To appreciate
this presentation [and insure
that it is not a mess], you need
Microsoft fonts:
NOTE:
“Showcard Gothic,”
“Ravie,” “Chiller”
and “Verdana”
Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
Action.
New Master/05 September 2008
Part 7.2
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”
Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
Action.
New Master/06 September 2008
This presentation has taken me
years
40+
to write.*
*Twenty-three-year-old Navy Seabee in Vietnam to 40-year-old coauthor of In Search of Excellence from Palo Alto-Silicon Valley to
65-year-old “management guy”/“teller of tales” in Vermont
“A year from now
you may wish
You had
started today.”
—Karen Lamb
“The secret of
getting ahead
is getting
started.” —
Agatha Christie
“Action is the
foundational
key of all
success.”
—Picasso
BLAME NO one.
EXPECT NOTHING.
DO SOMETHING.
Source: Locker room sign posted by
football coach Bill Parcells
“To
Be somebody
or to Do
something”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“The secret to having
good ideas is to have a
lot of ideas, then
throw the bad ones
away.” —Linus Pauling
“Intelligent people
can always come up
with intelligent
reasons to do
nothing.”
—Scott Simon
“Ninety percent of
what we call
‘management’
consists of making it
difficult for people to
get things done.”
– Peter Drucker
EXCELLENCE.
CIRCA 1982.
A BIAS FOR
ACTION.
“We design intelligent strategies—
but they fail or fall miles short of
their apparent potential for one
reason—poor organizational
alignment which in turn leads to a
gaping ‘implementation deficit.’
Tom, I want you to get a handle on
the best thinking and best
practices on ‘organization
effectiveness’ from around the
world.” —Ron Daniel, Managing Director,
McKinsey & Co., 1977, charge to the team (Tom
Peters & Jim Bennett) that five years later
produced In Search of Excellence (Tom Peters &
Bob Waterman)
Daniel was McKinsey’s new Managing Director in 1977. Under
competitive threat from the upstart Boston Consulting Group, Daniel
decided to re-stock McKinsey’s intellectual capital (as we call it
today) inventory. He started “the Big Project” in New York
(headquarters) …a fresh look at business strategy. As an
afterthought, more or less, he started a little project on the way
organizations work—and called on me, junior but fresh from having
just finished what Stanford business school organizations guru
Professor Gene Webb called “the first Ph.D. dissertation on
implementation per se.” Guided by my designated overseer, Jim
Bennett, I began an around-the-world tour searching for the most
innovative ideas on the subject. (Two decades later, the spinoffs
from that “little” project had generated what became McKinsey’s
biggest “practice”—Organization Effectiveness.)
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”
After two years of research, I produced a “famous”
presentation with its title taken from the world of
football: “Two Yards and a Cloud of Dust.” The idea was
a focus on the “grubby basics” that underlie a winning
obsession with execution. The presentation eventually
morphed into In Search of Excellence. And, in turn, the
centerpiece of the book was our so-called “eight basics.”
The first of these was labeled “a bias for action.”
“too
much talk,
too little
do”
TP/BW on BigCompany Sin #1:
“Operations is
policy.”
—Fred Malek (1974)
“Execution is
strategy.”
—TP (1983)
“Never forget
implementation boys.
In our work it’s what I
call the ‘missing 98
percent’ of the client
puzzle.” —Al McDonald, former Managing Director,
McKinsey & Co, to a project team that included TP
EXCELLENCE.
CIRCA 2008.
A BIAS FOR
ACTION.
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”
A quarter of a century has passed since In Search of
Excellence, but as the pace of change accelerates madly,
“a bias for action” is, if possible, more important than
ever—and as elusive as ever in sizeable organizations.
(For that matter, the rest of the “eight basics” are still
just that—basic and as about as relevant as ever.)
EXCELLENCE.
INNOVATE.
OR.
DIE.
I have said in many settings that, alas, but more or
one
forty
less seriously, I have only had
idea in the
professional career …
years of my
ry it. Try it. Screw
up. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Screw it up
rew it up. Try it. Tr
. try it. Try it. Scre
… and that one idea? He/she who has the most tries
wins. Are there caveats? Of course! But more or less the
person who proceeds by … try it … adjust it … try it
again. And again & again & again. (And do it all at flank
speed.) (As you’ll subsequently see, one wise
commentator goes so far as to say, “Whoever makes the
most mistakes wins.” I agree!)
Jane Jacobs:
Variety
Exuberant
vs. the Great Blight of Dullness.
F.A.
Spontaneous
Discovery
Process.
Hayek:
Joseph Schumpeter: the
Gales of Creative
Destruction.
There are several grand philosophers who champion my view—and
in whose footprints I humbly walk. Nobel prize winner F.A. Hayek,
our foremost philosopher of free markets. (His writing was mostly
done in the face of totalitarian planned economies.) Hayek called
progress via free markets the “spontaneous discovery process.”
(Most tries = Most innovation = Longterm economic excellence.)
Urban philosopher Jane Jacobs flew in the face of centralizing
urban planners—who brought us the debacle of high-rise public
housing, among other things. She said the most vital communities
were marked by “exuberant variety”—all sorts of uses mixed wildly
together was the winning formula for quality of life and economic
prowess.
Economist Joseph championed the “gales of creative destruction”
as the key to economic renewal.
As I see it, each of these says, more or less, “most tries wins.”
What makes
God laugh?
People
making
plans!
"Life is what
happens while
you're busy
making other
plans.”
—John Lennon
“The secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast
and furious and
numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“Active mutators in placid
times tend to die off. They
are selected against.
Reluctant mutators in
quickly changing times
are also selected against.”
—Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan,
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
do
things.
“We have a
‘strategic plan.’
It’s called doing
things.”
— Herb Kelleher
do what
needs to
A man approached JP Morgan, held up an envelope, and said, “Sir, in
my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which I will gladly
sell you for $25,000.”
“Sir,” JP Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope,
however if you show me, and I like it, I
give you my word as a gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.”
The man agreed to the terms, and handed over the envelope. JP
Morgan opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper. He gave it
one look, a mere glance, then handed the piece of paper back to the
gent.
And paid him the
agreed upon $25,000.
1. Every morning, write
a list of the things
that need to be done
that day.
2.
Do them.
Source: Hugh MacLeod/tompeters.com/NPR
try
things.
“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
Hizzonor and the Governator*:
“The New
Action
Heroes”
(Time/07.23.07)
*Bloomberg, Schwarzenegger
“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
Dick
(“Just build the damn
thing.”)
Dan
vs.
(“Don’t you know the
difference between ‘tangible’ and
‘palpable’?”)
“Experiment
fearlessly”
Source: BW0821.06, Type A Organization Strategies/
“How to Hit a Moving Target”—Tactic #1
"I think it is very important
for you to do two things:
act on your temporary
conviction as if it was a
real conviction; and when
you realize that you are
wrong, correct course very
quickly.” —Andy Grove
“We ground
up more pig
brains!”/ “We
did more
procedures”
The True Logic* of Decentralization:
6 divisions = 6 “tries”
6 divisions = 6 DIFFERENT leaders =
6 INDEPENDENT “tries” = Max
probability of “win”
6 divisions = 6 very DIFFERENT
leaders = 6 very INDEPENDENT
“tries” = Max probability of “far
out”/”3-sigma” “win”
*“Driver”: Law of Large #s
SERIOUS
PLAY
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may
the most
valuable core
competence an
be
innovative organization can
hope to have.” —Michael Schrage
Think about It!?
Innovation =
Reaction to the
Prototype
Source: Michael Schrage
“You can’t be a serious
innovator unless and until
you are ready, willing and
able to seriously play.
‘Serious play’ is not an
oxymoron; it is the essence
of innovation.”
—Michael Schrage, Serious Play
“Learn not to
be careful.”
—Photographer Diane Arbus
to her students (Careful = The sidelines, from
Harriet Rubin in The Princessa)
“If it’s not fun
you’re not doing
it right.”
—Fran Tarkenton
“The key to a great
painting is the nerve,
after weeks of effort,
to ‘bet the painting’
on the next brush
stroke,”
Master musician, San Francisco
Screw.
things.
“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 secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast
and furious and
numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“The Silicon Valley of
today is built less
atop the spires of
earlier triumphs than
upon the rubble of
earlier debacles.”—Newsweek/
Paul Saffo
“FAIL, FAIL
AGAIN. FAIL
BETTER.”
—Samuel Beckett
“Fail .
Forward.
Fast.”
High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
“Fail faster.
Succeed Sooner.”
David Kelley/IDEO
Sam’s
Secret
#1!
“Reward
excellent failures.
Punish mediocre
successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
“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)
“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)
Read This!
Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes:
Whoever Makes
the Most Mistakes
Wins: The Paradox
of Innovation
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
On NELSON:
try.
Miss.
READY.
FIRE!
“We are in a
brawl with no rules.”
Paul Allaire/Xerox:
TP:
“There’s
[literally]
only one
Screw
Around Vigorously!
possible answer …
Ideas.
Plans.
Actions.
RAF
RFA
RFFFA RFFFA … FFFFA
RAAAAAAAAAAA …
IID DSS*
INID DSS**
*If In Doubt … Do Some S$%^ (stuff)
**If Not In Doubt … Do Some S%*&
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.
Just say
“no” to “no.”
“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
He believed
that they only teach
you what you can’t do
in engineering school. He
engineering 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
No try.
No deal.
“You miss
100% of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
Try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
Try.
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”
Innovation:
mad. Start Doing
something
about it. Now.
Get
The Limits of “Systems Thinking”:
Surprise,
Transformation &
Excellence
Through
Spontaneous
Discovery
“By indirections
find directions
out.”
—Hamlet, II. i
The Limits of “Systems Thinking”:
Surprise, Transformation & Excellence
Through Spontaneous Discovery (1 of 2)
This summer was the summer of brush clearing.
And, it turned out, much more.
It started as simple exercise. After a day or two, scratches from head to toe,
and enjoyment, I set myself a goal of clearing a little space to get a better view
of one of the farm ponds. That revealed something else … to my surprise.
At a casual dinner, I sat next to a landscaper, and we got to talking about our
farm and my skills with clipper, saw, etc. In particular, she suggested that I do
some clearing around a few of our big boulders. Intrigued, I set about clearing,
on our main trail, around a couple of said boulders. I was again amazed at the
result.
That in turn led to attacking some dense brush and brambles around some
barely visible rocks that had always intrigued me—which led to “finding,” in
effect, a great place for a more or less “Zen garden,” as we’ve taken to calling
it.
Which led to … more and more. And more.
(Especially a rock wall, a hundred or so yards long, that is a massive wonder—
next year I’ll move up the hill behind it—I can already begin to imagine what
I’ll discover, though my hunch will be mostly “wrong,” and end up leading me
somewhere else.)
The Limits of “Systems Thinking”:
Surprise, Transformation & Excellence
Through Spontaneous Discovery (2 of 2)
To make a long story short:
I now have a new hobby, and maybe, ye gads, my life’s work for years to
come. This winter I’ll do a little, but I also plan to read up on outdoor spaces,
Zen gardens, etc; visit some rock gardens—spaces close by or amidst my
travels; and, indeed, concoct a more or less plan (rough sketches) for next
spring’s activities—though I’m sure that what I do will move forward mostly by
what I discover as I move forward. (what discovers itself may actually be a
better way to put it—there’s a “hidden hand” here.) As I’m beginning to see it,
this is at least a 10-year project—maybe even a multi-generation project.
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
me to view our entire property, and what it might represent, in a new light.
I was able to do much more than I’d dreamed—overall, and project by project.
“Systems thinking”? It would have killed the whole thing.
Is “everything connected to every thin else”? Well, duh. But I had no idea how
everything was connected to everything else until I began (thank you, Michael
Schrage) “serious play.”
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.
Note (more of the same): Last year I got a pacemaker for Christmas
(13 December, actually); the #1 no-no is using a chain saw. (The
magnetic field is fearsome.) Taking that warning a step farther, I
decided to do this project entirely with hand tools. Of course that
means more exercise—a good thing. But the “great wonder,” again
unexpected, is that the resultant slowness and quiet is the de facto
engine of my entire spontaneous discovery process.
Note: Some of you will have discovered my implicit debt to the
economist-of-freedom, F.A. Hayek. His stunningly clear view of
market capitalism as a “spontaneous discovery process” is my
intellectual bedrock, my “context” for three decades in Silicon
Valley, and now even for my recreational pursuits (which are, as
noted, becoming so much more than that).
“How do I know what I think until I see what I say.”
—C.K. Chesterton
“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
“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.” —The Hunters, by
John Masters, Canadian Oil & Gas wildcatter
“Experiment fearlessly”
—BusinessWeek, in a Special Report, on the
premier innovation strategy of the best innovators
“The secret of fast progress is inefficiency, fast and furious
and numerous failures.” —Kevin Kelly, founding editor, Wired
“How do I know
what I think
until I see what I
say.”
—C.K. Chesterton
“My only goal is to
have no goals. The
goal, every time, is
that film, that very
moment.”
—Bernardo Bertolucci
Speed/ Tempo/
o.o.d.a. loops/
“Metabolic
Management”
Messin’ with their
minds: He who has
the quickest
“O.O.D.A. Loops”*
wins!
*Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. /Col. John Boyd
“Blitzkrieg is far more than lightning thrusts that most
people think of when they hear the term; rather it was all
about high operational tempo and the rapid
exploitation of opportunity.” —Robert Coram, Boyd
“Re-arrange the mind of
the enemy”
“Float like a butterfly,
sting like a bee”
—T.E. Lawrence
—Ali
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“Active mutators in
placid times tend to die
off. They are selected
against. Reluctant
mutators in quickly
changing times are also
selected against.”
—Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan,
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
“If things seem
under control,
you’re just not
going fast
enough.”
—Mario Andretti
FedEx
Economy”
“the
—headline/New York Times
Anything/
Anywhere/
Anytime
“Any3”:
ry it. Try it. Screw
up. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Screw it up
rew it up. Try it. Tr
. try it. Try it. Scre
BLAME NOBODY.
EXPECT NOTHING.
DO SOMETHING.
Source: Locker room sign posted by
football coach Bill Parcells
Think!
vs.
do!
“Never forget
implementation , boys.
In our work, it’s what I
call the ‘last 98
percent’ of the client
puzzle.”
—Al McDonald, former Managing
Director, McKinsey & Co, to a project team that included TP
The (Strange) Case of Peter Drucker &
Michael Porter vs. The “Non-linearists”
HERBERT SIMON. (Administrative Behavior.) JAMES
MARCH. KARL WEICK. (The Social Psychology of
Organizing.) EUGENE WEBB. Henry
MINTZBERG. (The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning.)
JAMES UTTERBACK. THOMAS KUHN. (The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions.) CHARLES
LINDBLOM. Daniel goleman.
INNOVATION BIOGRAPHERS.* (*Transcontinental
Railroad, Electrification, Radio, Television, Containerization, DNA,
MOST POLITICAL
SCIENTISTS. SILICON VALLEY. Etc.
Computers, Military History, Etc.)
think!
“Non-linearist”: do!
“Linearist”:
Plan it!
“Non-linearist”: Try it!
“Linearist”:
“Linearist”:
hypothesize!
“Non-linearist”:
experiment!
failure =
unnecessary
“Linearist”:
“Non-linearist”:
failure = life
a>b*
“Non-linearist”: b>a**
“Linearist”:
*Attitude shapes behavior
**Behavior shapes attitude
deliberate!*
“Non-linearist”: relentless!**
“Linearist”:
* “Do it right the first time” (Hero: Phil Crosby)
**Never retreat (Hero: U.S. Grant)
“Linearist”:
logical!
“Non-linearist”:
passionate!
give me
genius!
“Non-linearist”: give me
luck!
“Linearist”:
spotless
academic
record!
“Non-linearist”: a.d.d.
“Linearist”:
measured
pace!
“Non-linearist”: Tempo!
Tempo! Tempo!
“Linearist”:
think! Plan!
(r.a.f.*)
“Non-linearist”: Try it!
Screw it up! Fix it!
Try it again! (r.f.a.**)
“Linearist”:
*Ready. Aim. Fire.
**ready. Fire. Aim. (Or, circa 2006: fire. Fire. Fire.)
Cheap Shot
minimize cost.
“Non-linearist”: maximize
revenue.
“Linearist”:
marketing
rules.
“Non-linearist”: sales
rules.
“Linearist”:
“Linearist”
Background:
planning, marketing &
finance.
“Non-linearist”
background:
sales & operations.
“Linearist”
likes: ideas.
“Non-linearist”
likes: people.
“Linearist”
office: walls.
“Non-linearist”
office: none.
“Linearist”
style: meetings.
“Non-linearist”
style: m.b.w.a.*
*Managing by wandering around
“Linearist”
reads: michael porter.
Peter drucker.*
“Non-linearist”
reads: waterman &
peters. Tom clancy.**
*Michael & peter
**Bob & tom & tom
“Linearist”
reads: michael porter.
Peter drucker.
“Non-linearist”
reads: doesn’t
“Linearist”
preferred baseball
score: 1-0.
“Non-linearist”
preferred baseball
score: 11-9.
“Linearist”
preferred football
score: 7-0.
“Non-linearist”
preferred football
score: 41-38.
“Linearist”
criminal record:
none.
“Non-linearist”
criminal record:
disorderly conduct.
Chronic jaywalking.
“Linearist”
drives: lincoln town
car. Ford explorer
(weekends).
“Non-linearist”
drives: bmw. Harleydavidson (weekends).
The (Strange) Case of Peter Drucker &
Michael Porter vs. The “Non-linearists”
HERBERT SIMON. (Administrative Behavior.) JAMES
MARCH. KARL WEICK. (The Social Psychology of
Organizing.) EUGENE WEBB. Henry
MINTZBERG. (The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning.)
JAMES UTTERBACK. THOMAS KUHN. (The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions.) CHARLES
LINDBLOM. Daniel goleman.
INNOVATION BIOGRAPHERS.* (*Transcontinental
Railroad, Electrification, Radio, Television, Containerization, DNA,
MOST POLITICAL
SCIENTISTS. SILICON VALLEY. Etc.
Computers, Military History, Etc.)
“METABOLIC
MANAGEMENT”
The Leadership11
1. Talent Management
2. Metabolic Management
3. Technology Management
4. Barrier Management
5. Forgetful Management
6. Metaphysical Management
7. Opportunity Management
8. Portfolio Management
9. Failure Management
10. Cause Management
11. Passion Management
“The secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast
and furious and
numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“Active mutators in placid
times tend to die off. They
are selected against.
Reluctant mutators in
quickly changing times
are also selected against.”
—Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan,
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
“How we feel about the evolving future tells us who we are as
Do we search for
stasis—a regulated, engineered
world? Or do we embrace
dynamism—a world of constant
creation, discovery and competition?
individuals and as a civilization:
Do we value stability and control or evolution and learning? Do we
think that progress requires a central blueprint, or do we see it as a
decentralized, evolutionary process?? Do we see mistakes as
permanent disasters, or the correctable byproducts of
experimentation? Do we crave predictability or relish surprise?
These two poles, stasis and dynamism, increasingly define our
political, intellectual and cultural landscape.”
—Virginia Postrel, The Future and Its Enemies
“If things seem
under control,
you’re just not
going fast
enough.”
—Mario Andretti
“The most
successful
people are those
who are good at
plan B.”
—James Yorke,
mathematician, on chaos theory in The New Scientist
“I’m not comfortable
unless I’m
uncomfortable.”
—Jay Chiat
“If it works,
it’s obsolete.”
—Marshall McLuhan
Mbwa
The magic number 25.
Mbwa.
Calendars never lie.
Excellence.
Always.
MBWA
When Bob Waterman and I wrote In Search of
Excellence in 1982, business was “by the
numbers”—and the Americans were struggling (to
put it mildly) with hands on, tactile stuff, like
Japanese quality. Then, at Hewlett Packard, we were
introduced to the famed “HP Way,” the centerpiece
of which was in-touch management. HP had a term
(Managing By
Wandering Around.) Bob and I
for this … MBWA.
fell in immediate love. Not only was the idea per se
important and cool, but it symbolized everything we
were coming to cherish—enterprises where bossesleaders were in immediate touch with and
emotionally attached to workers, customers,
the product. The idea is as important or more
important in fast-paced 2007 as it was in 1982.
CWVA to MBWA: “In these
days of telegraph and
steam I can command
while traveling and
visiting about.” —U.S. Grant
Managing by wandering
around” —HP circa 1980
General Grant got there
first—as usual!
Though his empire is enormous, and
his executive team strong, Starbucks
founder Howard Schultz still …
visits at
least 25 S’bucks
shops … per week!
religiously …
“Regardless of our size,” he told me,
“we still sell it one-cup-at-a-time, one
customer-at-a-time, one server-ata-time. I need to see it and touch it
and feel it.”
“The first and greatest
imperative of
command is to be
present in person. Those
who impose risk must be
seen to share it.”
—John Keegan, The Mask of Command
True for business as well as war.
“20-minute
rule”
—Craig Johnson/30 yrs
Craig Johnson, a famed Venture
Capitalist for three decades …
refuses to invest in
companies that are more
than a 20-minute drive
from his office. To guide them
through the serpentine path ahead, he
insists that he must be in constant
touch as banker, advisor, friend.
*
*Hank Paulson, China visits, Fortune 1127.06
China is clearly our most important
economic partner. Our dialog with
China was not what it might have been
when Hank Paulson took over as
Secretary of the Treasury. Immediate
improvement occurred for numerous
reasons, not least of which were
Paulson’s SEVENTY TRIPS to
China while at Goldman Sachs.
“I call 60 CEOs
to
wish them happy
New Year. …”
[in
the first week of the year]
—Hank Paulson, former CEO, Goldman Sachs
Source: Fortune, “Secrets of Greatness,” 0320.05
MBWA, Grameen Style!
“Conventional banks ask their clients to come
to their office. It’s a terrifying place for the poor
and illiterate. … The entire Grameen Bank
system runs on the principle that people
should not come to the bank, the bank
should go to the people. … If any staff
member is seen in the office, it should be taken
as a violation of the rules of the Grameen Bank.
… It is essential that [those setting up a new
village Branch] have no office and no place to
stay. The reason is to make us as different as
possible from government officials.”
Source: Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the Poor
“You must
be
the change you
wish to see in the
world.”
Gandhi
“It’s always
showtime.”
—David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare
You = Your
calendar*
*Calendars
never lie
All we have is our time. The
way we spend our time is
our priorities, is our
“strategy.” Your calendar
knows what you really
care about. Do you?
“… a blinding
flash of the
obvious”
—Manny Garcia
“All this” [this little riff] is indeed, as seminar participant and
leading Burger King franchisee Many Garcia once said to me,
“obvious.”* But observation over four decades** suggests that
amidst the hubbub and travails of a typical day’s work, the socalled obvious is often-usually left unattended. For perfectly good
reasons, another week passes without a visit to our equivalent of
the Starbucks shops or HP R&D labs, without the equivalent to
Hank Paulsen’s “How ya doin’?” call to a key customer. My [Tom
Peters] Job One in life? Remind busy folks of the obvious!
*Manny Garcia/1983: “Tom, I hope you won’t be insulted when I say
this was the best seminar I’ve ever been to—and it was
a blinding flash of the obvious.”
**I had two commanding officers during my two Vietnam tours in
U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion NINE. One was a Shultz
look-alike—instinctively in the field. The other was an in the office
“leader.” The one produced. The other didn’t. At age 24 I learned
an incredible life lesson, though I couldn’t describe it well until
tripping over HP’s MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around.
The older I
get the less
boring the
“basics”
become!
“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
EXCELLENCE.
4/40.
De-central-iza-tion!
“‘Decentralization’
is not a piece of
paper. It’s not me.
It’s either in your
heart, or not.”
—Brian Joffe/BIDvest
“If if feels
painful and
scary—that’s
real delegation”
—Caspian Woods, small biz owner
“HOW THE COAST GUARD
GETS IT RIGHT”
—Headline, Time, 10.31.2005
(on the USCG and hurricane Katrina)
*Autonomy
*Flexibility
*“Perhaps the most important
distinction of the Coast
Guard is that it trusts itself”
The True Logic* of Decentralization:
6 divisions = 6 “tries”
6 divisions = 6 DIFFERENT leaders =
6 INDEPENDENT “tries” = Max
probability of “win”
6 divisions = 6 very DIFFERENT
leaders = 6 very INDEPENDENT
“tries” = Max probability of “far
out”/”3-sigma” “win”
*“Driver”: Law of Large #s
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
(1) sum of Projects =
Goal (“Vision”)
(2) sum of Milestones =
project
(3) rapid Review +
Truth-telling =
accountability
“I saw that leaders placed too
much emphasis on what some
call ‘high-level strategy,’ on
intellectualizing and
philosophizing, and not enough
on implementation. People
would agree on a project or
initiative—and then nothing
would come of it.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“The person who is a little less conceptual but is
absolutely determined to succeed will usually find the
right people and get them together to achieve
objectives. I’m not knocking education or looking for
But if you have to choose
between someone with a staggering
IQ and an elite education who’s
gliding along, and someone with a
lower IQ but who is absolutely
determined to succeed, you’ll
always do better with the second
person.” —Larry Bossidy/Execution:
dumb people.
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“Never forget
implementation
boys. In our work it’s
what I call the
‘missing 98
percent’ of the client
puzzle.”
—Al McDonald
Ac-counta-bil-ity!
“Realism is
the heart of
execution.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/Execution:
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“robust
dialogue”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution:
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“GE has set a
standard of candor.
… There is no
puffery. … There isn’t
an ounce of denial in
the place.”
—Kevin Sharer, CEO Amgen,
on the “GE mystique” (Fortune)
6:15A.M.
????????
Work Hard >
Work Smart
A man approached JP Morgan, held up an envelope, and said, “Sir, in
my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which I will gladly
sell you for $25,000.”
“Sir,” JP Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope,
however if you show me, and I like it, I give you my word as a
gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.”
The man agreed to the terms, and handed over the envelope.
JP Morgan opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper.
He gave it one look, a mere glance, then handed the piece of paper
back to the gent.
And paid him the
agreed-upon $25,000 …
1. Every morning, write a
list of the things that
need to be done that
day.
2.
Do them.
Source: Hugh MacLeod/tompeters.com/NPR
DECENTRALIZATION.
EXECUTION.
ACCOUTABILITY.
6:15A.M.
Execution
Is Strategy:
Howard’s
Lesson
“We Have …
Thank
you, Howard
(Starbucks)!
Starbucks, more or less for the first time, and before the
Recession, began to have some significant problems.
The “good news,” as it were, is that Howard Schultz’s
S’bucks has no new competition; hence we are left with
only one possible cause for Starbucks’ slump—
Starbucks!
Sports: You
beat
yourself!
Sure, your opponent in sports can be having a “lucky
day”—but mostly, when one stinks up, say, the
presentation … one beats oneself!
Principal diagnostic tool for Starbucks or you and me?
Spend $2.95, and buy a mirror.
Internal
organizational
excellence* ** =
Deepest “Blue
Ocean”
*A “Blue ocean” is by definition
very profitable … and will be
quickly copied. “sustainable
blue” (Internal
organizational excellence) is
far more difficult to copy.
**Internal
organizational
excellence =
“Brand inside”
B(I) > B(O)
Sure, I am well aware of internally focused
organizations. Nonetheless, I still (mostly) cast my vote
for XX … eXcellence in eXecution.
When The “Enemy” Really Wins
“Lose Your Nemesis”: “Obsessing about your competitors,
trying to match or best their offerings, spending time each
day wanting to know what they are doing, and/or measuring
your company against them—these activities have no great or
winning outcome. Instead you are simply prohibiting your
company from finding its own way to be truly meaningful to
its clients, staff and prospects. You block your company from
finding its own identity and engaging with the people who
pay the bills. … Your competitors have never paid your bills
and they never will.” —Howard Mann, Your Business Brickyard: Getting
Back to the Basics to Make Your Business More Fun to Run*
*Mr Mann also quotes Mike McCue, former VP/Technology at Netscape: “At
Netscape the competition with Microsoft was so severe, we’d
wake up in the morning thinking about how we were going to
deal with them instead of how we would build something
great for our customers. What I realize now is that you can
never, ever take your eye off the customer. Even in the face of
massive competition, don’t think about the competition.
Literally don’t think about them.”
K.I.S.S.
450/8
First Steps: “Beauty Contest”!
1. Select one form/document: invoice,
airbill, sick leave policy, customer
returns claim form.
2. Rate the selected doc on a scale of 1 to
10 [1 = Bureaucratica Obscuranta/ Sucks;
10 = Work of Art] on four dimensions:
Beauty. Grace. Clarity.
Simplicity.
3. Re-invent!
4. Repeat, with a new selection, every 15
working days.
“Beautiful”
“Graceful”
“Aesthetic Triumph”
“Breathtaking”
“Game-changing”
Rodale’s on “Grace” …
elegance … charm …
loveliness … poetry in
motion … kindliness ..
benevolence …
benefaction …
compassion … beauty
“I wanted GE to operate
with the speed, informality,
and open communication of
a corner store. Corner
stores often have strategy
right. With their limited
resources, they have to
rely on laser-like focus on
doing one thing very well.”
—Jack Welch/Fortune
Lee’s Rule:
Run It off a
Blackberry!
“Really Important
Stuff”: Roger’s
Rule of Three!
“The art of war does not require
complicated maneuvers; the
simplest are the best, and
common sense is fundamental.
From which one might wonder
how it is generals make
blunders; it is because they try
to be clever.” —Napoleon on Simplicity, from
Napoleon on Project Management by Jerry Manas.
The Planning,
Planning Systems,
Intelligence &
Measures50
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*K.I.S.S. (!!) (450/8.) (500/50—GB.) (Lee’s Blackberry.)
*Complexity accretes one day/person/item at a time!
*There must be a “Systems & Measures Undesigner.” (Rem Koolhaas: “Often my job is to
undo things.”)
*Focus!!!!
*5 or fewer key indicators. (Enrico’s “Rule of Three.”)
*Key indicators must be backed up by unmistakable
impact on evals and compensation! (JW & 6-sigma)
*Prune 50% of your measures … TODAY.
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*“Measurement Architecture” = (Real) Corporate
Strategy. (PERIOD.)
*CIOs & CFOs & C“R”Os will become Soulmates in
effective organizations!
*Can a fourth grader understand it (Paul Sherlock,
JW)?
*Overall “systems architecture” should be in the
heads of no more than three people. (Fred Brooks
jr./360.)
*Nothing is easier than lying with statistics.
(Measurement is not Reality.)
*Hard is Soft. Soft is Hard. (TP-RWjr.) (c.f. Enron.)
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*Fanatically measure Customer Satisfaction
regarding systems/measures!
*If the Customer says it’s confusing … it’s confusing.
PERIOD.
*Systems & Measures planning must be “Bottom
Up”! (Buy-in Rules in “systems world.”)
*If, as a “systems’ guy/gal,” it “turns you on” …
BEWARE! (Jefferson’s Rule. Lessons from Clio.)
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*Systems & Measures should be/can be/ought to be
Works of Art!
*Great systems are about aesthetics!
*Is it “beautiful”?
*Is it “graceful”?
*Is it Surprising?
*Use a great Graphic Designer on all systems
development teams … and a damn good
Psychologist. (Steve world.)
*Systems design is not innocent: It is the Ultimate
Power Game!
*She/He who controls the primary measures …
Rules the World!
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*“Budgets” as we’ve known them are more than a
“wretched waste”: They are Danger #1 in Turbulent
Times!
*Budgets are exercises in Negotiated Timidity.
*“Managing to budget” is a/the Mortal Sin.
*Plan, then burn the plan! (Koppers.)
*“Continuous” and “rolling” are superb ideas … but
beware so much “plasticity” that one forgets the
starting point! Hard. Comparative data is a “very good
thing.”
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*“Intelligence” is always obvious after the fact.
*B.I.: Remember HUMINT!!
*Great BizIntelligence depends on Freaks &
Whackos, from Langley to the Board Room. (I.e., Be
Incredibly Eclectic in terms of sources of
Intelligence.)
*All intelligence gathering is a Political Activity. (C.f.
CIA, FBI.)
*B.I. is about “outliers.” (?? If you can measure it,
it’s not on the leading edge??)
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*If a system/measure gives you a stupid answer, it’s
probably a stupid system/measure.
*Measures should routinely produce Surprises (if not,
discard them).
*Perform systems & Measures post-mortems after
major fiascos (“Why didn’t this stick out like
a sore thumb?”)
*The half-life of Measures is 3 years. (Effective
“gaming” begins in year #2, reaches a crescendo
by year #4.)
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*Intangibles rule!
*Measure intangibles! (!!!!)
*Be(very)ware the tangibles becoming Total Reality,
thence crowding out Real Reality.
*Constantly review what’s not being measured. (Ever
tried to drive a car using only the dashboard?)
*“Models” are incredibly Stupid (very rough
approximations of reality): Make sure everyone
understands that!
*Business is Art!
The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50
*Planning systems should support execution!
(PERT/CPM.)
*Uniformity of measurement/presentation across
units is fantastic up to a point.
*“Let a thousand flowers bloom, let a hundred
schools contend”: Let a 100 flowers bloom, let a
dozen schools contend.
*“Do it right the first time” is as stupid in “systems
world” as in TQM.
*Selection of measurements is one of the Most
Creative Acts in the Enterprise!
*Are there Freaks aplenty in the Systems & Measures
& Intelligence activities?
EXCELLENCE.
ACTION.
ROOTS.
GRANT
NELSON
BOYD
FISHER
BOSSIDY
PEROT
MASTERS
HERB
McDONALD
PETERS-WATERMAN
HAMLET+
GRANT
“The only way to
whip an army is
to go out and
fight it.” —Grant
Source: John Mosier, Grant
“recognized the value of
momentum … throw
[opponent] off balance …
blitzkrieg … traveling light
… headquarters in the
saddle” —Jean Edward Smith/GRANT
“almost inhuman
disinterestedness in
… strategy” —Josiah Bunting
on
U.S. Grant (from Ulysses S. Grant)
“He never credited the enemy with the capacity to take the
offensive.”/185 “tenacity [like Wellington]”/187 “I haven’t despaired
of whipping them yet” [at a very low point]/195 “Both sides seemed
defeated and whoever assumed the offensive was sure to win.”/200
… “inchoate bond [between Grant and soldiers]”/201 … “The genius
of Grant’s command style lay in its simplicity. Grant never burdened
his division commanders with excessive detail. … no elaborate staff
conferences, no written orders prescribing deployment. … Grant
recognized the battlefield was in flux. By not specifying movements
in detail, he left his subordinate commanders free to exploit
whatever opportunities developed.”/202 “If anyone other than
Grant had been in command, the Union army certainly would have
retreated.”/204 Lincoln (urged to fire Grant): “I can’t spare this
man; he fights.”/205 “Grant turned defeat into Union victory.”/206
“moved on intuition, which he often could not explain or
justify.”/208 “instinctive recognition that victory lay in relentlessly
hounding a defeated army into surrender.”/213 Nathan Bedford
Forrest, successful Confederate commander: “amenable to no
known rules of procedure, was a law unto himself for all military
acts, and was constantly doing the unexpected at all times
and places.”/213
“The genius of Grant’s command style
lay in its simplicity. Grant never
burdened his division commanders
with excessive detail. … no elaborate
staff conferences, no written orders
prescribing deployment. … Grant
recognized the battlefield was in flux.
By not specifying movements in
detail, he left his subordinate
commanders free to exploit whatever
opportunities developed.”
—Jean Edward Smith/GRANT
“A generation of American officers had been schooled to believe the
art of generalship required rigid adherence to certain textbook
theorems.”/151 “The nature of Grant’s greatness has been a riddle
to many observers. … did not hedge his bets … disregarded explicit
instructions … nothing to fall back on … violating every maxim held
dear by the military profession … new dimension: ability to learn
from the battlefield … finished near the bottom of his [West Point]
class in tactics … carried the fight to the enemy … maintain the
momentum of the attack … military greatness is the ability to
recognize and respond to opportunities presented.”/152-3 “Grant
had an aversion to digging in.”/153 “Grant had an intangible
advantage. He knew what he wanted.”/153 “Grant’s seven-mile dash
changed the course of the war.”/157 “The one who attacks first will
be victorious.”/158 “dogged”/159 “unconditional surrender”/162
“simplicity and determination”/166 “quickness of mind that allowed
him to make on the spot adjustments … [his] battles were not
elegant set-piece operations”/166 “[other Union general] preferred
preparation to execution … became a friend of detail … suffered
from ‘the slows’ …”/170 Message to Halleck from McClellan: “Do not
hesitate to arrest him” [following great victory]/172 … “learned how
to withstand attacks from the rear” [Army politics]/179
“The commanding general would be in the field”/228 Lincoln:
“What I want, and what the people want, is generals who will fight
battles and win victories. Grant has done this and I propose to stand
by him.”/231 “retains his hold upon the affections of his men”/232
“Grant’s moral courage—his willingness to choose a path from
which there could be no return—set him apart from most
commanders … were [Grant and Lee] were uniquely willing to take
full responsibility for their actions.”/233 “ … modest … honest …
nothing could perturb … never faltered …”/233 “plan was
breathtakingly simple but fraught with peril”/235 “demonstrating
the flexibility that had become his hallmark”/238 “But like any West
Point trained general, he had difficulty comprehending what Grant
was up to …”/240 “recognized the value of momentum … throw off
balance … blitzkrieg … traveling light … headquarters in the
saddle”/243 “acted as quartermaster”/243 [rushed away so that he
couldn’t receive Halleck’s order] … “like Lord Nelson … telescope to
his blind eye” … “pressing ahead on his own”/245 “focus on the
enemy’s weakness rather than his own”/250
“recognized the value of
momentum … throw
[opponent] off balance …
blitzkrieg … traveling light
… headquarters in the
saddle” —Jean Edward Smith/GRANT
“Above all the troops appreciated Grant’s unassuming manner. Most
generals went about attended by a retinue of immaculately tailored
staff officers. Grant usually rode alone, except for an orderly or two
to carry messages if the need arose. Another soldier said the
soldiers looked on Grant ‘as a friendly partner, not an arbitrary
commander.’ Instead of cheering as he rode by, they would ‘greet
him as they would address one of their neighbors at home. ‘Good
morning, General,’ ‘Pleasant day, General’ … There was no
nonsense, no sentiment; only a plain businessman of the republic,
there for the one single purpose of getting that command over the
river in the shortest time possible.’” [Grant: 5-feet 8-inches with a
slouch]/232 After the victory at Chattanooga: “The [Union senior]
officers rode past the Confederates smugly without any sign of
recognition except by one. ‘When General Grant reached the line of
ragged, filthy, bloody, despairing prisoners strung out on each side
of the bridge, he lifted his hat and held it over his head until he
passed the last man of that living funeral cortege. He was the only
officer in that whole train who recognized us as being on the face of
the earth.’”/ 281 “Grant was unhappy about going into winter
quarters. He saw no reason to keep the army idle, and the pause
would give the rebels time to reorganize.”/282
“The [Union senior] officers rode past the
Confederates smugly without any sign
of recognition except by one. ‘When
General Grant reached the line of
ragged, filthy, bloody, despairing
prisoners strung out on each side of
the bridge, he lifted his hat and held it
over his head until he passed the last
man of that living funeral cortege. He
was the only officer in that whole train
who recognized us as being on the
face of the earth.’*”
*quote within a quote from diary of a Confederate soldier
From LEE KENNETT’s SHERMAN: “Grant tended to be a simple
listener when these two strategies [for taking Vicksburg] were
being discussed. His own preference may have been impelled as
much by natural inclination as by any arguments he heard. He
wrote afterward: ‘One of my superstitions had always been when I
started to go anywhere or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop,
until the thing intended was accomplished.’”/ 202
CWVA to MBWA: “In these
days of telegraph and
steam I can command
while traveling and
visiting about.” —U.S. Grant
Managing by wandering
around” —HP circa 1980
Source: Ulysses S. Grant, by Geoffrey Perret
"The art of war is simple
enough. Find out where
your enemy is. Get at him
as soon as you can. Strike
at him as hard as you can
and as often as you can,
and keep moving on." —Grant,
courtesy Richard Cauley at tompeters.com
(original source unknown)
“The art of war does not
require complicated
maneuvers; the simplest are
the best, and common sense
is fundamental. From which
one might wonder how it is
generals make blunders; it is
because they try to be
clever.” —Napoleon on Simplicity, from Napoleon
on Project Management by Jerry Manas.
“This [adolescent] incident [of getting from point A to point B] is
notable not only because it underlines Grant’s fearless
horsemanship and his determination, but also it is the first known
example of a very important peculiarity of his character:
Grant had an extreme,
almost phobic dislike of
turning back and retracing
his steps. If he set out for somewhere, he would get
there somehow, whatever the difficulties that lay in his way. This
idiosyncrasy would turn out to be one the factors that made him
such a formidable general. Grant would always, always press on—
turning back was not an option for him.”
—Michael Korda, Ulysses Grant
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
Relentless: “One of my superstitions had
always been when I started to go anywhere,
or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop,
until the thing intended was accomplished. I
have frequently started to go places where I
had never been and to which I did not know
the way, depending upon making inquiries
along the road. And if I got past the place
without knowing it, I would not turn back but
instead go on until a road was found turning
in the right direction, take that, and come in
on the other side.” —Grant
TP’s take: Intuition takes precedence (listen attentively but act on
intuition) … Move today > perfect plan tomorrow [subsequent Patton
line] … Great advantage: When moving, you know what you’re up to
and you’re moving [the one sitting still is, thence, always reactive]
[Boyd: quickest O.O.D.A. loops/Observe. Orient. Decide. Act.
Disorient enemy] … Action! ... Keep moving! … Engage! … Offense!
[weakness-strength: can’t even imagine enemy counter-attacking;
little conception of defense] … Momentum! …. Keep ’em off balance
… … Adjust … Adapt … … Opportunism! … Constantly revise in
accordance with conditions and opportunities in the field [life =
excellence at “Plan B”] … Doggedness … Relentless!! [trait shaped
in early childhood] … Never retreat … Simplicity! … Wide latitude for
division commanders … minimum written orders, conferences, etc
… keep his own council … HQ is Grant & his horse … no retinue! …
commune with soldiers/exude quiet confidence/Approachable …
decent … Self-accountability! … Evade orders (or ignore) … Share
harm & hardship … total victory/ demand “unconditional
surrender”—G’s first claim to fame [Nelson: other Admirals avoid
loss, friend and foe as in Grant’s case vs Nelson’s seek victory] …
[Life 101: politics between the Generals:
E.g., Grant & Halleck]
Insubordinate (when it comes to
delays)/N
Action-oriented/Offense/
Total victory/N
Relentless
Troop Commander par Excellence/N
Leeway to Commanders/N
GRANT
Simplicity and clarity (written orders, view of movement)
Action-action-action (always forward; job only done when 100% done;
when the job is done, start the next job)
Tactics >>>> Strategy (FM: “Operations is policy”;
HK: “We have a strategy; it’s called ‘doing things.’”)
Movement (perpetual movement, other guy perpetually off balance
and reactive; O.O.D.A. loops--Boyd)
Offense (not so good at defensive battlements)
Decency!
CBWA (on the move, no aides)
“Lean staff” (“simple form, lean staff”)
Unflappable (Fearless)
Visual (mapmaker)
Logistician
Relentless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Autonomy to Commanders
Self-contained
Do it with what he has
Antsy
Mastery (horsemanship)
“Western” attitude mimicked boss twice removed (Lincoln)
U. S. Grant
*No interest in grand strategy.
*Do the thing until it is done.
*Do not over complicate.
*Do the next thing.
*Pleasure in perseverance per se.
*Not ask for help or advice.
*Not complain of difficulties or ask for
more time or resources
McClellan: delay; plead for more forces
Grant: “When do I start? What I want
is to advance.”
Source: Josiah Bunting, Ulysses S. Grant
NELSON
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
On NELSON:
The Nelson Baker’s Dozen
1. Simple-clear scheme (“Plan”) (Not wildly imaginative) (Patton: “A good plan
executed with vigor right now tops a ‘perfect’ plan executed next week.”)
2. SOARING/BOLD/CLEAR/UNEQUIVOCAL/WORTHY/NOBLE/INSPIRING
“GOAL”/“MISSION”/“PURPOSE”/“QUEST”
3. “Conversation”: Engagement of All Leaders
4. Leeway for Leaders: Select the Best/Dip Deep/Initiative demanded/Accountability
swift/Micromanagement absent
5. LED BY “LOVE” (Lambert), NOT “AUTHORITY” (Identify with sailors!)
6. Instinct/Seize the Moment/“Impetuosity” (Boyd’s “OODA Loops”: React more
quickly than opponent, destroy his “world view”)
7. VIGOR! (Zander: leader as “Dispenser of Enthusiasm”)
8. Peerless Basic Skills/Mastery of Craft (Seamanship)
9. Workaholic! (“Duty” first, second, and third)
10. LEAD BY CONFIDENT & DETERMINED & CONTINUOUS & VISIBLE EXAMPLE (In
Harm’s Way) (Gandhi: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”/
Giuliani: Show up!)
11. Genius (“Transform the world to conform to their ideas,” “Triumph over rules”)
(Gandhi, Lee-Singapore) , not Greatness (“Make the most of their world”)
12. Luck! (Right time, right place; survivor) (“Lucky Eagle” vs “Bold Eagle”)
13. Others principal shortcoming: “ADMIRALS MORE FRIGHTENED OF LOSING
THAN ANXIOUS TO WIN”
Source: Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia’s God of War
Nelson’s Way: A Baker’s Dozen/Short
1. Simple scheme.
2. Noble purpose!
3. Engage others.
4. Find great talent, let it soar!
5. Lead by Love!
6. Trust your gut, not the focus group: Seize the Moment!
7. Vigor!
8. Master your craft.
9. Work harder than the next person.
10. Show the way, walk the talk, exude confidence! Start a Passion
Epidemic!
11. Change the rules: Create your own game!
12. Shake of the pain, get back up off the ground, the timing may
well be
right tomorrow! (E.g., Get lucky!)
13. By hook or by crook, quash your fear of failure, savor your
quirkiness
and participate fully in the fray!
Source: Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia’s God of War
“He above all encouraged
(and prepared) his
subordinates to seize the
initiative whenever
necessary, particularly in
the fog of war—and the
men who served under him
knew what he expected.”
—Jay Tolson, on “The Nelson Touch,”
The Battle That Changed The World
… tireless self-promoter, sought hero status, sought
patronage [suck up] … guts, courage, master of his craft …
passion for pleasures of the flesh, driven by duty, obsessed
(no “work-life balance”) … autocratic, dictatorial … team
player, practitioner of participative management 200 years
before it was popularized, loved hanging out with the lads …
man’s man, lady’s man … diligent manager (e.g., logistics),
powerfully inspirational, spiritual, passionate … ambitious,
aggressive, confident, impulsive, rarely cautious or
circumspect, risk-taker … emotional, spiritual, expressed
feelings openly, classless, fair, self-sacrificing, encouraging,
optimistic … unconventional, did not get along well with
superiors … xenophobic, immodest, impatient, intolerant,
imprudent in public and in private … led from the front, zeal
for action, despair over bureaucrats (“I hate the pen and ink
men”), … lucky … —Stephanie Jones & Jonathan Gosling, Nelson’s Way:
Leaderhip Lessons from the Great Commander
FISHER
“We must have no
tinkering! No pandering
to sentiment! No regard
for susceptibilities! We
must be ruthless,
relentless, and
remorseless.” —Jan Morris, Fisher’s Face, Or,
Getting to Know the Admiral
Fisherisms
Do right and damn the odds.
Stagnation is the curse of life.
The best is the cheapest.
Emotion can sway the world.
Mad things come off.
Haste in all things.
Any fool can obey orders.
History is a record of exploded ideas.
Life is phrases.
Source: Jan Morris, Fisher’s Face, Or, Getting to Know the Admiral
“extraordinary
arrogance,
superciliousness,
humor, kindness,
effrontery”
—Jan Morris on Lord
Admiral Jack Fisher, Fisher’s Face, Or, Getting to Know
the Admiral
BOYD
“The most successful
people are those who
are good at plan B.”
—James Yorke, mathematician, on chaos theory
in The New Scientist
He who has the
quickest “O.O.D.A.
Loops”* wins!
*Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. /Col. John Boyd
OODA Loop/Boyd Cycle
“Unraveling the competition” Quick
Transients/Quick Tempo (NOT JUST
SPEED!) Agility “So quick it is
disconcerting” [adversary over-reacts
or under-reacts] “Winners used
tactics that caused the enemy to
unravel before the fight” (NEVER
HEAD TO HEAD)
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“The stuff has got to
be implicit. If it is
explicit, you can’t do
it fast enough.”
—John Boyd BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“Blitzkrieg is far more than lightning thrusts that most
people think of when they hear the term; rather it was all
about high operational tempo and the rapid
exploitation of opportunity.” —Robert Coram, Boyd
“Re-arrange the mind of
the enemy”
“Float like a butterfly,
sting like a bee”
—T.E. Lawrence
—Ali
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
F86 vs. MiG/Korea/10:1
Bubble canopy (360 degree view)
Full hydraulic controls (“The F86 driver
could go from one maneuver to another
faster than the MiG driver”)
MiG: “faster in raw acceleration and
F86: “quicker in
changing maneuvers”
turning ability.”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“kept the
enemy off-balance;
they knew Delta
Company [RVN] could
show up anywhere,
anytime”
USMC COL Mike Wyly:
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
Tempo!*
70-10
*Boyd/O.O.D.A. Loops/Mike Leach/Texas Tech
70-10/Nebraska/Unk QB 643 yards K.State/
Linemen spread wide/All legals go out for
pass/Defenders confused & tire (Boyd/Tempo
is not speed/“Re-arrange the mind of the enemy”—T.E.
“By changing the geometry of
the game, and pushing the limits of
space and time on the gridiron, Mike
Leach is taking Texas Tech to some
far out places.” —Michael Lewis (NY Times
Lawrence)/
Magazine, 12.04.05, on Mike Leach/Texas Tech)
“In war, delay is fatal.” —Napoleon
“The only way to whip an army is
to go out and fight it.” —Grant
“ … demonstrating the tactic that
would become his hallmark: the
immediate move to seek out the
enemy and attack him” —John Mosier,
on Grant “A good plan executed right
now is far preferable to a ‘perfect’
plan executed next week.” —Patton
Relentless!*
*Churchill, Grant, Patton, Welch & Bossidy & Nardelli (past GE
execs), UPS, FedEx, Microsoft/Gates-Ballmer, Eisner, Weill,
eBay, Nixon-Kissinger, Gerstner, Rice, Jordan, Armstrong
The Leadership11
1. Talent Management
2. Metabolic Management
3. Technology Management
4. Barrier Management
5. Forgetful Management
6. Metaphysical Management
7. Opportunity Management
8. Portfolio Management
9. Failure Management
10. Cause Management
11. Passion Management
BOSSIDY
“I saw that leaders placed too
much emphasis on what some
call high-level strategy, on
intellectualizing and
philosophizing, and not enough
on implementation. People
would agree on a project or
initiative, and then nothing
would come of it.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“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
(1) sum of Projects =
Goal (“Vision”)
(2) sum of Milestones =
project
(3) rapid Review +
Truth-telling =
accountability
“Realism is
the heart of
execution.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution:
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“robust
dialogue”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“GE has set a standard
of candor. … There is no
puffery. … There isn’t
an ounce of denial in
the place.” —Kevin Sharer, CEO Amgen,
on the “GE mystique” (Fortune)
The Leader’s Seven Essential Behaviors
*Know your people and your
business
*Insist on realism
*Set clear goals and priorities
*Follow through
*Reward the doers
*Expand people’s capabilities
*Know yourself
Source: Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
Action8/VPMR+/Peters on Bossidy
*Knowledge/External Focus (Competitors/Customers)
*Realism/Truth-telling
*Vision
*Projects (Must add up to Vision)
*Milestones
*Commitment/Energy
*RapidReview
*Consequences (+/-)
“The person who is a little less conceptual but
is absolutely determined to succeed will
usually find the right people and get them
together to achieve objectives. I’m not
knocking education or looking for dumb
But if you have to choose
between someone with a
staggering IQ and an elite
education who’s gliding along,
and someone with a lower IQ but
who is absolutely determined to
succeed, you’ll always do better
with the second person.” —Larry
people.
Bossidy/Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things
Done
Duct Tape Rules!
“Andrew Higgins, who
built landing craft in WWII,
refused to hire graduates of
engineering schools. He believed that
they only teach you what you can’t do in engineering
school. He 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
PEROT
READY.
FIRE!
AIM.
Ross Perot (vs “Aim! Aim! Aim!” /EDS vs GM/1985)
READY.
FIRE!
AIM.
READY.
FIRE!
MASTERS
“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
You only find
oil if you
drill wells.
Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter
drill.
Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter
HERB
doing
things.
— Herb Kelleher
McDONALD
“Never forget
implementation
boys. In our work it’s
what I call the
‘missing 98
percent’ of the client
puzzle.”
—Al McDonald
PETERSWATERMAN
“too
much talk,
too little do”
TP/BW on BigCo Sin #1:
“Ninety percent of what
we call ‘management’
consists of making it
difficult for people to get
things done.” – Peter Drucker
“Do it.
Fix it.
Try it.”
Tom Peters/Business Week/07.1978
(Principal #1/first anticipation of “Excellence”)
In Search of Excellence/1982/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”
Importance of Success Factors by Various “Gurus”/
Estimates (Unreliable) by Tom Peters
Strategy
Systems
Passion/
Execution
Leadership
Porter
45%
20
20
15
Drucker
35%
30
15
20
Bennis
20%
20
35
25
Peters
15%
20
30
35
PETERS: THE
“ACT. THINK.”
CHRONICLES
“Think”
vs
“Do”
A>B
vs
B>A
CK Chesterton: “How do I
know what I think until I
see what I say?”
Reporter: “Mr Drucker, why
are you still giving speeches
at 90?”
PD: “How else can I figure
out what I’m thinking?”
TP: No
plan, total
accountability
SOP: Perfect
plan, no
accountability*
*What Lou Gerstner inherited at IBM
and what Larry Bossidy inherited at Allied Signal
“My only goal is to
have no goals. The
goal, every time, is
that film, that very
moment.”
—Bernardo Bertolucci
“Experiment
fearlessly”
Source: BW0821.06, Type A Organization Strategies/ “How
to Hit a Moving Target”—Tactic #1
Power of the …
“Small Win”/
String of
(TP/1977; KW;EJW)
“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
No. 5. By the time our rivals are ready
with wires and screws, we are on version No.
10. It gets back to planning
version
versus acting: We act from day
one; others plan how to plan—
for months.” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
HAMLET+
“By indirections
find directions
out.”
—Hamlet, II. i
“My only goal is to
have no goals. The
goal, every time, is
that film, that very
moment.”
—Bernardo Bertolucci
“A year from now
you may wish
You had
started today.”
—Karen Lamb