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Part 8
Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
New Master/21 August 2008
Slides at …
tompeters.com
Ten Parts
P1.1, P1.2, P1.3, P1.4/Generic
P2/Leadership
P3/Talent
P4/“Value-added Ladder”
P5/“New” Markets
P6/“The Equations”
P7.1/Implementation
P7.2/Action
P8/13 “Guru Gaffes”
P9/Health“care”
P10/“The Lists”
Part
EIGHT
Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
Thirteen Guru Gaffes
Title.
Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
Maybe.
ALTERNATE Master/Gaffes
Better title? The “excellence” bit and the
“always” bit are fine; it’s the analysis
thereof I wish to call into question here..
The “guru Gaffes”
“hall of shame”:
the “Over-rated
Eight”!
The “Overrated
Eight”!
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
These are a few of the
implicit or explicit things that
most all “gurus” [incl. yrs.
truly much of the time] focus on.
That are mostly or wholly wrong.
Over-rated:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
It seems that all “we” talk
about are Big Cos.
Too big to
manage?
Citi/Chuck
Prince?
That’s the emergent conclusion
from Citi’s woes. (Yikes: Some
are muttering the same thing
about … GE.)
You don’t
get better by
being bigger.
You get
worse.”
Dick Kovacevich:
“The Bigger They
Are: Toyota Takes
a Tumble on
Quality”
—headline, International Herald, 1103-4.07
Scale?
“Microsoft’s Struggle With
Scale”
—Headline, FT, 09.2005
“Troubling
Exits at Microsoft”
—Cover Story, BW, 09.2005
“Too Big to Move Fast?”
—Headline, BW, 09.2005
“Biters Bit: How Web
Giants Are Losing
Business as Startups
Scurry In.” —FT, 0725.07 (“The
disruptive innovators of the first
Silicon Valley boom may be failing to
keep up with a new wave of arrivals.”)
Kovacevich ran Wells Fargo brilliantly—
his other passion was a focus on revenue
growth rather than a diet of cutting,
cutting, cutting. (Reminds me of the
subtitle to my 1997 book, Circle of
Innovation: “You can’t shrink your way
to greatness.)
“Despite a decade of
banking mergers, there is no
evidence that big banks are
any more efficient or
profitable than their smaller
rivals.” —Financial Times, 0329.07, on
possible Barclays-ABN Amro merger (“When it
comes to asking the stock market whether
bigger banks are better, the current answer is a
resounding ‘no.” —Citigroup analysis, 2006)
“When asked to name just one big
merger that had lived up to
expectations, Leon Cooperman,
former cochairman of Goldman Sachs’
Investment Policy Committee,
I’m sure there are
success stories out
there, but at this
moment I draw a blank.”
answered:
—Mark Sirower, The Synergy Trap
“Almost every personal friend I have in the world
works on Wall Street. You can buy and sell the
same company six times and everybody makes
but I’m not sure
we’re actually
innovating. … Our challenge is to
money,
take nanotechnology into the future, to do
personalized medicine …” —Jeff Immelt/2005
Winning the Merger Game
Is
Possible
--Lots of deals
--Little deals
--Friendly deals
--Stay close to core competence
--Strategy is easy to understand
Source: “The Mega-merger Mouse Trap”/Wall Street Journal/02.17.2004 /
David Harding & Sam Rovit, Bain & Co./re Comcast-Disney
“Acquisitions are about
buying market share. Our
challenge is to
create markets.
There is a big difference.”
—Peter Job, former CEO, Reuters
“I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs
seeking escape from life within huge corporate
structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for
Buy
a very large one
and just wait.”
myself?’ The answer seems obvious:
—Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail:
Evolution, Extinction and Economics
“Forbes100” from 1917 to 1987
: 39
members of
the Class of ’17 were alive in ’87; 18 in ’87
F100; 18 F100 “survivors” significantly
underperformed the market;
just
2 (2%), GE & Kodak,
outperformed the market from
1917 to 1987.
S&P 500 from 1957 to 1997:
’97;
74 members of the Class of ’57 were alive in
12 (2.4%) of 500 outperformed the market from 1957 to 1997.
Source: Dick Foster & Sarah Kaplan, Creative Destruction:
Why Companies That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market
“Mr. Foster and his McKinsey
colleagues collected detailed
performance data stretching back 40
years for 1,000 U.S. companies. They
none
found that
of the longterm survivors managed to outperform
the market. Worse, the longer
companies had been in the database,
the worse they did.” —Financial Times
“It’s just a fact:
Survivors
underperform.”
—Dick Foster
“Hope For
Breakup
Advocates”
—headline, FT,
1105.07, re Citigroup
“Jeff Bewkes, the
Next Boss of TimeWarner, Is Likely to
Break Up the
Company”
—headline, Economist,
1110.07
Private Equity-financed
Firm, Best *Case
*Focus! Focus! Focus!
*In a [Big] hurry
*CEO/Top team, “skin
in the game”
*CEO, 100% of time
on the biz
*Merit! Merit!
*Motivated oversight
*Worst case: Rape & Pillage
None.
“Data drawn from the real world
attest to a fact that is beyond
Everything
in existence tends
to deteriorate.”
our control:
—Norberto Odebrecht, Education Through Work
Odebrecht is a big (heavy industry)
Brazilian engineering company.
Welcome to the “Club of Shattered Dreams”:
Of Korea’s Top 100 companies
in 1955, only 7 were still on the
list in 2004. The 1997 crisis
“destroyed half of Korea’s
30 largest conglomerates.”
Source: “KET Issue Report,” Kim Jong Nyun (14.05.2005)
Korea, too.
“Everything in existence tends to
deteriorate”/ “Buy a very large
one and just wait”
= License
(Mandate!)
for Radical
Action
The Big Co situation is nigh
on hopeless—so you might
as well “go for it.” You’ve
nothing to lose.
#1 Exporter?
#4 Japan
#4 Japan
#2T China
#2T USA
#4 Japan
#2T china
#2t USA
#1 Germany
With just 80-million people,
insanely high wages.
Reason?
Daimler?
BASF?
Siemens?
Commerzbank?
Reason!!!
Mittelstand
Middle-sized stars. (Of long
standing.*) Global masters. Highvalue niches.
*The “German secret”
Or …
Goldmann
Produktions
(11/50%/$5M/”dip and coat,” expensive pigments
vs “through coloring,” fadesBekro Chemie)
When I studied them,
Goldmann had but 11 people, most
PhDs, and a 50% world market share!
GEOBRA/Playmobil
Trumpf
Rational
Goldmann Produktions
Bavaria: Mittelstand within Mittelstand
“Place to start over” post-WWII
13 million
6th in EU if stand-alone (CA #5)
4% unemployment
Munich government pro-business
30 universities (3 of 3 leading in R&D, with BadenWuerttemberg)
50% German patents (with Baden-Wuerttemberg)
SMEs & Big Cos
“Hot” finance communities
“lion’s share” of German startups
Media startups (SF: tech + media)
Source: CNBC European Business, November 2007
City-states: Global Mittelstand?
Athens
Venice
Florence
Rome
Antwerp
Amsterdam
London
New York
Singapore
Hong Kong
Singapore
Silicon Valley (California)
Dubai (et al)
Principal Mittelstand companies I
studied—I may be the only
American who’s made a serious
study of the Mittelstand??
“Skunk Camp” #1:
American “Mittelstand” (A.W.O.L.: F500)
Frank Perdue/ Perdue Farms
(“It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.”)
Tom Malone/ Milliken and Company
Don Burr/ People Express
Tom Monaghan/ Domino’s Pizza
Stew Leonard/ Stew Leonard’s
Hal Rosenbluth/ Rosenbluth
International
John Fisher/ Bank One of Columbus
John McConnell/ Worthington Industries
Bill and Vieve Gore/ W.L. Gore
Bob Buckman/ Buckman Labs (Bob
almost single-handedly invented what we now call
“knowledge management.”)
By accident I became enamored with the
largely unsung “American Mittelstand.”
Why? They came to my big seminars—
the F500 didn’t. (In Search of Excellence
was pure Big Co.)
china!
China’s success has effectively been
Mittelstand-ish. The state-run giants
have staggered along—the
successful startups (many, many are
unsuccessful) have been the Chinese
growth engine.
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
I rarely use Private/Family Co.
examples. I ain’t alone!
Family Businesses
Two-thirds of total #s
of companies
One-half of biggest companies
>One-half GDP
>One-half employment
6% more profitable
7% better ROA
Higher income growth
Higher revenue growth
Source: John Davis, HBS
GEOBRA/Playmobil
Trumpf
Rational
Goldmann Produktions
Private.
“Skunk Camp” #1:
American “Mittelstand” (A.W.O.L.: F500)
Frank Perdue/ Perdue Farms
(“It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.”)
Tom Malone/ Milliken and Company
Don Burr/ People Express
Tom Monaghan/ Domino’s Pizza
Stew Leonard/ Stew Leonard’s
Hal Rosenbluth/ Rosenbluth
International
John Fisher/ Bank One of Columbus
John McConnell/ Worthington Industries
Bill and Vieve Gore/ W.L. Gore
Bob Buckman/ Buckman Labs (Bob
almost single-handedly invented what we now call
“knowledge management.”)
Mostly private.
10.6 million women-owned
companies in the U.S. Most
are private.
U.S. firms owned or controlled by Women: 10.6
million (48% of all firms)
Growth rate of Women-owned firms vs all firms: 3X
Rate of jobs created by Women-owned firms vs all
firms: 2X
Ratio of total payroll of Women-owned firms vs total
for Fortune 500 firms: >1.0
Ratio of likelihood of Women-owned firms staying in
business vs all firms: >1.0
Growth rate of Women-owned companies with
revenues of >$1,000,000 and >100 employees vs all
firms: 2X
Source: Margaret Heffernan, How She Does It
U.S. Women-owned Biz
U.S. employees
thereof > F500
employees worldwide
Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women
“The growth and
success of womenowned businesses is
one of the most
profound changes
taking place in the
business world
today.” —
Margaret Heffernan, How She Does It
94%
of loans to …
women*
*Microlending; “Banker to the poor”; Grameen Bank;
Muhammad Yunus; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Girls education #1: Yields
highest return on investment
in developing world*
*better nutrition for family. Better kids’
education. Better health. Higher
family income. Lower birth rate. Etc.
Source: Larry Summers, as reported in “The Payoff From
Women’s Rights,” Isobel Coleman,
Foreign Affairs, May-June 2004
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
Jim’s
Group
Jim’s Mowing Canada
Jim’s Mowing UK
Jim’s Antennas
Jim’s Bookkeeping
Jim’s Building Maintenance
Jim’s Carpet Cleaning
Jim’s Car Cleaning
Jim’s Computer Services
Jim’s Dog Wash
Jim’s Driving School
Jim’s Fencing
Jim’s Floors
Jim’s Painting
Jim’s Paving
Jim’s Pergolas [gazebos]
Jim’s Pool Care
Jim’s Pressure Cleaning
Jim’s Roofing
Jim’s Security Doors
Jim’s Trees
Jim’s Window Cleaning
Jim’s Windscreens
Note: Download, free, Jim Penman’s book:
What Will They Franchise Next? The Story of Jim’s Group
Damn few dog-wash
companies in guru
presentations!
Basement
Systems Inc.
*Basement Systems Inc.
*Larry Janesky
*Dry Basement Science
(115,000!)
*1990: $0; 2003: $13M;
2007:
$62,000,000
Love it! Big bucks from dry basements!!
etc.
PRSX/Paragon
Railcar
Salvage*
*Salvaged railcars into bridges, etc.
I’m doing a huge landscaping project. One
bit is to be a little bridge over a little
stream. Upon Googling “little bridge over
little stream,” I found the Essence of
the/an Economy—numerous firms doing
little bridges. These guys salvage old rail
cars, and use the frames for little bridges
over little waterways. Don’t ya love it?
*Lived in same town all adult life
*First generation that’s wealthy/
no parental support
*“Don’t look like millionaires, don’t dress
like millionaires, don’t eat like
millionaires, don’t act like millionaires”
*“Many of the types of businesses [they]
are in could be classified as ‘dullnormal.’ [They] are welding contractors,
auctioneers, scrap-metal dealers, lessors of
portable toilets, dry cleaners, re-builders of
diesel engines, paving contractors …”
Source: The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley & William Danko
Ichironomics
Great term! (See next slide.)
Ichironomics
“Spokane, like Minneapolis-St Paul,
refuses to bet the economy on one or two
industries. Rather, it practices what one city
booster calls ‘Ichironomics.’ Like the Seattle
Mariners’ center fielder, Ichiro Suzuki, we
try to hit singles and doubles. We want to
improve the overall conditions for small
businesses, not chase the large
employer.’”—Rich Karlgaard, Forbes
(NB: In 2004 Suzuki broke the all-time record for hits
in a single season, with a staggering 262.)
(NB II: In 2007 the mayor of Lisbon reduced the amount of time to get
a business license from weeks or months to, literally, minutes.)
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
Q4/2006
+500,000 = ?
Source: Barron’s 0922.07
Jobs created in the U.S. in Q4 2006. U.S.
has deserved great rep in job creation.
Q4/2006
+500,000 =
+7,700,000
-7,200,000
Source: Barron’s 0922.07
You get to +500K jobs by destroying
7.2 million, creating 7.7 million—in
one quarter. Talk about “churn”!
“Natural selection is death. ...
Without huge amounts of
death, organisms do not
change over time. ... Death
is the mother of structure. ...
It took four billion years of
death ... to invent the human
mind ...” — The Cobra Event
The last
word:
There is
no “last
word.”
Headline, Wall Street Journal,
“Wal*Mart Era Wanes
Amid Big Shifts In Retail: Rivals
Find Strategies To Defeat Low
Prices; World Has Changed”
3 October 2007:
“The Wal*Mart Era, the
retailer’s time of overwhelming
business and social influence in
America, is drawing to a close.”
Sentence #1:
“Built to last.” Ha!
Cover, Newsweek, 05 November 2007:
“Takedown? ONCE HAILED AS A
WORLDBEATER, THE INTERNET
COLOSSUS NOW HAS REAL
RIVALS ALL OVER THE
WORLD.”
[text followed by a massive rendition of the
GOOGLE
logo]
“Built to last.” Ha!
Success Kills!
“The more successful
a company, the flatter
its forgetting curve.”
— Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad
Wanted* ** :
Corporate
Senility!
*Desperately!
** “The problem is never how to get new,
innovative thoughts into your mind, but
how to get the old ones out.” —Dee Hock
“It is generally much easier to
organization
kill an
than change it
substantially.”
—Kevin Kelly, Out of Control
C.E.O.
to
C.D.O.
Wanted: Chief Destruction
Officer!
Built to Last
vs
Built to
Change/Rock
the World
I’ll take the latter. (“Lasting” per se has
never struck me as much of an aspiration.
Apple “lasts” by re-inventing the world—
time and again. Great!)
TP#1*:
Netscape!
*Where would you rather have worked for those 5 years, Netscape
or IBM-HP-Microsoft-Oracle? (Where, 25 years from now, would you
rather to be able to tell someone—e.g., grandchild—that you worked?)
My favorite company. Around as an
independent for just a few years—
changed the world.
“Five hundred years before Christ in a little town on
the far western border of the settled and civilized
world, a strange new power was at work. …
Athens had entered upon her
brief and magnificent flowering
of genius which so molded the
world of mind and of spirit that
our mind and spirit today are
different. What was then produced of art and of
thought has never been surpassed, and the stamp of
it is upon all the art and all the thought of the
Western world.” —Edith Hamilton,
The Greek Way
GM25/50-75:
“Built to
last”????
Even GM really gave us only
25 dominating years. Terrific,
but hardly “forever.”
Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward Biederman/
“Great
Groups Don’t
Last Very
Long!”
Organizing Genius:
Jane Jacobs:
Exuberant
Variety vs. the Great Blight of Dullness.
F.A. Hayek: Spontaneous
Discovery Process.
Joseph Schumpeter: the Gales of
Creative
Destruction.
Legendary churnmeisters.
Palo Alto/30
California/35
I lived in California-Silicon
Valley for three decades plus.
Makes you believe in (1)
churn, (2) death, (3) the
possibility of knocking off the
“impregnables.”
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
Mission impossible?
$36B/’98
minus
$675M/‘07
Chrysler had market cap of
$36 billion when Daimler
bought them in 1998. In effect,
Daimler had to pay the private
equity gang 9 years later to
take Chrysler off their hands.
Market capitalization
lost per day, 19982007:
$10,000,000/Day
Holy shit!
“Mr Zetsche, head of Chrysler from 2000
denied
any
to 2005,
take
he should
responsibility for the U.S.
carmaker’s troubles …” —Financial Times /05.29.07
Holy shit!
*Lived in same town all adult life
*First generation that’s wealthy/
no parental support
*“Don’t look like millionaires, don’t
dress like millionaires, don’t eat like
millionaires, don’t act like millionaires”
*“Many of the types of businesses [they] are in could be
classified as ‘dull-normal.’ [They] are welding contractors,
auctioneers, scrap-metal dealers, lessors of portable toilets,
dry cleaners, re-builders of diesel engines, paving
contractors …”
Source: The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley & William Danko
Deserved its popularity—a light year
away from typical “guru Stuff.” CEOs
worth talking about—emulating!
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
The Peters-Waterman “mantra” that
rocked the world of “Strategy uber
alles,” circa 1980.
True or False
Axiom: Setting loose a gaggle
of the best and the brightest
with advanced degrees in math
and economics from the
world’s best universities will
result in permanently reduced
risk in global financial markets.
“Quant” nightmares, circa 2007.
True
Stan O’Neal
Chuck Prince
“Bill Sharpe &
The ‘Nobels’”
Stan and Chuck lost their jobs for “overquanting” it—derivatives of derivatives,
supposedly (Ha!) taming risk. Sharpe won
a Nobel in econ for providing the base fror
this excellent adventure—the Nobel ought
to be pulled. (By the way, the econ Nobel
ain’t actually a Nobel.)
Dumb Bastards: “Hard”?????
“Mark-to-market” (What’s
“market”???? What market????)
CDOs/Consolidated-debt
Obligation (Value of
underlying asset??????) (Value of
$64B “super-senior” [“super-safe”]
CDOs at Citi???????)
Postscript: Bye, bye Stan/Merrill and Chuck/Citi.
You’re gonna have to learn to live on $100 million
or so [Stan/$160M severance], I guess.
Ultimate “soft” turns out to be
the supposedly ultimate
“hard”—the debt instruments
created by the “quants” to
reduce-eliminate portfolio risk.
False
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Warren Buffett
Buffet questioned derivatives (he’s a socalled “value investor”); so did NNT
—see next slide.
“Medicine used to kill
more patients than it
saved—just as financial
economics* endangers
the system by creating
risk.” —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, “The Pseudo-
science Hurting Markets,” FT, 1024.07 (NNT is author
of Fooled By Randomness, The Black Swan)
*“ ‘Nobel-crowned’ methods of modern
portfolio theory; “Sveriges Riksbank Prize in
Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel”
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
Hard Is Soft (Plans, #s)
Soft Is Hard (people,
customers, values,
relationships))
“The 7-S Model”
Strategy
Structure
Systems
Style
Skills
Staff
Super-ordinate goal
McKinsey “7-S” model
developed by Bob Waterman
and yrs. truly in 1979—still in
use.
“The 7-S Model”
“Hard Ss”
(Strategy, Structure, Systems)
“Soft SS”
(Style, Skills, Staff, Super-ordinate goal)
“The 7-S Model”
Strategy
Structure
Systems
Style (Corporate “Culture,” “The way
we do things around here”)
Skills (“Distinctive Competence/s)
Staff (People-Talent)
Super-ordinate goal (Vision,
Core Values)
“If I could have chosen not to tackle the IBM culture head-on, I
probably wouldn’t have. My bias coming in was toward strategy,
analysis and measurement. In comparison, changing the
attitude and behaviors of hundreds of thousands of people is
[Yet] I came to see in
my time at IBM that culture
isn’t just one aspect of the
very, very hard.
game —it is the
game.”
—Lou Gerstner,
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance
Gerstner, the arch-enemy of my “soft
stuff” while he was at McKinsey is
forced to the wall! (I love it!)
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
95%:
“Understanding
the mind’s eye of
another person”
“What I learned from my years
as a hostage3 negotiator is that
we do not have to feel
powerless—and that
bonding
is the antidote to
the hostage situation.” —George
Kohlrieser, Hostage at the Table
“The terms ‘hard facts,’ and
‘the soft stuff’ used in business
imply that data are somehow
real and strong while emotions
are weak and less important.” —
George Kohlrieser, Hostage at the Table
“The capacity to develop close and
enduring relationships is the mark of
a leader. Unfortunately, many leaders
of major companies believe their job
is to create the strategy, organization
structure and organizational
processes—then they just delegate
the work to be done, remaining aloof
from the people doing
the work.” —Bill George, Authentic Leadership
“Be kind, for
everyone you meet
is fighting a great
battle.”
—Philo of Alexandria
Relationships
THERE
ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN A
THREE-MINUTE PHONE CALL
WOULD HAVE AVOIDED
SETTING OFF THE DOWNWARD
SPIRAL THAT RESULTED IN A
COMPLETE RUPTURE.
(of all varieties)
:
The Manager’s Book
of Decencies: How
Small /gestures
Build Great
Companies.
—Steve Harrison, Adecco
Women’s Negotiating Strengths
*Ability to put themselves in their
counterparties’ shoes
*Comprehensive, attentive and detailed
communication style
*Empathy that facilitates trust-building
*Curious and attentive listening
*Less competitive attitude
*Strong sense of fairness and ability to persuade
*Proactive risk manager
*Collaborative decision-making
Source: Horacio Falcao, Cover story/May 2006, World Business, “Say It
Like a Woman: Why the 21st-century negotiator will need the female touch”
Work’s Rewards
F: Relationships, respect, selfrealization.
M: Title, salary, power. (“In all my
research with men, I’ve never once
heard a mention about the
importance of relationships.”)
Source: Susan Rice, former Director of Communications,
BBDO Europe (from “A Dignified Woman”)
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
“How to flush
$500,000 down
the toilet in one
easy lesson!!”
TP:
Spend $500K on a store upgrade—
same crappy staff attitude. Money
wasted—or worse.
< CAPEX
> People!
Lock down your annual budget.
Immediately go back and cut
capital spending about 20%, put
$$ saved into people!
profits,
people or
people,
profits?
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
#1/100
“Best Companies to
Work for”/2005
Wegmans
“Best company to work for” in 2005
is a regional grocery chain—“people
excellence” not limited to “sexy”
Genentechs and Googles!
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
Starbucks big secret: Hire
for Smiles!! (Just try and get
a typical “HR type” to buy
into that!)
“A man
without a
smiling face
must not open
a shop.”
—Chinese Proverb
“It’s simple, really,
Tom. Hire for s,
and, above all,
promote for s.”
—Starbucks middle manager/field
“Character is more crucial now
than ever, because in times of
great uncertainty past
performance is no indicator of
future performance. Experience
falls away and all you’re left
with is character.” —David Rothkopf,
founder of a firm that helps helps chief executives
manage risks
Promote for mostest smiles.
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
Starbucks founder Schultz
visits 25 stores a week—
”hands on” forever!
MBWA
Bob Waterman and I found
Managing By Wandering
Around at a much smaller
HP, in 1980. We instantly
fell in love. It perfectly
symbo0lized all we were
fighting for!
You = Your
calendar*
*Calendars
never lie
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
R.O.I.R.
Return On
Investment In
Relationships
The “Ultimate
Hard
Stuff” —relationships.
Always have been! Always
will be!
C(I) > C(E)
Internal customers at least as
important as external
customers—eg waiter totally
dependent on chef’s attitude
toward him-her.
“TAKE THIS QUICK QUIZ: Who manages more things
at once? Who puts more effort into their
appearance? Who usually takes care of the
details? Who finds it easier to meet new
people? Who asks more questions in a
conversation? Who is a better listener? Who
has more interest in communication skills?
Who is more inclined to get involved? Who
encourages harmony and agreement? Who has
better intuition? Who works with a longer ‘to
do’ list? Who enjoys a recap to the day’s
events? Who is better at keeping in touch
with others?”
Source: Selling Is a Woman’s Game: 15 Powerful Reasons Why
Women Can Outsell Men, Nicki Joy & Susan Kane-Benson
“Courtesies of a small and
trivial character are the
ones which strike
deepest in the grateful
and appreciating heart.”
—Henry Clay
Jim Jeffords
oversight!
The …
Long story. White House failed to
invite VT Senator Jim Jeffords to a
bill signing ceremony. This was the
tipping point that led JJ to re-register
as an Independent—and thereby
cost Republicans control odf the
U.S. Senate. (Control of one of
world’s most august electoral bodies
shifts on the basis of an invitation
to a party!
“The deepest
human need is
the need to be
appreciated.”
William James
Thank
you!!!
Thank
you
Ann
!!!
FLOWER
POWER
Relationships
(of all varieties):
THERE
ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN A
THREE-MINUTE
PHONE CALL WOULD
HAVE AVOIDED SETTING OFF THE
DOWNWARD SPIRAL THAT RESULTED
IN A COMPLETE RUPTURE.
THE PROBLEM IS
RARELY/NEVER THE
PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE TO THE
PROBLEM INVARIABLY
ENDS UP BEING THE
REAL PROBLEM.
Invariably!
Success …
Consult everyone
on everything
“Thank you” note
carpet bombing
Source: Roger Rosenblatt, Rules for Aging
“As you predicted …”
“My mind is like a sieve …”
“Well, looks like we blew it
…” [“No, no. Us!” “There’s
blame enough to go
around.”]
“I’m really sorry.”
“I have only one
interest in you—
whether or not you
have instant and
accurate knowledge
about the location
of the loo.”
“When
attacked …
ask a
question.”
—George Kohlrieser, Hostage at the Table
Talk to one person.
Have a [private]
conversation. Use
humor. Talk about
kids, etc. Ask
questions. “Be” that
person’s world. (Bond!)
TP:
Take the blame. Deserved or not.
(Every issue has at least a little
blameworthiness on both sides.)
Taking the heat is a winning
strategy!!
“Have kids? [if
“yes”:] What are
they up to?”
“So why don’t we do this ‘obvious stuff’?”
Considered “soft.” Immediate
priorities get in the way. The B-school
idea of business pervades. Comfort
hanging out in our own confines.
Easier. Uncomfortable with the
“relationship stuff.” “Problem
solvers,” not “listeners” [“the 18second Doc]; impatient, not patient.
Not the “sales type.” Like #s better
than people. Damned hard work
unless you take to it instinctively. Etc.
Answer/s?
Formal “calendar discipline.” A new “todo list.” A “Life coach”/Formal mentor
(weekly, daily if you can afford it).
Support group. If male, woman pal.
Training—incl. role play. Adopt Stephen
Covey or Marshall Goldsmith. Report
card. Constant, informal as well as
formal “360 feedback.” A great “gotcha
pal”—eg monitors meetings, goes on
“sales” calls. Sales training!!!!!
Volunteer community leadership work.
Fundraising!
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
The ultimate “hard stuff” is quant finance—the product of pure math—
“guy stuff,” the stuff that men are made for! TAKE “mark-to-market” AND
“Super-senior CDOs” [Consolidated Debt Obligations]. They are killing us!!
“Mark-to-market”? Fine! But what, my dears, is the “market”? Nobody has
a sweet clue—especially the “quants.” The “market”/a market/any market
is a function of the long-forgotten [by the “quants”—“hard guys,” “real
men”] underlying value of the real [not “modeled”] asset. [E.g. The original
mortgage by real people on a real house]. The “quant”-“hard guys”-“real
men” mega-models know “everything about everything”—and nothing
about nothing about what matters, the actual value of the actual loan.
Citigroup has no less than $60 billion+ tied up in “Super-senior” CDOs
[thought “super-safe” only weeks ago—by the “quants”]—and they have
no f-ing clue as to the real value of any of it!
Soft?
Hard?
Bob Waterman and I, in 1980, developed a mantra in those days of yore
when “strategy [strategic plans] was everything.” We said:
Hard is soft.
Soft is hard.
The readily-manipulable numbers are the true “soft stuff.” The
relationships-leadership-“culture”-“action bias” are the true “hard stuff.”
Source: TP post, tompeters.com, 1112.07
“Why is it that your average business person has such a
hard time being human? I often wonder if the sole point
of business language is to de-humanize those doing
business. I struggle to find another explanation.
“To the rest of the world, emotion is a normal, everyday,
important part of life... and people who don't get that
are generally considered jerks. Only managers don't get
this.
“I've found that the simplest (and most powerful)
competitive advantage comes from CARING. Genuinely
caring about people (customers and partners) covers a
multitude of other shortcomings. CARING about people is
the best ‘marketing strategy’ and the best ‘management
method.’ …
“The funny thing is that in such a soulless business
climate, CARING is that much more competitive—and
translates nicely to financial performance as well! It also
translates into a much fuller and happier life …”
Posted at tompeters.com by AJ Hoge at November 12, 2007 8:11 PM
W. Donald
Schaefer
1921-Forever
He Cared
William Donald
Schaefer
Mayor of Baltimore
He Cared.
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
“Design is treated
like a religion
at BMW.” —Fortune
“You know a
design is good
when you want
to lick it.”
—Steve Jobs
Source: Design: Intelligence Made Visible,
Stephen Bayley & Terence Conran
Franchise Lost!
TP:
“How many of you
really
[600]
crave a
new Chevy?”
NYC/IIR/061205
“It suddenly
occurred to me …
“It suddenly occurred
to me that in the space
of two or three hours
never
he
talked
about cars.” —Les Wexner
Okay, you say product really is
“hard.” Fair enough—but my point
is that the guy in question never
talked about what he really does to
please the customer.
Did one of ’em ever turn to
the other and say: “Wow I
wonder what unimaginable
new tools, otherwise not
possible, will be quickly
brought forth for our
customers because of
this deal?”
Did one of ’em ever turn to the
other and say: “Wow I wonder
what unimaginable new tools,
otherwise not possible, will
be quickly brought forth for
my 19-year-old daughter
Anne because of
this deal?”
Consider a mega-merger. In the
process of CEO-to-CEO negotiations,
is the desired outcome for the
customer ever discussed?
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
“Better By Design”: A National Strategy
NZ = Design
Excellence
New Zealand bets its future on
design that shouts “cool
New Zealand.”
O*
C
** ***
Design Officer
**Minister for Design
***Deputy Prime Minister for Design and Creativity
*Chief
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
“The sun is setting on the Information Society—even
before we have fully adjusted to its demands as
individuals and as companies. We have lived as hunters
and as farmers, we have worked in factories and now we
live in an information-based society whose icon is the
We stand facing the
fifth kind of society: the
Dream Society. … Future products will
computer.
have to appeal to our hearts, not to our heads. Now is the
time to add emotional value to products and services.”
Rolf Jensen/The Dream Society:How the Coming Shift from
Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business
Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin
Roberts declares brands “dead”—
gives us “lovemarks” instead.
Top 10 “Tattoo Brands”*
Harley .… 18.9%
Disney .... 14.8
Coke …. 7.7
Google .... 6.6
Pepsi .... 6.1
Rolex …. 5.6
Nike …. 4.6
Adidas …. 3.1
Absolut …. 2.6
Nintendo …. 1.5
*BRANDsense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch,
Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound, Martin Lindstrom
What % of customers would tatoo the
brand name somewhere on their
body? (Talk about “love.”)
C
O*
*Chief Lovemark Officer
Ladder.2007: 4 of 7!
Lovemark
Dreams Come True
Spellbinding Experiences
Gamechanging Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
Value-added beyond the
old triumvirate—raw materials,
goods services. (Four new “rungs.”)
Backtrack re “soft”: IBM in mid-90s
effectively gives up on “M”
[machines]; starts selling “solutions”
[IBM Global Services]; builds world’s
biggest Professional Services Firm,
at close to $60 billion.
I. LAN Installation Co.
II. Geek Squad.
(3%)
(30%.)
III. Acquired by BestBuy.
IV. Flagship of BestBuy
Wholesale “Solutions”
Strategy Makeover.
Local “LAN [Local Area Network]
Installation Co. re-labels as “Geek
Squad.” Prospers. Starts doing some
work for electronics retailer Bestbuy.
Eventually BB purchases Geek
Squad—makes their “solutions”
package the driver of a revised BB
strategy for differentiation.
Ladder.2007: 4 of 7!
Lovemark
Dreams Come True
Spellbinding Experiences
Gamechanging Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
New (4 of 7) Value-added “Ladder”:
Plays to Women’s Inherent Strengths!
Lovemark/F
Dreams Come True/F
Spellbinding Experiences/F
Gamechanging Solutions/F
Services/F
Goods/M
Raw Materials/M
VA “Teaching Moment”
“Andy pointed to
a molding,
about halfway
up the wall …”
PepsiCo’s former president, Andy
Pearson, points out to TP that the
billions upon billions of Pepsi market
cap derived a “hard” half-roomful
of Pepsi syrup.
The Boot … and
Timberland
The Tomato/
Farmer … and
Campbell’s
Farmer [“hard”] gets a couple of
pennies—Campbell gets $1.50 for a
can off soup. $1.48 is “soft stuff.”
Likewise Timberland, where “farmer”
is de facto Chinese manufacturer.
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
“Strive for
Excellence.
Ignore
success.”
—Bill Young, race car
driver (courtesy Andrew Sullivan)
“Excellence can be obtained if you:
... care more than others think
is wise;
... risk more than others think
is safe;
... dream more than others think
is practical;
... expect more than others think
is possible.”
Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by
K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
EXCELLENCE.
Circa 1982.
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A Bias for Action
Close to the Customer
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
Productivity Through People
Hands On, Value-Driven
Stick to the Knitting
Simple Form, Lean Staff
Simultaneous Loose-Tight
Properties”
“Breakthrough” 82*
People!
Customers!
Action!
Values!
*In Search of Excellence
ExIn*: 1982-2002/Forbes.com
$85,000
EI: $10,000 yields $140,050
DJIA: $10,000 yields
*Forbes/Excellence Index /Basket of 32 publicly traded stocks
Hardball: Are You Playing to Play or Playing to Win?
by George Stalk & Rob Lachenauer/HBS Press
“The winners in business have always played hardball.”
“Unleash massive and overwhelming force.” “Exploit
anomalies.” “Threaten your competitor’s profit
sanctuaries.” “Entice your competitor into retreat.”
Approximately
640 Index entries: Customer/s
(service, retention, loyalty),
worker/s),
4. People (
0. Innovation (
employees, motivation, morale,
product development, research &
development, new products),
0.
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
2006.
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 service of
others.**
**Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
Enthusiasm.
Emotion. Excellence. Energy.
Excitement. Service. Growth.
Creativity. Imagination. Vitality.
Joy. Surprise. Independence.
Spirit. Community. Limitless
human potential. Diversity.
Profit. Innovation. Design.
Quality. Entrepreneurialism.
The Peters Principles:
Wow!
“Back to basics” in Siberia—
business at it’s best. (I pondered this
a loooooong time.)
2007.
SEPTEMBER.
SYDNEY.
DRUCKER
TRIBUTE.
“I have always
believed that the
purpose of the
corporation is to be a
blessing to the
employees.” *
—Boyd Clarke
*TP: An “organization” is, in fact and after all
is said and done, a/the “house” in which
most of us “live” most of the time.
Organizations exist to serve. Period.
Leaders live to serve. Period.
Passionate servant leaders, determined to create a
legacy of earthshaking transformation in their domain
create/must necessarily create organizations which
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 jointly
are …
perceived soaring purpose and personal and community
and client service Excellence.
The ultimate “soft” language—but
the basis for the maximum in “hard
results.” (Think about it.)
“We are a
‘Life Success’
Company.”
Dave Liniger, founder, RE/MAX
EXCELLENCE.
“the rules.”
Cause
Space
(worthy of commitment)
(room for/encouragement
for initiative)
Decency
(respect, humane)
Another effort to summarize.
The Manager’s Book
of Decencies: How
Small /gestures
Build Great
Companies.
—Steve Harrison, Adecco
What a title!
I know nothing like it!
“It was much later that I realized
Dad’s secret. He gained respect by
giving it. He talked and listened to
the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley
who shined shoes the same way he
talked and listened to a bishop or a
He was
seriously interested in
who you were and what
you had to say.”
college president.
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
“You can make more
friends in two months by
becoming interested in
other people than you can
in two years by trying to
get other people interested
in you.” —Dale Carnegie
Cause
Space
(worthy of commitment)
(room for/encouragement
for initiative-adventures)
Decency
(respect, grace,
integrity, humane)
service
(worthy of our clients’ & extended
family’s continuing custom)
excellence
(period)
Cause
Space
Decency
service
(worthy of commitment)
(room for/encouragement for initiative-adventures)
(respect, grace, integrity, humane)
(worthy of our clients’ & extended
family’s continuing custom)
excellence
servant leadership
(period)
Cause
Space
Decency
service
excellence
servant leadership
If not
“Excellence,”
what?
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
“Recently I asked several corporate executives
what decisions they had made in the last year that
would not have been made were it not for their
All had difficulty
identifying one such decision.
corporate plans.
Since all of the plans are marked ‘secret’ or
‘confidential,’ I asked them how their competitors
might benefit from possession of their plans.
Each answered with
embarrassment that their
competitors would not
benefit.” —Russell Ackoff (from Henry Mintzberg,
The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning)
What makes
God laugh?
People
making
plans!
EXCELLENCE.
“one idea.”
1966-2007.
Try it. Try it. Try it
ry it. Try it. Screw
up. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Screw it up
t. Try it. Try it. try
The only damned thing I’ve learned in
40+ years! (No kidding!!!!!!)
“We have a
‘strategic plan.’
It’s called doing
things.”
— Herb Kelleher
captain “yes.”
Captain “No.”
“This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing
how few oil people really understand that
you only find
oil if you drill
wells.
You may think you’re finding it
when you’re drawing maps and
studying logs, but you have to drill.”
Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter
“We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were
omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the
software. We fixed them by doing it over and over, again
and again. We do the same today. While our competitors
are still sucking their thumbs trying to make the design
perfect, we’re already on prototype version
#5.
By the time our rivals are
ready with wires and screws, we are on version
#10. It gets back to planning
versus acting: We act from day
one; others plan how to plan—
for months.” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may
the most
valuable core
competence an
be
innovative organization can
hope to have.” —Michael Schrage
“Experiment
fearlessly”
Source: BW0821.06, Type A Organization Strategies/
“How to Hit a Moving Target”—Tactic #1
“Reward
excellent failures.
Punish mediocre
successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
“In business, you reward
people for taking risks.
When it doesn’t work out
you promote them-because
they were willing to try new
things. If people tell me
they skied all day and never
fell down, I tell them to try
a different mountain.”
—Michael Bloomberg (BW/0625.07)
“We
performed
more
operations.”
The Nobel laureate in medicine
reveals [to me] his “success secret”
vs others with eyes on the prize.
SERIOUS
PLAY
“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
“Learn not to
be careful.”
—Photographer Diane Arbus
to her students (Careful = The sidelines, from
Harriet Rubin in The Princessa)
!!!!!!!!!!
Screw.
things.
“Fail .
Forward.
Fast.”
High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
“FAIL, FAIL
AGAIN. FAIL
BETTER.”
—Samuel Beckett
“The secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast
and furious and
numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“Natural selection is death. ...
Without huge amounts of
death, organisms do not
change over time. ... Death
is the mother of structure. ...
It took four billion years of
death ... to invent the human
mind ...” — The Cobra Event
“The Silicon Valley of
today is built less atop
the spires of earlier
triumphs than upon the
rubble of earlier
debacles.”—Newsweek/ Paul Saffo
try.
Miss.
READY.
FIRE!
Courtesy EDS founder Ross Perot—
on EDS’s strategy.
No try.
No deal.
“You miss
100% of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
“Intelligent people
can always come up
with intelligent
reasons to do
nothing.”
—Scott Simon
“Andrew Higgins , who built landing craft in WWII,
refused to hire graduates of engineering
He believed that
they only teach you
what you can’t do in
engineering school. He
schools.
started off with 20 employees, and by the middle of
the war had 30,000 working for him. He turned out
20,000 landing craft. D.D. Eisenhower told me,
‘Andrew Higgins won the war for us. He did it
without engineers.’ ”
—Stephen Ambrose/Fast Company
Life 101: A 40-year Reflection
Go on offense.
Give everybody a shot.
Decentralize.
Try a bunch of stuff.
Make it up as you go along.
Get some stuff wrong.
Laugh a lot.
Get some stuff right.
Become a “success.”
Extract “lessons learned” or “best practices.”
Thicken the Book of Rules for Success.
Become evermore serious.
Enforce the rules to increasingly tight tolerances.
Go on defense.
Install walls.
Protect-at-all-costs today’s franchise.
Centralize.
Calcify.
Install taller walls.
Write more rules.
Become irrelevant and-or die.
Think!
vs.
do!
The Limits of “Systems Thinking”:
Surprise,
Transformation &
Excellence
Through
Spontaneous
Discovery
F.A. Hayek described capitalism-a
market economy as a “spontaneous
discovery process.” [TP: Try it!]
Plan it!
“Non-linearist”: Try it!
“Linearist”:
“Linearist”:
hypothesize!
“Non-linearist”:
experiment!
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A Bias for Action
Close to the Customer
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
Productivity Through People
Hands On, Value-Driven
Stick to the Knitting
Simple Form, Lean Staff
Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties”
I proceeded by trial and error and instinct,
and each experiment led to/suggested
another experiment (or 2 or 10) and to a
greater understanding of potential—the
“plan,” though there was none, made itself.
And it was far, far better (more ambitious,
more interesting, more satisfying) than I
would have imagined. In fact, the result to
date bears little or no relationship to what I
was thinking about at the start—a trivial
self-designed chore may become the engine
of my next decade; the “brushcutting project”
is now leading Susan and I to view our
entire property, and what it might becomerepresent, in a new light.
F.A. My little summer project
becomes a centerpiece of my future.
That wasn’t the “plan.” I
[spontaneously] discovered it
along the way.
“Linearist”:
“Non-linearist”:
a>b*
b>a**
*Attitude shapes behavior
**Behavior shapes attitude
Tradition says that your attitude
determines your behavior. My sort
says your behavior determines your
attitude—the difference is
philosophical and enormous.
EXCELLENCE.
the
“Lessons.”
1966-2007.
You caught me out. Now I say I
learned FOUR things in 40 years.
DECENTRALIZATION.
EXECUTION.
ACCOUTABILITY.
6:15A.M.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ex-ecu-tion!
“Execution is
the job of the
business
leader.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram
Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“Execution is a
systematic
process
of rigorously
discussing hows and whats, tenaciously
following through, and ensuring
accountability.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution:
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
You caught me out. Now I say I
learned FOUR things in 40 years.
Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his life,
was asked, “What was the most important lesson you’ve learned
in your long and distinguished career?”
His immediate answer:
“remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub”
Ex-e-cution!
The “Big Three” “Justa”s
“The strategy is right. It’s just
a communications problem.”
“The plan is dead on—it’s just
an implementation problem.”
“Look, we’ve got the strategy
right—we just need to fix
the people bit.”
idiots!
Enemy
#1
I.C.D.
Inherent/Inevitable/
Immutable Centralist Drift
Note 1:
Note 2: Jim Burke’s 1-word vocabulary: “No.”
Organizations calcify.
30%
MH: 80%
CF:
(no salesfolk)
(salesfolk)
When Carly Fiorina ran HP, division
honchos controlled 30% of their
budgets. Under Mark Hurd, the #
jumped to 80%—which is the key to
accountability for execution.
The “Over-rated Eight”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
The “Esteemed Eight”:
SMEs!
Private companies!
“Dull” industries!
Productive churn!
Laudable CEOs!
“Soft” stuff!
Excellence!
Action-Execution!
One more.
The
“nonsense
nine”!
The “Nonsense Nine”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
Men!
Not Just America …
“Boys Falling
Seven Years
Behind Girls
at GCSE Level”
—headline, Weekly Telegraph, UK, 10.25.06
“THE NEW GENDER
GAP: From kindergarten to grad
school, boys are
becoming the
second sex”
—Cover story,
BusinessWeek
Girls Again
Outshine Boys
In CBSE Class
12 Exams
Source: Headline, Dateline New Delhi (0526.2007; Khaleej Times)
Men [boys] race toward irrelevance.
“Forget China,
India and the
Internet: Economic
Growth Is Driven
by
Women.”
—Headline,
Economist, April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
WOW!*
*I believe it—it’s been my life’s work, or a big part
thereof, since 1996. But this in 2006 ices the Big Cake.
Women’s Trifecta+
*Buy
*Wealth
*Lead
+ECLIPSE
OF MALES
(Old/Retire; Young/Poorly educated)
“Women are
the majority
market”
—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
Repeat: “Goldman Sachs in Tokyo
has developed an index of 115
companies poised to benefit from
women’s increased purchasing
power; over the past decade the
value of shares in Goldman’s
basket has risen by 96%, against
the Tokyo stockmarket’s rise
of 13%.” —Economist, April 15
?????????
Home Furnishings … 94%
Vacations … 92% (Adventure Travel … 70%/ $55B travel equipment)
Houses … 91%
D.I.Y. (major “home projects”) … 80%
Consumer Electronics … 51% (66% home computers)
Cars … 68% (90%)
All consumer purchases … 83%
Bank Account … 89%
Household investment decisions … 67%
Small business loans/biz starts … 70%
Health Care … 80%
Women’s Commercial
Purchasing Power
Purchasing mgrs. &
agents: 51%
HR: >>50%
Admin officers: >50%
Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women
1970-1998
Men’s median income: +0.6%
Women’s median income:
+ 63%
Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women
Women
Household spending: 80%
Investment decisions: 53%
Home improvement purchase decisions: 80%
New cars: 60%+
Computers: 60%
Managers and professionals, overall: 51%
New businesses started: 70%* (*Women-owned
businesses as a share of all new businesses: Employee
growth, 3X; Sales growth, 4X.)
Source: Marti Barletta, PrimeTime Women (2007)
USA/F.Stats: Short ’n (Very) Sweet
>50% of stock ownership, $13T total wealth (2X in 15 years)
>$7T consumer & biz spending (>50% GDP; > Japan GDP);
>80% consumer spdg (Consumer = 70% all spdg)
57% BA degrees (2002); = ed & social strata, no wage gap
60% Internet users; >50% primary users of
electronic equipment
>50% biz trips
WimBiz: Employees > F500; 10M+: 33% all US Biz
Pay from 62% of male pay in 1980 to 80% today; equal
if education, social status, etc are equal
60% work; 46M (divorced, widowed, never married)
Source: Fara Warner, The
Power of the Purse
Women > 50% of Household Income in >50% of households.
In 48% of the 55% of households/married couples, women
provide >50% of income. 27% of households are headed by
a single female. 75% of married female execs with the rank
of VP or above out earn their spouse. Women control 51% of
private wealth in the U.S.; head 40% of households with
>$600K assets; 47% of market investors are women.
Major Credit Union: pre Y2K, modal customer was 53-year-old
family man; today, 46-year-old single working woman.
Commercial: 51% purchasing managers are women.
Women make >80% consumer purchases; businesswomen
make >90% of household purchasing decisions. Women:
70% of travel decisions; purchase 57% of consumer
electronics; write 80% of personal checks; purchase >50% of
cars (primary influence >80%).
Source: Don’t Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy—and How to
Increase Your Share of This Crucial Market, Lisa Johnson & Andrea Learned
Internet
users: 60%F*
*“manage their lives and the lives of their families” —
Kelley Mooney, president, Resource Interactive
Source: Fara Warner, The Power of the Purse
The “91% Factor”!
More than 9 in 10 women
age 35 - 49 say they
either make or at least
equally influence their
household purchases
of home electronics.
Source: Andrea Learned, co-author, Don’t Think Pink
2.6 vs.
“Women come out better
on almost every count as
investors … They are less likely to
hold a losing investment too long, and
less likely to wait too long to sell a
winner; they’re also less likely to put too
much money into a single investment or
to buy a reputedly hot stock without
doing sufficient research.”
Source: The Merrill report: “When It Comes to Investing,
Gender A Strong Influence on Behavior.”, Atlantic
“Women Beat Men
at Art of Investing”
Source: Headline, Miami Herald, reporting on a study by
Profs. Terrance Odean and Brad Barber, UC Davis
(Cause: Guys are “in and out” of stocks
more often; women choose carefully and hold
on for the long term)
JBQ: Stop Treating Women Investors Like Idiots!
“Why all this focus on women and our lack of
investment guts? A far greater problem, it
seems to me, is trigger-happy speculation,
mostly by men. The kind of guys whose family
savings went south with the dot-coms. Imagine
a list of their money mistakes: Shoot from the
hip. Overtrade their accounts. Believe they’re
smarter than the market. Think with their
mouse rather than their brain. Praise their own
genius when stocks go up. Hide their mistakes
from their wives.”
Source: Newsweek 01.08.01
Not just an “American phenomenon.”
most significant
variable in every
“The
sales situation is the
gender
of the buyer, and
more importantly, how the
salesperson communicates
to the buyer’s gender.”
—Jeffery Tobias Halter, Selling to Men, Selling to Women
The Perfect Answer
Jill and Jack buy
slacks in black…
Selling to men:
The
TRANSACTION Model
Selling to Women:
The
RELATIONAL Model
Source: Selling to Men, Selling to Women, Jeffery Tobias Halter
P-l-e-a-s-e Read …
Fara Warner:
The Power of
the Purse
Cases! Cases! Cases!
McDonald’s (“mom-centered” to “majority consumer”; not
via kids)
Home Depot (“Do it [everything!] Herself”)
P&G (more than “house cleaner”)
DeBeers (“right-hand rings”/$4B)
AXA Financial
Kodak (women = “emotional centers of the household”)
Nike (> jock endorsements; new def sports; majority consumer)
Avon
Bratz (young girls want “friends,” not a blond stereotype)
Source: Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
Cases!!
“We simply had
stopped being
relevant to women.”
—Kay Napier, SVP Marketing (Fara Warner, The Power of the
Purse, “From Minority to Majority: McDonald’s Discovers the
Woman Inside the Mom”)
“Mostly Moms”
“Women were either ignored
in favor of focusing on men—
generally considered the
industry’s most frequent
users and therefore its most
important consumers—or they
were cast in the role of moms
who were simply conduits to
their children.” —Fara Warner, The Power of
the Purse, “From Minority to Majority: McDonald’s
Discovers the Woman Inside the Mom”
“McDonald’s shifted its strategy
toward women from one of
‘minority’ consumers who served as
a conduit to the important
children’s market to one in which
women are the company’s majority
consumers and the main driver
behind menu and promotion
innovation.” —Fara Warner,
The Power of the Purse, “From Minority to Majority:
McDonald’s Discovers the Woman Inside the Mom”
1. Men and women are different.
2. Very different.
3. VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.
4. Women & Men have a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y
nothing in common.
5. Women buy lotsa stuff.
6. WOMEN BUY A-L-L THE STUFF.
7. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1.
8. Men are (STILL) in charge.
9. MEN ARE … TOTALLY, HOPELESSLY
CLUELESS ABOUT WOMEN.
10. Women’s
Market =
Opportunity
No. 1.
My “conclusions”—tongue not
particularly in cheek.
“Since 1970, women
have held two
out of every
three new jobs
created.”
—FT, 10.03.2006
“Forget China, India and the
Internet: Economic Growth Is Driven
by Women.” [Headline.] “Even today in the modern,
developed world, surveys show that parents still prefer to have
a boy rather than a girl. One longstanding reason boys have
been seen as a greater blessing has been that they are expected
to become better economic providers for their parents’ old age.
Yet it is time for parents to think again. Girls may now be a better
investment.” “Girls get better grades in school than boys, and in
most developed countries more women than men go to
university. Women will thus be better equipped for the new jobs
of the 21st century, in which brains count a lot more than brawn .
… And women are more likely to provide sound advice on
investing their parents’ nest—e.g.: surveys show that women
consistently achieve higher financial returns than men do.
Furthermore, the increase in female employment in the rich
world has been the main driving force of growth in the last
couple of decades. Those women have contributed more to global
GDP growth than have either new technology or the
new giants, India and China.”
Source: Economist, April 15, Leader, page 14
Continuing on page 73:
“A Guide to Womenomics: The
Future of the World Economy Lies Increasingly
in Female Hands.” (Headline.) More stats: Around the globe
since 1980, women have filled “two new jobs for everyone
taken by a man.” “Women are becoming more important in the
global marketplace not just as workers, but also as
consumers, entrepreneurs, managers and investors.” Re
consumption, Goldman Sachs in Tokyo has developed an index of
115 companies poised to benefit from women’s increased
purchasing power; over the past decade the value of shares in
“Goldman’s basket has risen by 96%, against the Tokyo
stockmarket’s rise of 13%.” A couple of final assertions: (1) It
is now agreed that “the single best investment that can be
made in the developing world” is educating girls. (2) Also,
surprisingly, nations with the highest female laborforce
participation rates, such as Sweden and the U.S., have
the highest fertility rates; and those with the lowest
participation rates, such as Italy and Germany, have the
lowest fertility rates.
Source: Economist, April 15, page 73
“AS LEADERS,
WOMEN
RULE:
New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male
counterparts in almost every measure”
TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
Lawrence A. Pfaff & Assoc.
— 2 Years, 941 mgrs (672M, 269F);
360º feedback
— Women: better in 20 of 20
categories; 15 of 20 with statistical
significance, incl. decisiveness,
planning, setting stds.)
— “Men are not rated significantly
higher by any of the raters in any
of the areas measured.” (LP)
Women’s Strengths Match New
Economy Imperatives: Link [rather than rank]
workers; favor interactive-collaborative 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. —Judy B. Rosener,
America’s Competitive Secret: Women Managers
“Guys want to put everybody in
their hierarchical place. Like,
should I have more respect for
you, or are you somebody that’s
south of me?” —Paul Biondi, Mercer Consultants
[from It’s Not Business, It’s Personal, Ronna Lichtenberg]
“On average, women and men
possess a number of different
innate skills. And current
trends suggest that many
sectors of the twenty-firstcentury economic
community are going to
need the natural talents of
women.” —Helen Fisher, The First Sex: The
Natural Talents of Women and How They Are Changing
the World
Women Leaders’ Time Has Come …
Project team (old): 23 people, all from our
company (More or less amenable to “orders”)
Project team (new): 43 people from 7 companies
in 4 countries on 3 continents (Moved only by
effective persuasion and development of
common commitment)
“Worker,” circa 1982: Rote work, incl. most white-
collar work (Amenable to “orders,” power
exercised directly)
“Worker,” circa 2007: Project work, team work,
mixed-group work, creative work, co-creation with
client—microprocessors do the “rote stuff”
(Commitment is voluntary, leadership is by
developing positive relationships, inducing
“Society is based on
male standards
with women seen as
anomalies
deviating from the
male norm.”
— Bi Puvaneu,
Institute for Future Studies (Stockholm)
The Core Argument: Women [Ought to] Rule!
1. We are in a War for Talent.
2. The war will intensify.
3. There is a severe shortage of effective leaders
at all levels.
4. Women are under-represented in our
leadership ranks at or near the top.
5. Women and men are different; “new science”
reinforces this view.
6. Women’s strengths match the New Economy’s
leadership needs—to a striking degree.
7. Women are also the principal purchasers of
goods and services—retail and commercial.
8. Ergo, women are a large part of “the answer”
to the War for Talent/leadership shortage
issue/opportunity.
“Catalyst just completed a study
showing that companies with at
least three women directors
performed significantly better
than average in terms of return on
equity (16.7% better), return on
sales (16.8%), and return on
invested capital (10%)
Source: Newsweek, 1015.07/16% of S&P500 board
members are women; 9% (45) no women
10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE
Women make [all] the financial decisions.
Women control [all] the wealth.
Women [substantially] outlive men.
Women start most of the new businesses.
Women’s work force participation rates have
soared worldwide.
Women are closing in on “same pay for same
job.”
Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly
[even if the pace is slow for the corner
office per se].
Women’s leadership strengths are exceptionally well
aligned with new organizational effectiveness
imperatives.
Women are better salespersons than men.
Women buy [almost] everything—commercial
as well as consumer goods.
So what exactly is the point of men?
“Are men
obsolete?”
—Headline, USN&WR
Q.E.D.
“One thing is certain: Women’s rise to power,
which is linked to the increase in wealth per
capita, is happening in all domains and at all
levels of society. Women are no longer content
to provide efficient labor or to be consumers
with rising budgets and more autonomy to
spend. … This is just the beginning. The
phenomenon will only grow as girls prove to be
more successful than boys in the school
For a number of observers, we
have already entered the age of
‘womenomics,’ the economy as
thought out and practiced by a
woman.” —Aude Zieseniss de Thuin, Financial Times, 10.03.2006
system.
“ ‘Womenomics,’ the
economy as
thought out and
practiced by a
woman.”
—Aude Zieseniss de Thuin,
Financial Times, 10.03.2006
94%
of loans to …
women*
*Microlending; “Banker to the poor”; Grameen Bank;
Muhammad Yunus; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner
The “Nonsense Nine”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
Men!
The “Notable Nine”:
SMEs!
Private companies!
“Dull” industries!
Churn!
Laudable CEOs!
“Soft” stuff!
Excellence!
Action-Execution!
Women!
And another …
The
“terrible
ten”!
The “Terrible Ten”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
Men!
Young!
2000-2010 Stats
18-44: -1%
55+: +21%
(55-64:
+47%)
Subject: Marketers & Stupidity
“It’s 18-44,
stupid!”
Subject: Marketers & Stupidity
Or is it:
“18-44
is stupid,
stupid!”
“Fifty-four years of age has been
the highest cutoff point for any
marketing initiative I’ve ever been
involved in. Which is pretty weird
when you consider age 50 is right
about when people who have
worked all their lives start to have
some money to spend.” —Marti Barletta,
PrimeTime Women
“One particularly puzzling category of youthobsession is the highly coveted target of men
18-34, and it’s always referred to as ‘highly
coveted category.’ Marketers have been
distracted by men age 18-34 because they are
getting harder to reach. So what? Who wants
to reach them? Beyond fast food and beer, they
don’t buy much of anything. … The theory is
that if you ‘get them while they’re young,
What
nonsense!”
they’re yours for life.’
—Marti Barletta, PrimeTime Women
Our marketers undervalue
women—and the surge (tsunami)
of boomers-geezers.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“People turning 50
more
than half of
today have
their adult life
ahead of them.”
—Bill Novelli,
50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America
Profound. (And more or less
profoundly new.)
Average # of cars purchased per
household, “lifetime”:
13
Average # of cars bought per household
after the “head of household” reaches
age 50:
7
Source: Marti Barletta, PrimeTime Women
20
$14,000,000,000,000$25,000,000,000,000
Americans buy 13 cars in our
lifetimes. We buy seven post-50!
We are the Aussies & Kiwis & Americans &
Canadians. We are the Western Europeans &
Japanese. We are the fastest growing, the
biggest, the wealthiest, the boldest, the
most (yes) ambitious, the most experimental &
exploratory, the most different, the most
indulgent, the most difficult & demanding,
the most service & experience obsessed, the
most vigorous, (the least vigorous,) the most
health conscious, the most female, the most
profoundly important commercial market in
the history of the world—and we will be the
Center of your universe for the next twentyfive years. We have arrived!
“Marketers attempts at reaching
those over 50 have been miserably
No market’s
motivations and
needs are so poorly
understood.”
unsuccessful.
—Peter Francese, founding publisher, American Demographics
Boomers’-Geezers’-Women’s Trifecta+
*Buy/all
*Wealth/all
*time left/ lots
*Eclipse of males/retire-die
Median Household Net Worth
<35: $7K
35-44: $44K
45-54: $83K
55-64: $112K
65-69: $114K
70-74: $120K
>74: $100K
Source: U.S. Census
BoomerBucks!
Boomer turns 50: every 7 seconds. 2009: majority of
U.S. households headed by someone over 50. 20062016: U.S. population up 22.9 million; 22.1 million in
over-50 group. 2006: 1 in 5 adults is F, over 50.
Women between 50-70 who are single: 35%. Age
45-54: highest average income, $59, 021 (national
average is $42,209). FASTEST GROWING INCOME
CATEGORY: WOMEN, 55-64 (4X men in same
category). Women, age 60-64: 50% still in
workforce. Highest net worth: families, 55-64
($182,000). People over 50: 70% to 79% of all
financial assets; 80% of all savings accounts; 62% of
all large Wall Street asset accounts; 66% of $$
invested in the stock market. Age 50+: 29% of
population, 40% of total consumer spending, 50% of
discretionary spending. Next 2 decades: BOOMERS
WILL INHERIT $14 TRILLION-$25 TRILLION (“largest
intergenerational transfer of wealth in history”).
—Marti Barletta, PrimeTime Women
55-64 vs 25-34
E.g.: New cars & trucks: 20% more
spending. Meals at full-service restaurants:
+29%. Airfare: +38%. Sports equipment:
+58%. Motorized recreational vehicles:
+103%. Wine: 113%. Maintenance, repairs
and home insurance: +127%. Vacation
homes: +258%. Housekeeping & yard
services: +250% to +500%.
Source: Marti Barletta, PrimeTime Women
50+
$7T wealth (70%)/ $2T annual income
50% all discretionary spending
79% own homes
40M credit card users
41% new cars/48% luxury cars
$610B healthcare spending/
74% prescription drugs
5% of advertising targets
Ken Dychtwald, Age Power: How the 21st
Century Will Be Ruled by the New Old
44-65:
“New
Customer
Majority” *
*45% larger than 18-43; 60% larger by 2010
Source: Ageless Marketing, David Wolfe & Robert Snyder
“The New Customer
Majority is the only adult
market with realistic
prospects for significant
sales growth in dozens of
product lines for
thousands of companies.”
—David Wolfe & Robert Snyder, Ageless Marketing
“Baby-boomer
Women: The
Sweetest of
Sweet Spots for
Marketers”
—David Wolfe and Robert
Snyder, Ageless Marketing
“‘Age Power’ will
st
rule the 21 century,
and we are woefully
unprepared.”
Ken Dychtwald, Age Power: How the 21st
Century Will Be Ruled by the New Old
No: “Target
Marketing”
Yes :
“Target
Innovation” & “Target
Delivery Systems”
Possession Experiences /“Desires
for things”/Young adulthood/to 38
Catered Experiences/ “Desires to
be served by others”/Middle
adulthood
Being Experiences/“Desires for
transcending experiences”/Late
adulthood
Source: David Wolfe and Robert Ageless Marketing
2006/Top 10% of U.S. Earners*
Luxury goods for the home …. -5.7%
Fashion & jewelry …………...… -8.7%
Luxury cars …………………….. -0.9%
Experiential luxury** …..… +10.7%
* “The wealthy are increasingly spending more on doing things
than owning things” /Unity Marketing
**Travel, dining, entertainment, spa & beauty
Source: European Business (04.2007)
“Older people have an image problem. As
a culture, we’re conditioned toward youth.
… When we think of youth, we think
‘energetic and colorful;’ when we think of
middle age or ‘mature,’ we think ‘tired and
washed out.’ and when we think of ‘old’ or
‘senior,’ we think either ‘exhausted and
gray’ or, more likely, we just don’t think.
… The financial numbers are
absolutely inarguable—the Mature
Market has the money. Yet advertisers
remain astonishingly indifferent to them.
…”
—Marti Barletta, PrimeTime Women
Beer: National Boh to Bud to Anchor Steam to Zilch
Car: Chevrolet (1942-1962) to misc to Subaru
Biz Clothes: Various warehouses to Brooks to Nordstrom to Milan
Biz: Big (U.S. Navy, McKinsey) to Small (de facto self-employed)
Sports clothes: Misc-cheap to Northface
Spouse: “Sexy broad” (wife #1) to Best friend/Brainy (+sexy)
School: Cornell to Stanford to RISD (Go Nads!)
Pens: Cross to Bic
Food: Safeway to Whole Foods
Music: Beatles to Queen
Home Furnishings: With it to Comfortable
Home: SF Bay Area to West Tinmouth VT
Favorite sport: Lacrosse-Crew to Speed Walking-Trekking-Rowing
Favorite MLB, NFL: Orioles-Baltimore Colts to A’s-Raiders (Warriors!)
Favorite magazine: Life to Wired
Favorite media: Print-Radio to Web-Radio
Favorite airline: TWA to American to Lufthansa
Home: East to West
Vacations: USA to New Zealand
Price: Cheap to Varied (Wal*Mart to Milan)
Hotel: Ramada/Holiday Inns to Four Seasons/Leading Hotels
Restaurants: McDonald’s to Hole in the wall
Stores: Misc/Big to Little shops
Loyalty: Serial monogamy (just as loyal now as then; “love ’em, then leave ’em”)
The “Terrible Ten”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
“Success”!
Plans!
Men!
Young!
The “Terrific Ten”:
SMEs!
Private companies!
“Dull” industries!
Churn!
Laudable CEOs!
“Soft” stuff!
Excellence!
Action-Execution!
Women!
Boomers-Geezers!
Again.
The
“egregious
eleven”!
The “Egregious Eleven”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
Plans!
“Success”!
Men!
Young!
Incrementalism-Kaizen
Single
greatest act
of pure
imagination
Twenty-four percent of the world’s
construction in the postage stamp
called …
dubai
No Wiggle Room!
“Incrementalism
is innovation’s
worst enemy.”
—Nicholas Negroponte
The “Egregious Eleven”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
Plans!
“Success”!
Men!
Young!
Incrementalism-Kaizen
The “Enviable Eleven”:
SMEs!
Private companies!
“Dull” industries!
Churn!
Laudable CEOs!
“Soft” stuff!
Excellence!
Action-Execution!
Women!
Boomers-Geezers
Imagination Unbound!
And another.
The
“despicable
Dozen”!
The “Despicable Dozen”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
Plans!
“Success”!
Men!
Young!
Incrementalism-Kaizen
Minimization!
“Analysts … preferred cost cutting, as long as
they could see two or three years of EPS growth. I preached revenue
and the analysts’ eyes would glaze over. Now revenue is ‘in’ because
They
said, ‘Oh my gosh, you
need revenues to grow
earnings over time.’
Well, Duh!”
so many got caught, and earnings went to hell.
—Dick Kovacevich, Wells Fargo
The Commerce Bank Model
“cost cutting
is a death
spiral.”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank
Created a Super-growth Business in a No-growth Industry,
Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
The Commerce Bank story in retail
banking was amazing. (They’ve just
been bought by Toronto Dominion.)
“Our whole
story is
growing
revenue.”
—Vernon Hill (Top-line driven; standard
is bottom-line driven by cost cutting)
Hill founded the bank.
Hill founded the bank.
The Commerce Bank Model
“over-invest in our
people, over-invest
in our facilities.”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank
Created a Super-growth Business in a No-growth Industry,
Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
C
*Chief
O*
Revenue
Officer
“Everyone
lives by
selling
something.”
.
– Robert Louis Stevenson
Competitive costs are important. A
great CFO is worth her-his weight in
gold. But will somebody p-l-e-a-s-e
represent the “revenue side”?
<TGW
vs.
>TGR
TGR (“Things
gone right”) >
TGW (“Things
Gone Wrong”)
SingaporeCandy
(Operational Excellence+)
Bowl with little candies at the
Immigration cop’s booth in
Singapore. Message: “Welcome
to Singapore. We’re glad you’re
here.” (Not exactly typical of
immigration cops!)
3-cent
lemon!
Free lemon in a basket at the fish
market. Often as not I’ve made a
$50+ purchase. But it’s the lemon
I remember.
“Happy
Birthday!”
Banker in Bologna changes dollars
for Euros for me. Takes my passport
[required]. Sees that it’s my birthday.
Hands me cash … with a hearty
“happy birthday.” Big deal? Little
deal? Per me:
Big!
Disney’s
Parking Lot
Attendants
= Alpha and
Omega
Disney carefully manages the allimportant first and last impressions.
Another “TGR.”
“Experiences
are as distinct
from services as
services are from
goods.”
—Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore, The
Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a
Stage
Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!”
“What we sell is the
ability for a 43year-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
Beyond the “Transaction”/ “Satisfaction” Mentality
“Good hotel”/ “Happy guest”/
“Exceeded Expectations”
vs.
“Great Vacation”/
“Great Conference”/
“Operation Personal
Renewal”
The latter three are much more
inclusive-powerful. This is not
“semantic games.” Not for the
Four Seasons hotels! It’s a dollars
[many] and cents issue-opportunitystrategy-brand statement-basis
for a Lovemark.
C
*Chief e
O*
Xperience Officer
Hire a
theater director,
as a consultant
or FTE!
First Step (?!):
“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
The “Despicable Dozen”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
Plans!
“Success”!
Men!
Young!
Incrementalism-Kaizen
Minimization!
The “Delectable Dozen”:
SMEs!
Private companies!
“Dull” industries!
Churn!
Laudable CEOs!
“Soft” stuff!
Excellence!
Action-Execution!
Women!
Young!
Imagination Unbound!
Accentuate the Positive!
Finally …
The
“unlucky
Thirteen”!
The “Unlucky Thirteen”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
Plans!
“Success”!
Men!
Young!
Incrementalism-Kaizen
Minimization!
Uniformity!
The “Unlucky Thirteen”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
Plans!
“Success”!
Men!
Young!
Incrementalism-Kaizen
Minimization!
Uniformity!
“Never, ever again
will I evaluate anyone
using a standardized
instrument devised by
a “professional” in
inhuman Resources.”
Promise #1:
Fifty-three people equal fifty-three
totally different cases of individual
human development. They (we!!) are
not “standardized.” (“Great teacher”
… treats each kid as totally different
from the rest. Right?) (53 is the
number of players on a National
Football Roster—the point is that in
sport you’d never think of using
standardized evaluations. (Gawd, am
I passionate about this!)
“Diverse groups of problem solvers—
groups of people with diverse tools—
consistently outperformed groups of the
best and the brightest. If I formed two
groups, one random (and therefore
diverse) and one consisting of the best
individual performers, the first group
almost always did better. …
Diversity trumped
ability.”
—Scott Page, The Difference: How
the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups,
Firms, Schools, and Societies Diversity
Wow! (Read the book.)
WikiWorld: “The
Billion-man Research
Team: Companies
offering work to online
communities are
reaping the benefits of
‘crowdsourcing.’”
—Headline, FT, 0110.07
Pose a problem on the Web—
numerous folks from numerous
backgrounds will come to your aid.
“Human
creativity is
the ultimate
economic
resource.”
—Richard Florida,
The Rise of the Creative Class
“My wife and I went to a [kindergarten] parent-teacher conference
and were informed that our budding refrigerator artist, Christopher,
would be receiving a grade of Unsatisfactory in art. We were
shocked. How could any child—let alone our child—receive a poor
His teacher
informed us that he had
refused to color within the
lines, which was a state
requirement for
demonstrating ‘grade-level
motor skills.’ ”
grade in art at such a young age?
—Jordan Ayan, AHA!
Yuck.
“Every child is
born an artist.
The trick is to
remain an
artist.” —Picasso
“The cracked
ones let in
the light.”
Source: Santa Cruz California,
psychiatrist’s bumper sticker
“Normal” =
“o for 800”
No normal people in a history. So why
do we avoid “abnormal”? (0 for 800:
400-page text, 2 people mentioned
per page on average.)
15 “Leading” Biz Schools
Design/Core: 0
Design/Elective: 1
Creativity/Core: 0
Creativity/Elective: 4
Innovation/Core: 0
Innovation/Elective: 6
Source: DMI/Summer 2002/Research by Thomas Lockwood
B-schools: Yuck II.
40,000,000/20
“[Former Fed Vice-chairman Alan] Blinder … remains an
implacable opponent of tariffs and trade barriers. But
now he is saying loudly that a new industrial revolution—
communication technology that allows services to be
delivered from afar—will put as many as
40
million American
jobs
at risk of being shipped out of the country
in the next decade or two.”* —Wall Street Journal /0328
“only the tip
of a very big iceberg.”
*Blinder: 40 million =
“Deutsche Bank Moves Half of Its
Back-office Jobs to India”/
(500
of 900
Research)
headline/FT/0327
Not just “jobs at risk.” The best
jobs are at risk.
BRAND YOU.
NO OPTION.
No guarantees! We must behave as
boss-of-our-own-show!
New Work SurvivalKit.2007
1. MASTERY! (Best/Absurdly Good at Something!)
2. “Manage” to Legacy (All Work = “Memorable”/“Braggable” WOW Projects!)
3. A “USP”/UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION 4. Rolodex Obsession
(From vertical/hierarchy/“suck up” loyalty to
horizontal/“colleague”/“mate” loyalty)
5. ENTREPRENEURIAL INSTINCT (A sleepless … Eye for Opportunity!
6.CEO/LEADER/BUSINESSPERSON/CLOSER (CEO, Me Inc. 24/7!)
7. Master of Improv (Play a dozen parts simultaneously, from
Chief Strategist to Chief Toilet Scrubber)
8. Sense of Humor (A willingness to Screw Up & Move On)
9. Comfortable with Your Skin (Bring “interesting you” to work!)
10. Intense Appetite for Technology (E.g.: How Cool-Active is your
Web site? Do you Blog?)
11. EMBRACE “MARKETING” (Your own CSO/Chief Storytelling Officer)
12. PASSION FOR RENEWAL (Your own CLO/Chief Learning Officer)
13. EXECUTION EXCELLENCE! (Show up on time! Leave last!)
Stuff we need to know.
Muhammad Yunus:
“All human beings
are entrepreneurs. When we
were in the caves we were all selfemployed . . . finding our food, feeding
ourselves. That’s where human history
began . . . As civilization came we
suppressed it. We became labor
because they stamped us, ‘You are
labor.’ We forgot that we are
entrepreneurs.”
Source: Muhammad Yunus/2006 Nobel Peace prize winner,
father of micro-lending /The News Hour—PBS/1122.2006
“Entrepreneurial traits” are not so
rare—in fact, Yunus suggests they
are normal as normal can be.
Ye gads: “Thomas Stanley has not only found
no correlation between success in school and
an ability to accumulate wealth, he’s actually
found a negative correlation. ‘It seems that
school-related evaluations are poor
predictors of economic success,’ Stanley
concluded. What did predict success was a
willingness to take risks. Yet the successfailure standards of most schools penalized
risk takers. Most educational systems reward
those who play it safe. As a result, those who
do well in school find it hard to take risks
later on.”
—Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes,
Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins
Measure “Strangeness”/Portfolio Quality
Staff
Consultants
Vendors
Out-sourcing Partners (#, Quality)
Innovation Alliance Partners
Customers
Competitors (who we “benchmark” against)
Strategic Initiatives
Product Portfolio (LineEx v. Leap)
IS/IT Projects
HQ Location
Lunch Mates
Language
Board
We are as strange as the people we
hang out with—in every nook and
cranny of the organizational
community of which we are a part. Re
innovation [Innovate or die!], this
is a veeeeery big deal.
“[CEO A.G.] Lafley has shifted
P&G’s focus on inventing all its
own products to developing
others’ inventions
at least half the
time. One successful example
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, based on
a product found in an Osaka
market.” —Fortune, 12.18.06
Another very big deal—P&G was
headquarters of “not invented
here”—if we didn’t invent it, it was
not worth inventing!
“Venture” fund
(Gerstner/Amex, Dow/Marriott, Grove/Intel,
Bedbury/Starbucks/
1%
)
Starbucks branding guru Scott
Bedbury felt the company was getting
stale. He asked founder Howard
Schultz for 1% of the year’s
construction budget … to “play with.”
Surrounded by the company’s coolest
people, he tried a dozen new formats.
Most failed, as expected. A couple
became big winners.
Find.
A.
Fellow.
Freak.
Far Away.
To test “weird stuff,” we need
weird playmates—as far away
from home/HQ as possible!
The “Hang Out Axiom”: At
its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership
decision (employee,
vendor, customer, etc)
is a strategic decision
about:
“Innovate,
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”
The “Unlucky Thirteen”:
Big companies!
Public companies!
“Cool” industries!
Stability!
Famous CEOs!
“Hard” stuff!
Plans!
“Success”!
Men!
Young!
Incrementalism-Kaizen
Minimization!
Uniformity!
The “Lucky Thirteen”:
SMEs!
Private companies!
“Dull” industries!
Churn!
Laudable CEOs!
“Soft” stuff!
Excellence!
Action-Execution!
Women!
Boomers-Geezers!
Imagination Unbound!
Accentuate the Positive!
Individuality!
The “Lucky Thirteen”:
SMEs!
Private companies!
“Dull” industries!
Churn!
laudable CEOs!
“Soft” stuff!
Excellence!
Action-Execution!
Women!
Boomers-Geezers!
Imagination Unbound!
Accentuate the Positive!
Individuality!
The “Lucky Thirteen”:
SMEs!
Private companies!
“Dull” industries!
Churn!
laudable CEOs!
“Soft” stuff!
Excellence!
Action-Execution!
Women!
Boomers-Geezers!
Imagination Unbound!
Accentuate the Positive!
Individuality!
EXCELLENCE.
BEDROCK.
LEADERSHIP.
10Ps.
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
“People want to be part of
something larger than
themselves. They want to be
part of something they’re
really proud of, that they’ll
fight for, sacrifice for ,
trust.”
—Howard Schultz, Starbucks (IBD/09.05)
“A leader is
a dealer in
hope.”
—Napoleon
(+TP’s writing room pics)
Leader Job One
Paint
Portraits of
Excellence!
Ah, kids: “What is your vision for
the future?” “What have you
accomplished since your first book?”
“Close your eyes and imagine me
immediately doing something about
what you’ve just said. What would it
be?” “Do you feel you have an
obligation to ‘Make the world a
better place’?”
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
“Nothing is so
contagious as
enthusiasm.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
BZ: “I am a …
Dispenser of
Enthusiasm!”
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
“The role of the Director is to create a
space where the actors and
become more
than they’ve ever been
before, more than
they’ve dreamed of
being.”
actresses can
—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
Organizing Genius / Warren Bennis
and Patricia Ward Biederman
“Groups become great only when
everyone in them, leaders and
members alike, is free to do his or
her absolute best.”
“The best thing a leader can do for a
Great Group is to allow its
members to discover their
greatness.”
Leaders’ “Mt Everest Test”
“free to do his or her
absolute best” …
“allow its members to
discover their
greatness.”
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
“It’s always
showtime.”
—David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
“You must
be
the change you
wish to see in the
world.”
Gandhi
“Being aware of
yourself and how you
affect everyone
around you is what
distinguishes a
superior leader.”
—Edie Seashore (Strategy + Business #45)
Questions: What do others think of you? [Are you sure?] What
do you think of you? [Are you sure?] What is your impact on
others? [Are you sure?] What is your impact on others? [Are
you sure?] What is your impact on others? [Are you sure?]
What are the “little things” you (perhaps unconsciously) do that
cause people to shrivel—or blossom? [Are you sure?] What do
you want? [Are you sure?] Are you aware of your changing
moods? [Are you sure?] How fragile is your ego? [Are you sure?]
Do you have a true confidant? [Are you sure?] Do you perform brief
or not-so-brief self-assessments? Do you talk too much? [Are you
sure?] Do you know how to listen? [Are you sure?] Do you
listen? [Are you sure?] What is your style of “hashing things
out”? Are you perceived as (a) arrogant, (b) abrasive (c) attentive,
(d) genuinely interested in people, (e) etc? [Are you sure?] Are
you flexible? Have you changed your mind about anything important
in a while? Are you comfortable-uncomfortable with folks on the
front line? Do you think you’re “in touch with the pulse of
things around here”? [Are You Sure?] Are you too
emotional/intuitive? Are you too unemotional/rational? Do you
spend much time with people who are new to you? [Do you think
questions like this are “so much BS”?]
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
Relentless: “One of
my superstitions had always been
when I started to go anywhere or
not to
turn back , or stop,
to do anything,
until the thing intended was
accomplished.” —Grant
“Success seems to be
largely a matter
of hanging on
after others have
let go.”
—William Feather, author
“The most
successful people
are those who
are good at plan B.”
—James Yorke, mathematician, on chaos theory
in The New Scientist
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
potent.
Positive.
“I used to have a rule for myself that at any point in
time I wanted to have in mind — as it so happens,
also in writing, on a little card I carried around with
me — the three big things I was trying to get done.
Three.
Not two.
Not four.
Not five.
Not ten.
Three.”
— Richard Haass, The Power to Persuade
“Dennis, you need a …
‘To-don’t ’
List !”
“The one thing you need
to know about sustained
individual success:
Discover what you don’t
like doing and
stop
doing it.”
—Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE i.
Potent.
Positive.
‘do’
“Leaders
people.
Period.”
—Anon.
“The leaders of Great Groups
love talent and know
where to find it. They
revel in the talent
of others.”
—Warren Bennis &
Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius
“Leaders
‘SERVE’
people.
Period.”
—inspired by Robert Greenleaf
Officers
eat last!
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE ii.
Potent.
Positive.
“A man
without a
smiling face
must not open
a shop.”
—Chinese Proverb
“I can’t tell you how many
times we passed up hotshots
for guys we thought were better
people, and watched our guys do a lot better
than the big names, not just in the classroom, but on
the field—and, naturally, after they graduated, too.
Again and again, the blue chips faded out, and our
little up-and-comers clawed their way to allconference and All-America teams.” —Bo
Schembechler (and John Bacon), “Recruit for
Character,” Bo’s Lasting Lessons
“Character is more crucial now
than ever, because in times of
great uncertainty past
performance is no indicator of
future performance. Experience
falls away and all you’re left
with is character.” —David Rothkopf,
founder of a firm that helps helps chief executives
manage risks
“It’s simple, really,
Tom. Hire for s,
and, above all,
promote for s.”
—Starbucks middle manager/field
Go for the “soft” attributes—damn it!
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE iii.
Potent.
Positive.
Every human being is following their own
growth trajectory—in general and relative to the
organization-team of which they are a part.
Hence standardized evaluation instruments are
an abomination—with housekeepers as well as
scientists. (Our dream teacher for our kids is the
one who treats each kid differently. The teacherfrom-hell treats them all the same.) (The 53
comes from football. The roster of an NFL team
is 53 players. Obviously, we’d never treat
players as interchangeable blocks. What’s the
difference between a 53-person football team or
dance company and a 53-person finance or IS
department? None!)
“Never, ever again
will I evaluate anyone
using a standardized
instrument devised by
a “professional” in
inhuman Resources.”
Promise #1:
“Diverse groups of problem solvers—
groups of people with diverse tools—
consistently outperformed groups of the
best and the brightest. If I formed two
groups, one random (and therefore
diverse) and one consisting of the best
individual performers, the first group
almost always did better. …
Diversity trumped
ability.”
—Scott Page, The Difference: How
the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups,
Firms, Schools, and Societies Diversity
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE iv.
Potent.
Positive.
“Forget China,
India and the
Internet: Economic
Growth Is Driven
by
Women.”
—Headline,
Economist, April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
“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 interactive-collaborative 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. —Judy B. Rosener,
America’s Competitive Secret: Women Managers
Old days: 20-person project team. All from
our company. New days: 20-person
project team. Six companies in 4 countries
represented. Can’t bark orders. (This is
added to when we acknowledge that our
value-added will come from “creatives”—
also far less amenable to standard
hierarchical approaches.) Old hierarchy
disappearing. Men are hierarchy oriented;
women tend to lead through relationship
development.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
14 168*
to
*Leadership Positions/D&T/1992-2002/WIAR
(Women’s Initiative Annual Report)
Deloitte losing great women. Discover it’s
because women see male-dominated
hierarchy above, and don’t want to waste
time since top slots not available. Deloitte
makes female retention centerpiece of
strategy. Among other things, in a decade
senior positions held by women grow
from 14 to 168. Progress publicly reported
in Women’s Initiative Annual Report. (In
2007, Deloitte voted best company for
fresh-caught college grads to work for.)
Period??!!*
Start:
3 0f 14
18 months later:
10 of 18
*AIM/September 2007
In Australia, TP pinned against wall by
woman financial-services CEO: “What
would you do if you were made CEO of a
firm light in women in senior ranks?” After
much thought, I said I’d play it straight as a
numbers game—eg increase my exec team
from the current 3 women of 14 to 10 of 18
in 18 months. As to the standard, “butt no
women are ready,” I’d simply “deep dip” as
they say in the military—go down a level or
two to find the best women, whether or not
they were “100% ready.”
10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE
Women make [all] the financial decisions.
Women control [all] the wealth.
Women [substantially] outlive men.
Women start most of the new businesses.
Women’s work force participation rates have
soared worldwide.
Women are closing in on “same pay for same
job.”
Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly
[even if the pace is slow for the corner
office per se].
Women’s leadership strengths are exceptionally well
aligned with new organizational effectiveness
imperatives.
Women are better salespersons than men.
Women buy [almost] everything—commercial
as well as consumer goods.
So what exactly is the point of men?
“One thing is certain: Women’s rise to power, which is linked
to the increase in wealth per capita, is happening in all
domains and at all levels of society. Women are no longer
content to provide efficient labor or to be consumers with
rising budgets and more autonomy to spend. … This is just the
beginning. The phenomenon will only grow as girls prove to be
For a
number of observers, we have
already entered the age of
‘womenomics,’ the economy as
thought out and practiced
by a woman.” —Aude Zieseniss de Thuin,
more successful than boys in the school system.
Financial Times, 10.03.2006
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE v.
Potent.
Positive.
PUT HR AT THE
HEAD OF THE HEAD
TABLE. BEST
PEOPLE. NOBLEST
MISSION.
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE vi.
Potent.
Positive.
2 per Year/
20 per Decade =
Excellence +
Legacy
In I figure one has about two key
promotion decisions per year. Collectively
the 20 in 10 years will almost totally shape
one’s legacy. While we take such decisions
“seriously,” I suggest we typically take
them seriously enough based on the
analysis above.
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE vii.
Potent.
Positive.
Internal
“brand
promise”!
EVP/
IBP?*
What’s your company’s …
*Employee Value Proposition, per Ed Michaels et al.,
The War for Talent; IBP/Internal Brand Promise per TP
EVP/IBP = Remarkable
challenge, rapid professional
growth, respect, satisfaction,
fun, stunning opportunity,
exceptional reward, amazing
peer group, full membership in
Club Adventure, maximized
future employability
Source: Ed Michaels, The War for Talent; TP
“We are a
‘Life Success’
Company.”
Dave Liniger, founder, RE/MAX
Brand =
Talent.
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE vii.
Potent.
Positive.
“How to flush
$500,000 down
the toilet in one
easy lesson!!”
TP:
< CAPEX
> People!
See above, slides 104-107.
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
On NELSON:
In war or peace there is an enormous
difference between working to avoid
loss (defense rules—cost cutting?)
versus working to win (a revenueinnovation focus?).
Kevin Roberts’ Credo
1. Ready. Fire! Aim.
2. If it ain’t broke ... Break it!
3. Hire crazies.
4. Ask dumb questions.
5. Pursue failure.
6. Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!
7. Spread confusion.
8. Ditch your office.
9. Read odd stuff.
10.
Avoid moderation!
"The reasonable man adapts
himself to the world. The
unreasonable one persists in
trying to adapt the world to
himself. Therefore, all
progress depends upon the
unreasonable man.” —GB Shaw,
Man and Superman: The Revolutionists' Handbook.
“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
“One who does
less than he can
is a thief.”
—Gandhi
Ouch.
PURPOSE.
PASSION.
Potential.
Presence.
Personal.
PERSISTENCE.
PRIORITIES.
PEOPLE.
Potent.
Positive.
The greatest danger
for most of us
is not that our aim is
too high
and we miss it,
but that it is
too low
and we reach it.
Michelangelo
The “1E”
“Excellence can be obtained if you:
... care more than others think is wise;
... risk more than others think is safe;
... dream more than others think
is practical;
... expect more than others think
is possible.”
Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by
K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
Geron-imo!
"Life is not a journey to the
grave with the intention of
arriving safely in one pretty
and well preserved piece, but
to skid across the line
broadside, thoroughly used
up, worn out, leaking oil,
shouting ‘GERONIMO!’ ”
—Bill McKenna, professional motorcycle racer
(Cycle magazine 02.1982)
END
Part 8