LONG Tom Peters Re-Imagine:Excellence NOW NOW World Strategy Forum The New Rules: Reframing Capitalism Seoul/13 June 2012 tompeters.com and excellencenow.com)

1982

Not Dead Yet

Not Dead Yet Not Dead Yet BRIC/2011: $11T/$4K per capita USA/2011: $16T/$48K per capita USA/2000: 4% population/30% world GDP USA/2010: 4% populattion/28% world GDP USA productivity: 07/1.7%; 08/2.1%; 09/5.4%; 10/2.4%; 11/4.1% FDIC institutions: 4Q/2008/-$38B; 2Q/2011/+$29B 1/2008 to 9/2011: USA consumer savings 0% to 6%/$2.1T saved Foreign Direct Investment: 2003: $64B; 2008: $328B; 2009: $134B; 2011: $200B+ Exports/2009: USA $1.53T ($1.06T goods, $0.47T services); Germany $1.36T; China $1.33T USA/Refined petroleum products/1Q 2011: Imports 2.16M BPD; Exports 2.49M BPD New economy: Apple (>Exxon) + Google + Facebook = $800B market cap Source: Daniel Gross, The Myth of American Decline and the Growth of a New Economy

iPad/$4 billion of $300 billion negative USA trade balance with China (2011)

Cost/Profit Components: Total labor 7% (Chinese labor: 2%) Materials 31% Distribution: 15% Profit: 47% Landed iPad cost: $275 = Imputed USA negative trade balance with China (Actual China cost: $10) Source: Personal Computing Industry Centre (Economist)

Cost*/Profit Components: Total labor 7% (Chinese labor: 2%) Materials 31% Distribution: 17% Profit: 47% Landed iPad cost: $275 = Imputed USA negative trade balance with China (Actual China cost: $10) *Biggest non-USA component: Korea Source: Personal Computing Industry Centre (Economist)

Q3 2011/BLS +3.1/ Non-farm productivity growth +3.8/ Non-farm output +0.6/ Non-farm hours worked +5.4/ Manufacturing productivity +4.7/ Manufacturing output / Manufacturing hours worked Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics/03 November 2011 Q3 2011/BLS +3.1/ Non-farm productivity growth +3.8/ Non-farm output +0.6/ Non-farm hours worked +5.4/ Manufacturing productivity +4.7/ Manufacturing output -0.6/ Manufacturing hours worked Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics/03 November 2011

Its Getting a Little Weird Out* Bradescos biometric ATM sensors/blood flow (Economist 0519) Oscar Pistorius sprinting acumen/approved for London (WSJ 0602) London (WSJ 0602) DelFly/lighter than your wedding ring (Economist 0602) *Kurzweils Singularity is nigh?!

In some sense you can argue that the science fiction scenario is already starting to happen. The computers are in control. We just live in their world. Danny Hillis, Thinking Machines (Wired )

Unless mankind redesigns itself by changing our DNA through altering our genetic makeup, computer-generated robots will take over the world. – Stephen Hawking

Tom, let me tell you the definition of a good lending officer. …

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. Doesnt go in or any such thing, just drives by and takes a look.

The art of war does not require complicated maneuvers; the simplest are the best and common sense is fundamental. From which one might wonder how it is generals make blunders; it is because they try to be clever. Napoleon is because they try to be clever. Napoleon

Too Much Cost, Not Enough Value Too Much Speculation, Not Enough Investment Too Much Complexity, Not Enough Simplicity Too Much Counting, Not Enough Trust Too Much Business Conduct, Not Enough Professional Conduct Too Much Salesmanship, Not Enough Stewardship Too Much Focus on Things, Not Enough Focus on Commitment on Commitment Too Many Twenty-first Century Values, Not Enough Eighteenth-Century Values Too Much Success, Not Enough Character Source: Chapter titles from Jack Bogle, Enough.

25

MBWA

M anaging B y W andering A round

or it's simply not worth doing

Business has to give people enriching, rewarding lives … or it's simply not worth doing. Richard Branson

7 Steps to Sustaining Success You take care of the people. The people take care of the service. The service takes care of the customer. The customer takes care of the profit. The profit takes care of the re-investment. The re-investment takes care of the re-invention. The re-invention takes care of the future. (And at every step the only measure is EXCELLENCE.)

7 Steps to Sustaining Success You take care of the people. The people take care of the service. The service takes care of the customer. The customer takes care of the profit. The profit takes care of the re-investment. The re-investment takes care of the re-invention. The re-invention takes care of the future. (And at every step the only measure is EXCELLENCE.)

The ONE Question : In the last year [3 years, current job], name the … three people … whose growth youve most contributed to. Please explain where they were at the beginning of the year, where they are today, and where they are heading in the next 12 months. Please explain in painstaking detail your development strategy in each case. Please tell me your biggest development disappointmentlooking back, could you or would you have done anything differently? Please tell me about your greatest development triumphand disasterin the last five years. What are the three big things youve learned about helping people grow along the way?

The Memories That Matter The Memories That Matter The people you developed who went on to stellar accomplishments inside or outside stellar accomplishments inside or outside the company. the company. The (no more than) two or three people you developed who went on to create stellar institutions of their own. create stellar institutions of their own. The longshots (people with a certain something) you bet on who surprised themselvesand your peers. surprised themselvesand your peers. The people of all stripes who 2/5/10/20 years later say You made a difference in my life, later say You made a difference in my life, Your belief in me changed everything. Your belief in me changed everything. The sort of/character of people you hired in general. (And the bad apples you chucked out despite some stellar traits.) apples you chucked out despite some stellar traits.) A handful of projects (a half dozen at most) you doggedly pursued that still make you smile and which fundamentally changed the way still make you smile and which fundamentally changed the way things are done inside or outside the company/industry. things are done inside or outside the company/industry. The supercharged camaraderie of a handful of Great Teams aiming to The supercharged camaraderie of a handful of Great Teams aiming to change the world. change the world.

Organizations exist to serve. Period. Leaders live to serve. Period. serve. Period.

"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"

Oath of Office: Managers/Servant Leaders Oath of Office: Managers/Servant Leaders Our goal is to serve our customers brilliantly and profitably over the long haul. the long haul. Serving our customers brilliantly and profitably over the long haul is a product of brilliantly serving, over the long haul, the haul is a product of brilliantly serving, over the long haul, the people who serve the customer. people who serve the customer. Hence, our job as leadersthe alpha and the omega and everything in betweenis abetting the sustained growth and everything in betweenis abetting the sustained growth and success and engagement and enthusiasm and commitment to success and engagement and enthusiasm and commitment to Excellence of those, one at a time, who directly or indirectly Excellence of those, one at a time, who directly or indirectly serve the ultimate customer. serve the ultimate customer. Weleaders of every stripeare in the Human Growth and Development and Success and Aspiration to Excellence Development and Success and Aspiration to Excellence business. business. We [leaders] only grow when they [each and every one of our colleagues] are growing. growing. We [leaders] only succeed when they [each and every one of our colleagues] are succeeding. are succeeding. We [leaders] only energetically march toward Excellence when they [each and every one of our colleagues] are energetically marching they [each and every one of our colleagues] are energetically marching toward Excellence. toward Excellence.Period.

EMPLOYEES FIRST, CUSTOMERS SECOND: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down Vineet Nayar/CEO/HCL Technologies

"Leadership is a gift. It's given by those who follow. You have to be worthy of it. General Mark Welsh, Commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe

I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. Ralph Nader

In the Army, 3-star generals worry about training. In most businesses, it's a ho hum mid-level staff function.

If the regimental commander lost most of his 2nd lieutenants and 1st lieutenants and captains and majors, it would be a tragedy. If he lost his sergeants it would be a catastrophe. The Army and the 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?

People leave managers not companies. Dave Wheeler

The four most important words in any organization are …

The four most important words in any organization are … What do you think? are … What do you think? Source: courtesy Dave Wheeler, posted at tompeters.com

The deepest principal in human nature is the craving* to be appreciated. William James *Craving, not wish or desire or longing Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People (The BIG Secret of Dealing With People)

Hard is soft Soft is hard

Hard is Soft. Soft is Hard.

The first step is to measure what can easily be measured. This is okay as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which cannot be measured, or give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what cannot be measured is not very important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what cannot be measured does not really exist. This is suicide. Daniel Yankelovich (from Enough!, by Jack Bogle)

Excellence1982: The Bedrock Eight Basics Excellence1982: The Bedrock Eight Basics 1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties Properties

Breakthrough 82* People! People!Customers!Action!Values! *In Search of Excellence

Why in the World did you go to Siberia? go to Siberia?

Enterprise* (*at its best) : An emotional, vital, innovative, joyful, creative, entrepreneurial endeavor that elicits maximum concerted human concerted human potential in the potential in the wholehearted pursuit of EXCELLENCE in service of others **Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners wholehearted pursuit of EXCELLENCE in service of others.** **Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners

> EXXON

Design Rules ! APPLE market cap > Exxon Mobil* *August 2011

Only one company can be the cheapest. All others must use design. Rodney Fitch, Fitch & Co. Source: Insights, definitions of design, the Design Council [UK]

Design is treated like a religion at BMW. Fortune

With its carefully conceived mix of colors and textures, aromas and music, Starbucks is more indicative of our era than the iMac. It is to the Age of Aesthetics what McDonalds was to the Age of Convenience or Ford was to the Age of Mass Productionthe touchstone success story, the exemplar of … the aesthetic imperative. … Every Starbucks store is carefully designed to enhance the quality of everything the customers see, touch, hear, smell or taste, writes CEO Howard Schultz. With its carefully conceived mix of colors and textures, aromas and music, Starbucks is more indicative of our era than the iMac. It is to the Age of Aesthetics what McDonalds was to the Age of Convenience or Ford was to the Age of Mass Productionthe touchstone success story, the exemplar of … the aesthetic imperative. … Every Starbucks store is carefully designed to enhance the quality of everything the customers see, touch, hear, smell or taste, writes CEO Howard Schultz. Virginia Postrel, The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture and Consciousness

Hypothesis: DESIGN is the principal difference between love and hate!* Hypothesis: DESIGN is the principal difference between love and hate!* *Not like and dislike

We dont have a good language to talk about this kind of thing. In most peoples vocabularies, design means veneer. … But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation. Steve Jobs* *Apple > ExxonMobil

Hypothesis: Men cannot design for womens needs !!??

… this will be the womans century …

I speak to you with a feminine voice. Its the voice of democracy, of equality. I am certain, ladies and gentlemen, that this will be the womans century. In the Portuguese language, words I speak to you with a feminine voice. Its the voice of democracy, of equality. I am certain, ladies and gentlemen, that this will be the womans century. In the Portuguese language, words such as life, soul, and hope are of the feminine gender, as are other words like courage and sincerity. of the feminine gender, as are other words like courage and sincerity. President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, 1st woman to keynote the United Nations General Assembly

Forget China, India and the Internet : Economic Growth Is Driven by Women. Source: Headline, Economist

One thing is certain: Womens rise to power, which is linked to the increase in wealth per capita, is happening in all domains and at all levels of society. Women are no longer content to provide efficient labor or to be consumers with rising budgets and more autonomy to spend. … This is just the beginning. The phenomenon will only grow as girls prove to be more successful than boys in the school system. For a number of observers, we have already entered the age ofwomenomics, the economy as thought out and practiced by a woman. Aude Zieseniss de Thuin, Womens Forum for the Economy and Society

Goldman Sachs in Tokyo has developed an index of 115 companies poised to benefit from womens increased purchasing power; over the past decade the value of shares in Goldmans basket has risen by 96%, against the Tokyo stockmarkets rise of 13%. 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 combinedmore 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 thateven ones that are confidant that they have a winning strategy when it comes to women. Consider Dells … Source: Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre, The Female Economy, HBR, 09.09

Women are the majority market Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse

AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE: New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeekAS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE: New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek

Headline 2020: Women Hold 80 Percent of Management and Professional Jobs Source: The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will Reshape the World in the Next 20 Years, James Canton

Womens 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, Americas Competitive Secret: Women Managers

Power Women 100/Forbes female CEOs of Public Companies: Vs. Men/Market: +28% * (*Post-appointment) Vs. Industry: +15%

Are men obsolete? Headline, USN&WR

1/8/20

Date: 1/1/11 Activity: USA Boomers start turning 65 Rate: 1 every 8 seconds Duration: 20 years Impacted: EVERYTHING

22/1

22/1/10 (USA adult population will have grown by 23 million between 2006 and Ages will have grown by one million, age 50+ will have grown by 22 million) by 22 million)

The New Customer Majority is the … only … adult market with realistic prospects for significant sales growth in dozens of product lines for thousands of companies. David Wolfe & Robert Snyder, Ageless Marketing

IB M to I B M

$55B* *IBM Global Services/ Systems integrator of choice

Planetary Rainmaker-in-Chief! [CEO Sam] Palmisanos strategy is to expand techs borders by pushing users and entire industriestoward radically different business models. The payoff for IBM would be access to an ocean of revenuePalmisano estimates it at $500 billion a year that technology companies have never been able to touch.Fortune

Results are measured by the success of all those who have purchased your product or service Jan Gunnarsson & Olle Blohm, The Welcoming Leader Results are measured by the success of all those who have purchased your product or service Jan Gunnarsson & Olle Blohm, The Welcoming Leader

Huge: CustomerSatisfaction with product/Service versus CustomerSuccess

UPS

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU? Its all about solutions. We talk with customers about how to run better, stronger, cheaper supply chains. We have 1,000 engineers who work with customers … Bob Stoffel, UPS senior exec

THE GIANT STALKING BIG OIL: How Schlumberger Is Rewriting the Rules of the Energy Game.: IPM [Integrated Project Management] strays from [Schlumbergers] traditional role as a service provider and moves deeper into areas once dominated by the majors. Source: BusinessWeek cover story, January 2008

IPMs Chief: Well do just about anything an oilfield owner would want, from drilling to production.

UTC/Otis + UTC/Carrier: boxes* to integrated building systems *elevators, air conditioners

We want to be the air traffic controllers of electrons. Bob Nardelli, then CEO, GE Power Systems (GE core business that has been making products such as transformers for decades and decades)

MasterCard Advisors

Flagship of Best Buy Wholesale Solutions Strategy Makeover. I. LAN Installation Co. (3%) II. Geek Squad. (30%.) III. Acquired by Best Buy. IV. Flagship of Best Buy Wholesale Solutions Strategy Makeover.

1 /46

We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were omissions we didnt 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, were 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 planfor months. Bloomberg by Bloomberg

What are Rutans management rules? He insists he doesnt have any. I dont like rules, he says. Things are so easy to change if you dont write them down. Rutan feels good management works in much the same way good aircraft design does: 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. Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, Chapter 8, Messy Leadership, from A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder

READY. FIRE. AIM. H. Ross Perot (vs Aim! Aim! Aim! /EDS vs GM/1985)

In Search of Excellence /1982: The Bedrock Eight Basics The Bedrock Eight Basics 1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties Properties

Experiment fearlessly 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 ( ) Experiment fearlessly Source: 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 ( )

Lesson45: WTTMSW

WhoeverTriesTheMostStuffWins

Better yet: WTTMSTFW

WhoeverTriesTheMostStuffTheFastestWins

Rose gardeners face a choice every spring. The long-term fate of a rose garden depends on this decision. If you want to have the largest and most glorious roses of the neighborhood, you will prune hard. This represents a policy of low tolerance and tight control. You force the plant to make the maximum use of its available resources, by putting them into the the roses core business. Pruning hard is a dangerous policy in an unpredictable environment. Thus, if you are in a spot where you know nature may play tricks on you, you may opt for a policy of high tolerance. You will never have the biggest roses, but you have a much- enhanced chance of having roses every year. You will achieve a gradual renewal of the plant. In short, tolerant pruning achieves two ends: (1) It makes it easier to cope with unexpected environmental changes. (2) It leads to a continuous restructuring of the plant. The policy of tolerance admittedly wastes resourcesthe extra buds drain away nutrients from the main stem. But in an unpredictable environment, this policy of tolerance makes the rose healthier in the long run. Arie De Geus, The Living Company

Reward Punish Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes. Phil Daniels, Sydney exec

Read It Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes: Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins: The Paradox of Innovation

The secret of fast progress is, fast and furious and numerous failures. The secret of fast progress is inefficiency, fast and furious and numerous failures. Kevin Kelly

The Bottleneck …

The Billion-man Research Team: Companies offering work to online communities are reaping the benefits of crowdsourcing. Headline, FT

Diverse groups of problem solversgroups of people with diverse toolsconsistently outperformed groups of the best and the brightest. If I formed two groups, one random (and therefore diverse) and one consisting of the best individual performers, the first group almost always did better. … Diversity trumped ability. Scott Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and SocietiesDiverse groups of problem solversgroups of people with diverse toolsconsistently outperformed groups of the best and the brightest. If I formed two groups, one random (and therefore diverse) and one consisting of the best individual performers, the first group almost always did better. … Diversity trumped ability. Scott Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies

Whos the most interesting person youve met in the last 90 days? How do I get in touch with them? Fred Smith

Vanity Fair: What is your most marked characteristic? characteristic? Mike Bloomberg: Curiosity.

The Bottleneck …

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/Harvard Business Review

Human creativity is the ultimate economic resource

My wife and I went to a [kindergarten] parent-teacher conference and were informed that our budding refrigerator artist, Christopher, would be receiving a grade of Unsatisfactory in art. We were shocked. How could any childlet alone our childreceive a poor grade in art at such a young age? His teacher informed us that he had refused to color within the lines, which was a state requirement for demonstrating grade-level motor skills. Jordan Ayan, AHA!

Thomas Stanley has not only found no correlation between success in school and an ability to accumulate wealth, hes actually found a negative correlation. It seems that school-related evaluations are poor predictors of economic success, Stanley concluded. What did predict success was a willingness to take risks. Yet the success-failure standards of most schools penalized risk takers. Most educational systems reward those who play it safe. As a result, those who do well in school find it hard to take risks later on. Ye gads: Thomas Stanley has not only found no correlation between success in school and an ability to accumulate wealth, hes actually found a negative correlation. It seems that school-related evaluations are poor predictors of economic success, Stanley concluded. What did predict success was a willingness to take risks. Yet the success-failure standards of most schools penalized risk takers. Most educational systems reward those who play it safe. As a result, those who do well in school find it hard to take risks later on. Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes, Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins

Every child is born an artist. The trick is to remain an artist. Picasso

Human creativity is the ultimate economic resource. Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class

18 …

The doctor interrupts after …* after …* *Source: Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think

18 …

18 … seconds!

[An obsession with] Listening is... the ultimate mark of Respect. of Respect. Listening is... the heart and soul of Engagement. Listening is... the heart and soul of Kindness. Listening is... the heart and soul of Thoughtfulness. Listening is... the basis for true Collaboration. Listening is... the basis for true Partnership. Listening is... a Team Sport. Listening is... a Developable Individual Skill.* (*Though women are far better at it than men.) are far better at it than men.) Listening is... the basis for Community. Listening is... the bedrock of Joint Ventures that work. Listening is... the bedrock of Joint Ventures that grow. Listening is... the core of effective Cross-functional Communication* (*Which is in turn Attribute #1 of Communication* (*Which is in turn Attribute #1 of organizational effectiveness.) organizational effectiveness.)[cont.]

… and just wait

I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, The answer seems obvious …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

Buy a very large one and just wait.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: Buy a very large one and just wait. Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics

Mr. Foster and his McKinsey colleagues collected detailed performance data stretching back 40 years for 1,000 U.S. companies. They found that none of the long-term survivors managed to outperform the market. Worse, the longer companies had been in the database, the worse they did. Financial Times

Data drawn from the real world attest to a fact that is beyond our control: Norberto Odebrecht, Education Through Work Data drawn from the real world attest to a fact that is beyond our control: Everything in existence tends to deteriorate. Norberto Odebrecht, Education Through Work

Dick Kovacevich: You dont get better by being bigger. You get worse.

M & A success rate as measured by adding value to the acquirer: 15% acquirer: 15% Source: Mark Sirower, The Synergy Trap

Spinoffs … systematically perform better than IPOs … track record, profits … freed from the confines of the parent … more entrepreneurial, more nimbleJerry Knight/ Washington Post/ 08.05

MittELstand* ** MittELstand* ** *agile creatures darting between the legs of the multinational monsters (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 10.10) the multinational monsters (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 10.10) **E.g. Goldmann Produktion

agile creatures darting between the legs of the multinational monsters the legs of the multinational monsters Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek on the German MITTELSTAND

Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America by George Whalin

Be the best. Its the only market thats not crowded. From: Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America, George Whalin Independent Stores in America, George Whalin

The Red Carpet Store (Joel Resnick/Flemington NJ)

There is more than one way to skin a cat!* than one way to skin a cat!* *Every project REQUIRES (if youre smart) an outside look by one/some Seriously Weird Cat/s outside look by one/some Seriously Weird Cat/s in pursuit of whacked-out options.

14,000 20,000 30

14,000/ e Bay 20,000/Amazon 30/Craigslist

Kevin Roberts Credo 1. Ready. Fire! Aim. 2. If it aint 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. Avoid moderation! Kevin Roberts Credo 1. Ready. Fire! Aim. 2. If it aint 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!

In the beginning, there was the daydream …

The Discipline Of Daydreaming: Nearly every major decision of my business career was, to some degree, the result of daydreaming. … To be sure, in every case I had to collect a lot of data, do detailed analysis, and make a data-based argument to convince superiors, colleagues and business partners. But that all came later. In the beginning, there was the daydream. By daydreaming, I mean loose, unstructured thinking with no particular goal in mind. … In fact, I think daydreaming is a distinctive mode of cognition especially well suited to the complex, fuzzy problems that characterize a more turbulent business environment. … Daydreaming is an effective way of coping with complexity. When a problem has a high degree of complexity, the level of detail can be overwhelming. The more one focuses on the details, the more one risks being lost in them. … Every child knows how to daydream. But many, perhaps most, lose the capacity as they grow up. … Dov Frohman (& Robert Howard), Leadership The Hard Way: Why Leadership Cant Be TaughtAnd How You Can Learn It Anyway (Chapter 5, The Soft Skills Of Hard Leadership)