To appreciate
this presentation [and insure
that it is not a mess], you need
Microsoft fonts:
NOTE:
“Showcard Gothic,”
“Ravie,” “Chiller”
and “Verdana”
To appreciate this presentation,
you need Microsoft fonts:
“Showcard Gothic,” “Ravie,” “Chiller”
and “Verdana”
NOTE:
Master
Excellence. Always.
part one (of 7)
“all you need to know”
(dwelling on the obvious)
not your father’s world
introduction to excellence.
18 june 2007
To appreciate this presentation,
you need Microsoft fonts:
“Showcard Gothic,” “Ravie,” “Chiller”
and “Verdana”
NOTE:
Master*
Excellence
part two (of 7)
innovate.
Or.
Die.
18 june 2007
To appreciate this presentation,
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and “Verdana”
NOTE:
Master/
Excellence. Always./
part THREE (of 7)
up, up,
up, up …
the value added ladder
(solutions-experiences-dreams-lovemarks)
18 June 2007
To appreciate this presentation,
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and “Verdana”
NOTE:
Master/
Excellence. Always./
part FOUR (of 7)
“new” Markets
(Stupendous Opportunity)
18 June 2007
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NOTE:
Master
Excellence. Always.
part FIVE (of 7)
people!
(Brand you. Talent. Health.
Education. Leadership.)
18 june 2007
To appreciate this presentation,
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NOTE:
Master*
Excellence
part SIX (of 7)
excellence.
summaries.
Lists.
18 june 2007
Part seven
Extended
Talent &
Leadership
0618.07
Slides at …
tompeters.com
“We all agree your
theory is crazy. The
question, which divides
us, is whether it is crazy
enough.”
—Niels Bohr, to Wolfgang Pauli
part
one
NOTE:
In what follows
you will find a variety
of “openings.” I mix and
match from this section
depending on the
demographics, industry
and nationality of the
target audience.
Tom Peters’ X25*
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
MASTER/0618.2007/Part ONE
*In Search of Excellence 1982-2007
tom peters’ “excellence. Always.”
1. Excellence! Always!
2. context. 3,000,000,000 new capitalists!
3. Innovate or die!
4. Revenue Matters Most!
5. Up+Up+Up+up the “Value-added Ladder”!
(commodity to “ gamechanging solution”
to “breathtaking experience” to “lovemark”)
6. Make . Much. Money. Damn it!
(women-Boomers-geezers)
7. Action!/Try It!/Execution!
8. Best “roster” wins!
9. Emotional Leadership!/
Leading for excellence!
10. Excellence! Always!
Our Story Line
Not your father’s world
Big = Pitiful.
Excellence. Always./“only-ones
-who-do-what-we-do.”
(what else?)
Innovate. Or. Die.
Up. Up. Up. Up. Up, Up,
Up the “Value Added Chain.”
(Raw materials. Goods. Services. Implemented-gamechanging
Solutions. Scintillating experiences. Dreams come true. Lovemark.)
Stupendous-underserved “New” Markets
(Women, Boomers & geezers)
Talent = Brand. /You = Brand You. /
educate-for-creativity
Leading with passion & relentlessness
(“21st Century Leadership. Ha.)
The Story
Not your father’s world
Big = Pitiful.
Excellence. Always. (what else?)
Innovate. Or. Die.
Up, Up, Up the “Value Added Chain.”
“New” Markets (Women, Boomers)
Talent = Brand.
Leading with passion
*Context/5/42/500/900.
*Weeks of Whoops!
*Built to Flop: Pitiful Performance!
*Innovate. Or. die.
*Value-added Ladder/
raw materials to “lovemarks.”
*BEDROCK: “MODEL PSF.
*“New” Markets/
women. Boomers-geezers.
* “aside”: “Eternal” Basics.
*Talent. BRAND YOU. Education.
*VIRAL Leadership.
Re-imagine! Speech: Story Line in 100 Words or Less
1. Wildly altered context (technology, China-India, global terrorism,
etc)
2. Only answer: adaptive skills and bold-breathtaking innovation
(top-line focus rather than cost-cutting focus)
3. Race way, way up the value-added curve (implemented “gamealtering solutions” rather than “services,” “experiences” rather
than “transactions,” and much more)
4. As part of value-added exercise, pursue Ripe & Enormous
“new” markets—Women, Boomers & Geezers
5. Radical (!!!) use of IS-IT
6. A “Roster” of Weird & Wondrous & Entrepreneurial “Talent”
engaged
in “Wow Projects”
7. “Metabolic Leadership” (Passionate-Radical Leaders who instill
a Discipline of Execution, a Quick Tempo-Adaptive Culture and
an appetite to “Eat Radical Change for Breakfast”)
(96 words by my count)
Trained by “Mess-ists”—
those with a non-linear view
of the world. Hobbies are
history & statistics.*
Professional life, center of,
Silicon Valley, 1970-2000.
Bias/es:
The older I get, the
less boring the “basics”
become.
Axiom2007:
*Favorite book, Nassim Nicholas Taleb—Fooled By Randomness
Tom Peters’ X25*
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
MASTER/0618.2007/Part ONE
*In Search of Excellence 1982-2007
“It is not the
strongest of the
species that survives,
nor the most
intelligent, but the
one most responsive
to change.”
—Charles Darwin
Game plan:
The
unvarnished
Basics
Hire Great People
(Resilient, Passionate)
Try a Lot of Stuff
(S.A.V./R.F.A.)
Enjoy It While It Lasts
Tom’s “Change Rules”
Cause. (pissed off.)
Try it. (S.A.V.)
Fail. Forward. Fast.
Quests. Demos. Heroes. Stories.
Boonies. (Parallel universe.)
<12.
Just Say No: Normal.
Attitude>Ability.
Wow. “Insanely great.”
Sell! Sell! Sell!
Master politics!
Excellence! Always!
Soft is hard. Hard is soft. (People, customers “hard,” #s “soft”)
25 (“Blinding flash of the obvious”)
Wow! (Passion! Enthusiasm! Hot language! “Insanely great”—Steve Jobs)
Wow EVERYWHERE (Jim’s Group, Basement Systems Inc)
Innovate. Or die.
Top line obsession!!! (CRO/Chief Revenue Officer; Sales>Marketing; “cost cutting = death spiral”—VH)
Innovation = Mess (“What makes God laugh?” “People making plans.”)
1/100 (Big over-rated/Mega-mergers destroy value/“Built to last” chimera
“Built to last” v “Built to rock the world” (TP’s love affair with Netscape)
“Last word” = There is no last word!
0/800 (We are who we hang out with/Weird for weird times)
Lead the customer!
Whacky Wild WikiWorld! (Electronic planetary scrum.)
Try stuff!!!!!!!!! (R.F.A., S.A.V.) (Ready. Fire. Aim. Screw Around Vigorously.)
Fail. Forward. Fast. (“Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.)
Try MORE stuff!!! (“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”)
Parallel Universe (Jill Ker Conway, Starbucks’ 1%, Intel V.C. fund, China!)
4/40 (4 “learnings” in 40 years: Decentralization, Execution, Accountability, 6:15AM)
Lord Nelson (“Other admirals more afraid of losing …”)
Up, Up, Up the VA Ladder (Solutions/PSF, Experience; Dreamketing; Lovemark)
Women rule! (Buy all ! Control all wealth! Better leaders!)
$15,000,000,000,000/7 of 13 (Boomers. Geezers. Wealth. Half of life still to go)
Brand You (Or else!)
PSF!!! (All)
Talent = Brand (“Leaders do people,” “connoisseur of talent,” Send ’em on bold Quests,
HR rules! <CapEx$$, >PeopleX$$$ ) (Think: Wegmans)
195,000 (Healthcare: Quality-Safety/EMR/DSS, Prevention-Wellness, Public Health #1!)
“Teach to test” = Evil! (The Creative Age is a wide-open game.” —Richard Florida)
Leadership/12Ps (Purpose. Passion. Potential. Presence. Personal. Pissed off.
Playful. Persistence. People. Peculiar. Potent. Positive.)
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
Basics! (Decency. Flowers. Grace. Respect. Servant. Host. Etc.)
This I Believe: Tom’s Super-TIB25
1. TECHNICOLOR Times.
2. Passion! Enthusiasm! Energy!
3. Action/R.F.A./O.O.D.A. Speed.
4. Screw-ups. BIG SCREW-Ups!
5. Mess! Improv!
6. Revolution! Re-imagine!
7. INNOVATE OR DIE!
8. Decentralize!
9. Bulk is BULL! (Mergers don’t work. FOCUS Does!)
10 “Different” > “Better”
11. eALL/Power Tools for Power Strategies!
12. Forgetting/Destruction.
13. Hot Language Matters!
14. WOW!/WOW Projects.
15. VA Bedrock: The “PSF.” (Professional Service Firm.)
16. Daring.
17. Talent Time! Leaders “Do” People!
18. Talent+/Diversity.
19. Talent++/Women Rule!
20. “Brand You” Universe.
21. Design!
22. Gasp-worthy Experiences/Lovemarks.
23. New Market Demographics/Women/Boomers & Geezers/Green/Wellness.
24. Grace.
25. EXCELLENCE!
Sir Richard’s Rules
Follow your passions.
Keep it simple.
Get the best people to help you.
Re-create yourself.
Play.
Source: Fortune/10.03
All you need
to know …
You = Your
calendar*
*Calendars
never lie
“You must
be
the change you
wish to see in the
world.”
Gandhi
“20-minute
rule”
—Craig Johnson/30 yrs
*
*Hank Paulson, China visits, Fortune 1127.06
“I called 60 CEOs in the
first week of the year] to
wish them happy New
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
“… a blinding
flash of the
obvious”
—Manny Garcia
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
All you need
except
for …
to know …
Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his life,
was asked, “What was the most important lesson you’ve learned
in you long and distinguished career?”
His immediate answer:
“remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub”
This is it:
All you need
to know …
Thank
you!!!
Thank
you
Ann
!!!
FLOWER
FLOWER
POWER
POWER
Jim Jeffords
oversight!
The …
“Courtesies of a small and
trivial character are the
ones which strike
deepest in the grateful
and appreciating heart.”
—Henry Clay
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)
:
“Be kind, for
everyone you meet
is fighting a great
battle.”
—Philo of Alexandria
The Manager’s Book
of Decencies: How
Small /gestures
Build Great
Companies.
—Steve Harrison, Adecco
The Manager’s Book of Decencies:
How Small gestures Build Great
Companies. —Steve Harrison, Adecco
Servant Leadership
—Robert Greenleaf
One: The Art and Practice of
Conscious Leadership —Lance Secretan,
founder of Manpower, Inc. (“What would happen if we
looked at a customer and saw the face of God in them?”)
“What would happen if we looked at a
customer and saw the face of God in
them? To most people it sounds like a
lofty idea. But if you see the face of
God in a flower, why wouldn’t you see
it in the face of a customer? If we
treated customers and honored the
God within them—if we loved them—
we would not need a ‘quality
program’.” —Lance Secretan, founder of Manpower, Inc. and most
recently author of One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership
Respect.
Decency.
Wee Gestures.
Success …
Consult everyone
on everything
“Thank you” note
carpet bombing
Source: Roger Rosenblatt, Rules for Aging
This is it:
All you need
to know …
R.O.I.R
Return On
Investment In
Relationships
Success …
Consult everyone
on everything
“Thank you” note
carpet bombing
Source: Roger Rosenblatt, Rules for Aging
Fred Reichheld’s
Question :
The Ultimate
Customer satisfaction is
best measured* by one simple
“how likely
are you to
recommend ______
to a friend?”
question,
* “Net Promoter Score”
THE PROBLEM IS
RARELY/NEVER THE
PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE TO THE
PROBLEM INVARIABLY
ENDS UP BEING THE
REAL PROBLEM.* **
*Watergate, M Stewart, BR
**And: PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS!
“Leaders
‘SERVE’
people.
Period.”
—Anon.
Cause
Space
(worthy of commitment)
(room for/encouragement
for initiative)
Decency
(respect, humane)
This is it:
All you need
to know …
“Do one thing
every day
that scares
you.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
NOTE:
you will discover
that the prior slide
appears time and time again
in this presentation.
“I’m not comfortable
unless I’m
uncomfortable.”
—Jay Chiat
“Every time we come to a
comfort zone, we will find a way
out.” “No Cloning.” “‘Reinvent
the brand’ with each new show.”
“A typical day at the office for
me begins by asking, ‘What is
impossible that I am going to
do today?’” —Daniel Lamarre, president,
Cirque du Soleil
“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
“There are people who
prefer to say ‘Yes,’ and
there are people who prefer
to say ‘No.’ Those who say
‘Yes’ are rewarded by the
adventures they have,
and those who say ‘No’ are
rewarded by the safety they
attain.” —Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare,
Just Show Up, Patricia Ryan Madson (“ … yes I said
yes I will Yes.”—James Joyce, Ulysses)
This is it:
All you need
to know …
1 Person!
Wendy Kopp, Princeton senior (1989)
Teach America (19,000-2,400)
10% Dartmouth, Yale
17,000 to date
Principal hirer of college graduates
“One of the few jobs that people pass up
Goldman Sachs for is Teach America” (Edie
Hunt, HR)
Source: Fortune, 1127.06
Bonus …
“If God spoke to me by saying, ‘Mark, you’re down to your
last three words: What would you want to say to your
fellow humans that would make the most positive impact?’
It would be a close call between Love Thy
Neighbor and
Wash Your
Hands .”
—Mark Pettus, M.D., The Savvy Patient
“The most important thing you can do to keep
wash
your hands.”
from getting sick is to
—CDC/
National Center for Infectious Diseases
“What’s Really Propping
Up the Economy:
Healthcare has added 1.7
million jobs since 2001.
The rest of the private
sector? None.”
Source: Title, cover story, BusinessWeek, 0925.2006
Bonus …
New Economy?!
Sergey +
Larry >
Harvard/370
Bonus …
P =
.0004*
[Residual]
*4/10,000 [.02 X .02]
1982 (-) =
200
Years (+)
Truly
All you need
to know …
80,000,000*
* N America, W Europe, Japan (800,000,000)
Truly, truly
All you need
to know …
“Forget China,
India and the
Internet: Economic
Growth Is Driven
by
Women.”
—Headline, Economist,
April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
All you need
to know …
New Zealand 2007
Ho hum: 2+ weeks in New Zealand …
Pfizer
Ford
Gap
Chrysler
Yahoo
microsoft
wal*mart
???
???
The last
word:
There is
no “last
word.”
The last
word: There
is no “last
word.”
Flat as a Pancake (Or Worse)
Wal*Mart … Dell … Intel
… Yahoo … Home Depot
… Microsoft … GE
“We may not be
interested in
chaos but chaos is
interested in us.”
—Robert Cooper, The Breaking of Nations:
Order and Chaos in the Twenty-first Century
Unparalleled in “Our” Professional Lifetime
Terrorism
Middle East instability
China screw-ups
Globalization backlash
Energy dependence
Environmental threats
Life sciences
“Cold War” with China
Fraying American fabric
Debt
H5N1
U.S. impotence in the face of Asia’s rise
All you need
to know …
The last
word:
There is a
“last
word.”
“Make sure your executive team includes
top talent in design, engineering and
manufacturing, because that’s your
only!
build! Cars!
People! Want!
to buy!
priority— to
Hot styling sells them
and quality keeps them sold.” — Lee Iacocca,
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
Radio City Music Hall
September 2005
Franchise Lost!
TP:
“How many of you really
[600]
crave
a new Chevy?”
My (Les’s) Dinner with Henri
JUSWHATIZZITUMAKE?
My (Les’s) Dinner with Henri
JUST WHAT IS IT
YOU MAKE??????
“Not long ago, I heard one
studio chief utter the
unthinkable: ‘What would
happen if I made a movie I
actually looked forward
to seeing?’ ”
—Peter Bart, Editor in Chief,
Variety; former Paramount exec, “Hollywood’s Model Doesn’t
Produce Art, or Much Profit” (NYT/0721.06)
Did one of ’em ever turn to
the other and say: “Wow, I
wonder what unimaginable
new tools, otherwise not
possible, will be brought
forth for my daughter
Alice, age 17, 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 our
customers because of
this deal?”
All you need
to know …
Single
greatest act
of pure
imagination
period.
“Dubai the next
hot location for
Hollywood”
—headline, EmiratesToday, 0527.07
(spurred by “Syriana”)
“ … joint venture
…world’s largest
shopping zone …”
—Khaleej Times, Dubai/UAE, 0527.07
“Barney’s New York
Sold to Dubai
Government for
$825 Million”
Source: Headline, New York Times, 0623.2007
“Copper Thieves Cause Havoc for
Commuters”
—The Guardian (London) 28.05.07
“10 Billion Dollars:
Contributing to the
Development of
Knowledge and
Culture”
—Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Foundation (FT, 29.05.07)
*Last week: Saudis buy GE Plastics for $13B; China gov’t
investment firm buys 10% of Blackstone Group
It’s
only 2am.
“Where are you going? …
… You see,
you can live your life at 120 miles an hour,
and that’s pretty impressive. But it’s not
good enough. Unless you live at 150 miles
an hour, the world will pass you by,”
HRH Prince Alwaleed*
*1 day: 573 people met separately, 200 phone calls, 100 text messages, etc
Source: “Prince Alwaleed, Inside the private world of the Middle East’s
most powerful investor” cover story, The Business, 0519.07
All you need
to know …
NOT YOUR
FATHER’S
WORLD!
“Copper
Thieves Cause
Havoc for
Commuters”
—The Guardian (London) 28.05.07
Chicagoland’s
Mystery
Disappearances …
China’s share of global
consumption/2005:
Cement … 47%
Cotton … 37%
Coal … 30%
Steel … 26%
Source: BusinessWeek/08.05
All you need
to know …
m*
*60,000/3 yrs
h*
*200/yr
1 Houston/
Month/15
5 /42
(Years)
(New Airports)
S & P 500, circa 2007:
>50%
of revenue
from outside the U.S.,
first time
Source: NYT, 0514.07
200 cities with
>1,000,000
population.
Source: “China Takes Off”, David Hale &
Lyric Hughes Hale/Foreign Affairs
Chinese Offshore Tourists
’93: 3M
’03: 21M
“china and India
set sights on
moon mission”
Source: Headline/FT/05.30.2007
THREE
BILLION NEW
CAPITALISTS
—Clyde Prestowitz
Schools & Shifting Tectonic Plates
In: "economics, technology, social
customs and globalization."
Out: Socialism in general ("one short
chapter"). Chinese communism
before the 1979 economic revolution
("a sentence"). Mao ("only once, in a
chapter on etiquette").
Source: The New York Times, p1, 0901.2006, on
reported on revised history textbooks for high school
seniors in Shanghai, China.
“Let China sleep,
for when she
awakes she will
shake the world.”
Source: Napoleon
“The world has arrived at a rare strategic
inflection point where nearly half its
population—living in China, India and
Russia—have been integrated into the
global market economy, many of them
highly educated workers, who can do
just about any job in the world. We’re
talking about three billion
people.” —Craig Barrett/Intel
“How we feel about the evolving future tells us who we
are as individuals and as a civilization: Do we search for
stasis—a regulated, engineered world? Or do we
embrace dynamism—a world of constant creation,
discovery and competition? 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
APPARENTLY,
NOT YOUR
WORLD, EITHER!
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 =
“Income Confers
No Immunity as
Jobs Migrate”
—Headline/USA Today/02.2004
“Deutsche Bank Moves Half of Its
Back-office Jobs to India”/
(500
of 900
Research)
headline/FT/0327
“There is no job that
is America’s God-given
right anymore.”
—Carly Fiorina/HP/January2004
“America, like everyone else, must get
used to being a loser as well as a gainer
in the global economy. In the end, the
21st century is unlikely to be the American
Century.” —“When the Chinese Consumer Is King”/New York
Times/12.14.2003.
“The notion that God
intended Americans to be permanently
wealthier than the rest of the world,
that gets less and less likely as time
goes on.” —Robert Solow, Nobel laureate in
economics/New York Times/12.14.2003
In Store: International Equality, Intranational
Inequality
“The new organization of society implied by the
triumph of individual autonomy and the true
equalization of opportunity based upon merit will
lead to very great rewards for merit and great
individual autonomy. This will leave individuals far
more responsible for themselves than they have
been accustomed to being during the industrial
period. It will also reduce the unearned advantage
in living standards that has been enjoyed by
residents of advanced industrial societies
throughout the 20th century.”
James Davidson & William Rees-Mogg,
The Sovereign Individual
“There is no job that
is _____’s Godgiven right anymore.”
2003: 98% U.S.
2005: U.S. 150;
Shanghai 500
Level 5 (top) certification/
Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute:
35
70
of
companies in world are from India
Source: Wired
“One Singaporean worker
costs as much as …
3 … in Malaysia
8 … in Thailand
13 … in China
18 … in India.”
Source: The Straits Times/2003
“Teenagers in
India have big
ambitions—and
the confidence to
match”
—headline/Fortune
“Short on Priests,
U.S. Catholics
Outsource Prayer to
Indian Clergy”
—Headline, New York Times (“Special intentions,”
$.90 for Indians, $5.00 for Americans)
“Ogre to Slay?
Outsource It to
Chinese” (New York Times,
page 1—news section).
The “factory”: Fuzhou, China. The workers: youngsters logging 12hour shifts. Their clientele: youngsters from “Seoul to San Francisco.”
The “work”: The Chinese youngsters are playing the early levels of
video games for their affluent “clients,” who want to avoid the pain
and time associated with those annoying first few levels.
“What strategic motto will dominate this
transition from nation-state to marketstate? If the slogan that animated the
liberal, parliamentary nation-states was
‘make the world safe for democracy,’ what
will the forthcoming motto be? Perhaps
‘making the world available,’ which is to
say creating new worlds of choice and
protecting the autonomy of persons to
choose.” —Philip Bobbitt, The Shield of Achilles:
War, Peace, and the Course of History
“better material
welfare” vs. “maximize
the opportunity of its
people”
—Philip Bobbitt, The Shield of Achilles:
War, Peace, and the Course of History
Let’s
get
on with the
show …
Tom Peters’ X25*
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
*In Search of Excellence 1982-2007
Excellence. Always.
Soft is Hard. Hard is soft.
Innovate. Or die.
Up, up, up the value added “ladder.”/
“New” markets.
Talent time! Brand you! Creative age!
Leadership.
All you need
to know
(repeat) …
“It is not the
strongest of the
species that survives,
nor the most
intelligent, but the
one most responsive
to change.”
—Charles Darwin
“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
“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
“One of my superstitions had
always been when I started
to go anywhere or to do
not to
turn back , or stop,
anything,
until the thing intended was
accomplished.” —Grant
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
On NELSON:
“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
“The Creative Age is
wide
open
game.”
a
—Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class
“Better By Design”: A National Strategy
NZ = Design
Excellence
“We have to move up the value
chain and focus increased
efforts on becoming a
knowledge-based,
entrepreneurial economy if we
are to prosper in the medium
to long term.” —Tony Dromgoole, Chief
Executive, Irish Management Institute
“Thaksinomics” (after Thaksin Shinawatra)
“Bangkok Fashion City”:
“managed asset
reflation”
(add to
brand value of Thai textiles by demonstrating
flair and design excellence)
Source: The Straits Times/2004
Taiwan, Your
Partner in
InnoValue
Poster/Bucharest/03.06
“THE FUTURE BELONGS TO …
SMALL POPULATIONS …
WHO BUILD EMPIRES OF
THE MIND … AND WHO IGNORE THE
TEMPTATION OF—OR DO NOT HAVE THE
OPTION OF—EXPLOITING NATURAL
RESOURCES.”
Source: Juan Enriquez/As the Future Catches You
“Avoiding the Crush: For countries to
climb the economic ladder they need
strategies to get around China”
“Beijing’s industrial dominance has
forced middle-income nations such as
the Philippines to complement—
rather than compete with—the
wares of the Middle Kingdom”
Source: Headline, FT, 0614.07
China : Timberland
=
Farmer : Campbell Soup
Hold You Horses …
*60% of U.S. foreign investment goes to
Europe
*U.S. investment in the smaller European
nations [e.g. Belgium, Ireland] > U.S.
investment in China or India.
*2/3rds of European foreign investment is in
the U.S.
*Europe’s investment in Georgia, Indiana
and Texas > U.S. investment in China
and Japan combined.
Source: Newsweek, 03.2007
All you need
to know …
0/800
0/800:
normal!
Keep Austin Weird
F(Anger/Passion)
>>>> f(Pushback
from Threatened
Fat-cats &
Bureau-crats)
“Intelligent people
can always come up
with intelligent
reasons to do
nothing.”
—Scott Simon
Honestly,
All you need
to know …
“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
All you
need to
know …
“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)
“Strive for
Excellence.
Ignore
success.”
—Bill Young, PR driver
(courtesy Andrew Sullivan)
“Life is occupied in both perpetuating
itself and in surpassing itself. If all it
does is maintain itself, then living is only
not dying.”
—Simone de Beauvoir
“… Longevity has its place, but I’m not
concerned about that now. I just want to
do God’s will, and He’s allowed me to go
up the mountain. And I’ve looked over.
And I have seen the Promised Land.
And I don’t mind. … I may not get there
with you. …”
—MLK/Memphis
Really, really
All you need
to know …
Enemy
#1
I.C.D.
Inherent/Inevitable/
Immutable Centralist Drift
Note 1:
Note 2: Jim Burke’s 1-word vocabulary: “No.”
No problems =
No progress.
[Period.]
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.
Really, really
All you need
to know …
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
What makes
God laugh?
People
making
plans!
NOTE:
you will discover
that the prior slide
appears time and time again
in this presentation.
READY.
FIRE!
“We are in a
brawl with no rules.”
Paul Allaire/Xerox:
TP:
“There’s
[literally]
only one
Screw
Around Vigorously!
possible answer …
“Fail .
Forward.
Fast.”
High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
“You miss
100% of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
“The secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast and
furious and numerous
failures.” —Kevin Kelly
Innovation:
mad. Start Doing
something
about it. Now.
Get
Tom Peters’ X25*
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
*In Search of Excellence 1982-2007
EXCELLENCE????
“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
S&P Stability Ratings*
1985
2006
Low Risk
41%
13%
Average Risk
24%
14%
High Risk 35%
*Likelihood of
73%
stable long-term earnings growth
Source: Fortune (2 October 2006)
Axiom: We have met the enemy
and he is us.
Axiom: The adaptive capabilities
of big corporations taken as a
whole is problematic [read:
pathetic].
Antidote: The answer is 75%
internal. To sustain/win, we must
first and foremost and in
perpetuity beat back the forces of
darkness—size and inertia and fear
and timidity and over-complexity.
“Uncertainty is the
only thing to be
sure of.”
–Anthony Muh,
head of investment in Asia, Citigroup Asset Management
“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
I.E.:
our “best and
brightest … aren’t.
“Mr. Foster and his McKinsey
colleagues collected detailed
performance data stretching back 40
years for 1,000 U.S. companies. They
found that none of the long-term
survivors managed to outperform the
market. Worse, the longer companies
had been in the database, the worse
they did.”—Financial Times/11.28.2002
“It’s just a fact:
Survivors
underperform.”
—Dick Foster
“The difficulties … arise from the inherent conflict
between the need to control existing operations and
the need to create the kind of environment that will
permit new ideas to flourish—and old ones to die a
timely death. … We
believe that most
corporations will find it impossible to
match or outperform the market without
abandoning the assumption of
continuity. … The current apocalypse—the
transition from a state of continuity to state of
discontinuity—has the same suddenness [as the
trauma that beset civilization in 1000 A.D.]”
Richard Foster & Sarah Kaplan, “Creative Destruction” (The McKinsey Quarterly)
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)
GM25/50-75:
“Built to
last”????
Forget > “Learn”
“The problem is never how to get
new, innovative thoughts into your
mind, but how to get the old
ones out.”
—Dee Hock
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.
(Practical)
Implication?
“Go for it!” (Why not—
alternative is slow death, at best)
Joe J. Jones
1942 – 2006
HE WOULDA DONE SOME
REALLY COOL STUFF
BUT …
HIS BOSS WOULDN’T
HIM!
LET
Hmmmmm …
“Do one thing
every day
that scares
you.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
BIAS.
BUILT.
TO.
LAST.
NOT.
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?)
Built to Last
vs
Built to
Change/Rock
the World
The last
word:
There is
no “last
word.”
RMcK:
RN:
“Maybe not enough fail.”
RMcK:
RN:
“A lot of companies in the
Valley fail.”
“What do you mean
by that?”
“Whenever you fail, it
means you’re trying
new things.”
Source: Fast Company
“Wealth in this new regime
flows directly from innovation,
not optimization. That is,
wealth is not gained by
but by
imperfectly seizing the
unknown.” —Kevin Kelly, New Rules for
perfecting the known,
the New Economy
Great Companies …
SET
THE
AGENDA.*
* “disturb the sleep of … ”
AGENDA SETTERS: “Set the Table”/
Pioneers/ Questors/ Adventurers
US Steel … Ford … Toyota … Sears …
GM … ITT … The Gap … Limited …
Wal*Mart … Tesco … P&G … 3M …
Intel … IBM … Apple … Nokia …
Cisco … Dell … MCI … Sun …
Microsoft … Google … Enron …
Schwab … GE … Laker … Southwest
… People Express … Ogilvy … Virgin
… eBay … Amazon … Sony …
Amgen … BMW … CNN … Nike
Built to Last v. Built to Flip
“The problem with Built to Last is that it’s a
romantic notion. Large companies are incapable
of ongoing innovation, of ongoing flexibility.”
“Increasingly, successful businesses will be
ephemeral. They will be built to yield something
of value – and once that value has been
exhausted, they will vanish.”
Fast Company
Built to Last vs Built for Impact
“But what if [former head of strategic planning at Royal
Dutch Shell] Arie De Geus is wrong in suggesting, in
The Living Company, that firms should aspire to live
forever? Greatness is fleeting and, for corporations, it
The ultimate
aim of a business organization, an
artist, an athlete or a stockbroker
may be to explode in a dramatic
frenzy of value creation during a
short space of time, rather than to
live forever.”
will become ever more fleeting.
—Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle,
Funky Business
“The difficulties … arise from the inherent conflict between
the need to control existing operations and the need to create
the kind of environment that will permit new ideas to
flourish—and old ones to die a timely death. … We
believe that most corporations will
find it impossible to match or
outperform the market without
abandoning the assumption of
continuity. … The current apocalypse—the transition
from a state of continuity to state of discontinuity—
has the same suddenness [as the trauma that beset
civilization in 1000 A.D.]”
—Richard Foster & Sarah Kaplan, “Creative Destruction” (The McKinsey Quarterly)
BUILT TO … DETERIORATE!
“When it comes to investing, I’m old school. Buy a good stock, stick it in
the drawer and when you check back years later the stock should be
worth more. There’s only one problem. When I checked the drawer
recently it was full of clunkers, including Lucent, down 94 percent from
its 1999 high. Maybe once upon a time buy and hold was a viable
strategy. Today, it no longer makes sense.”—Charles Stein/ “Investment
Strategies Must Shift with Realities”/Boston Globe/10.10.04
A sample of Stein’s “Blue Chip-turned-clunker” examples: Fannie Mae
(featured in Collins’ Good to Great). Coke. (“Clunker,” make that
“Stinker.”) Merck. (The mightiest fall—stock down 63 percent since 2000;
tumble preceded Vioxx) Uh … Microsoft. (“Microsoft’s stock price is no
higher today than it was in 1998.”)
“It is not clear there is such a thing as a ‘Blue Chip,’” Shawn Kravetz,
president of Boston-based hedge fund Esplanade Capital, told Stein.
“Kravetz’s point is a serious one,” Stein continues. “Greatness is not
permanent. … The process of creative destruction isn’t new. But with the
world moving ever faster, and with competition on steroids, the quaint
notion of buying and holding is hopelessly out of step.”
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.
“In Tom’s world, it’s
always better to try a
swan dive and deliver a
colossal belly flop than
to step timidly off the
board while holding
your nose.”
—Fast Company /October2003
Language!
Language!
Language!
Language!
Language!
“In-sane-
ly-great”
Radically Thrilling Language!
“Radically
Thrilling.”
—BMW Z4 (ad)
“Astonish me!”
(SD).
“Build something great!”
“Make it immortal!”
“Insanely great”
(SJ)
(DO)
(HY).
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”
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”
The older I
get the less
boring the
“basics”
become!
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
NOTE.:
drop the “the
companies in in search of
excellence failed”—utter
rubbish. They’ve waaaay
outperformed the market.
Importance of Success Factors by Various
“Gurus”/(Unreliable) Estimates by Tom Peters
Strategy
Systems People
Passion
Porter
50%
20
20
10
Drucker
25%
35
25
15
Bennis
25%
20
30
25
Peters
15%
20
35
30
EXCELLENCE.
GAMECHANGER.
(MAYBE.)
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.
TOM. 2005.
Excellence2005: The Bedrock Baker’s Dozen
1. A Bias For Action Is Job One! (Construct a Discipline/Culture of EXECUTION!)
2. DECENTRALIZATION! ACCOUNTABILITY! (Tom’s “Top Two”, 1965-2005.)
3. Fail. Forward. Fast. (“Reward Excellent Failures, Punish Mediocre Successes.”)
4. “Metabolic Management” Matters! (Hustle! Adapt! EAT CHANGE! Win the
“O.O.D.A. Loop” War—Confuse Your Competitors!)
5. INNOVATE or Die. (“Game-changers” or Bust! Lead the Customer! Just Shout “NO” to Imitation!)
6. A Damn Good Product. (Pursue “Dramatic Difference.”)
7. A Damn Cool Product. (Design Rules!)
8. Ride the Value Added Curve to the Sky! (Sell “GamechangerSolutions”; Provide “Scintillating
Experiences”; Become a “Dream Merchant”; Strive to Be a “Lovemark.”)
9. Relentlessly Pursue the “Big Two” Markets.
(WOMEN Buy Everything
BOOMERS & GEEZERS Have All the Money!)
10. Best “Talent”/Roster Wins! (HR Rules! Everyone a Leader!
Women Lead Best!
“Weird” Matters Most! A Workplace to Brag About! Educate for Creativity!)
11. Wanted/Demanded: Radical Technology Strategies! (“Incrementalism” Is for Wimps!)
12. Hard Is Soft! Soft Is Hard! (People! Passion! Enthusiasm! Wow! INTEGRITY! TRUST!
Good Citizenship.)
13. Accept No Less Than EXCELLENCE!
Us Out of Bed in the Morning)
(Excellence, Pursuit thereof, Is the #1 Thing That Vaults
Successful Businesses’ Dozen Truths: TP’s 30-Year Perspective
1. Insanely Great & Quirky Talent.
2. Disrespect for Tradition.
3. Totally Passionate (to the Point of Irrationality) Belief in What
We Are Here to Do.
4. Utter Disbelief at the BS that Marks “Normal Industry Behavior.”
5. A Maniacal Bias for Execution … and Utter Contempt
for Those Who Don’t “Get It.”
6. Speed Demons.
7. Up or Out. (Meritocracy Is Thy Name. Sycophancy Is Thy Scourge.)
8. Passionate Hatred of Bureaucracy.
9. Willingness to Lead the Customer … and Take the Heat Associated
Therewith. (Mantra: Satan Invented Focus Groups to Derail True
Believers.)
10. “Reward Excellent Failures. Punish Mediocre Successes.”
11. Courage to Stand Alone on One’s Record of Accomplishment
Against All the Forces of Conventional Wisdom.
12. A Crystal Clear Understanding of the power of a Good Story
(Brand Power).
Everything You Need to Know about “Strategy”
1. Do you have awesome Talent … everywhere? (“We are the Yankees of home improvement here in Omaha.”) Do you
push that Talent to pursue Audacious Quests?
2. Is your Talent Pool loaded with wonderfully peculiar people who others would
call “problems”? And what about your Extended Community of customers, vendors et al?
3. Is your Board of Directors as cool as your product offerings … and does it have
50 percent (or at least one-third) Women Members?
4. Long-term, it’s a “Top-line World”: Is creating a “culture” that cherishes above all things Innovation and
Entrepreneurship your primary aim? Remember: Innovation … not Imitation!
5. Are the Ultimate Rewards heaped upon those who exhibit an unswerving “Bias for Action,” to quote the co-authors
of In Search of Excellence? Are your O.O.D.A. loops shorter than the next guy’s?
6. Do you routinely use hot, aspirational words-terms like “Excellence” and B.H.A.G. (Big Hairy Audacious Goal, per
Jim Collins) and “Let’s make a dent in the Universe” (the Word according to Steve Jobs)? Is “Reward excellent
failures, punish mediocre successes” your de facto or de jure motto?
7. Do you subscribe to Jerry Garcia’s dictum: “We do not merely want to be the best of the best, we want to be the
only ones who do what we do”?
8. Do you elaborate on and enhance Jerry G’s dictum by adding, “We subscribe to ‘Best Sourcing’—and only want to
associate with the ‘best of the best’.”
9. Do you embrace the new technologies with child-like enthusiasm and a revolutionary’s zeal?
10. Do you “serve” and “satisfy” customers … or “go berserk” attempting to provide every customer with an
“awesome experience” that does nothing less than transform the way she or he sees the world?
11. Do you understand … to your very marrow … that the two biggest under-served markets are Women and BoomersGeezers? And that to “take advantage” of these two Monster “Trends” (FACTS OF LIFE) requires fundamental realignment of the enterprise?
12. Are your leaders accessible? Do they wear their passion on their sleeves? Does integrity ooze out of every pore of
the enterprise? Is “We care” your implicit motto?
13. Do you understand business mantra #1 of the ’00s: DON’T TRY TO COMPETE
WITH WAL*MART ON PRICE OR CHINA ON COST? (And if you get this last idea, then see the 12 above!)
Ten Good Reasons to “Get Up in the Morning”
1. Empower one and all to vigorously seek WOW! in their work/projects. (Or else.) Foster
the “Brand You Spirit” and the “Entrepreneurial Urge” at every turn. (Or else.)
2. Blow up “education” as we know it today! Re-tool education to emphasize the arts,
creativity, entrepreneurial behavior. (Or else.)
3. Seek out the bold, the strange, the misfits, the dreamers—and welcome their presence
in our midst.
4. Drag enthusiasm, passion, Technicolor and bold commitment out of the closet! Make
Passion your Passion! (Hint: Passion makes the world go ‘round.)
5. Be a champion for: Women Roar! Women Rule!
6. Underscore the importance of/stupendous opportunities associated with the “cool new
markets”: Women, Boomers and Geezers, Hispanics, Greenies, Wellness.
7. Dramatically re-orient healthcare from after-the-fact “fixes” to before-the-fact attention
to prevention-Wellness. (And “kindly suggest” that the “acute-care” “industry” give
some passing thought to Quality.)
8. Ensure that the historically neglected “intangibles” are the prime basis for individual
and enterprise success.
9. Support Globalization as the best—if indeed messy—path to maximum human
freedom, security and welfare.
10. Swear by the motto: “Reward excellent failures; punish mediocre successes.”
This I Believe: Tom’s Super-TIB25
1. TECHNICOLOR Times.
2. Passion! Enthusiasm! Energy!
3. Action/R.F.A./O.O.D.A. Speed.
4. Screw-ups. BIG SCREW-Ups!
5. Mess! Improv!
6. Revolution! Re-imagine!
7. INNOVATE OR DIE!
8. Decentralize!
9. Bulk is BULL! (Mergers don’t work. FOCUS Does!)
10 “Different” > “Better”
11. eALL/Power Tools for Power Strategies!
12. Forgetting/Destruction.
13. Hot Language Matters!
14. WOW!/WOW Projects.
15. VA Bedrock: The “PSF.” (Professional Service Firm.)
16. Daring.
17. Talent Time! Leaders “Do” People!
18. Talent+/Diversity.
19. Talent++/Women Rule!
20. “Brand You” Universe.
21. Design!
22. Gasp-worthy Experiences/Lovemarks.
23. New Market Demographics/Women/Boomers & Geezers/Green/Wellness.
24. Grace.
25. EXCELLENCE!
EXCELLENCE.
TOM. 2007.
Hire Great People
(Resilient, Passionate)
Try a Lot of Stuff
(S.A.V./R.F.A.)
aCCEPT NO LESS THAN
EXCELLENCE/PURSUE Wow!
enjoy It While It Lasts
pursue a mission that rocks the world (Pharmaceuticals, Moldy basements)
Hire awesome/weird People for 100% of jobs (Resilient, Passionate) (Wegmans)
give ’em lots of room to experiment, fail, grow
make “respect” “decency” “integrity” our watchwords
Leaders “Serve.” (“Servant”/“Host” Leadership)
try a Lot of Stuff, fast tempo (S.A.V./Screw Around Vigorously,
R.F.A./Ready. Fire. Aim.)
Emphasize revenue (Organic growth, Sales/“Top line” rules)
have fun/exude joy
demand excellence/Make accountability instinctive
(“Insane” standards for our mates’ and community’s sake)
It’s all about Women! (Market, Leadership, Wealth, “Womenomics”)
never, never forget the “it” (It’s the PRODUCT, Stupid.)
25! (Go, Howard!) (Conrad says, “Don’t forget the shower curtain.)
be “of [‘gaspworthy’] service” (Cirque du Soleil is our standard—”even” in
finance.) (My customer is my partner.) (Remember “She”;
remember “Me” … the latter = Old & $$$. )
Create effective/imaginative/minimalist infrastructure
(K.I.S.S./Keep It Simple, Stupid; RED BUTTON on the terminal)
re-imagine as “routine” (Forget > Remember)
enjoy It While It Lasts
EXCELLENCE.
CAUSES.
ADVERSARIES.
Causes/1966-2006
Women/Market opportunity
Women/Leaders (right for the times)
Design/Design-as-soul
Wow! (Hot language)
Weird!
Passion!/Enthusiasm!/Exuberance! (as Leader Lever #1)
Brand You (or else)
PSF = Bedrock (add value or bust—every group must
demonstrate economic viability)
PSF + Brand You + WOW Projects = New Biz Logic
Sales/+R > -C (increasing revenue more important than cutting cost)
HealthCare/Wellness-Safety-H5N1
Brand = Talent (best roster wins)
New VA Ladder/Products-Services-SOLUTIONSEXPERIENCES-DREAMKETING (Dream Marketing)LOVEMARK
Different > > Better
Boomers & Geezers/marketing to new “mega-segment”
Adversaries
B-schools (crappy at soft skills, implementation, leadership)
Strategy-is-all
By-the-numbers management
Dis-passionate management
Focus groups
Intuition discounted
Leading as an intellectual task
Leading without passion
Cool language in Hot times
Dilbert (accepting cubicle slavery)
Bigness per se (severe scale limitations—even at Microsoft)
White guys! (not really, but enough already)
18-44 emphasis in marketing (geezers > youth for foreseeable future)
-Cost > +Revenue (cost cutting more important than organic revenue
growth)
CI (continuous improvement in an age of discontinuous world)
LESS THAN THE NO-HOLDS-BARRED PURSUIT OF
EXCELLENCE
Them-Us
“Them”
“Us”
Strategy
Planning
Marketing
Markets
Customers
Micro-segmentation
Cost minimization
Synergy/“Efficiencies”
“Strategic” supplier
Process
Effectiveness
Men
Leadership
Standardization
Big clients
Prestigious Board
EXECUTION
Action
Selling/Sales
Customers
Clients
Big Stuff (Women, Boomers)
Revenue maximization
Decentralization
Pioneering supplier
Project
Excellence
Women
Management + Leadership
Exceptionalism (53 = 53)
COOL clients
INTERESTING Board
“Them”
Big
Growth by merger
Buy market share
Efficient, streamlined
“department”
Certainty-predictability
Fearful of losing
Plan
Careful evaluation
Revised plan
People/Employees
Effective HR department
Benchmark against the
“best”-“industry leader”
“Us”
Mid-size
Organic growth
Create NEW markets
Value-creating “PSF”
Ambiguity-opportunity
Aggressive pursuit
of winning
Prototype
Another prototype
Another prototype
Talent
Rockin’ Talent
Development Center
of Excellence
Benchmark against the
“coolest”
“Them”
“Us”
Benchmark
Orderly career progression
Head
IQ
“Professional”
Stoic, humble leaders
“Future”mark
“Up or Out” (PDQ)
Heart
EQ
Passionate
Noisy, emotional
“characters” in charge
Hire for intangibles
Relentless, pig-headed
determination
Teamwork and disruptive
individuals equal billing
Lead customers
Intimate-Seamless
customer inter-twining
Hire for Resume
Measured-thoughtful
approach
Teamwork comes first
Listen to customers
Customer “involvement”
“Them”
MBM (Management
by memo)
MBA
Shareholder Value
comes first
Work smart
Built to last
Reward successes
“Us”
MBWA
MFA
Great people-product rule
Work hard
Built to Rock the World
Reward (EXCELLENT)
failures
Design 1T
Innovation 1T
Jaw-dropping Experience
Quality first!
Quality first
High-quality
transaction
CVs demo consistent CVs feature Magic Moments
performance
Good grades
Cool stuff
Operational excellence World-rocking INNOVATION
“Them”
Brand
Best analysis wins
“Beyond politics”
Outsource
“Motivate”
“Motivate”
Measured language
Product-Service
Pastel
Better
“Mission success”
Very good
“Us”
Lovemark
Best STORY wins
Politics-is-life, the
rest is details
Bestsource
Send on QUESTS
Invite
HOT language
Gamechanging SOLUTION,
Thrilling EXPERIENCE,
DREAM come true,
LOVEMARK
Technicolor
Different
“Mission EXCELLENCE”
EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.
TP’s
“23Passions”
by date:
1942-2006
Tom’s 23 Passions
B>A* (R.F.A.) (*Behavior drives Attitude) … ’71-’06
Implementation = #1 … ’73-’77 (’06)
“Soft is Hard” (“Management Style”) … ’77-’79 (’06)
(Org) Structure>Strategy … ’77-’83 (’06)
Strategy-Structure+/ “McKinsey 7-S” Model ... ’77-’81
Action>Planning … ’74-’06
Mess = Reality ... ’77-’06
Skunkworks/Skunks (“Offline” Innovation/Innovators) … ’84-’91
MBWA … ’80-’85 (’06)
Excellence I … ’79-’84
Mid-size biz is cool … ’84-’89 (’06)
Customer service … ’84-’88
Innovation … ’87-’92
Free trade/Hayek … ’90-’92
New Org Models … ’92-’96
PSF … ’92-’06
WOW! (WOW Projects) … ’93-’06
Brand You … ’94-’00
Design … ’94-’06
Women (Markets-Leaders) … ’96-’06
EXCELLENCE II … ’06-??
Healthcare (Quality-Wellness-PatientCentric) … ’06-??
Exuberance-Passion (Soft is Hard) … ’42-’06
Worth.
The.
hassle.
Why I Work/Stuff I Care About
*“Hard is soft. Soft is hard.” Social stuff, Emotional stuff =
Good stuff = The Right Stuff!
*Mess = Normal = Reality. Rationality = Delusional.
Non-linearity = Life 101. (Embrace it! Design accordingly!)
*Failure = Normal/Necessary/Good! “Reward excellent failure.
Punish mediocre success.” “Fail faster. Succeed sooner.”
“Fail. Forward. Fast.” Fail. Sam Walton Secret #1: Fail. Fast.
*Do > Think. Act > Talk. Action bias! RELENTLESS
EXPERIMENTATION! R.F.A./Ready. Fire. Aim.
S.A.V./Screw Around Vigorously.
*Decentralization = Holy writ = More independent tries.
*Success for Mortals: Indirection. SkunkWorks. End Runs.
Parallel Universe. 4F/Find a Fellow Freak Faraway.
Demos. Heroes. Stories.
*The “Missing 98%”: Implementation-Execution.
*Strategic planning, limits thereto. Severe.
*Pitiful performance of Huge Companies. Needed: C.D.O./
Chief Destruction Officer.
*Severe limits to scale advantage. Mega-mergers = Stupid.
*“Built to last.” Why??? Instead: Built to change the world.
*People First! People Power! Best “Roster” Wins. HR (should)
rule! Leaders “DO” People! Respect-Appreciation Rules!
*Freaks for Freaky Times!
Why I Work/Stuff I Care About
*WOMEN’S WORLD!/WOMENOMICS! #1 MARKET! WEALTH/ALL!
LEADERS/BETTER! (Also: Boomers/Geezers/Many/Money.)
*Aesthetics! Beauty! Grace! (Design primacy.)
*MBWA! (Managing By Wandering Around.)
*Basics Rule: Don’t over-complicate. (Product, People, Action …)
*Educate for Risk-taking, Creativity, Independence.
*B-schools suck. Teach all … except what’s important.
D-School = Cool.
*Healthcare’s Big Three: Quality. Prevention. Wellness.
*R>C. (Adding Revenue > Cutting cost.) Help Wanted: C.R.O./
Chief Revenue Officer.
*S>M (Selling > Marketing.)
SELL! SELL! SELL! SELL!
*Free markets work! Free trade works! Rise of India-China =
Good thing. Respond with Excellent Performance: Add “insane”
amounts of value! Become a “Lovemark”!!
*Brand You. Self-reliance!! Mastery !! Liberation!!
*Survival = PSF/Professional Service Firm “mindset.” Goal #1:
Enable clients to become successful beyond their dreams!
*Fun! (“Cool” is Cool.)
*Service-obsessed!/Experience-obsessed! (Object: “Raving fans.”)
*PASSION-EXUBERANCE-ENTHUSIASM.
*“Hot” Language! WOW! Insanely great!
*EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.
TOM PETERS.
THE “DAMN ITS.”
To The Mat:
The “5 Damn Its”
Women.
PSF.
Brand you.
R.f.a.
EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.
M.I.A.
Action! *
Implementation! **
The Work Itself! ***
*R.F.A.
**Execution
***WOW Projects!
“Never forget
implementation
boys. In our work it’s
what I call the
‘missing 98
percent’ of the client
puzzle.”
—Al McDonald
“The first 90% of a
project takes 90% of
the time. The last 10%
takes the other 90% of
the time.”
—Richard Templar,
The Rules of Management
TOM PETERS.
THE DEAL.
Revolution-Transformation.
(No long runs on Broadway-Senility.)
“Soft”>“Hard.”
(Culture or Bust.)
Execution-Action.
(Do>Think.)
Clean Sheet of Paper.
(Web2.0, Transparency, New Org Form—Itinerant Potential Machines.)
PSF-Brand You-Wow Projects.
Up-Up-Up the VA Ladder.
(Gamechanging Solutions-Eyepopping Experiences-Dream Merchants-Lovemarks.)
Weird.
(Innovation “Easy.”)
Energy-Enthusiasm-Relentlessness.
Excellence. Always.
good words.
Bad words.
Words that may NOT be
used in my presence:
“Motivate”
“In the end, management
doesn’t change culture.
Management
invites
the workforce itself to
change the culture.”
—Lou Gerstner
Words that may NOT be
used in my presence:
“Marketing”
Sell
Sell
Words that may NOT be used in
my presence: “Motivate” …
“Market” … “MBA” … “Plan”
(mostly) … “Worker” … “Job” …
“Task” … “Exceeds
expectations” … “HR” …
“Employee evaluation” … “Man”
(mostly)
… “Shareholder Value”
Words that MAY be used in my presence: “Invite”
… “Sell” (v. “Market”) … “People” (we’d
like to serve) (v. “Market segment”) … “Client” (v.
“Customer”) “OJT/MFA” (v. “MBA”) … “Act”/ “Execute”
(v. “Plan”) … “Talent” (v. “Worker”) …
“Quest”/“Adventure-in-EXCELLENCE” (v. “Job”) …
“Wow Project” (v. “Task”) … “Rockin’ (profit-makin’)
PSF” (v. “Department”) … “Theater” (v. “Office”) …
“Breathtaking Experience” (v. “Transaction” that “Exceeds
expectations”) … “Talent Fanatics Inc” (v. “HR”) …
“Brand You adventure” (v “Career development”)
“Annual Report development session” … (v.
“Employee evaluation”) … “Woman” (v. “Man”) …
(v. “Motivate”)
Words that MAY be used in my
presence: … “Wow!” (v. “Nice”) … “Bloody-
minded”
(v. “Committed”) … “Thank you! (v. “____”) …
“Attack”/Innovate (v. “defend”/Entrench)
… “Great stuff. Great people. ‘Do it’
fanatics.” (v. “shareholder value”) …
“EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.”
(v. “Good work”)
(v. “shareholder value”)
Radically Thrilling Language!
“Radically
Thrilling.”
—BMW Z4 (ad)
“In-sane-
ly-great”
“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
EXCELLENCE.
1982.
Hard is soft.
Soft is hard.
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
Hard Is Soft (#s)
Soft Is Hard (people)
Hard Is Soft (Plans, #s)
Soft Is Hard (people,
customers, values,
relationships))
“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
[Yet] I
came to see in my time at
IBM that culture isn’t
just one aspect of the
game—it is the game.”
of people is very, very hard.
—Lou Gerstner, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance
R.O.I.R.
Measure #1:
R.O.I.R.*
*Return On
Investment In
Relationships
Axiom #65: (1) It’s
always about
relationships. (2)
Sweat the small
stuff—and the big
stuff will take care
of itself.
“Soft Skills,
Hard Dollars”
Source: Headline, BigBuilder, September 2006
“A man
without a
smiling face
must not open
a shop.”
—Chinese Proverb
“The Mexican Sierra has 17 plus 15 plus 9 spines in the
dorsal fin. These can easily be counted. But if the sierra
strikes on the line so that our hands are burned, if the fish
sounds and nearly escapes and finally comes in over the
rail, his colors pulsing and his tail beating the air, a whole
new relational externality has come into being—an entity
which is more than the sum of the fish plus the fisherman.
The only way to count the spines of the sierra unaffected
by this second relational reality is to sit in a laboratory,
open an evil-smelling jar, remove a stiff colorless fish
from the formalin solution, count the spines and write
the truth. There you have recorded a reality which
cannot be assailed—probably the least important
reality concerning the fish or yourself. … It is good
to know what you are doing . The man with this pickled
fish has set down one truth and recorded in his
experience many lies. The fish is not that color, that
texture, that dead, nor does he smell that way.”
—John Steinbeck
EXCELLENCE.
Always.
Respect.
“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
“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
“It’s not people who
aren’t credit-worthy.
It’s banks that aren’t
people worthy.”
Muhammad Yunus
“The deepest
human need is
the need to be
appreciated.”
William James
“Don’t
belittle!”
—OD Consultant
“Be kind, for
everyone you meet
is fighting a great
battle.”
—Philo of Alexandria
“Ph.D. in leadership. Short
course: Make a short list of
all things done to you that
you abhorred. Don’t do them
to others. Ever. Make
another list of things done to
you that you loved. Do them
to others. Always.” — Dee Hock
“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
R.O.I.R.
Rules!
“He had done nothing to sell me on his
business, yet he had given me the most
Because
his sole concern had
been my welfare and the
success of my business.”
powerful sales pitch of my life.
—Jim Penman, on learning how to sell (What Will
They Franchise Next? The Story of Jim’s Group)
“If you don’t
listen,
you don’t sell
anything.”
—Carolyn Marland/Managing Director/Guardian Group
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
2006.
Why in the
World did you
go to Siberia?
Synonyms
Purity
Transcendence
Virtue
Elegance
Majesty
Antonyms
Mediocrity
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!
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
An emotional,
vital, innovative, joyful,
creative, entrepreneurial
endeavor that elicits
maximum concerted
human potential in
the wholehearted
service of others.***
Enterprise* ** (*at its best):
**Excellence. Always.
***Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
The
Ultimate
Business:
Creative
Endeavor.
The
Ultimate
Business:
Personal
DevelopmentGrowth
Experience.
The
Ultimate
Business:
Transcendent
Service
Opportunity.
“BUSINESS
IS ABOUT
POWER.”
—Joanne Lipman,
editor, on
Portfolio
TP:
“BUSINESS
IS ABOUT ...”
“Make sure your executive team includes
top talent in design, engineering and
manufacturing, because that’s
your
only!
to build! Cars!
People! Want! to
buy!. Hot styling sells them and quality
priority—
keeps them sold.”
— Lee Iacocca,
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
“enterprises that Matter & change the
game … offer solutions & experiences
that surprise , amaze, and transform
perceptions of what’s possible —and
stick like super-glue in customers’
minds.* such offerings are brilliantly
conceived and flawlessly delivered by
unconventional, creative, hypercommitted, energetic talent from within
& outside the organization.” —Tom Peters
E.g.: Apple, Whole Foods, Cirque du Soleil, Starbucks, Wegmans, London Drugs, Griffin
Hospital/Planetree Alliance, John Laing Homes, RE/MAX, Sewell Autos, Jim’s Group,
The Met/Big Picture, Virgin, Commerce Bank, Google, Basement Systems Inc.,
Ford (circa 1917), IBM (circa 1970), Wannamaker’s (circa 1880)
“To me business isn’t about
wearing suits or pleasing
stockholders. It’s about
being true to yourself,
your ideas and focusing on
the essentials.” —Richard Branson
“No leader sets out to be a
leader per se, but rather to
express him- or herself
freely and fully. That is
leaders have no interest in
proving themselves, but an
abiding interest in expressing
themselves.” —Warren Bennis,
On Becoming a Leader
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
“Every time we come to a
comfort zone, we will find a way
out.” “No Cloning.” “‘Reinvent
the brand’ with each new show.”
“A typical day at the office for
me begins by asking, ‘What
is impossible that I
am going to do
today?’”
—Daniel Lamarre, president,
Cirque du Soleil
“Do one thing
every day
that scares
you.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
“Strive for
Excellence.
Ignore
success.”
—Bill Young, PR driver
(courtesy Andrew Sullivan)
all you
need to
know
EXCELLENCE.
“the rules.”
Cause
Space
(worthy of commitment)
(room for/encouragement
for initiative)
Decency
(respect, humane)
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
Hire Great People
(Resilient, Passionate)
Try a Lot of Stuff
(S.A.V./R.F.A.)
all “wow” all the time
Enjoy It While It Lasts
Tom’s “Change Rules”
Cause. (pissed off.)
Try it. (S.A.V.)
Fail. Forward. Fast.
Quests. Demos. Heroes. Stories.
Boonies. (Parallel universe.)
<12.
Just Say No: Normal.
Attitude>Ability.
Wow. “Insanely great.”
Sell! Sell! Sell!
Master politics!
pursue a mission that rocks the world
Moldy basements)
(Pharmaceuticals,
Hire awesome/weird People for 100% of jobs (Resilient, Passionate)
(Wegmans) (Women RULE!)
give ’em lots of room to experiment, fail, grow
make “respect” “decency” “integrity” our watchwords
try a Lot of Stuff, fast tempo (S.A.V./Screw Around Vigorously,
R.F.A./Ready. Fire. Aim.)
Emphasize revenue
(Organic growth, Sales/“Top line” rules)
have fun/exude joy
demand excellence/Make accountability instinctive
(“Insane” standards for our mates’ and community’s sake)
never, never forget the “it”
(It’s the PRODUCT, Stupid.) (25!)
be “of [‘gaspworthy’] service”
(Cirque du Soleil is our
standard— “even” in finance.) (My customer is my partner.)
(Remember “She”; remember “Me.”) (“Servant”/“Host” Leadership)
Have effective/imaginative/minimalist infrastructure
(K.I.S.S./Keep It Simple, Stupid) (Systems/No bull: beauty, grace, elegance)
re-imagine as “routine”
enjoy It While It Lasts
”
Excellence
“defined”
EG: An amazing performance
A sunrise, a bloom, a smile
“Thank you” (a gesture, an act of Grace)
Extraordinary performance in an odd place (by an
“unlikely” person—EWR) (unlikely market—Jim’s Group)
X small (Small Giants)
X med (Mittelstand)
X large
Sets the agenda
One at bat (Bobby Thompson, Kurt Gibson)
A career (Roger Clemens)
A novel, a short story, a sentence
An Olympian (any)
“Loser” with a great story (Rutgers, George Mason)
Stuff (any sort) that makes you go “wow “/ “insanely
great”/gaspworthy (“The lives of others”)
X + 6:
The “7Es”
Exuberance!
Energy!
Empathy!
Engagement!
Empowerment!
Execution!
Excellence!
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
UNIVERSAL.
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
Jim’s Group: Jim Penman.*
1984: Jim’s Mowing. 2006: Jim’s Group.
2,600 franchisees (Australia, NZ, UK).
Cleaning. Dog washing. Handyman.
Fencing. Paving. Pool care. Etc.
“People first.” Private. Small staff. Franchisees
can leave at will. 0-1 complaint per year is
norm; cut bad ones quickly.
*Ph.D. cross-cultural anthropology; mowing on the side
Source: MT/Management Today (Australia), Jan-Feb 2006
Basement
Systems
Inc.
*Basement Systems Inc.
*Larry Janesky
*Dry Basement Science (115,000!)
*1993: $0; 2003: $12M;
2006:
$50,000,000+
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
UNIVERSAL.
7:30AM/830P
M/7/1200AM/
Friday/4M
Dog Biscuits/
Red Button
“every computer at commerce bank has a
special red
key
on it that says, ‘found something
stupid that we are doing that interferes with
our ability to service the customer? Tell us
about it, and if we agree, we will give you $50.’”
Source: Fans! Not customers. How Commerce Bank Created a Supergrowth Business in a No-growth Industry, Vernon Hill & Bob Andelman
EXCELLENCE.
ASPIRATION.
14 MAY 2007.
EUGENE OR.
“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
EXCELLENCE. NO
EXCUSES.
WallopWal*Mart16*
*Or: Why it’s so ABSURDLY EASY
to BEAT a GIANT Company
NOTE.:
list. Part 3.
Small Giants:
Companies That
Choose To Be
Great Instead
Of Big
—by Bo Burlingham
EXCELLENCE.
REVENUE.
MATTERS.
MOST.
“TOP LINE TOM.”
“Our whole
story is
growing
revenue.”
—Vernon Hill (Top-line driven; standard
is bottom-line driven by cost cutting)
“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
C
*Chief
O*
Revenue
Officer
P=R–C
“Everyone
lives by
selling
something.”
.
– Robert Louis Stevenson
Sell
Sell
“I am not a ‘management guru,’ I
am not a ‘public speaker,’ and I
am not a ‘network marketer.’ I am
a ‘direct marketer,’ a proud
as punch traveling salesman,
knocking on any door I can
find—and peddling ideas
whenever I can wedge my
foot in.” —Tom Peters, Direct Marketing Association,
Annual Meeting, 2006
This is not about …
“customer centrism”
“integrated marketing”
etc.
etc.
etc.
It is about …
… sellin’ a whole lotta stuff and
having customers go bananas
with
love
to the point
that they tell every damn friend
they have and then start
buttonholing strangers on trains
and planes and busses.
“If you want to gain
competitive advantage
fast, the best place to
do it is in …
sales.”
—Larry Webb, John Laing Homes
“Make sure your top team
includes top talent in design,
engineering and
manufacturing, because that’s
only
to
build cars people want
to buy. Hot styling sells
your
priority—
them and quality keeps them
sold.” —Lee Iacocca, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
WE ARE
ALL IN
“It’s always
showtime.”
—David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare
Incidentally …
“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
TP.27 …
on Selling
(Short) (Personal)
Out-prepare!! (huge time commitment!)
Learn the “culture”
Practice!
Care-Empathy
Listen-Empathetic listening (SC)
“Listen”-Body language
K.I.S.S. (1-page summary. 1 = 1.)
Enthusiasm-ENERGY-“Authenticity”!!
OBVIOUS belief in product
Selling: Solution-Success-Experience-Dream come true-Love-Dramatic Difference
Selling: Better STORY! (“Best story wins”)
Selling: Yourself! (Brand you)
“Obvious” Wow!
No exaggeration!
Spell out commitments!
SIMPLE timeline
Sell “inside”-First! Thorough!
Relationships-“Way down”!!
Time!!!! (E.g., build trust)
Ooze integrity
Introduce to rest of team, esp. “mechanics”
SBWA (5K for 5M)
Remember: Close!
Gotta-make-a-profit (be ready to walk away!)
“Good loss”
Don’t dis competitors!!
Make her-him-target SUCCESSFUL (in a personal way)
GE
(more or less)
:
The Sales122:
122 Ridiculously
Obvious Thoughts
About Selling Stuff
Tom Peters/0402.2006
EXCELLE
ALWAYS.
End.
PART ONE