right thing to do.
We are marketing to women
entrepreneurs because it is a huge
opportunity.”
Cherie Piebes
Speaking of
Enormous
[Missed] [Huge]
Opportunities ...
74/55
“At each stage of their lives, the
needs and desires of the baby
boomers have become the dominant
concerns of American business and
popular culture. If you can anticipate
the movement of the baby-boom
generation’s life-span migration, you
can see the future.”
Ken Dychtwald, Age Wave
Aging/“Elderly”
2X growth rate
$$$$$$$$$$$$
“I’m in charge!”
“Experiences” vs. Products
Design revolution!
Good source: Ken Dychtwald,
Age Wave
Priorities: Aging/“Elderly”
Experiences …
Convenience … Comfort
… Access … Respect!
“Any student who
combines an expertise in
gerontology with, say, an
M.B.A. or law degree will
have a license to print
money.”
Newsweek
T.T.D.
SOOOOO … WHERE
ARE YOU ON THIS
ONE???
[REMEMBER: 74M!]
Notes Page
THIS IS
ANOTHER
BIGGIE! Think about it. Discuss
• Listen up:
it. Collect data. [Become a “student.”]
Experiment.
Context: “No” to “inevitable
commoditization”
S1: Lead the Customer!
S2: Master E-Commerce!
S3: Women Rule! (and the elderly)
S4: Design Rules! (too)
S5: It’s the Experience!
Bottom Line: Glorious Age of the
BRAND!
Brand Outside
Strategy 4:
Design Rules!
And Tomorrow …
“Fifteen years ago companies
competed on price. Now It’s
quality. Tomorrow
design.”
Robert Hayes
it’s
All Equal Except …
“At Sony we assume that all products of
our competitors have basically the same
technology, price, performance and
Design is the only thing
that differentiates one product
from another in the
marketplace.”
features.
Norio Ohga
“Design is treated like a
religion at BMW.”
Fortune (10/98)
Drop-dead Charm!
“The new Beetle fails at
most categories. The only
thing it doesn’t fail in is
drop-dead charm.”
Jerry Hirshberg, Nissan Design
International
Object of Desire!
“Every now and then, a design comes
along that radically changes the way we
think about a particular object. Case in
point: the iMac. Suddenly, a computer
is no longer an anonymous box. It is a
sculpture, an object of desire, something
that you look at.”
Katherine McCoy, Michael McCoy, Illinois Institute of
Technology
Think Back …
New Beetle, iMac =
Radical, “Bet the
Company”
Right?
Design as Soul
“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
meaning of design. Design
is the
fundamental soul of a
man-made creation.”
Steve Jobs
Check Out the Language:
“Tomorrow it’s design …”
“Design is the only thing …”
“Design is … religion ...”
“Drop-dead charm …”
“Object of desire …”
“Fundamental soul …”
T.T.D.
Where do you stand on design?
[1 = Who, me? 10 = Preoccupation.]
Where do you stand
on design-as-soul ?
Notes Page
• I’m at a bit of a loss here. I DON’T KNOW
HOW TO “MAKE YOU” “GET” THIS. I think
it is of the Utmost Importance. I want you
– at least – to become “aware” of the
Power of Great Design. And … I do
[fervently] believe that Great-Design-IsSoul.
The I.D. [International Design] Forty*
Airstream … Alfred A. Knopf … Apple
Computer … Amazon.com …
Bloomberg … Caterpillar … CNN …
Disney … FedEx … Gillette … IBM …
Martha Stewart … New Balance …
Nickelodeon … Patagonia … The New
York Yankees … 3M … Etc.
* List No. 1, 1999
Unconventional
[Design] Messages
Not about ... “Lumpy Objects”!
Not about ... $79,000 objects
[ Design Moments!
Shopping cart =
2X heavy items
Source: Wall Street Journal (11-24-99) ]
“Car designers need to create a
story. Every car provides an
opportunity to create an adventure.
…
“The Prowler makes you smile. Why?
Because it’s focused. It has a plot, a
reason for being, a passion.”
Freeman Thomas, co-designer VW Beetle; designer
Audi TT
Hmmmm(?): “Only” Words …
Story
Adventure
Smile
Focus
Plot
Passion
T.T.D./Message:
Services are Not Intangible!
You “give off” hundreds of
design cues … daily!
YOU ARE A DESIGNER!
Notes Page
• List 100 [!] “design cues” that you give
off! [Okay, start with 25.]
Graceful language!
Susan Sargent Designs:
PLEASE COMPLAIN!
Thanks for your order!
We dearly want everything
to go p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y!
If the order was late. Or wrong.
Or if any of the goods are damaged in the
slightest.
Or if you’re just having a lousy day and
want to unload on someone …
Call our Customer Care Hotline!
T.T.D./“Beauty Contest!”
1. Pick one form/ document: invoice,
airbill, sick leave policy, returns claim
form.
2. Rate it on a 1 to 10 scale
(1 = Awful; 10 = Scintillating) on three
dimensions: Beauty, Grace, Clarity.
3. Repeat … every 15 days.
Notes Page
• DO THIS! USE MY TERMS! [Beauty …
Grace … Clarity.] Be quantitative.
[PLEASE.]
T.T.D./Design “Awareness”!
STEP No. 1:
NOTEBOOK!
[Start recording the awesome
and the awful.]
Notes Page
• THIS IS MY “SECRET.” I am not “artistic.”
But … I did teach myself to be …
CONSTANTLY AWARE. The Key: My
[simple] notebook! [I’VE NOW BEEN
“RECORDING” FOR ALMOST TEN
YEARS!]
Design Revisited/ Design as
Principal Brand Statement
Overall point of view/ Story
Soul
Integrated/ Inclusive/
NOT PIECEMEAL
Yes/ or No/ not Maybe
T.T.D./Huge
Opportunities
[That Damn Few Are Pursuing!]
Women!
The rapidly aging population!
Design!
Context: “No” to “inevitable
commoditization”
S1: Lead the Customer!
S2: Master E-Commerce!
S3: Women Rule! (and the elderly)
S4: Design Rules! (too)
S5: It’s the Experience!
Bottom Line: Glorious Age of the
BRAND!
Brand Outside
Strategy 5:
It’s the Experience!
“Experiences are as
distinct from services
as services are from
goods.”
Joseph Pine & James Gilmore, The
Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre &
Every Business a Stage
“The [Starbucks] Fix” Is on …
“We have identified a ‘third
place.’ And I really believe that
sets us apart. The third place is
that place that’s not work or
home. It’s the place our
customers come for refuge.”
Nancy Orsolini, District Manager
Safe, On Time and …
“We defined personality as a
market niche. We seek to
amuse, to surprise, to
entertain.”
Herb Kelleher, Main Man,
LUV Airlines
Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!”
“What we sell is the ability for a
43-year-old accountant to dress in
black leather, ride through small
towns and have people be afraid
of him.”
Harley exec, quoted in Results-based
Leadership
Mantra: “Any good can be
ing-ed”
the driving experience
the pumping experience
the sitting experience
the reading experience
the washing experience
the cooking experience
Joseph Pine & James Gilmore, The Experience
Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage
“This is the end of the pure
product era. For instance, car
makers are beginning to
understand that the car is a
platform for delivering services
that drive the customer
experience.”
Carly Fiorina, HP @ Comdex ’99
“What’s the plot?”
Freeman Thomas, designer
T.T.D.
WHAT’S THE
[your] PLOT?
Notes Page
• WHAT IS YOUR STORY? [Be specific!]
Message: This applies to every [Finance]
project!
T.T.D.
Carefully examine/think
through every aspect of
“the experience of us.”*
*This holds for the Finance Dept. as well
as the corporation’s “products”
Notes Page
• This demands a lot of care! THINK OF
YOURSELF AS A DRAMATIST, A
DIRECTOR. THINK ABOUT “THE WAY WE
COME ACROSS.” Be … ridiculously …
specific! [God is in the Details.]
BEWARE THE SHEEP
SYNDROME!*
*This is “soul work.”
[ “Take Home Value”
Road Warriors: Cast Off Your Blands/
Free Your Taste Buds
Tabasco Sauce
Dijon Mustard
Balsamic Vinegar ]
TP 03.26.00:
AMA Riff
Are You Fighting Yesterday’s War?
Docs don’t know it all.
There are a lotta bad docs.
There are a lotta bad medical decisions.
“Hospitals” kill far too many people.
(Bad decisions, bad execution.)
Systemic waste is stratospheric. (Still.)
Patients are getting (much) smarter.
Patients have had it with HMOs. (And Docs with the
“white-coat syndrome.”)
You are not smarter than I am. (I am your partner.)
You are not busier than I am. (!!!!!)
Patients want more data. (And can readily get it.)
Boomers will control their lives. Period.
Medicine is about to be overwhelmed with a tsunami!
1965: “ ‘Doctor’ will see you now. ‘Doctor’
will take care of you.”
YES, NURSE.
ME GOOD PUPPY DOG.
1995: “HMO will take care of you.”
BULLSHIT.
2005: “I will take care of me. I’d like your
expert help.”
P.S.: THE VIAGRA [ETC.] I ORDERED
ON LINE IS GREAT.
Patient-centric* Health Care
Wellness (Fix to prevent.)
Partnership (“Tour guide” model.)
RESPECT! (Mutual.)
WOMEN RULE!
*Not: HMO-centric, Employer-centric,
Insurer-centric, Doc-centric
AMA: Push
“Patient
Partnership”
Model????
TP’s “Mega-marketing-trends”
Rapidly aging population!
Health fanaticism!
Environmental concerns!
Freaky independence!
Women rule!
Context: “No” to “inevitable
commoditization”
S1: Lead the Customer!
S2: Master E-Commerce!
S3: Women Rule! (and the elderly)
S4: Design Rules! (too)
S5: It’s the Experience!
Bottom Line: Glorious Age of the
BRAND!
Brand Outside
BRAND POWER!
Brand It!
Now, More Than Ever!
“The increasing difficulty in
differentiating between products and
the speed with which competitors take
up innovations will assist in the rise
and rise of the brand.”
Gillian Law and Nick Grant,
Management [New Zealand]
Brand Defined
Distinction
Excellence
Emotional “Signature”
Trustworthiness
Consistency
Shorthand
No Room for Brands?
Nike
Saturn
CNN
America Online
Charles Schwab
Starbucks
The Gap
Intel
Etc.
Brand = Trust!
“Most buyers do not have a clue
whether anybody else makes a better
microprocessor, but ‘Intel Inside’ has
become a ‘trust mark’ - a trademark
that consumers put their faith in.”
The Economist
T.T.D.
HAVE YOU GENUINELY
EXAMINED THE ENORMITY
OF “BRAND POWER”?
ARE YOU A NO-BALONEY
STUDENT OF BRANDING?
Notes Page
STUDENTHOOD
MATTERS!
• As usual:
“Branding is not a problem if you have the
right mentality. You go to your team and
you pin up a $200 Swiss Army Watch.
Competing in the ridiculously crowded
sub-$200 watch market, they made it into
a brand name, named after the most
irrelevant and useless thing in history [the
Swiss Army]. And you say, ‘Gang, if they
can do it, we can do it.’ ”
Barry Gibbons
“Salt is salt is salt. Right? Not when it
comes in a blue box with a picture of
a little girl carrying an umbrella. Morton
International continues to dominate the
U.S. salt market even though it charges
more for a product that is demonstrably
the same as many other products
on the shelf.”
Tom Asaker, Humanfactor Marketing
T.T.D./Calling the
Corporate Shrink!
“Organizational
Psychotherapy”/
WHO WE ARE!
Notes Page
• This is The Big Enchilada:
SPEND – lotsa – TIME
ON IT!
Scott Bedbury/ Nike, Starbucks
“A Great Brand taps into emotions. Emotions drive
most, if not all, of our decisions. A brand reaches
out with a powerful connecting experience. It’s an
emotional connecting point that
transcends the product.
“A Great Brand is a story that’s never completely
told. A brand is a metaphorical story that connects
with something very deep - a fundamental
appreciation of mythology. Stories create the
emotional context people need to locate
themselves in a larger experience.”
Brand = Special =
Passion =
Connection =
Caring*
* (Way) beyond “market research”
T.T.D./Assignment Y2K
Write an essay on
“Who we are.”*
* Jesper Kunde, Corporate Religion
Notes Page
500 words.
• [And then: 10 words.]
• DO IT!
“How can I know what I think till I
see what I say”*
Exercise : Write copy for
a bookmark! (Etc.)
*Graham Wallas, The Art of Thought
“Consumers don’t simply buy products,
they buy attitudes as well. When
confronted with proliferation and
diversity, choices become increasingly
informed by belief. [Consumers] want to
know who is behind the products that
they buy. They want to know the
company. They want to know
what you think.”
Jesper Kunde, Corporate Religion
Bill Ford’s Passions!
Rules of Radical Marketing
Love + Respect Your Customers!
Just Say No … to Market Research!
Hire only Passionate Missionaries!
Create a Community of Customers!
Celebrate Craziness!
Be insanely True to the Brand!
Sam Hill & Glenn Rifkin, Radical Marketing
(e.g., Harley, Virgin, The Dead, HBS, NBA)
Brand Leadership
Lead Out Loud!
Brand Leadership!
“A key – perhaps the key –
to leadership is
the effective
communication
of a story.”
Howard Gardner
Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership
“Leadership is a
performance. You have to be
conscious of your behavior,
because everybody else is.”
Carly Fiorina
Brand Leadership:
ENTHUSIASM RULES!
“I am a dispenser of
enthusiasm.”/ Ben
Zander
T.T.D.
Evaluate yourself
[unsparingly] as an
enthusiastic
“performing artist”/
“story teller”!*
*In today’s dealings. [Use
outside assistance?]
Notes Page
• You don’t have to be Bill Cosby. You do
have to understand that … ALL LEADERS
ON-STAGE
ARE
… ALL THE
TIME! [And: “Leader” does NOT mean
“boss.” It means anyone trying to “Get
Cool Stuff Done.”]
“You must
care!”
Melvin Zais
“There’s going to be a
fundamental change in the global
economy unlike anything we
have had since the cavemen
began bartering.”
Arnold Baker,
chief economist,
Sandia National Laboratories
“We are in a
brawl with no
rules!”
Paul Allaire
Ann Richards’ Dogma
Show up!
Know your message!
PUT YOURSELF
AT RISK EVERY DAY!
“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.”
Emile Zola
“I’d rather regret the
things I have done than
the things I have not.”
Lucille Ball
How sweet it is!
“If things seem under
control, you’re just
not going
fast enough.”
Mario Andretti