LONG
Tom Peters’
RE-IMAGINE
EXCELLENCE.
INNOVATE. NOW.
OR PERISH.
2014 PAI Market Partner Conference
05 December/Punta Cana
(slides at tompeters.com; also see excellencenow.com)
“Meet Your
Next Surgeon:
Dr. Robot”
“Meet Your
Next Surgeon:
Dr. Robot”
Source: Feature/Fortune/15 JAN 2013/on Intuitive Surgical’s
da Vinci
/multiple bypass heart-surgery robot
(“Almost all health care people get is going to be done by
algorithms within a decade or two.” —Michael Vassar/MetaMed)
“The combination of new
market rules and new
technology was turning the
stock market into, in effect,
a war of
robots.”
—Michael Lewis,
“Goldman’s Geek Tragedy,” Vanity Fair, 09.13
“Steve, you’re costing
me a hundred
nanoseconds.
Can you at least cross
it diagonally?”
[$1B/Millisecond]
Source: Michael Lewis, Flash Boys
Let’s Welcome Our Newest
Board Member: “Just like
other members of the board,
the algorithm gets to vote on
whether the firm makes an
investment in a specific
company or not. The
program will be the sixth
member of DKV's board.”
—Business Insider, 13 May 2014:
“A Hong Kong VC fund has just appointed an algorithm to its board.”
“Automation has become so sophisticated
that on a typical passenger flight, a human
pilot holds the controls for a grand total of
…
3
minutes.
[Pilots] have become, it’s not much of an
exaggeration to say, computer operators
[c.f., AF447].” —Nicholas Carr, the Atlantic, 11.13
“The next frontier is a wireless
technology called
v2x
,
which companies in America, Europe and
Japan are developing. It encapsulates
vehicle-to-vehicle
and vehicle-to-infrastructure
communications. Special modems allow
v2x-equipped cars to talk
to each other and to the world around
them.”
—Mary Barra, CEO, GM, in the Economist, “The World in 2015,” December 2014
“Proteus Digital
Health
SENSOR PILLS:
is one of several pioneers in sensor-based health
technology. They make a silicon chip the size of a grain of sand that is embedded
When the chip mixes with
stomach acids, the processor is powered by the body’s
electricity and transmits data to a patch worn on the skin.
That patch, in turn, transmits data via Bluetooth to a
mobile app, which then transmits the data to a central
database where a health technician can verify if a patient
has taken her or his medications.
into a safely digested pill that is swallowed.
“This is a bigger deal than it may seem. In 2012, it was estimated that people not
$258 billion in emergency room visits,
hospitalization, and doctor visits. An average of 130,000 Americans die
taking their prescribed medications cost
each year because they don’t follow their prescription regimens closely enough..”
(The FDA approved placebo testing in April 2012; sensor pills are ticketed to come to
market in 2015 or 2016.)
Source: Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data and the Future of Privacy
IoT/The Internet of Things
IoE/The Internet of Everything
M2M/Machine-to-Machine
Ubiquitous computing
Embedded computing
Pervasive computing
Industrial Internet
Etc.* ** ***
*“More Than 50
BILLION connected devices by 2020” —Ericsson
**Estimated 212 BILLION connected devices by 2020—IDC
***“By 2025 IoT could be applicable to $82 TRILLION of output or
approximately one half the global economy”—GE (The WAGs to end all WAGs!)
China/Foxconn:
1,000,000
robots/next 3 years
Source: Race AGAINST the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
“Since 1996, manufacturing
employment in China itself
has actually fallen by an
estimated 25 percent. That’s
over 30 million fewer Chinese
workers in that sector, even
while output soared by
70 percent. It’s not that American workers
are being replaced by Chinese workers. It’s that both
American and Chinese workers are being made more
efficient by automation.”
—Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, The Second Machine Age:
Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a time of Brilliant Technologies
“Ten Million Jobs at Risk from Advancing
Technology: Up to 35 percent of Britain's jobs will
be eliminated by new computing and robotics
technology over the next 20 years, say experts
[Deloitte/Oxford University].” —Headline,Telegraph (UK), 11 November 2014
“I believe that 90 percent of white-
collar/‘knowledge-work’ jobs—which are 80
percent of all jobs—in the U.S. will be either
destroyed or altered beyond recognition in the
next 10 to 15 years.” —Tom Peters, Cover,Time, 22 May 2000
“The machine plays no
favorites between manual and
white collar labor.” —Norbert Wiener, 1958
“Software is
eating the
world.”
—Marc Andreessen
“Human level
capability has not
turned out to be a
special stopping point
from an engineering
perspective. ….”
Source: Illah Reza Nourbakhsh, Professor of Robotics, Carnegie Mellon, Robot Futures
NOT
“The root of our problem is
that we’re in a “Great Recession”
or a “Great Stagnation,” but rather
that we are in the early
Great
Restructuring
throes of a
.
Our technologies are racing ahead,
but our skills and organizations
are lagging behind.”
“I would rather engage in a Twitter
conversation with a single
customer than see our company
attempt to attract the attention of
millions in a coveted Super Bowl
commercial. Why? Because having people discuss your
brand directly with you, actually connecting one-to-one, is far more
valuable—not to mention far cheaper! …
“Consumers want to discuss what they like, the companies they
support, and the organizations and leaders they resent. They want a
community. They want to be heard. …
“[I]f we engage employees, customers, and prospective customers in
meaningful dialogue about their lives, challenges, interests, and
concerns, we can build a community of trust, loyalty, and—possibly over
time—help them become advocates and champions for the brand.”
—Peter Aceto, CEO, Tangerine (from the Foreword to A World Gone Social: How
Companies Must Adapt to Survive, by Ted Coine & Mark Babbit)
Going “Social”: Location and Size Independent
“Today, despite the fact that we’re just a little swimming
pool company in Virginia, we have the most trafficked
swimming pool website in the world. Five years ago, if
you’d asked me and my business partners what we do, the
answer would have been simple, ‘We build in-ground
‘We
are the best teachers
… in the world … on the
fiberglass swimming pools.’ Now we say,
subject of fiberglass swimming pools,
and we also happen to build them.’”
—Jay Baer, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help, Not Hype
Walmart SV =
1,500
Tom Peters’
RE-IMAGINE
EXCELLENCE.
INNOVATE. NOW.
OR PERISH.
2014 PAI Market Partner Conference
05 December/Punta Cana
(slides at tompeters.com; also see excellencenow.com)
“What’s really interesting is
that over the
next five
years we’re going to see every
industry exposed to reinvention of
how people put products and
services together, how work
is done, what kind of jobs and
skills are needed, what can
be handled by technology.”
—John Sculley, startup investor, former Apple CEO
-1/+1/2
“I am often asked by
would-be entrepreneurs
seeking escape from life
within huge corporate
structures, ‘How do I build
a small firm for myself?’
The answer seems
obvious …
Source: Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics
“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 500
-1/+1*
*Every …
!
2 weeks
Source: Richard Foster (via Rita McGrath/HBR/12.26.13
“Mr. Foster and his McKinsey colleagues collected
detailed performance data stretching back
years for
1,000
found that
U.S. companies.
40
They
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
Middle-sized
NicheMicro-niche
Dominators!
THE RED
CARPET
STORE
(Joel Resnick/Flemington NJ)
•*Basement Systems Inc.
(Larry Janesky/Seymour CT)
*Dry Basement Science
(100,000++ copies!)
*1990: $0; 2003: $13M;
2010: $80,000,000
The Magicians of Motueka & the Mittelstand Trifecta
W.A. Coppins Ltd.*
(Coppins Sea Anchors/
PSA/para sea anchors)
*Textiles, 1898; thrive on
“wicked problems”
—e.g., U.S. Navy STLVAST (Small To Large Vehicle At Sea Transfer);
W. Wiggins Ltd./Wellington
(specialty nylon, “Dyneema,” from DSM/Netherlands)
custom fabric from
THE DOCK DOCTORS
Custom Products & Shoreline Solutions
Every waterfront property is different, from the topography of
the shoreline to exposure and water depths. Our custom
products are designed and fabricated based on your specific
property and recreational needs. Whether you are interested in a
dock,
stair system, hillside elevator, or boat lift, we will design,
manufacture, and install a custom product to accommodate your
desires for a perfect waterfront.
We offer innovative solutions and the most diverse waterfront
product line on the East Coast. Whether your project is unusual
or traditional, our years Commercial
of experience
consulting, designing, and
Division
manufacturing commercial projects for a variety of entities such
as municipalities, marina facilities, hydro plants, engineers, and
land planners. Marinas, piers, stairs, shoreside platforms, and
wetland and pedestrian walkways piers, are only some of the
examples of commercial projects that
we specialize in.
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
Aizen Kobo
Indigo
Workshop
Going “Social”: Location and Size Independent
“Today, despite the fact that we’re just a little swimming
pool company in Virginia, we have the most trafficked
swimming pool website in the world. Five years ago, if
you’d asked me and my business partners what we do, the
answer would have been simple, ‘We build in-ground
‘We
are the best teachers
… in the world … on the
fiberglass swimming pools.’ Now we say,
subject of fiberglass swimming pools,
and we also happen to build them.’”
—Jay Baer, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help, Not Hype
Retail Superstars:
Inside the 25 Best
Independent Stores
in America
—by George Whalin
JUNGLE JIM’S INTERNATIONAL MARKET, FAIRFIELD, OH:
“An adventure in
‘shoppertainment,’ begins in the parking lot
and goes on to
1,600
cheeses and
1,400
varieties of hot sauce—not to mention 12,000 wines priced from
$8-$8,000
4,000
a bottle; all this is brought to you by
vendors. Customers from every corner of the globe.”
BRONNER’S CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND, FRANKENMUTH, MI, POP
5,000: 98,000-square-foot “shop” features
ornaments,
50,000
6,000
Christmas
trims, and anything else you can
name pertaining to Christmas. …”
“BE THE BEST.
IT’S THE ONLY
MARKET THAT’S
NOT CROWDED.”
From: Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best
Independent Stores in America, George Whalin
MITTELSTAND*
*“agile creatures darting between
the legs of the multinational
monsters”
(Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 10.10)
Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed’: THE THREE RULES:
How Exceptional Companies Think*:
1. Better before cheaper.
2. Revenue before cost.
3. There are no other rules.
(*From a database of over 25,000 companies from hundreds of industries covering 45 years, they
uncovered 344 companies that qualified as statistically “exceptional.”)
Jeff Colvin, Fortune: “The Economy Is Scary … But Smart
Companies Can Dominate”:
They manage for value—not for EPS.
They keep developing human capital.
They get radically customer-centric.
“‘Commodity’ is a
state of mind.
ANYTHING can be
DRAMATICALLY
differentiated.”
Small Giants: Companies that Chose to
Be Great Instead of Big (Bo Burlingham)
“THEY CULTIVATED EXCEPTIONALLY INTIMATE
RELATIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS, based
on personal contact, one-on-one interaction, and mutual
commitment to delivering on promises.
“EACH COMPANY HAD AN EXTRAORDINARILY INTIMATE
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LOCAL CITY, TOWN, OR COUNTY in
which it did business—a relationship that went well beyond
the usual concept of ‘giving back.’
“The companies had what struck me as UNUSUALLY
INTIMATE WORKPLACES.
“I noticed the PASSION that the leaders brought to what the
company did. THEY LOVED THE SUBJECT MATTER, whether it
be music, safety lighting, food, special effects, constant
torque hinges, beer, records storage, construction, dining, or
fashion."
Where the +201,000 new private-sector
jobs came from …
51% Small firms
41% Medium-sized*
8% Big
Source: ADP National Employment Report/March 2011
*E.g., German MITTELSTAND
“The average age of a startup
founder is 40. And high-
growth startups are nearly
twice as likely to be
launched by people over
55
20-34.”
as by people
—Vivek Wadhwa, Kauffman foundation (Time/0325.13)
0/800:
Innovate
or Perish/
Extreme Times
DEMAND
Extreme Solutions
“Normal” =
“0
*There are …
for
ZERO
800”
… “normal people” in the history books.
“INSANELY GREAT”
STEVE JOBS
“RADICALLY THRILLING”
BMW
“Astonish me!”
(Sergei Diaghlev, to a lead dancer)
“Build something great!”
(Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo, to a senior game designer)
“Make it immortal!”
(David Ogilvy, to a copywriter).
“Let us create such
a building that
future generations
will take us for
lunatics.”
—the church hierarchs at Seville, on a prospective cathedral
“You can’t behave in
a calm, rational
manner. You’ve got
to be out there on
the lunatic fringe.”
— Jack Welch
“We are crazy. We should do
something when people say it is
If people say
something is ‘good’, it
means someone else
is already doing it.”
‘crazy.’
—Hajime Mitarai, CEO, Canon
Kevin Roberts’ Credo
1. Ready. Fire! Aim.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
If it ain’t broke ... Break it!
Hire crazies.
Ask dumb questions.
Pursue failure.
Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!
Spread confusion.
Ditch your office.
Read odd stuff.
10.
AVOID MODERATION!
!
EXCELLENCE
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A Bias for Action
Close to the Customer
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
Productivity Through People
Hands On, Value-Driven
Stick to the Knitting
Simple Form, Lean Staff
Simultaneous Loose-Tight
Properties
“Breakthrough” 82*
People!
Customers!
Action!
Values!
*In Search of Excellence
EXCELLENCE is
not a “long-term”
"aspiration.”
EXCELLENCE is not a “longterm” "aspiration.”
EXCELLENCE is the ultimate
short-term strategy.
EXCELLENCE is … THE
NEXT
5
MINUTES.*
(*Or NOT.)
EXCELLENCE is not an "aspiration."
EXCELLENCE is … THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
EXCELLENCE
Or not.
is your next conversation.
is your next meeting.
is shutting up and listening—really listening.
is your next customer contact.
is saying “Thank you” for something “small.”
is the next time you shoulder responsibility and apologize.
is waaay over-reacting to a screw-up.
is the flowers you brought to work today.
is lending a hand to an “outsider” who’s fallen behind schedule.
is bothering to learn the way folks in finance (or IS or HR) think.
is waaay “over”-preparing for a 3-minute presentation.
is turning “insignificant” tasks into models of … EXCELLENCE.
“Why in the
World did you
go to Siberia?”
An emotional, vital,
innovative, joyful, creative,
entrepreneurial endeavor that elicits
maximum
Enterprise* (*at its best):
concerted human
potential in the
wholehearted pursuit of
EXCELLENCE in
service of others.**
**Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
“It may sound radical, unconventional, and
bordering on being a crazy business idea.
However— as ridiculous as it sounds—joy is the
core belief of our workplace.
Joy
is the reason my company,
Menlo Innovations, a customer software design
and development firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
exists. It defines what we do and how we do it.
It is the single shared belief of our entire team.”
Joy, Inc.:
How We Built a Workplace People Love
—Richard Sheridan,
Hard is Soft.
Soft is Hard.
/48
1/48/1966-2014
WTTMSW
WHOEVER
TRIES
THE
MOST
STUFF
WINS
Excellence82: 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
READY.
FIRE!
AIM.
H. Ross Perot (vs “Aim! Aim! Aim!” /EDS vs GM/1985)
“WE HAVE A
STRATEGIC PLAN.
IT’S CALLED ‘DOING
THINGS.’ ”
—Herb Kelleher
“DON’T ‘PLAN.’
DO STUFF.”
—David Kelley/IDEO
“We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were
omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the
We fixed them by doing it
over and over, again and again. We do
software.
the same today. While our competitors are still sucking
their thumbs trying to make the design perfect, we’re
already on prototype version
# 5.
By the time our
rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on version
#10. It gets back to planning
versus acting: We act from day one;
others plan how to plan—for
months.” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
“You can’t be a serious
innovator unless and until
you are ready, willing and
able to seriously play.
‘Serious play’ is
not an oxymoron; it is
the essence of innovation.”
—Michael Schrage, Serious Play
“Learn not to
be careful.”
—Photographer Diane Arbus to her students
(Careful = Stay on the sidelines)
“EXPERIMENT
FEARLESSLY”
—BusinessWeek, “Type A Organization Strategies: How to Hit a Moving Target”—Tactic
#1
“RELENTLESS TRIAL
AND ERROR”
Source: Wall Street Journal, “cornerstone” of effective approach to “rebalancing” company
portfolios in the face of changing and uncertain global economic conditions
“Burt Rutan [Scaled Composites] wasn’t a fighter pilot; he was
an engineer who had been asked to figure out why the
[U.S. Air Force] F-4 Phantom was flying pilots into the ground in
Vietnam. While his fellow engineers attacked such tasks with
calculators, Rutan insisted on considering the problem in the
air. A near-fatal flight not only led to a critical F-4 modification,
it also confirmed for Rutan a notion he had held ever since he
The way to
make a better aircraft wasn’t to sit
around perfecting a design, it was
to get something up in the air and
see what happens, then try to fix
whatever goes wrong.”
had built model airplanes as a child.
—Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8, “Messy Leadership,”
from A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
“What are Rutan’s management rules? He
insists he doesn’t have any. ‘I don’t like rules,’
he says. ‘Things are so easy to change if you
don’t write them down.’ Rutan feels good
management works in much the same way
Instead of
trying to figure out the best
way to do something and
sticking to it, just try out an
approach and keep fixing it.”
good aircraft design does:
—Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8, “Messy Leadership,”
from A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
“A Rutan principle is that it’s useful
to have everyone questioning
everything the company does
all the time, and especially have
people questioning their own work.
Rutan makes sure that when
employees point out their mistakes,
they’re applauded rather than
reprimanded.” —Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8,
“Messy Leadership,” A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
Bert Rutan’s No Rules “Rules”
*Get going, now; fix it after you’ve
gotten started.
*Forget “best,” forget rules—just run like
mad and adjust fast.
*People with passion and breadth—given
freedom from Day #1 to try any-damnthing. (Specialism secondary.)
*Everyone questions everything
(and everyone) all the time.
*Applaud mistakes—AND the person who
made them.
FAIL.
FORWARD.
FAST.
“FAIL. FORWARD. FAST.”
—High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
“FAIL FASTER.
SUCCEED SOONER.”
—David Kelley/IDEO
“MOVE FAST.
BREAK THINGS.”
—Facebook
“ ‘Success,’ Honda said, ‘can
only be achieved through
repeated failure and
introspection. Success
represents one percent of
your work, which results
only from the ninety-nine
percent that is called
failure.’ ”
—Jeffrey Rothfeder, Driving Honda:
Inside the World’s Most Innovative Car Company
“REWARD
excellent failures.
PUNISH mediocre
successes.”
—Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
“In business, you REWARD people
WHEN IT
DOESN’T WORK
OUT YOU
PROMOTE THEM -
for taking RISKS.
BECAUSE THEY WERE WILLING
TO TRY NEW THINGS. If people tell
me they skied all day and never fell
down, I tell them to try a different
mountain.” —Michael Bloomberg
“Ideas Economy:
CAN YOUR
BUSINESS FAIL
FAST ENOUGH TO
SUCCEED?”
Source: ad for Economist
Conference/0328.13/Berkeley CA (caps are Economist)
“THE ESSENCE
OF CAPITALISM IS
ENCOURAGING
FAILURE, NOT
REWARDING
SUCCESS.”
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb/Antifragile
“It is not enough to
‘tolerate’ failure—
you must
‘CELEBRATE’
failure.”
—Richard Farson (Whoever Makes the Most
Mistakes Wins)
“I am a
dispenser of
enthusiasm.”
—Ben Zander, symphony conductor and management guru
“I What really matters is that companies
that don’t continue to experiment—
companies that don’t
embrace
failure —they eventually get in a
desperate position, where the only thing
they can do is make a ‘Hail Mary’ bet at
the end.”
—Jeff Bezos at Business Insider “Ignition” conference, 1202.14
WTTMSASTMSUW
WHOEVER
TRIES
THE
MOST
STUFF
AND
SCREWS
THE
MOST
STUFF
UP
WINS
Tempo/
Temperament
WTTMSASTMSUTFW
WHOEVER
TRIES
THE
MOST
STUFF
AND
SCREWS
THE
MOST
STUFF
UP
THE
FASTEST
WINS
WHOEVER
TRIES
THE
MOST
STUFF
AND
SCREWS
THE
MOST
STUFF
UP
THE
FASTEST
WINS
“If things seem under
control, you’re just not
going fast enough.”
—Mario Andretti, race driver
“I’m not comfortable unless
I’m uncomfortable.”
—Jay Chiat
“If it works, it’s obsolete.”
—Marshall McLuhan
“We eat
change for
breakfast.”
—Harry Quadracci, founder, QuadGraphics
Antifragile*:
Things That
GAIN
From Disorder
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb
*Not to be confused with … RESILIENCE
Are
We
What
We Eat
“You will become like
the five people you
associate with the
most —this can be
either a blessing or a
curse.”
—Billy Cox
“IT IS HARDLY POSSIBLE TO
OVERRATE THE VALUE OF PLACING
HUMAN BEINGS IN CONTACT WITH
PERSONS DIS-SIMILAR TO THEMSELVES,
AND WITH MODES OF THOUGHT AND
ACTION UNLIKE THOSE WITH WHICH
THEY ARE FAMILIAR. SUCH
COMMUNICATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN,
AND IS PECULIARLY IN THE PRESENT
AGE, ONE OF THE PRIMARY SOURCES
OF PROGRESS.” —John Stuart Mill
Diversity:
The “We are what we eat”
axiom: At its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership decision
(employee, vendor, customer, etc) is a
strategic decision about:
“Innovate,
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”
“The Bottleneck …
“The Bottleneck is at the …
“Where are you likely to find people with
the least diversity of experience, the
largest investment in the past,
and the greatest reverence for
industry dogma …
Top of the
Bottle.”
— Gary Hamel/Harvard Business Review
“Who’s the most
interesting person
you’ve met in the last
90 days? How do I
get in touch with
them?”
—Fred Smith
“What is your most
marked characteristic?”
Vanity Fair:
Mike Bloomberg:
“Curiosity.”
“If I had to
pick one failing
of CEOs, it’s
that …
—Co-founder of one of the largest investment services firms in the USA/world
“If I had to pick one failing of
they
don’t read
enough.”
CEOs, it’s that …
“Do one thing
every day that
scares you.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
INNOVATION’s
BEDROCK:
MATCHLESS/
IMAGINATIVE
TALENT.
“Business has to
give people
enriching,
rewarding lives …
1/4,096: excellencenow.com
“Business has to give people enriching,
or it's
simply not
worth doing.”
rewarding lives …
—Richard Branson
“You have to
treat your
employees like
customers.”
—Herb Kelleher,
upon being asked his “secret to success”
Source: Joe Nocera, NYT, “Parting Words of an Airline Pioneer,”
on the occasion of Herb Kelleher’s retirement after 37 years at Southwest
Airlines (SWA’s pilots union took out a full-page ad in USA Today
thanking HK for all he had done) ; across the way in Dallas, American
Airlines’ pilots were picketing AA’s Annual Meeting)
"If you want staff to
give great service,
give great service to
staff."
—Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman's
“In a world where customers wake up
every morning asking, ‘What’s new, what’s
success
depends on a company’s
ability to unleash initiative,
imagination and passion of
employees at all levels —and this
different, what’s amazing?’
can only happen if all those folks are
connected heart and soul to their work
[their ‘calling’], their company and their
mission.” —John Mackey and Raj Sisoda, Conscious Capitalism:
Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business
"When I hire
someone, that's
when I go to
work for
them.”
—John DiJulius, "What's the Secret
to Providing a World-class Customer Experience"
EXCELLENT
customer experience
depends … entirely …
on EXCELLENT
employee experience!
If you want to WOW your
FIRST
customers,
you
must WOW those who
WOW the customers!
Oath of Office: Managers/Servant Leaders
Our goal is to serve our customers brilliantly and profitably over
the long haul.
Serving our customers brilliantly and profitably over the long
haul is a product of brilliantly serving, over the long haul, the
people who serve the customer.
Hence, our job as leaders—the alpha and the omega and
everything in between—is aiding the sustained growth and
success and engagement and enthusiasm and commitment to
Excellence of those, one at a time, who directly or indirectly
serve the ultimate customer.
We—leaders of every stripe—are in the “Human Growth and
Development and Success and Aspiration to Excellence
business.”
“We” (leaders) only grow when “they” (each and every one of our colleagues) are
growing.
“We” (leaders) only succeed when “they” (each and every one of our colleagues)
are succeeding.
“We” (leaders) only energetically march toward Excellence when
“they” (each and every one of our colleagues) are energetically marching
toward Excellence.
Period.
Our Mission
TO DEVELOP AND MANAGE TALENT;
TO APPLY THAT TALENT,
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CLIENTS;
TO DO SO IN PARTNERSHIP;
TO DO SO WITH PROFIT.
WPP
Your principal
moral obligation as a leader is to
develop the skillset, “soft” and
“hard,” of every one of the people
in your charge (temporary as well
as semi-permanent) to the
maximum extent of your abilities.
The good news: This is also the
#1 mid- to long-term …
profit maximization strategy!
CORPORATE MANDATE #1 2014:
“The role of the Director is to
create a space where the actors
become
more than they’ve ever
been before,
more than they’ve
dreamed of being.”
and actresses can
—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
“Contrary to conventional
corporate thinking, treating
retail workers much
better may make everyone
(including their employers)
much richer.” —New York Times/ 01.05.14,
Adam Davidson, Planet Money/NPR (Cited in particular, “The
Good Jobs Strategy,” by M.I.T. professor Zeynep Ton)
Wegmans
(was #1 in USA)
Container Store
(was #1 in USA)
Whole Foods
Costco
Publix
Darden Restaurants
Build-A-Bear
Workshops
Starbucks
Training =
Investment
#1
Training = Investment
#1
: In the Army,
3-star generals worry about
training. In most businesses,
the top training post is a “ho
hum” mid-level staff slot.
Is your CTO/Chief
Training Officer your top
paid “C-level” job (other
than CEO/COO)?
Are your top trainers
paid/cherished as much as
your top marketers/
engineers?
Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer your top paid “C-level” job (other than CEO/COO)?
If not, why not?
Are your top trainers paid as much as your top marketers and engineers?
If not, why not?
Are your training
courses so good they
make you “jump with
joy”?
If not, why not?
Randomly stop an employee in the hall: Can she/he meticulously describe her/his development plan for the next 12
months?
If not, why not?
Why is your world of business any different than the (competitive) world of rugby, football, opera, theater,
the military?
If “people/talent first” and hyper-intense continuous training are laughably obviously for them, why not you?
Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer your top paid “C-level” job (other than CEO/COO)?
If not, why not?
Are your top trainers paid as much as your top marketers and engineers?
If not, why not?
Are your training courses so good they make you giggle and tingle?
If not, why not?
Randomly stop an employee
in the hall: Can she/he
meticulously describe her/his
development plan for the
next 12 months?
If not, why not?
Why is your world of business any different than the (competitive) world of rugby, football, opera,
theater,
the military?
If “people/talent first” and hyper-intense continuous training are laughably obviously for them,
why not you?
Gambling Man
>> 5 of 10 CEOs see
training as expense rather than
investment.
Bet #2: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see
training as defense rather than
offense.
Bet #3: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see
training as “necessary evil”
rather than “strategic
opportunity.”
Bet #1:
>> 8 of 10
CEOs, in 45-min
“tour d’horizon” of
their biz, would
NOT mention
training.
Bet #4:
Training #1: Bottom Line
NOBODY
gets off the
hook! “Training & Development Maniac”
applies as much to the leader of the
4-PERSON
BUSINESS as to the chief of
the 44,444-person business.
#3: Provide a prideworthy job.*
#2: Help people be
successful at their
current job.
#1: Help people grow/
prepare for an
uncertain future.**
*“Provide a secure job.”—NOT POSSIBLE IN 2014.
**Society—and profitability—demands this. (Or should!)
Hiring
“Development can help great people
be even better— but
if
I had a dollar to spend, I’d
70 cents
spend
getting the right person in
the door.”
—Paul Russell, Director, Leadership and
Development, Google
2/Year =
Legacy
Promotion Decisions
“life and
death
decisions”
Source: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
st
1 -Line
Bosses
(Cadre of) =
Productivity Asset
#1!
If the regimental commander lost most of his
2nd lieutenants and 1st lieutenants and captains
If he
lost his sergeants it
would be a
catastrophe. The Army and the
and majors, it would be a tragedy.
Navy are fully aware that success on the
battlefield is dependent to an extraordinary
degree on its Sergeants and Chief Petty
Officers. Does industry have the same
awareness?
Employee retention
& satisfaction & productivity:
Overwhelmingly
based on the
first-line
manager!
Source: Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman, First, Break All the
Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently
“People leave
managers not
companies.”
—Dave Wheeler
Is there ONE “secret” to
productivity and
employee satisfaction?
YES!
The Quality of your
FULL CADRE of …
1st-line Leaders.
COUNTER-ATTACK:
ADDING A
STRATEGIC
SERVICES
COMPONENT TO
OUR PRODUCTS
“Rolls-Royce now earns
more from tasks such
as managing clients’ overall
procurement strategies and
maintaining aerospace
engines it sells than it does
from making them.”
—Economist
“You are headed
for commodity
hell if you don’t
have services.”
—Lou Gerstner
M
IBM
IB
to
PS
UPS
U
to
“UPS used to be a trucking
company with technology. Now
it’s a technology company with
trucks.”
—Forbes
“It’s all about solutions. We
work with customers on
creating and running better,
stronger, cheaper supply
chains.”
—Bob Stoffel, UPS senior exec
“The business of selling is not just about matching
viable solutions to the customers that require them.
It’s equally about managing
the change process the
customer will need to go
through to implement the
solution and achieve the value
promised by the solution. One of
the key differentiators of our position in the market is
our attention to managing change and making change
stick in our customers’ organization.”
—Jeff Thull, The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale
DESIGN
PRIMACY
Design
#1
APPLE market
capitalization
> Exxon Mobil*
*August 2011
“Design is
TREATED
LIKE A
RELIGION
at BMW.” —Fortune
Hypothesis:
DESIGN is the
principal difference
love and
hate!*
between
*Not “like” and “dislike”
Design is …
NEVER
… Neutral.
C
*Chief
O*
Design Officer
Hypothesis: Men
CANNOT
design for women’s
!!??
needs
Women BUY
(Everything)
!
“Forget CHINA,
INDIA and the
INTERNET: Economic
Growth Is Driven by
WOMEN.”
Source: Headline, Economist
W>
2X (C + I)*
*“Women now drive the global economy. Globally, they control about $20
trillion in consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as
$28 trillion
in the next five years. Their
$13 trillion in total yearly earnings could reach $18 trillion in the same
period. In aggregate, women represent a growth market bigger than China and India combined—more than
twice as big in fact. Given those numbers, it would be foolish to ignore or underestimate the female consumer. And
yet many companies do just that—even ones that are confidant that they have a winning strategy when it comes to
women. Consider Dell’s …”
Source: Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre, “The Female Economy,” HBR, 09.09
“Women are
THE majority
market”
—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
Women as Decision Makers/Various Sources
Home Furnishings …
Vacations …
92%
94%
(Adventure Travel … 70%/ $55B travel equipment)
91%
D.I.Y.
… 80%
Consumer Electronics … 51%
Cars … 68% (influence 90%)
Houses …
(major “home projects”)
(66% home computers)
All consumer purchases …
Bank Account …
83% *
89%
67%
Small business loans/biz starts … 70%
Health Care … 80%
Household investment decisions …
MOST
SIGNIFICANT
VARIABLE in EVERY
“The
sales situation is the
GENDER
of the buyer, and
more importantly, how the
salesperson communicates to
the buyer’s gender.”
—Jeffery Tobias Halter, Selling to Men, Selling to Women
The Perfect Answer
Jill and Jack buy
slacks in black…
Sales/After-sales Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Initiation – Women
Research – Women
Purchase – Men
Ownership – Women
Word-of-mouth – Women
Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women: How to Increase Your Share of the World’s Largest Market
“I speak to you with a feminine voice. It’s the
voice of democracy, of equality. I am certain,
THAT THIS
WILL BE THE
WOMAN’S CENTURY.
ladies and gentlemen,
In the Portuguese language, words such as life,
soul, and hope are of the feminine gender, as
are other words like courage and sincerity.”
—President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, 1st woman to keynote
the United Nations General Assembly (2011)
“I speak to you with a feminine voice.
It’s the voice of democracy, of equality.
that
this will be
the woman’s
century.
I am certain, ladies and gentlemen,
In the Portuguese language,
words such as life, soul, and hope are of the feminine
gender, as are other words like courage and sincerity.”
—President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, 1st woman to
keynote the United Nations General Assembly (2011)
“AS
LEADERS,
WOMEN
RULE:
New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male
counterparts in almost every measure”
TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
“Research suggests that
to succeed, start by
promoting women.”
—Nicholas Kristof, “Twitter, Women, and Power,” NYTimes
“In my experience,
women make much
better executives than
men.”
—Kip Tindell, CEO, Container Store
“McKinsey & Company found that the
international companies with more women on
their corporate
boards far outperformed the average
company
in return on equity and other measures.
Operating profit was
56%
higher.”
—Nicholas Kristof, “Twitter, Women, and Power,” NYTimes, 1024.13
8/80
EXPERIENCE DESIGN:
“AGE OF
TGRs”*
THE
*Things Gone
RIGHT
Customers describing their
service experience as
“superior”:
8%
Companies describing
the service experience they
provide as
“superior”:
80%
—Source: Bain & Company survey of 362 companies, reported in John DiJulius,
What's the Secret to Providing a World-class Customer Experience?
Conveyance: Kingfisher Air
Location: Approach to New Delhi
“May I clean
your glasses,
sir?”
BEGINS
(and ENDS)
It
in the …
PARKING
LOT*
*Disney
<TGW
and …
>TGR
(Things Gone
WRONG-Things Gone RIGHT)
TGRS.
MANAGE ’EM.
MEASURE ’EM.*
*I use “manage-measure” a lot. Translation: These are
not “soft” ideas; they are exceedingly important things
that can be managed—AND measured.
“Experiences
are as distinct
from services
as services are
from goods.”
—Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore, The Experience Economy:
Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage
C
*Chief e
O*
Xperience Officer
LBTs
Little =
*Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister
Big carts =
Source: Walmart
Bag sizes = New markets:
Source: PepsiCo
2X: “When Friedman
slightly
curved
the right angle of an
entrance corridor to one property, he
was ‘amazed at the magnitude of
change in pedestrians’ behavior’—the
percentage who entered increased from
one-third to nearly two-thirds.”
—Natasha Dow Schull, Addiction By Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas
Machine Gambling
“Pleasing” odor #1 vs.
“pleasing” odor #2:
+45% revenue
Source: “Effects of Ambient Odors on Slot-Machine Useage in Las Vegas
Casinos,” reported in Natasha Dow Schull, Addiction By Design:
Machine Gambling in Las Vegas (66% revenue, 85% profit)
(1) Amenable to rapid
experimentation/
failure “free” (PR, $$)
(2) Quick to implement/
Quick to Roll out
(3) Inexpensive to
implement/Roll out
(4) Huge multiplier
(5) An “Attitude”
LEADERSHIP
For
EXCELLENCE
MBWA
Managing
By
Wandering
Around
“I’m always stopping by our
at least
a week.
stores—
25
I’m also in other
places: Home Depot, Whole Foods,
Crate & Barrel. I try to be
a sponge to pick up as much
as I can.” —Howard Schultz
Source: Fortune, “Secrets of Greatness”
“Most managers spend a great deal of time thinking about what they plan to do, but relatively little time thinking about what
they plan not to do. As a result, they become so caught up … in fighting the fires of the moment that they cannot really
attend to the long-term threats and risks facing the organization. So the first soft skill of leadership the hard way is to
cultivate the perspective of Marcus Aurelius: avoid busyness, free up your time, stay focused on what really matters.
Let me put it bluntly: every leader should
routinely keep a substantial portion of
his or her time—I would say as much as
50
percent—unscheduled.
…
Only when you have substantial ‘slop’ in your schedule—unscheduled time—will you have the space to reflect on what you
are doing, learn from experience, and recover from your inevitable mistakes. Leaders without such free time end up tackling
issues only when there is an immediate or visible problem. Managers’ typical response to my argument about free time is,
Yet we waste so much time in
unproductive activity—it takes an enormous effort on the part of the
leader to keep free time for the truly important things.”
‘That’s all well and good, but there are things I have to do.’
—Dov
Frohman (& Robert Howard), Leadership The Hard Way: Why Leadership Can’t Be Taught—
And How You Can Learn It Anyway (Chapter 5, “The Soft Skills Of Hard Leadership”)
You = Your
calendar*
*The calendar
NEVER
lies.
“The
4 most
important
words in any
organization are …
THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN ANY ORGANIZATION
“WHAT
DO YOU
THINK?”
ARE …
Source: courtesy Dave Wheeler, posted at tompeters.com
“Employees who
don't feel significant
rarely make
significant
contributions.”
—Mark Sanborn
one
“If there is any
‘secret’
to effectiveness, it is
concentration. Effective
executives do first things first …
and they do one
thing at a time.”
—Peter Drucker
DRIVING INNOVATION
& EXCELLENCE:
1 Mouth,
2
Ears
“The doctor
interrupts
after …*
*Source: Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think
18 …
18 …
seconds!
(An obsession with) Listening is ... the ultimate mark
of
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
is
is
is
is
...
...
...
...
the heart and soul of Engagement.
the heart and soul of Kindness.
the heart and soul of Thoughtfulness.
the basis for true Collaboration.
the basis for true Partnership.
a Team Sport.
a Developable Individual Skill.* (*Though women
are far better at it than men.)
the basis for Community.
the bedrock of Joint Ventures that work.
the bedrock of Joint Ventures that grow.
the core of effective Cross-functional
Communication* (*Which is in turn Attribute #1 of
organization effectiveness.)
(cont.)
Respect
.
Best Listeners Win …
“IF YOU DON’T
LISTEN, YOU
DON’T SELL
ANYTHING.”
—Carolyn Marland
*8 of 10 sales presentations fail
*50% failed sales
talking
“at” before
listening!
presentations …
—Susan Scott, “Let Silence Do the Heavy Lifting,” chapter title,
Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life,
One Conversation at a Time
Suggested
Core Value
#1: “We are Effective
Listeners—we treat
Listening EXCELLENCE as
the Centerpiece of our
Commitment to Respect
and Engagement and
Community and Growth.”
CONRAD HILTON …
CONRAD HILTON, at a gala celebrating
his career, was called to the podium and
“What were the
most important
lessons you learned
in your long and
distinguished
career?” His answer …
asked,
“Remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub.”
IS
“EXECUTION
STRATEGY.”
—Fred Malek
“In real life, strategy
is actually very
straightforward.
Pick a general
and
implement
like hell.”
direction
…
—Jack Welch
“COSTCO FIGURED OUT
BIG,
SIMPLE THINGS
THE
AND
EXECUTED
WITH TOTAL
FANATICISM.”
—Charles Munger, Berkshire Hathaway
“The reasonable man adapts
himself to the world; the
unreasonable one persists in
trying to adapt the world to
himself. Therefore all progress
depends on the unreasonable
man.” —G.B. Shaw, Man and Superman: The Revolutionist’s Handbook
“Whenever anything is being
accomplished, it is being done, I
have learned, by a monomaniac
with a mission.” —Peter Drucker