Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
Grocery Innovations Canada
Innovations Alimentaires Canada
Toronto Congress Center
27 October 2008
Slides at …
tompeters.com
1,000+
“Tom let me tell you the
definition of a good lending
officer. After church on
Sunday, on the way home
with his family, he takes a
little detour to drive by the
factory he just lent money to.
Doesn’t go in or any such
thing, just drives by and
takes a look.”
Derby CT
“Kindness
is free.”
139,380 former
patients from 225 hospitals:
Press Ganey Assoc:
none
of THE top 15 factors
determining Patient Satisfaction
referred to patient’s health outcome
P.S. directly related to Staff Interaction
P.P.S. directly correlated with Employee
Satisfaction
Source: Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
“There is a misconception that supportive interactions require
more staff or more time and are therefore more costly. Although
labor costs are a substantial part of any hospital budget, the
interactions themselves add nothing to the budget.
Kindness is
free.
Listening to patients or answering their
questions costs nothing. It can be argued that negative
interactions—alienating patients, being non-responsive to their
needs or limiting their sense of control—can be very costly. …
Angry, frustrated or frightened patients may be combative,
withdrawn and less cooperative—requiring far more time
than it would have taken to interact with them initially in a
positive way.” —Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton,
Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
Griffin: Music in the parking lot;
professional musicians in the lobby
(7/week, 3-4hrs/day):
Five
pianos
Source: Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
The 9 Planetree Practices*
1. The Importance of Human Interaction
2. Informing and Empowering Diverse Populations: Consumer
Health Libraries and Patient Information
3. Healing Partnerships: The importance of Including
Friends and Family
4. Nutrition: The Nurturing Aspect of Food
5. Spirituality: Inner Resources for Healing
6. Human Touch: The Essentials of Communicating
Caring Through Massage
7. Healing Arts: Nutrition for the Soul
8. Integrating Complementary and Alternative Practices
into Conventional Care
9. Healing Environments: Architecture and Design
Conducive to Health
*See the APPENDIX to this presentation for more on Plantree
Source: Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
Planetree Health Resources Center/1981
Planetree Classification System
Consumer Health Librarians
Volunteers
Classes, lectures
Health Fairs
Griffin’s Mobile Health Resource Center
Open Chart Policy
Patient Progress Notes
Care Coordination
Conferences (Est goals, timetable, etc.)
Source: Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
Access to nurses station:
“Happen to”
vs
“Happen with”
Source: Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
Griffin Hospital/Derby CT (Planetree Alliance “HQ”) Results:
Financially successful.
Expanding programsphysically. Growing market
share. Only hospital in “100
Best Cos to Work for”—
7 consecutive years,
currently #6.
—“Five-Star Hospitals,” Joe Flower, strategy+business
Dallas
Philadelphia
“You have to
treat your
employees like
customers.”
—Herb Kelleher,
complete answer, upon being asked his “secrets 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 the Annual Meeting)
The
Customer
Comes
Second
—Hal Rosenbluth and Diane McFerrin Peters* (*no relation)
Melbourne
Seymour CT
Jim’s Mowing Canada
Jim’s Mowing UK
Jim’s Antennas
Jim’s Bookkeeping
Jim’s Building Maintenance
Jim’s Carpet Cleaning
Jim’s Car Cleaning
Jim’s Computer Services
Jim’s Dog Wash
Jim’s Driving School
Jim’s Fencing
Jim’s Floors
Jim’s Painting
Jim’s Paving
Jim’s Pergolas [gazebos]
Jim’s Pool Care
Jim’s Pressure Cleaning
Jim’s Roofing
Jim’s Security Doors
Jim’s Trees
Jim’s Window Cleaning
Jim’s Windscreens
Note: Download, free, Jim Penman’s book:
What Will They Franchise Next? The Story of Jim’s Group
Jim’s Group: Jim Penman.*
1984: Jim’s Mowing. 2006: Jim’s Group.
2,600 franchisees (Australia, NZ, UK).
Cleaning. Dog washing. Handyman.
Fencing. Paving. Pool care. Etc.
“People first.” Private. Small staff. Franchisees
can leave at will. 0-1 complaint per year is
norm; cut bad ones quickly.
*Ph.D. cross-cultural anthropology; mowing on the side
Source: MT/Management Today (Australia), Jan-Feb 2006
*Basement Systems Inc.
*Larry Janesky
*Dry Basement Science
(115,000!)
*1990: $0; 2003: $13M;
2007:
$62,000,000
Canada
Three of Ten: Four Seasons (hospitality)/
London Drugs (retail)/
Cirque du Soleil (overall)
Private
Focused
Measured growth
People 1st
Unique Experience
Excellence
“All Strategy Is Local:
True competitive advantages
are harder to find and maintain
than people realize. The
Focus:
odds are best in
tightly drawn markets,
not big, sprawling
ones”
—Title/ Bruce Greenwald & Judd Kahn/HBR
“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
Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!”
“What we sell is the
ability for a 43year-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
“You know a
design is good
when you want
to lick it.”
—Steve Jobs
Source: Design: Intelligence Made Visible,
Stephen Bayley & Terence Conran
“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
“Business people
don’t need to
‘understand
designers better.’
Businesspeople need
to be designers.”
—Roger Martin/Dean/Rotman Management School/
University of Toronto
Hypothesis:
DESIGN is
the principal
difference
between love
and hate!
Message (?????):
cannot
Men
design for women’s
needs.
<TGW
and
>TGR
[Things Gone WRONG/Things Gone RIGHT]
2-cent
candy
Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his life,
was asked, “What was the most important lesson you’ve learned
in your long and distinguished career?”
His immediate answer:
“remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub”
Germany
#4 Japan
#3 USA
#2 China
#1 Germany
“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
You don’t
get better
by being
bigger. You
Dick Kovacevich:
Small Giants:
Companies That
Choose To Be
Great Instead
Of Big
—by Bo Burlingham
Small Giants/Bo Burlingham
"First, I could see that, unlike most entrepreneurs,
their founders and leaders had recognized the full
range of choices they had about the type of company
they would create."
"Second, the leaders had overcome the enormous
pressures on successful companies to take paths they
had not chosen and did not necessarily want to follow."
"Third, 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.'"
"Fourth, they cultivated exceptionally intimate
relationships with customers and suppliers, based on
personal contact, one-on-one interaction, and mutual
commitment to delivering on promises."
Small Giants/Bo Burlingham
"Fifth, the companies also had what struck me as
unusually intimate workplaces."
"Sixth, I was impressed by the variety of corporate
structures and modes of governance that these
companies had come up with."
"Finally, 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."
Wallop Wal-Mart16*
*Or: Why it’s so ABSURDLY EASY
to BEAT a GIANT Company
The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16
*Niche-aimed. (Never, ever “all things for all people,” a “miniWal*Mart.)
*Never attack the monsters head
business and lukewarm customers.)
on! (Instead steal niche
*“Dramatically
Different”
(La Difference ... within our community, our
industry regionally, etc … is as obvious as the end of one’s nose!) (THIS IS
WHERE MOST MIDGETS COME UP SHORT.)
*Compete on value/experience/intimacy, not price. (You
ain’t gonna beat the behemoths on cost-price in 9.99 out of 10 cases.)
*Emotional bond with Clients,
ON EMOTION/CONNECTION!!)
Vendors. (BEAT THE BIGGIES
The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16
*Hands-on, emotional leadership. (“We are a great &
cool & intimate & joyful & dramatically different team working to
transform our Clients lives via Consistently Incredible
Experiences!”)
*A community
out of it!)
star! (“Sell” local-ness per se. Sell the hell
*An
incredible experience, from the first to last
moment—and then in the follow-up! (“These guys
are cool! They ‘get’ me! They love me!”)
*DESIGN DRIVEN! (“Design” is a premier weapon-inpursuit-of-the sublime for small-ish enterprises, including the
professional services.)
The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16
*Employer of choice. (A very cool, well-paid
place to work/learning and growth experience in at
least the short term … marked by notably progressive
policies.) (THIS IS EMINENTLY DO-ABLE!!)
*Sophisticated
use of information
technology. (Small-“ish” is no excuse for “small
aims”/execution in IS/IT!)
*Web-power! (The Web can make very small very
big … if the product-service is super-cool and one
purposefully masters buzz/viral marketing.)
*Innovative! (Must keep renewing and expanding
and revising and re-imagining “the promise” to
employees, the customer, the community.)
The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16
*Brand-Lovemark* (*Kevin Roberts) Maniacs!
(“Branding” is not just for big folks with big budgets. And modest
size is actually a Big Advantage in becoming a local-regionalniche “lovemark.”)
*Focus
*
on women-as-clients. (Most don’t. How stupid.)
Excellence!
(A small player … per me …
has no right or reason to exist unless they are in Relentless
Pursuit of Excellence. One earns the right—one damn day and
client experience at a time!—to beat the Big Guys in your chosen
niche!)
“In-sanely-great”
Radically Thrilling Language!
“Radically
Thrilling.”
—BMW Z4 (ad)
“You do not merely want to
be the best of the best. You
want to be
considered the
only ones who do
what you do.”
—Jerry Garcia
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
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
Hard Is Soft (Plans, #s)
Soft Is Hard (people,
customers, values,
relationships))
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 service of
others.**
**Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
… no less than
Cathedrals
in which the full and
awesome power of the
Imagination and Spirit and
native Entrepreneurial flair
of diverse individuals is
unleashed in passionate
pursuit of … Excellence.
Thank
you , 7-11 …
“How to flush
$500,000 down
the toilet in one
easy lesson!!”
TP:
< CAPEX
> People!
“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
Brand =
Talent.
#1/100
“Best Companies to
Work for”/2005
Wegmans
“Leaders
‘SERVE’
people.
Period.”
—inspired by Robert Greenleaf
“The role of the Director is to create a
space where the actors and
become more
than they’ve ever been
before, more than
they’ve dreamed of
being.”
actresses can
—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
The Dream Manager
—Matthew Kelly
“An organization can only become the-best-version-ofitself to the extent that the people who drive that
organization are striving to become better-versions-ofthemselves.” “A company’s purpose is to become thebest-version-of-itself. The question is: What is an
employee’s purpose? Most would say, ‘to help the
company achieve its purpose’—but they would be wrong.
That is certainly part of the employee’s role, but an
employee’s primary purpose is to become the-bestversion-of-himself or –herself. … When a company
forgets that it exists to serve customers, it quickly goes
Our employees are our
first customers, and our most
important customers.”
out of business.
“The four most important
words in any
organization
‘What do
you think?’ ”
are …
Source: courtesy Dave Wheeler, posted at
tompeters.com, source of original unknown (0609.08)
#1 cause of
Dis-satisfaction?
Thank you ,
Marshall
& Edie …
“To develop others,
start with yourself.”
—Marshall Goldsmith
“Being aware of
yourself and how you
affect everyone around
you is what
distinguishes a superior
leader.” —Edie Seashore
(Strategy + Business #45)
“How can a high-level leader like _____ be so
out of touch with the truth about himself? It’s
more common than you would imagine. In fact,
the higher up the ladder a leader climbs, the less
accurate his self-assessment is likely to be. The
problem is an acute lack of feedback [especially
on people issues].”
—Daniel Goleman (et al.), The New Leaders
“You must
be
the change you
wish to see in the
world.”
Gandhi
“Dennis, you need a …
‘To-don’t ’
List !”
“The one thing you need
to know about sustained
individual success:
Discover what you don’t
like doing and
stop
doing it.”
—Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
Thank you,
Henry ,
Marshall &
Steve …
“Courtesies of a small and
trivial character are the
ones which strike
deepest in the grateful
and appreciating heart.”
—Henry Clay
“I regard apologizing as the
most magical, healing,
restorative gesture human
beings can make. It is the
centerpiece of my work with
executives who want to get
better.” —Marshall Goldsmith, What Got You Here
Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More
Successfu.
Relationships
THERE
ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN A
THREE-MINUTE PHONE CALL
WOULD HAVE AVOIDED
SETTING OFF THE DOWNWARD
SPIRAL THAT RESULTED IN A
COMPLETE RUPTURE.
(of all varieties)
:
THE PROBLEM IS
RARELY/NEVER THE
PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE TO THE
PROBLEM INVARIABLY
ENDS UP BEING THE
REAL PROBLEM.* **
*Watergate, M Stewart, BR
**And: PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS!
Thank you,
Heather …
“Forget China,
India and the
Internet: Economic
Growth Is Driven
by
Women.”
—Headline,
Economist, April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
“Women are
the majority
market”
—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
“Goldman Sachs in Tokyo has
developed an index of 115
companies poised to benefit from
women’s increased purchasing
power; over the past decade the
value of shares in Goldman’s
basket has risen by 96%, against
the Tokyo stockmarket’s rise
of 13%.” —Economist, April 15
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…
Cases! Cases! Cases!
McDonald’s (“mom-centered” to “majority consumer”; not
via kids)
Home Depot (“Do it [everything!] Herself”)
P&G (more than “house cleaner”)
DeBeers (“right-hand rings”/$4B)
AXA Financial
Kodak (women = “emotional centers of the household”)
Nike (> jock endorsements; new def sports; majority consumer)
Avon
Bratz (young girls want “friends,” not a blond stereotype)
Source: Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
“Women don’t buy
They
join them.”
brands.
EVEolution
Purchasing Patterns
Women:
Harder to convince; more
loyal once convinced.
Men:
Snap decision; fickle.
Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women
2.6 vs.
Selling to men:
The
TRANSACTION Model
Selling to Women:
The
RELATIONAL Model
Source: Selling to Men, Selling to Women, Jeffery Tobias Halter
Editorial/Men: Tables,
rankings.*
Editorial/Women:
Narratives that cohere.*
*Editor-in-Chief, Redwood Publications (UK)
“AS LEADERS,
WOMEN
RULE:
New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male
counterparts in almost every measure”
TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE
Women make [all] the financial decisions.
Women control [all] the wealth.
Women [substantially] outlive men.
Women start most of the new businesses.
Women’s work force participation rates have
soared worldwide.
Women are closing in on “same pay for same
job.”
Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly
[even if the pace is slow for the corner
office per se].
Women’s leadership strengths are exceptionally well
aligned with new organizational effectiveness
imperatives.
Women are better salespersons than men.
Women buy [almost] everything—commercial
as well as consumer goods.
So what exactly is the point of men?
24 M/3F
*Shades of Highpoint (0-17)
Thank you,
Bill …
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“People turning 50
more
than half of
today have
their adult life
ahead of them.”
—Bill Novelli,
50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America
2000-2010 Stats
18-44: -1%
55+: +21%
(55-64:
+47%)
44-65:
“New
Customer
Majority” *
*45% larger than 18-43; 60% larger by 2010
Source: Ageless Marketing, David Wolfe & Robert Snyder
“Baby-boomer
Women: The
Sweetest of
Sweet Spots for
Marketers”
—David Wolfe and Robert
Snyder, Ageless Marketing
We are the Aussies & Kiwis & Americans & Canadians.
We are the Western Europeans & Japanese. We are the
fastest growing, the biggest, the wealthiest, the
boldest, the most (yes) ambitious, the most
experimental & exploratory, the most different, the
most indulgent, the most difficult & demanding, the
most service & experience obsessed, the most
vigorous, (the least vigorous,) the most health
conscious, the most female, the most profoundly
important commercial market in the history of the
we will be the
Center of your universe
for the next twenty-five
years. We have arrived!
world—and
Thank
you, John
(et al.) …
1/40+
“This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing
how few oil people really understand that
you only find
oil if you drill
wells.
You may think you’re finding it
when you’re drawing maps and
studying logs, but you have to drill.”
Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter
“We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were
omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the
software. We fixed them by doing it over and over, again
and again. We do the same today. While our competitors
are still sucking their thumbs trying to make the design
perfect, we’re already on prototype version
#5.
By
the time our rivals are
ready with wires and screws, we are on version
#10. It gets back to planning
versus acting: We act from day
one; others plan how to plan—
for months.” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
“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
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may
the most
valuable core
competence an
be
innovative organization can
hope to have.” —Michael Schrage
“It is not the
strongest of the
species that survives,
nor the most
intelligent, but the
one most responsive
to change.”
—Charles Darwin
He who has the
quickest “O.O.D.A.
Loops”* wins!
*Observe. Orient. Decide. Act./Col. John Boyd
Try it. Try it. Try it
ry it. Try it. Screw
up. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Try it. Try
t. Try it. Screw it up
t. Try it. Try it. try
Thank you,
Kevin,
Horatio
& Mike …
Kevin Roberts’ Credo
1. Ready. Fire! Aim.
2. If it ain’t broke ... Break it!
3. Hire crazies.
4. Ask dumb questions.
5. Pursue failure.
6. Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!
7. Spread confusion.
8. Ditch your office.
9. Read odd stuff.
10.
Avoid moderation!
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
On NELSON:
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
Sam’s
Secret
#1!