All You Need to Know* *more or less (and in addition to the other speakers at GLAS) Tom Peters/Global Leaders Africa Summit/Johannesburg/21June2006 All You Need to Know* *more or less (and in addition to the other speakers at GLAS) Slides at … tompeters.com The Irreducible209 A frustrated participant at a seminar for investment bankers in Mauritius listened impatiently to my explanation of differences of opinion among me, Mike Porter, “What, if anything,” he asked, “do you believe ‘for sure’?” Gary Hamel, Jim Collins, etc. Finally, he’d had enough. I mumbled something, but his query started rumbling around in my mind. Three days later, wandering on a Sunday in London, the idea of “the irreducibles” occurred to me—and I started jotting down notes on stuff I do indeed believe “for sure.” Before I knew it, a few days later, the list had grown to 209 items. Hence “The Irreducible209” that follows. Tom Peters 1. 2. 3. 4. Hare 1, Tortoise 0. (Hare-y times.) Tempo. (O.O.D.A.) MBWA. Appreciation. (“Motivator” #1.) (Can’t be faked. Good.) 5. Decency. 6. Hurry. 7. Time out. 8. One matters. 9. Big change. Short time. (Alt not work.) 10. Excellence. Always. 11. Passion. Energy. Hustle. Enthusiasm. Exuberance. (Move mountains. No alt.) 12. You must care. 13. Emotion. 14. Hard is soft. (Soft is hard.) Astounding Tales THREE BILLION NEW CAPITALISTS —Clyde Prestowitz “The corporation as we know it, which is now 120 years old, is not likely to survive the next 25 years. Legally and financially, yes, but not structurally and economically.” —Peter Drucker “This is a dangerous world and it is going to become more dangerous.” “We may not be interested in chaos but chaos is interested in us.” Source: Robert Cooper, The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-first Century All You Need to Know* *more or less Cause “Create a ‘cause,’ not a ‘business.’’ —Gary Hamel “People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for , trust.” —Howard Schultz, Starbucks (IBD/09.05) “Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a ‘Who do we intend to be?’ leader always is: Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’” —Max De Pree, Herman Miller Quest “I don’t know.” Source: Karl Weick “Groups become great only when everyone in them, leaders and members alike, is free to do his or her absolute best.” “The best thing a leader can do for a Great Group is to allow its members to discover their greatness.” Source: Organizing Genius/Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward Biederman Leadership’s Mt Everest “free to do his or her absolute best” … “allow its members to discover their greatness.” “The role of the Director is to create a space where the actor or actress can become more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being.” —Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance “In the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management invites the workforce itself to change the culture.” —Lou Gerstner “We are a ‘life Success Company”’ —Dave Linegar, founder, RE/MAX Best Story “Storytelling is the core of culture.” —Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld, James Twitchell People “Leaders ‘do’ people.” —Anon. Les Wexner: From sweaters to people! “Connoisseur of Talent” Source: Colleague on PARC’s Bob Taylor “We believe companies can increase their market cap 50 percent in 3 years. Steve Macadam at Georgia- changed 20 of his 40 box plant managers to put more talented, higher paid managers in charge. He increased profitability from $25 million to $80 million in 2 years.” —Ed Michaels, War for Talent Pacific Brand = Talent. 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 People II Employees: “Are there enough weird people in the lab these days?” V. Chmn., pharmaceutical house, to a lab director People III A review of Jack and Suzy Welch’s Winning claims there are but two key differentiators that set GE “culture” apart from the herd: First: Separating financial forecasting and performance measurement. Performance measurement based, as it usually is, on budgeting leads to an epidemic of gaming the system. GE’s performance measurement is divorced from budgeting—and instead reflects how you do relative to your past performance and relative to competitors’ performance; ie it’s about how you actually do in the context of what happened in the real world, not as compared to a gamed-abstract plan developed last year. Second: Putting HR on a par with finance and marketing. DD$21M Decency “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 “The deepest human need is the need to be appreciated.” —William James “The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.” —Ken Langone “Thank you” Intangibles “Hard is soft. Soft is hard.”* *In Search of Excellence Selfmanagement “The First step in a ‘dramatic’ ‘organizational change program’ is obvious— dramatic personal change!” —RG “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi You = Your Calendar MBWA “A body can pretend to care, but they can’t pretend to be there.” — Texas Bix Bender “You can’t lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.” —John Peers, President, Logical Machine Corporation “To change minds effectively, leaders make particular use of two tools: the stories that they tell and the lives that they lead.” Changing Minds —Howard Gardner, Conformity “To grow, companies need to break out of a vicious cycle of competitive benchmarking and imitation.” —W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne, “Think for Yourself —Stop Copying a Rival,” Financial Times/08.11.03 “The short road to ruin is to emulate the methods of your adversary.” — Winston Churchill Conformity II “The Bottleneck is at the Top of the Bottle” “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? At the top!” — Gary Hamel/“Strategy or Revolution”/Harvard Business Review Action “Ninety percent of what we call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.” – Peter Drucker “We have a ‘strategic’ plan. It’s called doing things.” — Herb Kelleher “Execution is the job of the business leader.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done Action/ Bedrock “GE has set a standard of candor. … There is no puffery. … There isn’t an ounce of denial in the place.” —Kevin Sharer, CEO Amgen, on the “GE mystique” (Fortune) Try It Try It Try It “This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing you only find oil if you drill wells. how few oil people really understand that You may think you’re finding it when you’re drawing maps and studying logs, but you have to drill.” Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter (80%) “We made mistakes. Most of them were omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the software. We fixed them by doing it over and over, again and again. We do the same today: While our competitors are still sucking their thumbs trying to make the design perfect, we’re already on prototype version No. 5. By the time our rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on version No. 10. It gets back to planning versus acting: We act from day one; others plan how to plan—for months.” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg Screw It Up “Fail. Forward. Fast.” –High-tech Exec/PA “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” Phil Daniels, Sydney exec Sam’s Secret #1! “Tom, very simple. Sam was not afraid to fail.” —David Glass to TP, on the occasion of Sam’s induction into The Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame De-central-iza-tion! Ex-ecu-tion! Ac-counta-bil-ity! 6:15A.M. Create “A focus on cost-cutting and efficiency has helped many organizations weather the downturn, but this approach will Only the constant pursuit of innovation can ensure long-term success.” ultimately render them obsolete. —Daniel Muzyka, Dean, Sauder School of Business, Univ of British Columbia (FT/09.17.04) “[Immelt] is now identifying technologies with which GE systematically set out to build entirely new industries” will … —Strategy+Business, Fall 2005 “Acquisitions are about buying market share. Our challenge is to create markets. There is a big difference.” —Peter Job, CEO, Reuters What “We” Know “For Sure” About Innovation Big mergers [by & large] don’t work Scale is over-rated Strategic planning is the last refuge of scoundrels Focus groups are counter-productive “Built to last” is a chimera (stupid) Success kills “Forgetting” is impossible Re-imagine is a charming idea “Orderly innovation process” is an oxymoronic phrase (= Believed only by morons with ox-like brains) “Tipping points” are easy to identify … long after they will do you any good “Facts” aren’t All information making it to the top is filtered to the point of danger and hilarity “Success stories” are the illusions of egomaniacs (and “gurus”) If you believe the memoirs of CEOs you should be institutionalized “Herd behavior” (XYZ is “hot”) is ubiquitous … and amusing “Top teams” are “Dittoheads” CEOs have little effect on performance “Expert” prediction is rarely better than rolling the dice Revenue “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 Sell Sell “Everyone lives by selling something.” . – Robert Louis Stevenson Sell Sell “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 Bonus: 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!!!! (Eg, 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) Women Buy Women Lead “Women are the majority market” —Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse 1. Men and women are different. 2. Very different. 3. VERY, VERY DIFFERENT. 4. Women & Men have a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y nothing in common. 5. Women buy lotsa stuff. 6. WOMEN BUY A-L-L THE STUFF. 7. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1. 8. Men are (STILL) in charge. 9. MEN ARE … TOTALLY, HOPELESSLY CLUELESS ABOUT WOMEN. 10. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1. The Perfect Answer Jill and Jack buy slacks in black… 10. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1. “AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE: New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure” Title, Special Report/BusinessWeek “Forget China, India and the Internet: Economic Growth Is Driven by Women.” —Headline, Economist, April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14 Valueadded And … MasterCard Advisors Valueadded II “ ‘Disintermediation’ is overrated. Those who fear disintermediation should in fact be afraid of irrelevance—disintermediation is just another way you’ve become irrelevant to your customers.” of saying that … —John Battelle/Point/Advertising Age/07.05 Answer: Professional Service Firm/PSF! Department Head to … Managing Partner, IS [HR, R&D, etc.] Inc. “Game-changing Solutions”: Core Mechanism PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”) + Wow Projects (“Different” vs “Better”) + Brand You (“Distinct” or “Extinct”) Experience “It’s simple, really, Tom. Hire for s, and, above all, promote for s.” —Starbucks middle manager/field C *Chief e O* Xperience Officer Love Kevin Roberts: Lovemarks! Top 10 “Tattoo Brands”* Harley .… 18.9% Disney .... 14.8 Coke …. 7.7 Google .... 6.6 Pepsi .... 6.1 Rolex …. 5.6 Nike …. 4.6 Adidas …. 3.1 Absolut …. 2.6 Nintendo …. 1.5 *BRANDsense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound, Martin Lindstrom “We don’t have a good language to talk about this kind of thing. In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. … But to me, nothing could be further from the Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation.” meaning of design. Steve Jobs Focus “Dennis, you need a ‘Todon’t ’ List !” “I used to have a rule for myself that at any point in time I wanted to have in mind — as it so happens, also in writing, on a little card I carried around with me — the three big things I was trying to get done. Three. Not two. Not four. Not five. Not ten. Three.” — Richard Haass, The Power to Persuade K.I.S.S. 450/8 Danger: S.I.O. (Strategic Initiative Overload) Change “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” —General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff. U. S. Army “I’m not comfortable unless I’m uncomfortable.” —Jay Chiat “The most successful people are those who are good at ‘plan B.’” —James Yorke, mathematician, on chaos theory in The New Scientist Change II We become who we hang out with! Measure “Strangeness”/Portfolio Quality Staff Consultants Vendors Out-sourcing Partners (#, Quality) Innovation Alliance Partners Customers Competitors (who we “benchmark” against) Strategic Initiatives Product Portfolio (LineEx v. Leap) IS/IT Projects HQ Location Lunch Mates Language Board “Don’t benchmark, futuremark!” Impetus: “The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed” —William Gibson Change III/ BigChange No Wiggle Room! “Incrementalism is innovation’s worst enemy.” Nicholas Negroponte “Beware of the tyranny of making Small Changes to Small Things. Rather, make Big Changes to Big Things.” —Roger Enrico, former Chairman, PepsiCo Five MYTHS About Changing Behavior *Crisis is a powerful impetus for change *Change is motivated by fear *The facts will set us free *Small, gradual changes are always easier to make and sustain *We can’t change because our brains become “hardwired” early in life Source: Fast Company/05.2005 Big Bigger Biggest ?????? “I don’t believe in economies of You don’t get better by being bigger. You get worse.” scale. —Dick Kovacevich/ Wells Fargo/Forbes/08.04 (ROA: Wells, 1.7%; Citi, 1.5%; BofA, 1.3%; J.P. Morgan Chase, 0.9%) “Forbes100” from 1917 to 1987: 39 members of the Class of ’17 were alive in ’87; 18 in ’87 F100; 18 F100 “survivors” underperformed the market by 20%; just 2 (2%), GE & Kodak, outperformed the market 1917 to 1987. S&P 500 from 1957 to 1997: 74 members of the Class of ’57 were alive in ’97; 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 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 New Economy?! Genentech09, Amgen09 > Merck09 (70K-3/394B-5) Agressive “[Other] admirals more frightened of losing than anxious to win” Nelson’s secret: Tempo He who has the quickest O.O.D.A. Loops* wins! *Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. / Col. John Boyd Kevin & Richard 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! Sir Richard’s Rules: Follow your passions. Keep it simple. Get the best people to help you. Re-create yourself. Play. Passion & Enthusiasm “Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge “I am a dispenser of enthusiasm.” —Ben Zander Enthusiasm … the ultimate virus “A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.” —Chinese Proverb* *Courtesy Tom Morris, The Art of Achievement Hustle “Most important, upped the energy level he at Motorola.” —Fortune on Ed Zander/08.05 Sunny “A leader is a dealer in hope.” Napoleon Sunny II “Ronald Reagan radiated an almost transcendent happiness.” —Lou Cannon Aim High The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. Michelangelo Dream “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” —Mary Oliver HTSH: Engage!* Commit! Engage! Try! Fail! Get up! Try again! Fail again! Try again! But never, ever stop moving on! Progress for humanity is engendered by those who join and savor the fray by giving one hundred percent of themselves to their dreams! Not by those timid souls who remain glued to the sidelines, stifled by tradition, and fearful of losing face or giving offense to the reigning authorities. Key words: Commit! Engage! Try! Fail! Persist! *HTST/Hands That Shape Humanity, Tom Peters’ contribution to a Bishop Tutu Foundation traveling exhibit The Irreducible209 A frustrated participant at a seminar for investment bankers in Mauritius listened impatiently to my explanation of differences of opinion among me, Mike Porter, “What, if anything,” he asked, “do you believe ‘for sure’?” Gary Hamel, Jim Collins, etc. Finally, he’d had enough. I mumbled something, but his query started rumbling around in my mind. Three days later, wandering on a Sunday in London, the idea of “the irreducibles” occurred to me—and I started jotting down notes on stuff I do indeed believe “for sure.” Before I knew it, a few days later, the list had grown to 209 items. Hence “The Irreducible209” that follows. Tom Peters 1. 2. 3. 4. Hare 1, Tortoise 0. (Hare-y times.) Tempo. (O.O.D.A.) MBWA. Appreciation. (“Motivator” #1.) (Can’t be faked. Good.) 5. Decency. 6. Hurry. 7. Time out. 8. One matters. 9. Big change. Short time. (Alt not work.) 10. Excellence. Always. 11. Passion. Energy. Hustle. Enthusiasm. Exuberance. (Move mountains. No alt.) 12. You must care. 13. Emotion. 14. Hard is soft. (Soft is hard.) 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. Men. Women. Different. Contend. Connect. Women. Buy. All. (RU listening?) Quality. (“Mind-blowing.” Beyond 6-Sigma.) Re-invent. Re-pot. (Required.) Jaywalk. Big change. Small # of people. (Always.) Experiment. Now. Failure. Normal. Most failures, most success. (Fail. Forward. Fast.) 24. “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” 25. Women leaders. (Altered times.) 26. Extremism. (Good business. Bad politics.) 27. Innovation source. Only. Extreme irritation. 28. Smile. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. You must care. Mentor. (Highest ROI.) Best “roster” wins. Wow. (Okay in biz.) We all have customers. (Biz. Personal.) All contacts = Experiences. Cirque du Soleil. (Peerless.) Leaders create space for growth. Quests. (Only.) High aspirations, “high” results. (Self-fulfilling prophecy.) 39. Attitude 1, Skills 0. (Mostly.) (Attitude 1, Skill 0.3?) 40. Sometimes: Skill 1, Attitude 0.1. 41. Must “love,” not “like.” 42. Wegman’s.” (No excuses. “Mere” groceries.) 43. Less than your best. Cheating. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. Brand You. (No alt.) Self-sufficiency. (Biggest LT turn-on.) In the moment. The moment wins. Tomorrow = Never. Action 1, Plan 0.1. “Execution” can be a “system.” Realism. Own up. Move on. Accountability. Work hard > Work smart. (Mostly.) Feedback. Necessary. Fast. (R.F.A. in “RFA times.”) 56. Customers. Listen. Lead. (Paradox.) 57. “On stage.” Always. (GW, FDR, RG = Supreme actors.) 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. Master statistical analysis. Excellence = Set the table. Legacy. (Will it have mattered?) “Great.” (Why not?) Radicals rule. (Think … Olympics.) !!! = Good. Red 1, Brown 0. (Red times.) Talk. Listen. (“Big 2.” Master.) Politics. (Normal-inevitable state of affairs. Master.) 67. Student. Forever. 68. “Why?” (Question #1.) 69. Don’t belittle. 70. Respect. 71. All we have: this moment. (“Moments matter most”?) 72. Now. (Procrastination. Death.) 73. 74. 75. 76. Exercise. Paint. (Leader. Portraits of Excellence.) Best story wins. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” 77. Two “big ones.” Max. (Priorities.) 78. No “I” in Team. (“I” in Win.) 79. “I” in Win. (No “I” in Team.) 80. Different 1, Better 0. (Better = 0.1) 81. Imitation = Mistake. (Learn, from who?) 82. Choose/battle the “right” competitor. 83. Schools. Creativity. Entrepreneurship. (Not.) 84. MBAs. Creativity. Entrepreneurship. Leadership. (Not.) 85. Design. Under-rated. Wildly. (Still.) (Everything.) 86. 87. 88. 89. You = Calendar. (Calendar. Never. Lies.) Laugh. Handshake. (Quantity. Quality.) Don’t fold your hands in front of your chest. Ever. (Never.) 90. Grace. (“Works” in biz.) 91. Weird. Wins. (Weird times.) 92. Crazy times. Crazy orgs. 93. Internet. All. 94. Women. Boomers-Geezers. Market. All. 95. Passion. (Repeat. So what?) 96. Energy. (Repeat. So what?) 97. Hustle. (Repeat. So what?) 98. Enthusiasm. (Repeat. So what?) 99. Exuberance. (Repeat. So what?) 100. Smile. (Repeat. So what?) 101. Care. (Repeat. So what?) 102. Simplicity. Redundancy. Resilience. Bloodymindedness. Visible optimism. (Success.) 103. Act. (Repeat. So what?) 104. Appreciate. (Repeat. So what?) 105. Fun. (Biz. Why not?) 106. Joy. (Biz. Why not?) 107. Sales = Life. 108. Marketing = Life. 109. Long-term. “Top line.” 110. Great company = Creates the most individual success stories. (RE/MAX) 111. Talent first, performance byproduct. 112. Sustained Wow* 1, “Shareholder value,” 0.2 (*Product, People.) 113. Commitment, by invitation only. 114. Creativity, by invitation only. 115. HR = #1. (Ought to.) 116. Face-to-face. (5K miles, 5 minutes.) 117. Negotiation. Make all winners. (Save face.) 118. Grace makes enemies friends. 119. Network. 120. Invest in relationships. (Think ROIR. Return On Investment in Relationships.) 118. Relationship investment. Forethought. Calendar item. Intensity. 119. Innovation. Easy. (Hang out with weird.) 120. Weird = Win. (Weird times.) 121. “The bottleneck is at the top of the bottle.” 122. Good Board = Weird Board. (At least, surprising.) 123. No contention, no progress. 124. “Crucial conversations.” “Crucial confrontations.” (Study. Learn. Do.) 125. Honest feedback. 126. Gaspworthy. Yes. 127. “Insanely great.” 128. “Astonish me.” 129. “Make it immortal.” 130. “Will you remember it in 20 years?” 131. No small opportunities. (Reframe.) 132. One playmate, one playpen = Enough. 133. End run. Sensible. 134. Allies are there for the finding. 135. Find successes. Build on successes. (Pos > Neg. Encourage > Fix.) 136. Somebody’s doing it today. Find ’em. 137. Someone is living 2016 in 2006. (Find ’em. Study ’em.) 138. Don’t “benchmark,” “futuremark.” (2016. Happening. Somewhere.) 139. “PMA.” It works. 140. There are no experts. (You are the expert.) 141. Life is short. 142. “Sustained success.” Fat chance. Make today matter. (“Sustained.” Ha.) 143. Collaborate. (Networked world.) 144. Go solo. (Individual. Unit of Intellectual Capital.) 145. There are no “perfect” plans. (Do. Wins.) 146. Plans motivate. (Right or wrong. Sense of purpose.) 147. Never rest. 148. Get some sleep. 149. Winning = Embracing paradox. 150. Ambiguity = Opportunity. 151. Resilience. 152. Relentless-ness. 153. None. Above. Comeuppance. (GM. Sears. U.S. Steel. DEC.) 154. Be yourself. Period. 155. Never work with jerks. Including customers. (Life. Too short.) 156. Under-promise, over-deliver. 157. Talent. (Powerful word.) 158. “Customer = Anyone whose actions affect your results.” 159. Competition stinks. (Seek the soft spots where you can dominate.) 160. K.I.S.S./Keep It Simple, Stupid. 161. Beauty. (Good biz word.) 162. “See the beauty in a hamburger bun.” (Go. Ray.) 163. 164. 165. 166. Own up. Quick. ( Denial. Cancer.) Celebrate. Often. 78 people = 78 approaches. (Each. Unique.) Weed. Ceaselessly. (Prune. Stupid. Rules. Non-stop.) 167. Get out of the way. (You = The problem.) 168. Smile. Sunny. Optimism. (If it kills you.) 169. Flowers. (Cheery workplace.) 170. Enjoy. (Or get the hell.) 171. Be intolerant of “sour.” (1 = Major pollution) 172. No “quick trigger” on promotion. (Too important.) 173. Evaluation = Lots of study-time. 174. Evaluation = “Life or death” to evaluee. 175. “360” evaluation. No fad. 176. Exit when you’re done. (Done. Sooner than you think.) 177. Today. Now. My Project. Am. Is. I. Period. 178. “Beautiful” systems. (Good biz phrase. Not oxymoron.) 179. Build on strengths > Fix weaknesses. 180. “To don’t” = “To do.” (“To don’t” > “To do” ?) 181. Leaders “Do” People. (Period.) 182. Leaders enjoy leading. 183. Serious leadership training = Serious. 184. Priorities. Obvious. (Or else.) 185. 5 “Priorities” = 0 Priorities. (3 “Priorities” = 0 Priorities?) 186. People. First. Last. Always. 187. It. Is. Always. The. People. 188. Handshake. (Quantity. Quality.) 189. Don’t fold your hands in front of your chest. Ever. (Never.) 190. Simplicity. Redundancy. Resilience. Bloody-mindedness. Visible optimism. (Success.) (Repeat.) 191. Employee Entrance = Guest Entrance. 192. Put the customer SECOND. (Thanks, Hal.) 193. Flowers. (Or did I say that before? No matter if I did.) 194. Big Mergers don’t work. Small acquisitions can/do work—if you don’t screw with their energy. 195. Instinctively “head for the front line.” (In all contexts.) 196. Success = DDMMPR/"D-squared, M-squared, PR” = DramDiff + Money-Financial Acumen + Good “Marketing” Instincts + Stellar People + Resilience (The “fab five”: What. Every. Small. Biz. Needs.) (Big too.) 197. Core Mechanism (“Game-changing Solutions”): PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”) + Wow! Projects (“Different” vs “Better”) + Brand You (“Distinct” or “Extinct”) 198. 2011/2016 has already happened. Find it. 199. Kids “know” kids. Oldies “know” oldies. Women “know” women. (Staff accordingly.) 200. Everybody is my customer. 201. Cosset “vendors.” 202. I want to run a Housekeeping department. (And you?) 203. The military doesn’t follow the “military model.” (Initiative = Excellence.) 204. No such thing as “going to absurd lengths” to serve the Customer. (HSM & Lefties.) 205. Forget the “customer.” All = “Clients.” 206. It takes decades to get over “sleights.” (So don’t sleight.) 207. Don’t “dumb down.” Ever. NO LESS THAN EXCELLENCE. EVER. 209. EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. 208. Work In Progress XXX. One size fits. One. Only. (Evaluations. Period.) XXX. Teaching. Individualized. Only. (6 billion people = 6 billion learning trajectories.) (Montessori.) XXX. First impression. Matters. Shapes all that comes. Hard to overcome. (Understatement.) XXX. Jerks. Don’t work with. (Life = Too short.) XXX. Manage [the hell out of] first impressions. XXX. Last impression. Matters. Dominates memory. Hard to overcome. (Understatement.) XXX. Manage [the hell out of] last impressions. XXX. Plain English. XXX. K.I.S.S. (450/8.) XXX. $798. $55,000,000,000. 3,000,000,000. 7AM-7PM. 6:15AM. XXX. Donnelly Weatherstrip rules. XXX. Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing. NOT.