Tom Peters’ The Talent50 ERC/2003 WorkPlace Forum/02.20.2003 “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” —General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army “IT MAY SOMEDAY BE SAID THAT THE 21ST CENTURY BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. … “Al-Qaeda represents a new and profoundly dangerous kind of organization—one that might be called a ‘virtual state.’ On September 11 a virtual state proved that modern societies are vulnerable as never before.”—Time/09.09.2002 “The deadliest strength of America’s new adversaries is their very fluidity, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld believes. Terrorist networks, unburdened by fixed borders, headquarters or conventional forces, are free to study the way this nation responds to threats and adapt themselves to prepare for what Mr. Rumsfeld is certain will be another attack. … “ ‘Business as usual won’t do it,’ he said. His answer is to develop swifter, more lethal ways to fight. ‘Big institutions aren’t swift on their feet in adapting but rather ponderous and clumsy and slow.’ ”—The New York Times/09.04.2002 From: To: Weapon v. Weapon Org structure v. Org structure “Our military structure today is essentially one developed and designed by Napoleon.” Admiral Bill Owens, former Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Eric’s Army Flat. Fast. Agile. Adaptable. Light … But Lethal. Talent/ “I Am An Army Of One.” Info-intense. Network-centric. 1. People First! “When land was the scarce resource, nations battled over it. The same is happening now for talented people.” Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH Talent! Tina Brown: “The first thing to do is to hire enough talent that a critical mass of excitement starts to grow.” Source: Business2.0/12.2002-01.2003 Whoops: Jack didn’t have a vision!* *GE = “Talent Machine” (Ed Michaels) 2. Soft Is Hard. “Soft” Is “Hard” - ISOE 3. FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE: We Are in an Age of Talent/ Creativity/ Intellectual-capital Added. Age of Agriculture Industrial Age Age of Information Intensification Age of Creation Intensification Source: Murikami Teruyasu, Nomura Research Institute Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!” “What we sell is the ability for a 43-year-old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns and have people be afraid of him.” Harley exec, quoted in Results-Based Leadership WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU? 4. Talent “Excellence” in Every Part of the Organization. 5. P.O.T./ Pursuit Of Talent = OBSESSION. Model 25/8/53 Sports Franchise GM* *48 = $500M “The leaders of Great Groups love talent and know where to find it. They revel in the talent of others.” Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius PARC’s Bob Taylor: “Connoisseur of Talent” Les Wexner: From sweaters to people! 6. Talent Masters Understand Talent’s Intangibles. Visibly energetic/ Passionate/ Enthusiastic … about everything. Engaging/ Inspires others. (Inspires the interviewer!) Loves messes & pressure. Impatient/ Action fanatic. A finisher. Exhibits: Fat “WOW Project” Portfolio. (Loves to talk about her work.) Smart. Curious/ Eclectic interests/ A little (or more) weird. Well-developed sense of humor/ Fun to be around. ****** No. 1 re bosses: Exceptional talent selection & development record. (Former co-workers: “Did you visibly grow while working with X?” / “How has the department/team grown on a ‘world-class’ scale during X’s tenure?”) 7. HR Is “Cool.” Chicago November 1999: HRMAC “support function” / “cost center” / “bureaucratic drag” or … Are you “Rock Stars of the Age of Talent” Have you changed civilization today? Source: HP banner ad 8. HR Sits at The Head Table. DD$21M 9. Re-name “HR.” Talent Department People Department Center for Talent Excellence Seriously Cool People Who Recruit & Develop Seriously Cool People Etc. 10. There Is an “HR Strategy.” 11. There Is a FORMAL Recruitment Strategy. The NFL Standard! 12. There Is a FORMAL Leadership Development Strategy. 13. There is a “World Class” Leadership Development CENTER. DD: 0 to 60 in a flash (months) 14. There Is a FORMAL STRATEGIC HR Review Process. 15. The “Top100,” and Every Unit’s Top10, Are Consciously Managed. “In most companies, the Talent Review Process is a farce. At GE, Jack Welch and his two top HR people visit each division for a day. They review the top 20 to 50 people by name. They talk about Talent Pool strengthening issues. The Talent Review Process is a contact sport at GE; it has the intensity and the importance of the budget process at most companies.”—Ed Michaels 16. “People”/ Talent” Reviews Are the FIRST Reviews. 17. HR Strategy = Business Strategy. 18. Make it a “Cause Worth Signing Up For.” “Create a ‘cause,’ not a ‘business.’ ” G.H.: Leaders don’t just make products and make decisions. Leaders make meaning. – John Seeley Brown 19. Set Sky High Standards. From “1, 2 or you’re out” [JW] to … “Best Talent in each industry segment to build best proprietary intangibles” [EM] Source: Ed Michaels, War for Talent 20. Enlist Everyone in Challenge Century21. “If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself, you won’t get noticed, and that increasingly means you won’t get paid much either.” Michael Goldhaber, Wired 108 X 5 vs. 8X1 = 540 vs. 8 (-98.5%) IBM’s Project eLiza!* * “Self-bootstrapping”/ “Artilects” E.g. … Jeff Immelt: 75% of “admin, back room, finance” “digitalized” in years. Source: BW (01.28.02) BW Cover/02.2003 “IS YOUR JOB NEXT? A New Round of GLOBALIZATION Is Sending Upscale Jobs Offshore. They Include Chip Design, Basic Research—even Financial Analysis. Can America Lose These Jobs and Still Prosper?” 21. Pursue the Best! “Differentiation is all about being extreme, rewarding the best and weeding out the ineffective. … You build strong teams by treating individuals differently. Just look at the way baseball teams pay 20game winning pitchers and 40-plus homerun hitters.”—Jack Welch “best person in the world” —Arthur Blank 22. Up or Out. “We believe companies can increase their market cap 50 percent in 3 years. Steve changed 20 of his 40 box plant managers to put more talented, higher paid managers in charge. He increased Macadam at Georgia-Pacific profitability from $25 million to $80 million in 2 years.” Ed Michaels, War for Talent Message: Some people are better than other people. Some people are a helluva lot better than other people. 23. Ensure that the Review Process Has INTEGRITY. 25 = 100* * “But what do I do that’s more important than developing people? I don’t do the damn work. They do.” 24. Fork Over! “Top performing companies are two to four times more likely than the rest to pay what it takes to prevent losing top performers.” Ed Michaels, War for Talent (05.17.00) 25. Training I: Train! Train! Train! 3 Weeks in May “Training” & Prep: 187 “Work”: 41 (“Other”: 17) 1% vs. 367% Divas do it. Violinists do it. Sprinters do it. Golfers do it. Pilots do it. Soldiers do it. Surgeons do it. Cops do it. Astronauts do it. Why don’t businesspeople do it? “Knowledge becomes obsolete incredibly fast. The continuing professional education of adults is the No. 1 industry in the next 30 years … mostly on line.” Peter Drucker, Business 2.0 (22August2000) Edward Jones’ Training Machine* 146 hours/employee/year New hires: 4X avg. 3.8% of payroll * #1, “The 100 Best Companies To Work For”/Fortune/01.2003 26. Training II: 100% “Business People.” 27. Training III: 100% LEADERS. “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”—Ralph Nader Brand You, Big Time! I AM AN ARMY OF ONE 28. Training IV: Boss as Trainerin-Chief. Workout = 24 DPY in the Classroom 29. Open Communication I: NO BARRIERS. “The organizations we created have become tyrants. They have taken control, holding us fettered, creating barriers that hinder rather than help our businesses. The lines that we drew on our neat organizational diagrams have turned into walls that no one can scale or penetrate or even peer over.” —Frank Lekanne Deprez & René Tissen, Zero Space: Moving Beyond Organizational Limits. “Dawn Meyerreicks, CTO of the Defense Intelligence Systems Agency, made one of the most fateful military calls of the 21st century. After 9/11 … her office quickly leased all the available transponders covering Central Asia. The implications should change everything about U.S. military thinking in the years ahead. “The U.S. Air Force had kicked off its fight against the Taliban with an ineffective bombing campaign, and Washington was anguishing over whether to send in a few Army divisions. Donald Rumsfeld told Gen. Tommy Franks to give the initiative to 250 Special Forces already on the ground. They used satellite phones, Predator surveillance drones, and GPS- and laser-based targeting systems to make the air strikes brutally effective. “In effect, they ‘Napsterized’ the battlefield by cutting out the middlemen (much of the military’s command and control) and working directly with the real players. … The data came in so fast that HQ revised operating procedures to allow intelligence analysts and attack planners to work directly together. Their favorite tool, incidentally, was instant messaging over a secure network.”—Ned Desmond/“Broadband’s New Killer App”/Business 2.0/ OCT2002 30. Open Communication II: Share (ALL) Information. m-“On” or Out of the Loop “Managers in Finland always keep their phones on. Customers expect fast reactions. And if you can’t reach a superior, you make many decisions yourself—managers who want to influence decisions of subordinates must keep their phones open.” —Risto Linturi, Finnish m-guru, in Howard Rheingold’s Smart Mobs 31. 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 college president. He was seriously interested in who you were and what you had to say.” Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect “Leaders are living individuals whom employees smell, feel, touch their presence.” #49 32. Embrace the Whole Individual. 33. Build Places of “Grace.” “My favorite word is grace – grace, saving grace, grace under fire, Grace Kelly. How we live whether it’s amazing contributes to beauty – whether it’s how we treat other people or the environment.” Celeste Cooper, designer Rodale’s on “Grace” … elegance … charm … loveliness … poetry in motion … kindliness .. benevolence … benefaction … compassion … beauty 34. MBWA: The “Rudy Rule.” “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 Masks of Command 35. Thank You! “The deepest human need to be appreciated.” need is the William James “The two most powerful things a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.” in existence: Ken Langone, CEO, Invemed Associates [from Ronna Lichtenberg, It’s Not Business, It’s Personal] 36. Promote for “people skills.” (THE REST IS DETAILS.) 33 Division Titles. 26 League Pennants. 14 World Series: Earl Weaver—0. Tom Kelly—0. Jim Leyland—0. Walter Alston—1AB. Tony LaRussa—132 games, 6 seasons. Tommy Lasorda—P, 26 games. Sparky Anderson—1 season. 37. Honor Youth. “Why focus on these late teens and twentysomethings? Because they are the first young who are both in a position to change the world, and are actually doing so. … For the first time in history, children are more comfortable, knowledgeable and literate than their parents about an innovation central to society. … The Internet has triggered the first industrial revolution in history to be led by the young.” The Economist [12/2000] 8 Minutes* —Dr. Sugata Mira, NIIT/ New Delhi/ 1999** *Ignorance to Surfing **And then there’s oya yubi sedai, the “thumb generation” 38. Provide Early Leadership Assignments. 39. Create a FORMAL System of Mentoring. W. L. Gore Quad/Graphics 40. Diversity! “Diversity defines the health and wealth of nations in a new century. Mighty is the mongrel. The hybrid is hip. The impure, the mélange, the adulterated, the blemished, the rough, the black-and-blue, the mixand-match – these people are inheriting the earth. Mixing is the new norm. Mixing trumps isolation. It spawns creativity, nourishes the human spirit, spurs economic growth and empowers nations.” G. Pascal Zachary, The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans and the Competitive Edge CM Prof Richard Florida on “Creative Capital”: “You cannot get a technologically innovative place unless it’s open to weirdness, eccentricity and difference.” Source: New York Times/06.01.2002 “Where do good new ideas come from? That’s simple! From differences. Creativity comes from unlikely juxtapositions. The best way to maximize differences is to mix ages, cultures and disciplines.” Nicholas Negroponte Duh! “We want our associate population to mirror our customer population at every level, from the executive suite all the way to the retail floor. In the marketplace, basically what I want to do is draw a concentric circle around every one of our 2,300 stores, and I want the assortment in that store to match the ethnicity of the neighborhood it’s in. Some neighborhoods are all Hispanic, so we can put in a full Hispanic format. That’s what Super Saver is. All the signage is in both languages. There’s a 100 percent Spanish-speaking staff in the store.”—Larry Johnston, CEO, Albertson’s 41. WOMEN RULE.* *Duh. “AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE: New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure” Title, Special Report, Business Week, 11.20.00 “American women possess leadership abilities that are particularly effective in today’s organizations, yet their abilities remain undervalued and underutilized. In the future, what will distinguish one organization and one country from another will be its use of human resources. Today human resource utilization is not only a matter of social justice but a bottom-line issue.” Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret Women’s Strengths Match New Economy Imperatives: Link [rather than rank] workers; favor interactive-collaborative leadership style [empowerment beats top-down decision making]; sustain fruitful collaborations; comfortable with sharing information; see redistribution of power as victory, not surrender; favor multi-dimensional feedback; value technical & interpersonal skills, individual & group contributions equally; readily accept ambiguity; honor intuition as well as pure “rationality”; inherently flexible; appreciate cultural diversity. Source: Judy B. Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret “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 “Investors are looking more and more for a relationship with their financial advisers. They want someone they can trust, someone who listens. In my experience, in general, women may be better at these relationship-building skills than are men.” Hardwick Simmons, CEO, Prudential Securities “Thank you” 17 Men: 8 4 Women: 19 “Women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy, and men speak and hear a language of status and independence. Men communicate to obtain information, establish their status, and show independence. Women communicate to create relationships, encourage interaction, and exchange feelings.” Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret 63 of 2,500 top earners in F500 8% Big 5 partners 14% partners at top 250 law firms 43% new med students; 26% med faculty; 7% deans Source: Susan Estrich, Sex and Power Opportunity! U.S. M.Mgt. 41% T.Mgt. 4% Peak Partic. Age 45 % Coll. Stud. 52% G.B. E.U. Ja. 29% 18% 6% 3% 2% <1% 22 27 19 50% 48% 26% Source: Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret Ass Of The Year2002 (?): Maurice Greenberg, A.I.G., on the Company’s New (All Male) Leadership Team “In a lot of countries of the world, it would be very difficult for a woman to be a good CEO. … I have a responsibility to do the best we can for shareholders.” * ** *Source: New York Times/05.05.02 **Wouldn’t you love to watch him tell that … face-toface … to Margaret Thatcher or Carly Fiorina? (I would.) “Deloitte was doing a great job of hiring highperforming women; in fact, women often earned higher performance ratings than men in their first years with the firm. Yet the percentage of women decreased with step up the career ladder. … Most women weren’t leaving to raise families; they had weighed their options in Deloitte’s maledominated culture and found them wanting. Many, dissatisfied with a culture they perceived as endemic to professional service firms, switched professions.” Douglas McCracken, “Winning the Talent War for Women” [HBR] “The process of assigning plum accounts was largely unexamined. … Male partners made assumptions: ‘I wouldn’t put her on that kind of company because it’s a tough manufacturing environment.’ ‘That client is difficult to deal with.’ ‘Travel puts too much pressure on women.’ ” Douglas McCracken, “Winning the Talent War for Women” [HBR] Goldsmith College research (UK): Gender stereotypes re-enforced. Men who extoll successes rewarded, women not. Men who face interviewer head on upgraded; women who look at floor or use sidelong glances do better. Women who nod repeatedly do better, not men. Men who give long answers score well, women who give short answers do well. (College grads seeking jobs; HR interviewers—2 M, 2F.) Source: The Observer/ London/ 01.12.2003 The Core Argument 1. We are in a War for Talent. 2. The war will intensify. 3. Women are under-represented in our leadership ranks. 4. Women and men are different. 5. Women’s strengths match the New Economy’s leadership needs—to a striking degree. 6. Women are also the principal purchasers of goods and services—retail and commercial. 7. Ergo, women are a large part of “the answer” to the War for Talent issue/opportunity. 42. Diversity Starts on the Board of Directors. “Would Congress [the Boardroom] be a different place if half the members were women?” From Sex and Power, Susan Estrich Norwegian Law: Boards must have at least women. 43. Hire (& Protect) Weird. enough weird people in “Are there the lab these days?” V. Chmn., pharmaceutical house, to a lab director (06.01) The Cracked Ones Let in the Light “Our business needs a massive transfusion of talent, and talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among non-conformists, dissenters and rebels.” David Ogilvy “Deviance tells the story of every mass market ever created. What Deviants, Inc. starts out weird and dangerous becomes America’s next big corporate payday. So are you looking for the next mass market idea? It’s out there … way out there.” Source: Ryan Matthews & Watts Wacker, Fast Company (03.02) Saviors-in-Waiting Disgruntled Customers Off-the-Scope Competitors Rogue Employees Fringe Suppliers Wayne Burkan, Wide Angle Vision: Beat the Competition by Focusing on Fringe Competitors, Lost Customers, and Rogue Employees “Rumsfeld values mavericks and tries to protect and promote them.” — Newsweek/ 09.16.02 44. Cherish Boldness! No Wiggle Room! “Incrementalism is innovation’s worst enemy.” Nicholas Negroponte “In the modern military, risk is anathema to rising stars, who cannot afford any slip-ups on their records. ‘Zero defects’ and ‘zero tolerance’ are common bywords.”—Newsweek/09.16.02 “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” Phil Daniels, Sydney exec 45. We Are All Unique. Beware Lurking HR Types … One size NEVER fits all. One size fits one. Period. 48 Players = 48 Projects = 48 different success measures. 46. Bosses “Win People Over.” WHAT AN IDIOT: “Instead of employees being in the driver’s seat, now we’re in the driver’s seat.” “Coaching is winning players over.” PJ: 47. GOAL: Voyages of Mutual Discovery. I am inalterably opposed to “organization change,” “empowerment,” “motivation.” The goal: to awaken the latent talent already within, by providing opportunities worthy of the individual’s investment of her or his most precious resources … time and emotional commitment. Leaders-Teachers Do Not “Transform People”! Instead leaders-mentors-teachers (1) provide a context which is marked by (2) access to a luxuriant portfolio of meaningful opportunities (projects) which (3) allow people to fully (and safely, mostly—caveat: “they” don’t engage unless they’re “mad about something”) express their innate curiosity and (4) engage in a vigorous discovery voyage (alone and in small teams, assisted by an extensive self-constructed network) by which those people (5) go to-create places they (and their mentors-teachersleaders) had never dreamed existed—and then the leaders-mentors-teachers (6) applaud like hell, stage “photo-ops,” and ring the church bells 100 times to commemorate the bravery of their “followers’ ” explorations! “Firms will not ‘manage the careers’ of their employees. They will provide opportunities to enable the employee to develop identity and adaptability and thus be in charge of his or her own career.” Tim Hall et al., “The New Protean Career Contract” “H.R.” to “H.E.D.” ??? Human Enablement Department 48. Foster Independence. “You must realize that how you invest your human capital matters as much as how you invest your financial capital. Its rate of return determines your future options. Take a job for what it teaches you, not for what it pays. Instead of a potential employer asking, ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ you’ll ask, ‘If I invest my mental assets with you for 5 years, how much will they appreciate? How much will my portfolio of career options grow?’ ” Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH THE rise up and flee your cubicle STREET JOURNAL Adventures in Capitalism THE I work for a company called Me STREET JOURNAL Adventures in Capitalism Thriving in 24/7 (Sally Helgesen) START AT THE CORE. Nimbleness only possible if we “locate our inner voice,” take regular inventory of where we are. LEARN TO ZIGZAG. Think “gigs.” Think lifelong learning. Forget “old loyalty.” Work on optimism. CREATE OUR OWN WORK. Articulate your value. Integrate your passions. I.D. your market. Run your own business. WEAVE A STRONG WEB OF INCLUSION. Build your own support network. Master the art of “looking people up.” 49. Enthusiasm! BZ: “I am a … Dispenser of Enthusiasm!” “A leader is a dealer in hope.” Napoleon (+TP’s writing room pics) 50. Talent = Brand. What’s your company’s … Employee Value Proposition, per Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent EVP = Challenge, professional growth, respect, satisfaction, opportunity, reward Source: Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent The Top 5 “Revelations” Better talent wins. Talent management is my job as leader. Talented leaders are looking for the moon and stars. Over-deliver on people’s dreams – they are volunteers. Pump talent in at all levels, from all conceivable sources, all the time. Source: Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent MantraM3 Talent = Brand