1. EXCELLENCE THRIVING AMIDST THE TECH TSUNAMI/ EXTREME EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT/ EXTREME HUMANIZATION Tom Peters GRUPO BANCOLOMBIA/ Bogota/5 June (This presentation/10+ years of presentation slides at tompeters.com; also see our annotated 23-part Monster-Master at excellencenow.com)

2. CONRAD HILTON, at a gala celebrating his career, was called to the podium and asked, “What were the most important lessons you learned in your long and distinguished career?” His answer … 2 2 2

3. “Remember to tuck the shower curtain inside the bathtub.”3 3

4. THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS IS PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE
EXCELLENCE
THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS IS PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE
Tom Peters GROUPO BANCOLOMBIA/ Bogota/5 June 2019 4 4

5. 70%, 85%, 87%* = Shame on Us!! *% of people who dislike their job, are not engaged at work, unhappy, “sleepwalking,” etc. (These numbers are extraordinarily consistent around the world.) Source: Inc., Gallup, Washington Post, etc.

6. “BUSINESS HAS TO GIVE PEOPLE ENRICHING, REWARDING LIVES … OR IT’S SIMPLY NOT WORTH DOING.”
—Richard Branson (#1/4,096)

7. —Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
“The role of the Director is to create a space where the actors and actresses can become more than they have ever been before,
more than they
have ever dreamed
of being.”
—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech 7 7

8. MANAGING: A PAIN IN THE BUTT
MANAGING: A PAIN IN THE BUTT. Somebody’s got to do it; punching bag for higher ups on one end, grouchy employees on the other; blame magnet if things go wrong, big bosses abscond with the credit if things go right.
MANAGING: THE PINNACLE OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT. The greatest life opportunity one can have (literally). Mid- to long-term success is no more and no less than a function of one’s dedication to and effectiveness at helping team members grow and flourish as individuals and as contributing members to an energetic, self-renewing organization dedicated to the relentless pursuit of EXCELLENCE.

9. Les Wexner: FROM FASHION TRENDS GURU TO JOY FROM PICKING/
DEVELOPING PEOPLE!*
*Limited Brands founder Les Wexner queried on astounding
(>>JackWelch) longterm growth & profitability: It happened, he said,
because “I got as excited about developing people” as he had been about predicting fashion trends in his early years. 9

10. PEOPLE
(LEADERS)
SERVING PEOPLE
(EMPLOYEES)
(CUSTOMERS)

11. Given/Axiomatic … THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT
MAKING ANY ORGANIZATION OF
ANY SIZE IN ANY BUSINESS A …
GREAT PLACE TO WORK EVERY LEADER/2019 HAS A MORAL OBLIGATION TO DEVELOP PEOPLE SO THAT WHEN THEY LEAVE THEY ARE BETTER PREPARED FOR [CRAZY] TOMORROW THAN THEY WERE WHEN THEY ARRIVED.

12. 2,000,000
17,000
8.6B

13. The Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Model “WE WANT THEM IN OUR STORES
The Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Model “WE WANT THEM IN OUR STORES.” Source: Vernon Hill, Fans! Not Customers. How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World

14. Commerce Bank/Metro Bank: Get ‘Em Away From the ATM and Into the Branches: 7X. 7:30A-8:00P. Fri/12A. 7:30AM = 7:15AM. 8:00PM = 8:15PM. Source: Vernon Hill, Fans, Not Customers 14

15. their permission, of course— transferred the money from
“YESBANK”: “When we had a processing problem with MasterCard, it came to our attention that a customer couldn’t pay for their airline flights. A Metro Bank team member stepped in. SHE PUT THE CUSTOMER’S FLIGHTS ON HER PERSONAL CREDIT CARD SO THAT THE CUSTOMER COULD STILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A [time-sensitive] GOOD DEAL, and later—with
their permission, of course— transferred the money from
their account.”
Source: Fans! Not Customers. How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World, Vernon Hill

16. The Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Model “COST CUTTING IS A DEATH SPIRAL
The Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Model “COST CUTTING IS A DEATH SPIRAL. OUR WHOLE STORY IS GROWING REVENUE.” “ARE YOU GOING TO COST CUT YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY? or … ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY?” “OVER-INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE, OVER-INVEST IN OUR FACILITIES.” Source: Source: Source: Vernon Hill, Fans! Not customers. How to Create Growth companies in a No Growth World

17. 2,000,000
dog biscuits
17,000 [good] jobs
$8.6 billion/TD

18. The Excellence Dividend’s “poster child”/Commerce Bank-Metro Bank: The human touch can prevail (thrill customers and create jobs and earn big bucks and embarrass the cost-cutting job destroyers) circa 2019!

19. “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 19 19

20. “BE THE BEST. IT’S THE ONLY MARKET THAT’S NOT CROWDED.”
SME Strategy #1
“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 20 20

21. 2,500+ Speeches/63 Countries =
37 Years/18 Books/
2,500+ Speeches/63 Countries =
6 Words
“Hard is soft.
Soft is hard.”

22. Hard (numbers/plans) is Soft. Soft (relationships/culture) is Hard.22

23. GOOGLE GETS A SURPRISE I “Project Oxygen [data from founding in 1998 to 2013] shocked everyone by concluding that, among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] expertise comes in dead last. The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all SOFT SKILLS: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others’ different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas. Those traits sound more like what one gets as an English or theater major than as a programmer. … Source: Valerie Strauss, “The surprising thing Google learned about its employees —and what it means for today’s students” (Washington Post, 20 December 2017)

24. The “Hard-Edge-First” Logic
“Far too many companies invest too little time and money in their soft-edge excellence. … The three main reasons for this mistake are:
1. The hard edge is easier to quantify.
2. Successful hard-edge investment
provides a faster return on investment
3. CEOs, CFOs, chief operating officers,
boards of directors, and shareholders
speak the language of finance.”
Source: The Soft Edge, Rich Karlgaard

25. “1. Soft-edge strengths lead to greater
Soft-Edge Advantages
“1. Soft-edge strengths lead to greater
brand recognition, higher profit
margins, … [It] is the ticket out
of Commodityville.
“2. Companies strong in the soft edge
are better prepared to survive a big
strategic mistake or cataclysmic
disruption …
“3. Hard-edge strength is absolutely
necessary to compete, but it
provides only a fleeting advantage.”
Source: The Soft Edge, Rich Karlgaard

26. HIRING 26 26

27. “May I help you down the jetway …”
1/7,500
“May I help you down the jetway …” 27

28. “We look for ... listening, caring, smiling, saying ‘Thank you,’ being warm.” — Colleen Barrett, former President, Southwest Airlines 28

29. —Peter Miller, CEO Optinose (pharmaceuticals)
“The ultimate filter we use [in the hiring process] is that we only hire NICE people. … When we finish assessing skills, we do something called ‘running the gauntlet.’ We have them interact with 15 or 20 people, and everyone of them have what I call a ‘blackball vote,’ which means they can say if we should not hire that person. I believe in culture so strongly and that one bad apple can spoil the bunch. There are enough really talented people out there who are nice, you don’t really need to put up with people who act like jerks.”
—Peter Miller, CEO Optinose (pharmaceuticals)
“When we talk about the qualities we want in people, EMPATHY is a big one. … If you can empathize with people, then you can do a good job. If you have no ability to empathize, then it’s difficult to help people improve. Everything becomes harder. —Stewart Butterfield, founder/CEO Slack, Flickr

30. USE THESE WORDS
LISTENING.
CARING.
SMILING.
SAYING “THANK YOU.”
BEING WARM.
NICE.
EMPATHY.

31. TRAINING = INVESTMENT #1!

32. ADMIRALS obsess In the Army and Navy, 3-STAR GENERALS/
on training. In most businesses, it's a
“ho-hum” mid-level
staff function. 32

33. If you don't believe that training is “Investment #1,” ask an admiral, general, police chief, fire chief, orchestra conductor, football coach, archery coach, movie director, actor (age 22 or 62), prima ballerina, surgeon, ER or ICU chief or nurse, nuclear power plant operator ... (or me).

34. Gamblin’ Man
Bet #1: >> 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.”

35. Bet #4: >> 8 of 10 CEOs, in 45-min “tour d’horizon” of their biz, would NOT mention training.

36. Step #1 Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer (Do you even
have a CTO?) your top paid
“C-level” job (other than CEO/COO)?
Are your top trainers paid/cherished as much as your top marketers/ engineers?

37. ASSET #1 1ST-LINE LEADERS

38. and the Navy are fully aware that success
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 or at sea is dependent to
an extraordinary degree on its Sergeants
and Chief Petty Officers. Does industry have
the same awareness? 38

39. Employee retention & satisfaction: “Overwhelmingly based on the first-line manager!” —Marcus Buckingham/Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules “People leave managers not companies.” —Dave Wheeler 39

40. Front-line Chiefs (Full Complement of) :
Principal determinants of … enterprise productivity.
Principal determinants of … employee retention.
Principal determinants of … product/ service quality.
Principal carriers/embodiments of … corporate culture.
Principal visible “spear carriers” for … Excellence. (Or not.)
Principal champions/enablers of … sustained employee development.

41. EEE/E-cubed EXTREME EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT41 41

42. Extreme Employee Engagement/EEE/“E-cubed”
Extreme Employee Engagement/EEE maximizes the quality of customer engagement.
EEE maximizes customer retention.
EEE turns “customers” into “fans.”
EEE makes it safe to take risks and make mistakes—which in turn generates and maximizes innovation at all levels of the organization.
EEE radically improves individual and organizational learning.
EEE underpins and spurs teamwork.
EEE enhances co-operation and communication which in turn increases productivity and quality.

43. EEE reduces friction throughout the organization which dramatically improves all-important cross-functional communication and innovation and efficiency associated therewith.
EEE improves the quality of joint ventures.
EEE dramatically improves execution.
EEE is the best defense against the AI tsunami—and by and large makes AI a partner/ally rather than enemy.
EEE spurs humanization of everything—which is by and large not copy-able by AI in the foreseeable future.
EEE reduces turnover and stabilizes the work force.

44. EEE makes it possible to recruit top talent.
EEE means top employees are far more likely to stay with the organization.
EEE improves the reputation of the company as viewed by all stakeholders.
EEE improves community relations.
EEE is a contribution to humanity
EEE makes coming to work a pleasure—not a pain.
EEE is the only sane and honorable response to the forthcoming radical changes in the global workplace.

45. EEE makes it possible for leaders to look in the mirror without barfing.
EEE makes it possible for leaders to look in the mirror and smile.
EEE is hard to copy.
EEE is Competitive Advantage #1
EEE is the bedrock of EXCELLENCE. (No EEE, no excellence. That simple.)
EEE (beancounters take note!!) is a peerless/the best/sustainable profit-maximization tool.
EEE makes consistent wage and benefits growth possible.
EEE = $$$$/Money [lots of] in the bank for one and all.

46. BUILDING/ MAINTAINING A “PEOPLE (REALLY) FIRST” CULTURE46 46

47. “CULTURE EATS STRATEGY FOR BREAKFAST” —Ed Schein —IT IS THE GAME.”
“If I could have chosen not to tackle the IBM culture head-on,
I probably wouldn’t have. My bias coming in was toward strategy, analysis and measurement. In comparison, changing the attitude and behaviors of hundreds of thousands of people is very, very hard. Yet I came to see in my time at IBM that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game
—IT IS THE GAME.”
—Lou Gerstner, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance 47 47

48. CULTURE/CEO JOB #1 /THE RULES:
CULTURE COMES FIRST.
CULTURE IS EXCEEDINGLY DIFFICULT TO CHANGE.
CULURE CHANGE CANNOT BE/MUST NOT BE
EVADED OR AVOIDED.
CULTURE MAINTENANCE IS ABOUT AS DIFFICULT
AS CULTURE CHANGE.
CULTURE MAINTENANCE: ONE DAY/ONE HOUR/
ONE MINUTE AT A TIME.
CULTURE CHANGE/MAINTENANCE MUST BECOME A CONSCIOUS/PERMANENT/PERSONAL AGENDA ITEM.
CULTURE CHANGE = AN “OUTSIDE-THE OFFICE JOB”
= MBWA/MANAGING BY WANDERING AROUND.
CULTURE CHANGE/MAINTENANCE IS MANIFEST IN “THE LITTLE THINGS” FAR MORE THAN IN THE BIG THINGS.
REPEAT/CULTURE CHANGE/MAINTENANCE:
ONE DAY/ONE HOUR/ONE MINUTE AT A TIME.
FOREVER.
AND EVER.

49. INNOVATION WTTMSW 49 49

50. *Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins
WTTMSW*
*Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins 50

51. —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
“We made mistakes, of course. 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 51

52. “You can’t be a serious innovator unless and until you are ready, willing and able to seriously play. ‘SERIOUS PLAY’ is not a contradiction; it is the essence of innovation.” —Michael Schrage, Serious Play
SORRY … I LOVE THIS. “SERIOUS PLAY” … OR … FUHGEDDABOUDIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No bull: I’m 57 … and I believe that this is … THE Truth. NO SHIT. 52

53. WTTMSASTMSUTFW*
*Whoever Tries The Most Stuff And Screws The Most Stuff Up The Fastest Wins 53

54. “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 54 54

55. VALUE-ADDED DESIGN/ EXTREME HUMANIZATION55 55

56. 10 AUGUST 2011/APPLE>EXXON “We don’t have a good language to talk about this kind of thing. To most people, 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 “STEVE AND JONY WOULD DISCUSS CORNERS FOR HOURS AND HOURS.” —Laurene Powell Jobs “Every business school in the world would flunk you if you came out with a business plan that said, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re going to design and fabricate our own screws at an exponentially higher cost than it would cost to buy them.’ BUT THESE AREN’T JUST SCREWS. LIKE THE [NEST] THERMOMETER ITSELF, THEY’RE BETTER SCREWS, EPIC SCREWS, SCREWS WITH, DARE I SAY IT, DEEPER MEANING.” —Tony Fadell, Nest “It is fair to say that almost NO NEW VEHICLE IN RECENT MEMORY HAS PROVOKED MORE SMILES.” —review of the MINI Cooper S, reported in Donald Norman, Emotional Design 56

57. “In some way, by caring, we are actually serving humanity
“In some way, by caring, we are actually serving humanity. People might think it’s a stupid belief, but it’s a goal—it’s a contribution that we hope we can make, in some small way, to culture.”
—Jony Ives

58. SUGGESTION
For every engineer and marketer on the “Experience Design & Development Team,” you need an artist, psychologist, musician, theater director—and perhaps a shaman.

59. artistry, about surprise, about those smiles
THE LIMITS OF “ENGINEERING”: MY “EXPERIENCE” PROBLEM
I’m having some [biggish] trouble with the “experience marketing” idea. The possible implication, as I see it, is that you can “engineer” an excellent experience. Certainly an excellent experience has supportive systems lying beneath the surface. But when the systems rulethe roost, the trouble starts. Experiences that stick
are about emotional engagement. And emotional engagement is about intangibles, about
artistry, about surprise, about those smiles
the MINI Cooper S engenders.
The experience fetish has, alas and all too often, gone metric. “Metrics” for this, metrics for that. Metrics metrics metrics. I recently went to my car dealership for a regular checkup. They did a fine and job. But no less than three times the service boss reminded me to fill out my on-line assessment of the visit—and asked me
if he could do anything more that would improve my assessment. All the emotion was drained out of the “experience” in a flash—the whole “experience” was tainted and the emotion was drained therefrom. .

60. DESIGN: SMALL >>>>> BIG
“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the
ones which strike deepest
in the grateful and appreciating heart.” —Henry Clay "Let's not forget that small emotions are the great captains of our lives." —van Gogh

61. Las Vegas Casino/2X TWO-THIRDS.”
“When Friedman SLIGHTLY CURVED the right angle of an entrance corridor to one property, he was ’amazed at the percentage who entered increased from
ONE-THIRD TO NEARLY
TWO-THIRDS.”
—Natasha Dow Schull, Addiction By Design:
Machine Gambling in Las Vegas

62. Design mindedness pervades (EVERYTHING) …. The reception area
Design mindedness pervades (EVERYTHING) … * The reception area * The restrooms!! * Dialogues at the call center * Every electronic (or paper) form * Every business process “map” * Every * Every meeting agenda/setting/etc. * Every square meter of every facility * Every new product proposal * Every manual * Every customer contact * A consideration in every promotion decision * The presence and ubiquity of an “Aesthetic sensibility”/ “Design mindfulness” * An encompassing “design review” process of … everything * Etc. * Etc.

63. LEADERSHIP 63 63

64. (Managing By Wandering Around)
MBWA
(Managing By Wandering Around) 64

65. “I’m always stopping by our stores— at least 25 a week
“I’m always stopping by our stores— at least 25 a week. 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” 65

66. *Are you an “18-second manager”?
“The doctor interrupts after 18 … seconds!*
*Are you an “18-second manager”? 66 66

67. [An obsession with] Listening is ... the ultimate mark 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.)
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
organization effectiveness.) 67

68. is notetaking—he has hundreds of notebooks.)
Part ONE: LISTEN*
(pp11-116, of 364)
*“The key to every one of our [eight] leadership attributes was the vital importance of a leader’s ability to listen.” (One of Branson’s personal keys to listening
is notetaking—he has hundreds of notebooks.)
Source: Richard Branson, The Virgin Way: How to Listen, Learn, Laugh, and Lead

69. Suggested Enterprise 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.” 69 69

70. CEO Doug Conant sent 30,000 HANDWRITTEN ‘THANK YOU’ NOTES to employees during the 10 years [approx 15/work day] he ran Campbell Soup. Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek

71. Acknowledgement! The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” —William James “Employees who don't feel significant rarely make significant contributions.” —Mark Sanborn Four most important words in any organization/Dave Wheeler: “What do you think?” 71

72. Speed. NOT
Culture
Listening
Relationships
Design
Excellence

73. Real life grow.” —Ben Stein
“Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success,
all achievement in
Real life grow.” —Ben Stein

74. EXCELLENCE IS THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES74

75. EXCELLENCE is not a “long-term” "aspiration.”
EXCELLENCE is the ultimate short-term strategy. EXCELLENCE is … THE NEXT 5 MINUTES.*
(*Or NOT.) 75

76. EXCELLENCE is not an "aspiration."
EXCELLENCE is … THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES.
EXCELLENCE is your next conversation.
Or not.
EXCELLENCE is your next meeting.
EXCELLENCE is shutting up and listening—really listening.
EXCELLENCE is your next customer contact.
EXCELLENCE is saying “Thank you” for something “small.”
EXCELLENCE is the next time you shoulder responsibility and apologize.
EXCELLENCE is waaay over-reacting to a screw-up.
EXCELLENCE is the flowers you brought to work today.
EXCELLENCE is lending a hand to an “outsider” who’s fallen behind schedule.
EXCELLENCE is bothering to learn the way folks in finance (or IS or HR) think.
EXCELLENCE is waaay “over”-preparing for a 3-minute presentation.
EXCELLENCE is turning “insignificant” tasks into models of … EXCELLENCE. 76

77. PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE