LONG Tom Peters’ EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. XAlways/BANGKOK/01August2006.

LONG Tom Peters’ EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. XAlways/BANGKOK/01August2006

Slides* at … tompeters.com *also “Final” and “Leadership”

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, Gary Hamel, Jim Collins, etc. Finally, he’d had enough. “What, if anything,” he asked, “do you believe ‘for sure’?” 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

That’s a Big Number ….

THREE BILLION NEW CAPITALISTS —Clyde Prestowitz

“One Singaporean worker costs as much as … 3 … in Malaysia 8 … in Thailand 13 … in China 18 … in India.” Source: The Straits Times/2003

EXCELLENCE. THE MANDATE.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” —Charles Darwin

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” —General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff. U. S. Army

“We are in a brawl with no rules.” —Paul Allaire

S.A.V.

Screw Around Vigorously

Sam’s Secret #1!

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

EXCELLENCE. STARTERS.

Radio City Music Hall September 2005

Franchise Lost! TP: “ How many of you [600] really crave a new Chevy?” NYC/IIR/061205

2P.3E.

People. Product. Execution. Enthusiasm. Excellence.

EXCELLENCE. THE WORD.

Synonyms Purity Transcendence Virtue Elegance Majesty Antonyms Mediocrity

EXCELLENCE. GAMECHANGER.

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”

ExIn*: 1982-2002/Forbes.com DJIA : $10,000 yields $85,000 EI : $10,000 yields $140,050 *Forbes/ Excellence Index /Basket of 32 publicly traded stocks

Sorry, Jack: The New Rules Old Rule Big Dogs Own the Street Be No.1 or No. 2 in the Market Shareholders Rule Be Lean and Mean Rank Players; Go With the A’s Hire a Charismatic CEO Admire My Might Source: Fortune/07.24.2006 New Rule Agile Is Best; Big Can Bite Create Something New The Customer Is King Look Out, Not In Hire Passionate People Hire a Courageous CEO Admire My Soul

EXCELLENCE. CAUSES. ADVERSARIES.

Causes/1966-2006 Implementation/Small Wins (Stanford GSB/PhD thesis; 1st on implementation per se) EXCELLENCE (as a worthy business pursuit) Management Style/Corporate Culture Soft “Ss”/7-S (Waterman-Peters complete “business model”; waaaaay beyond Strategy & Structure) Structure > Strategy (“We shape our structures, then they shape us …”—Churchillian paraphrase) Soft Change Levers (> structure; symbols, patterns & settings) Close to the Customer (novel idea, circa 1982) MBWA (Managing By Wandering Around—courtesy a much more intimate than today HP) Productivity through People (novel idea, circa 1982) Chaos/Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organizations Middle-sized companies are cool Re-imagine!/Innovate or Die! Small-ish/Scale & Synergy limits-delusions/anti-Big Mergers

Causes/1966-2006 Women/Market opportunity Women/Leaders (right for the times) Design/Design-as-soul Wow! (Hot language) Weird! Passion!/Enthusiasm!/Exuberance! (as Leader Lever #1) Brand You (or else) PSF = Bedrock (add value or bust—every group must demonstrate economic viability) PSF + Brand You + WOW Projects = New Biz Logic Sales/+R > -C (increasing revenue more important than cutting cost) HealthCare/Wellness-Safety-H5N1 Brand = Talent (best roster wins) New VA Ladder/Products-Services-SOLUTIONS- EXPERIENCES-DREAMKETING (Dream Marketing)- LOVEMARK Different > > Better Boomers & Geezers/marketing to new “mega-segment”

Hardball: Are You Playing to Play or Playing to Win? by George Stalk & Rob Lachenauer/HBS Press “The winners in business have always played hardball.” “Unleash massive and overwhelming force.” “Exploit anomalies.” “Threaten your competitor’s profit sanctuaries.” “Entice your competitor into retreat.” Approximately 640 Index entries: Customer/s (service, retention, loyalty), 4. People ( employees, motivation, morale, worker/s), 0. Innovation ( product development, research & development, new products), 0.

M.I.A.*: Talk. (Present.) Listen. (Interview.) Sell. (Life = Sales.) Do. (Execution-Implementation.) Talent. (Recruit-Develop-Retain.) Project Management. (Create. Solicit support. Execution. Adoption-Client “Culture Change.”) Product. (“It.”) Innovation. (Design. Creativity. “Buzz-building.” Politics.) Leadership. (USMA, etc.) E.Q. (Connect.) “Culture” Change. (Lasting impact.) Diversity. (Cross- cultural Effectiveness.) Career Creation. (Brand You life-lifestyle.) Wellness. (Life.) *B.Schools (“M.I.A.” or at most “B.I.A.”—barely in action)

Them-Us Tom Peters/0624.2006

“Them” “Us” Strategy EXECUTION Planning Action Marketing Selling/Sales Markets Customers Customers Clients Micro-segmentation Big Stuff (Women, Boomers) Cost minimization Revenue maximization Synergy/“Efficiencies” Decentralization “Strategic supplier Pioneering supplier Process Project Effectiveness Excellence Men Women Leadership Management + Leadership Standardization Exceptionalism (53 = 53) Big clients COOL clients Prestigious Board INTERESTING Board

“Them” “Us” Big Mid-size Growth by merger Organic growth Buy market share Create NEW markets Efficient, streamlined Value-creating “PSF” “department” Certainty-predictability Ambiguity-opportunity Fearful of losing Aggressive pursuit of winning Plan Prototype Careful evaluation Another prototype Revised plan Another prototype People/Employees Talent Effective HR department Rockin’ Talent Development Center of Excellence Benchmark against the Benchmark against the “best”-“industry leader” “coolest”

“Them” “Us” Benchmark “Future”mark Orderly career progression “Up or Out” (PDQ) Head Heart IQ EQ “Professional” Passionate Stoic, humble leaders Noisy, emotional “characters” in charge Hire for Resume Hire for intangibles Measured-thoughtful Relentless, pig-headed approach determination Teamwork comes first Teamwork and disruptive individuals equal billing Listen to customers Lead customers Customer “involvement” Intimate-Seamless customer inter-twining

“Them” “Us” MBM (Management MBWA by memo) MBA MFA Shareholder Value Great people-product rule comes first Work smart Work hard Built to last Built to Rock the World Reward successes Reward (EXCELLENT) failures Quality first! Design 1T Quality first Innovation 1T High-quality Jaw-dropping Experience transaction CVs demo consistent CVs feature Magic Moments performance Good grades Cool stuff Operational excellence World-rocking INNOVATION

“Them” “Us” Brand Lovemark Best analysis wins Best STORY wins “Beyond politics” Politics-is-life, the rest is details Outsource Bestsource “Motivate” Send on QUESTS “Motivate” Invite Measured language HOT language Product-Service Gamechanging SOLUTION, Thrilling EXPERIENCE, DREAM come true, LOVEMARK Pastel Technicolor Better Different “Mission success” “Mission EXCELLENCE” Very good EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

Porter. Drucker. Bennis. Peters.

Importance of Success Factors by Various “Gurus”/(Unreliable) Estimates by Tom Peters Strategy Systems People Passion Porter 50% 20 20 10 Drucker 25% 35 25 15 Bennis 25% 20 30 25 Peters 15% 20 40 25

good words. Bad words.

Words that may NOT be used in my presence: “Motivate” “Market”

Words that may NOT be used in my presence: “Motivate”

“In the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management invites the workforce itself to change the culture.” —Lou Gerstner

Words that may NOT be used in my presence: “Market”

Sell Sell Sell

Words that may NOT be used in my presence: “Motivate” … “Market” … “MBA” … “Plan” (mostly) … “Worker” … “Job” … “Task” … “Exceeds expectations” … “HR” … “Employee evaluation” … “Man” (mostly) … “Shareholder Value”

Words that MAY be used in my presence: “Invite” (v. “Motivate”) … “Sell” (v. “Market”) … “People” (we’d like to serve) (v. “Market segment”) … “Client” (v. “Customer”) “OJT/MFA” (v. “MBA”) … “Act”/ “Execute” (v. “Plan”) … “Talent” (v. “Worker”) … “Quest”/“Adventure-in-EXCELLENCE” (v. “Job”) … “Wow Project” (v. “Task”) … “Rockin’ (profit-makin’) PSF” (v. “Department”) … “Theater” (v. “Office”) … “Breathtaking Experience” (v. “Transaction” that “Exceeds expectations”) … “Talent Fanatics Inc” (v. “HR”) … “Brand You adventure” (v “Career development”) “Annual Report development session” … (v. “Employee evaluation”) … “Woman” (v. “Man”) …

Words that MAY be used in my presence: … “Wow!” (v. “Nice”) … “Bloody-minded” (v. “Committed”) … “Thank you! (v. “____”) … “Attack”/Innovate (v. “defend”/Entrench) … “Great stuff. Great people. ‘Do it’ fanatics.” (v. “shareholder value”) … “EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.” (v. “Good work”) (v. “shareholder value”)

EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

“Why in the world did you go to Siberia?”

The Peters Principles: Enthusiasm. Emotion. Excellence. Energy. Excitement. Service. Growth. Creativity. Imagination. Vitality. Joy. Surprise. Independence. Spirit. Community. Limitless human potential. Diversity. Profit. Innovation. Design. Quality. Entrepreneurialism. Wow.

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

Business: The Ultimate Creative Endeavor.

Business: The Ultimate Personal Development- Growth Experience.

Business: The Ultimate Transcendent Service Opportunity.

EXCELLENCE. INNOVATE. OR. DIE.

World Innovation Forum EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW ABOUT INNOVATION IS WRONG Tom Peters/New York/0524.2006/ Inno.new.LIST.0527

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

World Innovation Forum: Alt Title YOU ONLY FIND OIL IF YOU DRILL WELLS

“A focus on cost-cutting and efficiency has helped many organizations weather the downturn, but this approach will ultimately render them obsolete. Only the constant pursuit of innovation can ensure long-term success.” —Daniel Muzyka, Dean, Sauder School of Business, Univ of British Columbia (FT/09.17.04)

Pathetic!

“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 myself?’ The answer seems obvious: Buy a very large one and just wait.” —Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics

Sluggish + Obese + Unimaginative + More Sluggish + More Obese + More Unimaginative + Even More Sluggish + Even More Obese + Even More Unimaginative = Nissan + Renault + GM = Innovative Challenger for Toyota????

“I don’t believe in economies of scale. You don’t get better by being bigger. You get worse.” —Dick Kovacevich/Wells Fargo/Forbes/08.04 (ROA: Wells, 1.7%; Citi, 1.5%; BofA, 1.3%; J.P. Morgan Chase, 0.9%)

Scale? “Microsoft’s Struggle With Scale” —Headline, FT, 09.2005 “Troubling Exits at Microsoft” —Cover Story, BW, 09.2005 “ Too Big to Move Fast?” —Headline, BW, 09.2005

“Almost every personal friend I have in the world works on Wall Street. You can buy and sell the same company six times and everybody makes money, but I’m not sure we’re actually innovating. … Our challenge is to take nanotechnology into the future, to do personalized medicine …” —Jeff Immelt/2005

More than $$$$ #1 R&D spending, last 25 years?

Line Extensions: 86 percent of new products. 62 percent of revenues. 39 percent of profit. Source: Blue Ocean Strategy, Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne

I HEREBY PLEDGE … When asked, “What are some examples of companies stepping up to today’s challenges?” … I will … NEVER AGAIN … offer an example of a Giant Company; instead I’ll refer to Cirque du Soleil, Donnelly’s Weatherstrip Service, 3K tanning salons, 10.6M women-owned businesses (or the typically female recipients of micro-lending) …* *There is more to Biz Life than Giant Cos … LOTS MORE … that “hidden 99%”

“While many people big oil finds with big companies, over the years about 80 percent of the oil found in the United States has been brought in by wildcatters such as Mr Findley, says Larry Nation, spokesman for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.” —WSJ, “Wildcat Producer Sparks Oil Boom in Montana,” 0405.2006

EXCELLENCE. DEFINED.

Great Companies … SET THE AGENDA.* (Period.) * “disturb the sleep of …

AGENDA SETTERS: “Set the Table”/ Pioneers/ Questors/ Adventurers US Steel … Ford … Toyota … Sears … GM … ITT … The Gap … Limited … Wal*Mart … Tesco … P&G … 3M … Intel … IBM … Apple … Nokia … Cisco … Dell … MCI … Sun … Microsoft … Google … Enron … Schwab … GE … Laker … Southwest … People Express … Ogilvy … Virgin … eBay … Amazon … Sony … Amgen … BMW … CNN … Nike

Built to Last vs Built for Impact “But what if [former head of strategic planning at Royal Dutch Shell] Arie De Geus is wrong in suggesting, in The Living Company, that firms should aspire to live forever? Greatness is fleeting and, for corporations, it will become ever more fleeting. The ultimate aim of a business organization, an artist, an athlete or a stockbroker may be to explode in a dramatic frenzy of value creation during a short space of time, rather than to live forever.” —Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle, Funky Business

Inno64: Innovation Strategies & Tactics

Parallel universe /Exec Ed v res MBA End run regnant powers/JKC Find done deals-practicing mavericks/Stone-ReGo Bell curves2016 in 2006 Non-industry benchmarking Everything = Portfolio V.C.s all! Hot language/Wow-Astonish me-Insanely great- immortal-Make something great Lead customers/PW-Embraer Lead suppliers /Top decile R&D Weird alliances Mottos/Paul Arden (“Whatever You Think Think the Opposite”) Hire freaks/Enough weird people? Weird Boards!!!

CEO track record of Innovation (nobody starts at 45!) System/GE-Immelt “Strategic thrust overlay” Calendar Big Delta easier than Small MBWA with freaks-weirdos/JKC MBWA/Boonies’ labs V.C.-formal/Intel Acquire weird Children’s crusade Old farts crusade Go Global at any size Stop listening to customers Talent!/Unusual sources-Hire innovators-V.C.s Eschew giant mergers

Remember: scale economies max out early Assisted suicide! (“Built to last” = Chimera- snare-delusion) Burn your press clippings “Forgetting” “strategy” Fire all strategic planners Tempo! Final product bears little relation to starting notion Design! Design! Design! (“culture,” not program) All innovation: Pissed-off people Gut feel rules! Focus groups suck Weird focus groups okay Be-Do philosophy

Celebrations Culture-little as well as big Inno (“everyone- an-innovator”) Life = Wow Projects Acknowledge messiness-pursue serendipity (Blitzkrieg-Containers-Science-Jim Utterback) R.F.A. Culture of execution 4/40: decentralization, execution, accountability, 615AM EVP (S.O.U.B.)/Systems-process “un-design” Diversity for diversity’s sake Women-Women-Women/customers (they “are the market,” not a “segment”)-leaders Boomers-Geezers (“all the money”)

CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) “culture”/top- line obsessed CIO (Chief INNOVATION Officer) Laughter Facility-space configuration Experiments-prototypes “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” Bizarrely high incentives (& penalties) We are what we eat/We are who we hang out with (E.g.: 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)

Winning against … … Niche/Focus … Dramatic Difference … 2016/2011 in 2006 … Transparent (easy to do business with/Great EXPERIENCE) … Partner … EXECUTION

Innovation: Some Secrets

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

Parallel universe!

“Venture” fund: E.g. Gerstner/Amex, Dow/Marriott, Grove/Intel, Bedbury/Starbucks

“SkunkWorks”/ “ParallelUniverse” “the 1% solution” Source: Scott Bedbury

Immelt on “Innovation breakthroughs”: Pull out and fund ideas in each business that will generate >$100M in revenue; find best people to lead (80 throughout GE) Source: Fast Company/07.05

“[Immelt] is now identifying technologies with which GE will … systematically set out to build entirely new industries” —Strategy+Business, Fall 2005

“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 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

“FAIL, FAIL AGAIN. FAIL BETTER.” —Samuel Beckett

Bloody- mindedness!

JackWorld/ 1@T : (1) Neutron Jack. (Banish bureaucracy.) (2) “1, 2 or out” Jack. (Lead or leave.) (3) “Workout” Jack. (Empowerment, GE style.) (4) 6-Sigma Jack. (5) Internet Jack. (1-5/Throughout) TALENT JACK!

“Never forget implementation boys. In our work it’s what I call the ‘missing 98 percent’ of the client puzzle.” —Al McDonald, former Managing Director, McKinsey & Co, to a project team that included TP

TP/BW on BigCo Sin #1: “ too much talk, too little do”

“ Ninety percent of what we call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.” – Peter Drucker

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”

“METABOLIC MANAGEMENT”

The Leadership11 1. Talent Management 2. Metabolic Management 3. Technology Management 4. Barrier Management 5. Forgetful Management 6. Metaphysical Management 7. Opportunity Management 8. Portfolio Management 9. Failure Management 10. Cause Management 11. Passion Management

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

“If things seem under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” —Mario Andretti

“I’m not comfortable unless I’m uncomfortable.” —Jay Chiat

Boyd on TEMPO

He who has the quickest O.O.D.A. Loops* wins! * Observe. Orient. Decide. Act./Col. John Boyd

“In war, delay is fatal.” —Napoleon “The only way to whip an army is to go out and fight it.” —Grant “ … demonstrating the tactic that would become his hallmark: the immediate move to seek out the enemy and attack him” — John Mosier, on Grant “A good plan executed right now is far preferable to a ‘perfect’ plan executed next week.” —Patton

EXCELLENCE. 4/40.

De-cent- ral-iz- a-tion!

Ex-e- cu-tion!

“Execution is the job of the business leader.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

“ Execution is a systematic process of rigorously discussing hows and whats, tenaciously following through, and ensuring accountability.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Ac-count- a-bil-ity!

“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)

6:15A.M.

???????? Work Hard > Work Smart

EXCELLENCE. WANTING.

This is not a “mature category.”

This is an “ undistinguished category.”

“ 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

EXCELLENCE. DRAMATIC. DIFFERENCE. DOABLE.

$415/SqFt/Wal*Mart $798/SqFt/Whole Foods

Summary: WallopWal*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 “mini- Wal*Mart.) * Never attack the monsters head on! (Instead steal niche business and lukewarm customers.) *“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, Vendors. (BEAT THE BIGGIES ON EMOTION/CONNECTION!!)

“This is an essay about what it takes to create and sell something remarkable. It is a plea for originality, passion, guts and daring. You can’t be remarkable by following someone else who’s remarkable. One way to figure out a theory is to look at what’s working in the real world and determine what the successes have in common. But what could the Four Seasons and Motel 6 possibly have in common? Or Neiman-Marcus and Wal*Mart? Or Nokia (bringing out new hardware every 30 days or so) and Nintendo (marketing the same Game Boy 14 years in a row)? It’s like trying to drive looking in the rearview mirror. The thing that all these companies have in common is that they have nothing in common. They are outliers. They’re on the fringes. Superfast or superslow. Very exclusive or very cheap. Extremely big or extremely small. The reason it’s so hard to follow the leader is this: The leader is the leader precisely because he did something remarkable. And that remarkable thing is now taken—so it’s no longer remarkable when you decide to do it.” —Seth Godin, Fast Company/02.2003

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 star! (“Sell” local-ness per se. Sell the hell out of it!) * 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-in-pursuit-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-regional-niche “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!)

What I’ve Learned about “Small Business” Tom Peters 26June2006

Passion for PRODUCT. OBSESSION With Product. LOVE The Product. Aim To Be “ONLY ONES WHO DO WHAT WE DO.” Keep ADDIN’ Stuff. Invest “UNWISELY” in R&D. Reside Permanently In The DISCOMFORT Zone. “Unhealthy” PARANOIA Is A Good Thing. Add Clients That PUSH-PULL. SELL. SELL. SELL. SELL. Go For Broke: CUSTOMER CONTACT PEOPLE. PERFECTION: Customer Contact People. Hire for ATTITUDE. INVITE On An Adventure. GREAT CFO/Biz Guy-Gal. NASTY CFO/Biz Guy-Gal. QUADRANGULAR LEADERSHIP: Visionary-Talent Fanatic-Project Manager-I.P.M. (I.P.M. = Inspired Profit Mechanic)

GREAT Logo. DESIGN! “OVERDO” Marketing Materials. WOMEN Roar. WOMEN Rule. WOMEN Buy. Diversity = $$$$$$ Be RELENTLESS. Cut And RUN. Product Includes-Features the PACKAGING. Define Your DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE (R.P.O.V.8) Best STORY Wins. DRESS For Success. First Goal: AMUSE Yourself. Know YOURSELF. DON’T Do Stuff You Hate. “Over-invest” In RELATIONSHIPS. (R.O.I.R.: Return On Investment in Relationships) SYSTEMATICALLY “Manage” Relationships. “Work” The SUPPORT PEOPLE In Client Orgs.

BLOG As If Your Life Depended On It. SOPHISTICATED Use Of Infotech. RESPONSE To Problems. Make ’Em PAY. CLOSE The Sale. Invest BIGTIME In PR. Media FRIENDLY. Live-To-SCHMOOZE. Fun/Laughter = $$$$ MBWA: Stay In Touch. “You Must Be The Change You Wish To See In The World”/GANDHI 5K For 5M. Your CALENDAR Never Lies. OUT: Pastels. IN: Technicolor

JUST SAY “NO” TO C.E.O.: CIO/Chief Innovation Officer. CSO/Chief Sales Officer. CWO/Chief Wow Officer EXCELLENCE Is Very Cool. “MICRO-MANAGE” Your Reputation. Wear Your Integrity On Your SLEEVE. KEEP Your Promises. EXECUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “A Man Without A Smiling Face MUST NOT Open His Shop.” RECOGNITION! Work HARD, Not Smart. “Insanely Great.” THE STANDARD.

Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead Of Good —by Bo Burlingham

“ It’s always showtime.” —David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare

EXCELLENCE. PITIFUL.

“Idiot” is too kind a word.

“That’s a very diverse* team.” —Patrick Cescau, CEO, Unilever** *1 of 14 Board of Directors members is a woman (not an exec); 2 of 7 Exec Team members are … Indians. (Source: FT/24-25 June.) **Approximately 85% of Unilever’s products are purchased by … women.

“That’s a VERY diverse team.” —Patrick Cescau, CEO, Unilever * ** *1 of 14 Board of Directors members is a woman (not an exec); 2 of 7 Exec Team members are … Indians. (Source: FT/24-25 June.) **Approximately 85% of Unilever’s products are purchased by … women.

85% vs. 7% (1 of 14)

“That’s a VERY sick man.” —Tom Peters

EXCELLENCE. OPPORTUNITY.

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

????????? Home Furnishings … 94% Vacations … 92% (Adventure Travel … 70%/ $55B travel equipment) Houses … 91% D.I.Y. (major “home projects”) … 80% Consumer Electronics … 51% (66% home computers) Cars … 68% (90%) All consumer purchases … 83% Bank Account … 89% Household investment decisions … 67% Small business loans/biz starts … 70% Health Care … 80%

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

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.

EXCELLENCE. OPPORTUNITY.

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

The Irreducible209

73. Exercise. 74. Paint. (Leader. Portraits of Excellence.) 75. Best story wins. 76. “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.)

EXCELLENCE. VALUE ADDED.

The [Only?] Answer PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”/The Organizing Principle ) + Brand You (“Distinct” or “Extinct”/The Talent ) + Wow! Projects (“Different” vs. “Better”/The Work )

“SCS”/Supply Chain Solutions: 750 locations; $2.5B; fastest growing division; 19 acquisitions, including a bank Source: Fast Company

MasterCard Advisors

Huge: Customer Satisfaction versus Customer Success

EXCELLENCE. NECESSITY. OPPORTUNITY.

“ ‘Disintermediation’ is overrated. Those who fear disintermediation should in fact be afraid of irrelevance—disintermediation is just another way of saying that … you’ve become irrelevant to your customers.” —John Battelle/Point/Advertising Age/07.05

Chicago: HRMAC

“support function” / “cost center”/ “overhead” or …

Are you … “ Rock Stars of the Age of Talent”

The Irreducible209

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.

EXCELLENCE. NO OPTION.

Department Head to … Managing Partner, IS [HR, R&D, etc.] Inc.

Are you the … “Principal Engine of Value Added” *E.g.: Your R&D budget as robust as the New Products team?

Core Mechanism : “Game-changing Solutions” PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”/The Organizing Principle ) + Brand You (“Distinct” or “Extinct”/The Talent ) + Wow! Projects (“Different” vs. “Better”/The Work )

The “PSF35” : Thirty-Five Professional Service Firm Marks of Excellence

The PSF35: The Work & The Legacy 1. CRYSTAL CLEAR POINT OF VIEW (E very Practice Group: “If you can’t explain your position in eight words or less, you don’t have a position”—Seth Godin) 2. DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE (“We are the only ones who do what we do”—Jerry Garcia) 3. Stretch Is Routine (“Never bite off less than you can chew”—anon.) 4. Eye-Appetite for Game-changer Projects (Excellence at Assembling “Best Team”—Fast) 5. “Playful” Clients (Adventurous folks who unfailingly Aim to Change the World) 6. Small “Uneconomic” Clients with Big Aims 7. Life Is Too Short to Work with Jerks (Fire lousy clients) 8. OBSESSED WITH LEGACY (Practice Group and Individual: “Dent the Universe”—Steve Jobs) 9. Fire-on-the-spot Anyone Who Says, “Law/Architecture/Consulting/ I-banking/ Accounting/PR/Etc. has become a ‘commodity’ ” 10. Consistent with #9 above … DO NOT SHY AWAY FROM THE WORD (IDEA) “RADICAL”

Point of View!

The PSF35: The People & The Leadership 18. TALENT FANATICS (“Best-Coolest place to work”) (PERIOD) 19. EYE FOR THE PECULIAR (Hiring: Go beyond “same old, same old”) 20. Early Opportunities (vs. “Wait your turn”) 21. Up or Out (Based on “Legacy”/Mentoring as much as “Billings”/“Rainmaking”) 22. Slide the Old Aside/Make Room for Youth (Find oldsters new roles?) 23. TALENT IS OBSESSED WITH RENEWAL FROM DAY #1 TO DAY #“R” [R = Retirement] 24. Office/Practice Leaders Evaluated Primarily on Mentoring-Team Building Skills 25. A “PROPRIETARY” TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS (GE) 26. Team Leadership Skills Valued Early 27. Partner with B.I.W. [Best In World] Outsiders as Needed and to Infuse Different Views

The PSF35: The Firm & The Brand 28. EAT-SLEEP-BREATHE-OOZE INTEGRITY (“My life is my message”—Gandhi) 29. Excellence+ in EXECUTION … 100.00% of the Time (No such thing as a “small sins”/World Series Ring to the Batboy!) 30. “Drop everything”/“Swarm” to Support a Harried-On The Verge Team 31. SPEND AS AGGRESSIVELY ON R&D AS A TECH FIRM OR CIRQUE DU SOLEIL 32. A PROPRIETARY METHODOLOGY (FBR, McKinsey, Chiat Day, IDEO, old EDS) 33. Web (Technology) Obsession 34. BRAND/“LOVEMARK” MANIACS (Organize Around a Point of View Worth BROADCASTING: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”—Gandhi) 35. PASSION! ENTHUSIASM! (Passion & Enthusiasm have as much a place at the Head Table in a “PSF” as in a widgets factory: “You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner. You’ve got to be out there on the lunatic fringe”—Jack Welch)

The PSF35: The Firm & The Brand 28. EAT-SLEEP-BREATHE-OOZE INTEGRITY (“My life is my message”—Gandhi) 29. Excellence+ in EXECUTION … 100.00% of the Time 30. “Drop everything”/“Swarm” to Support a Harried-On The Verge Team 31. SPEND ON R&D LIKE A TECH FIRM. 32. A PROPRIETARY METHODOLOGY (FBR, McKinsey, Chiat Day, IDEO, old EDS) 33. BRAND MANIACS (Organize Around a Point of View Worth BROADCASTING) 34. PASSION! ENTHUSIASM! 35. EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

EXCELLENCE. ATTITUDE. TRANSFORMATION.

Fleet Manager Rolling Stock Cost Minimization Officer vs/or Chief of Fleet Lifetime Value Maximization Strategic Supply-chain Executive Customer Experience Director (via drivers)

“Purchasing Officer” Thrust #1: Cost (at All Costs*) Minimization Professional ? Or/to: Full Partner- Leader in Lifetime Value-added Maximization ? (*Lopez: “Arguably ‘Villain #1’ in GM tragedy”/Anon VSE-Spain)

HCare CIO: “Technology Executive” (workin’ in a hospital) Or/to: Full-scale, Accountable (life or death) Member-Partner of XYZ Hospital’s Senior Healing-Services Team (who happens to be a techie)

PSF Transformation: Credit Department/Trek Was Is Credit Dept Financial Services Hammer on dealers until Make dealers successful so they they pay CAN pay AR sold to 3 rd party Trek is the commercial financial commercial co. Company 23 employees 12 employees Oversee peak AR of $70M Oversee peak AR of $160M Identify risky dealers Identify opportunities Cost Center Profit Center No products Products: Consulting, MC/Visa, Stored value of gift cards, Gift card peripherals, Online payments Source: John Burke/0330.06

EXCELLENCE. UP THE LADDER.

The Value-added Ladder/Stuff ‘n’ Things Goods Raw Materials

The Value-added Ladder/Stuff & Transactions Services Goods Raw Materials

The Value-added Ladder/Opportunity-seeking Gamechanging Solutions Services Goods Raw Materials

Answer: PSF

Are you the … “Principal Engine of Value Added” *E.g.: Your R&D budget as robust as the New Products team?

The [Only?] Answer PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”/The Organizing Principle ) + Brand You (“Distinct” or “Extinct”/The Talent ) + Wow! Projects (“Different” vs. “Better”/The Work )

EXCELLENCE. EXPERIENCE IT.

“ 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

“ Club Med is more than just a ‘resort’; it’s a means of rediscovering oneself, of inventing an entirely new ‘me.’ ” Source: Jean-Marie Dru, Disruption

“The [Starbucks] Fix” Is on … “We have identified a ‘third place.’ And I really believe that sets us apart. The third place is that place that’s not work or home. It’s the place our customers come for refuge.” Nancy Orsolini, District Manager

The Value-added Ladder/Memorable Connection Spellbinding Experiences Gamechanging Solutions Services Goods Raw Materials

C X O* *Chief e X perience Officer

EXCELLENCE. DREAM IT.

DREAM: “A dream is a complete moment in the life of a client. Important experiences that tempt the client to commit substantial resources. The essence of the desires of the consumer. The opportunity to help clients become what they want to be.” —Gian Luigi Longinotti-Buitoni

“The sun is setting on the Information Society—even before we have fully adjusted to its demands as individuals and as companies. We have lived as hunters and as farmers, we have worked in factories and now we live in an information-based society whose icon is the computer. We stand facing the fifth kind of society: the Dream Society. … Future products will have to appeal to our hearts, not to our heads. Now is the time to add emotional value to products and services.” —Rolf Jensen/The Dream Society:How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business

Furniture vs. Dreams “We do not sell ‘furniture’ at Domain. We sell dreams. This is accomplished by addressing the half- formed needs in our customers’ heads. By uncovering these needs, we, in essence, fill in the blanks. We convert ‘needs’ into ‘dreams.’ Sales are the inevitable result.” — Judy George, Domain Home Fashions

The Value-added Ladder/Emotion Dreams Come True Spellbinding Experiences Gamechanging Solutions Services Goods Raw Materials

C DM* *Chief Dream Merchant

EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

“What Isn’t Matter Is What Matters” —section title, Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld, James Twitchell

VA “Teaching Moment” “Andy pointed to a molding, about halfway up the wall …”

EXCELLENCE. LOVE IT.

“ Brands have run out of juice. They’re dead.” —Kevin Roberts/Saatchi & Saatchi

Kevin Roberts: Lovemarks !

C L O* *Chief Lovemar k Officer

EXCELLENCE. THE STORY.

“Storytelling is the core of culture.” —Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld, James Twitchell

Market Power = Story Power

C ST O* *Chief Storytelling Officer

EXCELLENCE. LEADING.

C X O* *Chief e X perience Officer

C DM* *Chief Dream Merchant

C C O* *Chief Conversations Officer

C PI* *Chief Portal Impresario

C L O* *Chief Lovemar k Officer

C ST O* *Chief Storytelling Officer

C W O* *Chief WOW Officer

C R O* *Chief Revenue Officer

EXCELLENCE. SOUL.

All Equal Except … “At Sony we assume that all products of our competitors have basically the same technology, price, performance and features. Design is the only thing that differentiates one product from another in the marketplace.” —Norio Ohga

“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 meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation.” —Steve Jobs

Hypothesis: “Design” is the principle “metaphor” for the encompassing Value- added Imperative!

“ If you can’t win on ‘cost,’ then you’re left with ‘cool.’ ” —Anon./NZ

EXCELLENCE. K.I.S.S.

“One bank is currently claiming to … ‘ leverage its global footprint to provide effective financial solutions for its customers by providing a gateway to diverse markets.” —Charles Handy

“I assume that it is just saying that it is there to ‘help its customers wherever they are’.” —Charles Handy

"A business unit strategy should be less than fifty pages long and should be easy to understand. Its essence should be describable in one page... If you can't describe your strategy in twenty minutes, simply and in plain language, you haven't got a plan.” —Larry Bossidy

“ I wanted GE to operate with the speed, informality, and open communication of a corner store. Corner stores often have strategy right. With their limited resources, they have to rely on laser-like focus on doing one thing very well.” —Jack Welch/Fortune/04.05

Lee’s Rule: Run It off a Blackberry!

“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 on Simplicity, from Napoleon on Project Management by Jerry Manas.

EXCELLENCE. EVERYWHERE.

New Zealand Spain Portugal Ireland Singapore Taiwan Philippines UAE Chile (Romania)

Better By Design: A National Strategy NZ = Design Excellence

New Zealand Spain Portugal Ireland Singapore Taiwan Philippines UAE Chile (Romania)

“ ‘MADE IN TAIWAN’: From Cheap Manufacturing to Chic Branding” —Headline/Advertising Age/06.05

Taiwan, Your Partner in InnoValue Poster/Bucharest/03.06

New Zealand Thailand Spain Portugal Ireland Singapore Taiwan Philippines UAE Chile (Romania)

London circa 1976: “You can’t build a ‘real economy’ on services, finance, advertising, etc.” London circa 2006: deliberately aims to be the “capital of the 21 st century”

The Irreducible209

163. Own up. Quick. ( Denial. Cancer.) 164. Celebrate. Often. 165. 78 people = 78 approaches. (Each. Unique.) 166. 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.)

EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.

“Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a leader always is: ‘Who do we intend to be?’ Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’” —Max De Pree, Herman Miller

“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)

Ah, kids: “What is your vision for the future?” “What have you accomplished since your first book?” “Close your eyes and imagine me immediately doing something about what you’ve just said. What would it be?” “Do you feel you have an obligation to ‘Make the world a better place’?”

EXCELLENCE. ENTHUSIASM. ENERGY. PASSION.

“Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“ Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe.” —Winston Churchill

Charles Handy on the “Alchemists” “Passion was what drove these people, passion for their product or their cause. If you care enough, you will find out what you need to know. Or you will experiment and not worry if the experiment goes wrong. Passion as the secret to learning is an odd secret to propose, but I believe that it works at all levels and at all ages. Sadly, passion is not a word often heard in the elephant organizations, nor in schools, where it can seem disruptive.”

“Most important, he upped the energy level at Motorola.” —Fortune on Ed Zander/08.05

Q: “If it were your $50K [life’s savings] and my $50K, what sort of Waiters would we look for?” A: “Enthusiasts!”

“In classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, ‘How well he spoke,’ but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, ‘Let us march.’” —Adlai Stevenson

Let us march.

Brand = Talent.

“ Ninety percent of what we call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.” – Peter Drucker

Organizing Genius / Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman “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.”

Leadership’s Mt Everest/Mt Excellence “free to do his or her absolute best” … “allow its members to discover their greatness.”

C Q O* *Chief quest-meister

“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

A Few Lessons from the Arts Each hired and developed and evaluated in unique ways (23 contributors; 23 unique contributions; 23 pathways; 23 personalities; 23 sets of motivators) Attitude/Enthusiasm/Energy paramount Re-lent-less! “Practice is cool” (G Leonard/Mastery) Team and individual Aspire to EXCELLENCE = Obvious Ex-e-cu-tion Talent = Brand = Duh “The Project” rules Emotional language Bit players. No. B.I.W. (everything) Delta events = Delta rosters (incl leader/s)

“We are a ‘life Success Company”’ founder, RE/MAX

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

“Leaders ‘do’ people. Period.” —Anon.

“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

PARC’s Bob Taylor: “Connoisseur of Talent”

Q: “If it were your $50K [life’s savings] and my $50K, what sort of Waiters would we look for?” A: “Enthusiasts!”

Hire very good people!

From “1, 2 or you’re out” [JW] to … “Best Talent in each industry segment to build best proprietary intangibles” [EM] Source: Ed Michaels, War for Talent

“We believe companies can increase their market cap 50 percent in 3 years. Steve Macadam at Georgia- Pacific 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

The Cracked Ones Let in the Light “Our business needs a massive transfusion of talent, and talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among non- conformists, dissenters and rebels.” —David Ogilvy

DD$21M

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; i.e., 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.

What’s your company’s … EVP/ IBP?* *Employee Value Proposition, per Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent; IBP/Internal Brand Promise per TP

EVP/IBP = Remarkable challenge, rapid professional growth, respect, satisfaction, fun, stunning opportunity, exceptional reward, amazing peer group, full membership in Club Adventure, maximized future employability Source: Ed Michaels, The War for Talent; TP

Re-imagine People Power: The Talent 50

The Talent50 1. People first! 2. Soft is Hard. 3. FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE: We are in an Age of Talent/ Creativity/ Intellectual-capital Added. 4. Talent “excellence” in every part of the organization. 5. P.O.T./Pursuit Of Talent = Obsession. 6. HR sits at The Head Table. 7. HR is “cool.”

The Talent50 8. Re-name “HR.” (Talent Department, Center of Talent Excellence) 9. There’s an HR Strategy 10. There is a FORMAL Recruitment Strategy. 11. There is a FORMAL Leadership Development Strategy. 12. There is a “world class” Leadership Development Center. 13. There is a FORMAL-STRATEGIC HR Review Process. 14. The “Top100,” and every unit’s Top10, are consciously managed.

The Talent50 15. “People/Talent Reviews” are the FIRST reviews. 16. HR Strategy = Business Strategy. 17. Make it a Cause Worth Signing Up For.. 18. Set Sky High Standards. 19. Enlist everyone in Challenge Century21. 20. Pursue the Best! 21. Up or Out. 22. Ensure that the Review Process has INTEGRITY. 23. Pay!

The Talent50 24. Training I: Train! Train! Train! 25. TII: 100% “business people.” 26. TIII: 100% Leaders. 27. TIV: Boss as Trainer-in-Chief. 28. Open Communication I: NO BARRIERS. 29. Open Communication II: Share Information. (ALL!) 30. Respect! 31. INTEGRITY! 32. Treat the Whole Individual.

The Talent50 33. Places of “grace.” 34. MBWA: The “Rudy Rule.” 35. Thank You! 36. Promote for “people skills.” (ALL ELSE IS SECONDARY.) 37. Honor youth. 38. Early leadership assignments. 39. Fast Tracking is the norm. 40. Create a System of Mentoring.

The Talent50 41. Diversity! 42. Diversity starts on the Board of Directors. 43. WOMEN RULE. 44. Weird Wins. 45. We are all unique. 46. Bosses “win people over.” 47. GOAL: Adventures of Mutual Discovery. 48. Foster Independence. 49. Enthusiasm!

50. Talent = Brand.

EXCELLENCE. BY INVITATION.

“ In the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management invites the workforce itself to change the culture.” —Lou Gerstner

“Most important, leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations … and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts.” —John Gardner, No Easy Victories (from Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader)

Marcus Buckingham: The One Thing You Need to Know

“No matter what the situation, [the great manager’s] first response is always to think about the individual concerned and how things can be arranged to help that individual experience success.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know

“The key difference between checkers and chess is that in checkers the pieces all move the same way, whereas in chess all the pieces move differently. … Discover what is unique about each person and capitalize on it.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know

“ The mediocre manager believes that most things are learnable and therefore that the essence of management is to identify ach person’s weaker areas and eradicate them. The great manager believes the opposite. He believes that the most influential qualities of a person are innate and therefore that the essence of management is to deploy these innate qualities as effectively as possible and so drive performance.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know

“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

EXCELLENCE. WOMEN. RULE.

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

LEADERSHIP SKILLS.

Women’s Negotiating Strengths *Ability to put themselves in their counterparties’ shoes *Comprehensive, attentive and detailed communication style *Empathy that facilitates trust-building *Curious and attentive listening *Less competitive attitude *Strong sense of fairness and ability to persuade *Proactive risk manager *Collaborative decision-making Source: Horacio Falcao, Cover story/May 2006, World Business, “Say It Like a Woman: Why the 21 st -century negotiator will need the female touch”

Women Dominate Economic Growth.

“Forget China, India and the Internet: Economic Growth Is Driven by Women.” —Headline, Economist, April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14

“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

Women Dominate Economic Growth.

Impact! Add It Up! Primary markets/Everything (“Men buy things that other men will buy for women. I buy things that women want.”— successful jeweler/F. “Women are the majority market” —Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse. Women as Purchasing Officers, CIOs, etc.) Greater global workforce participation rate (“bigger contributor to GDP growth than technology, China, India”—Economist) Higher wages (more seniority, promotions—even if not to CEO; greater pay equity—even if not equal) Business “decision makers” (more seniority, promotions—even if not to CEO) Women-owned businesses (answer to the Glass Ceiling—10.6M in USA; recipients of “micro-lending”—developing world)

EXCELLENCE. INDIVIDUAL. BRAND YOU.

Core Mechanism : “Game-changing Solutions” PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”/The Organizing Principle ) + Brand You (“Distinct” or “Extinct”/The Talent ) + Wow! Projects (“Different” vs “Better”/The Work )

Globalization1.0: Countries globalizing (1492-1800) Globalization2.0: Companies globalizing (1800- 2000) Globalization3.0 (2000+) : Individuals collaborating & competing globally Source: Tom Friedman/The World Is Flat

“One of the defining characteristics [of the change] is that it will be less driven by countries or corporations and more driven by real people. It will unleash unprecedented creativity, advancement of knowledge, and economic development. But at the same time, it will tend to undermine safety net systems and penalize the unskilled.” —Clyde Prestowitz, Three Billion New Capitalists

“ If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself you won’t get noticed, and that increasingly means you won’t get paid much either.” —Michael Goldhaber, Wired

New Work SurvivalKit.2006 1. Mastery! (Best/Absurdly Good at Something!) 2. “Manage” to Legacy (All Work = “Memorable”/“Braggable” WOW Projects!) 3. A “USP”/Unique Selling Proposition (R.POV8: Remarkable Point of View … captured in 8 or less words) 4. Rolodex Obsession (From vertical/hierarchy/“suck up” loyalty to horizontal/“colleague”/“mate” loyalty) 5. Entrepreneurial Instinct (A sleepless … Eye for Opportunity! E.g.: Small Opp for Independent Action beats faceless part of Monster Project) 6. CEO/Leader/Businessperson/Closer (CEO, Me Inc. Period! 24/7!) 7. Master of Improv (Play a dozen parts simultaneously, from Chief Strategist to Chief Toilet Scrubber) 8. Sense of Humor (A willingness to Screw Up & Move On) 9. Comfortable with Your Skin (Bring “interesting you” to work!) 10. Intense Appetite for Technology (E.g.: How Cool-Active is your Web site? Do you Blog?) 11. Embrace “Marketing” (Your own CSO/Chief Storytelling Officer) 12. Passion for Renewal (Your own CLO/Chief Learning Officer) 13. Execution Excellence! (Show up on time! Leave last!)

Personal “Brand Equity” Evaluation –I am known for [2 to 3 things]; next year at this time I’ll also be known for [1 more thing]. –My current Project is challenging me … –New things I’ve learned in the last 90 days include … –My public “recognition program” consists of … –Additions to my Rolodex in the last 90 days include … –My resume is discernibly different from last year’s at this time …

“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend or not.” —Isabel Allende

R.D.A. Rate: 15%?, 25%? Therefore: Formal “Investment Strategy”/ R.I.P.* *Renewal Investment Plan

3 Weeks in May “Training” & Prep: 187 “Work”: 41 (“Other”: 17)

1% vs. 367 %

“To Be somebody or to Do something” BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)

A “position” is not an “accomplishment.” —TP

Distinct … or … Extinct

X.Step #1: Buy a Mirror!

“The First step in a ‘dramatic’ ‘organizational change program’ is obvious—dramatic personal change!” —RG

“Work on me first.” —Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler/Crucial Conversations

“ You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi

MBWA* *HS/25+

You = Your calendar* *Calendars NEVER lie!!

Mark McCormack : 5,000 miles for a 5 min. meeting !

Getting to WOW Through Mastery of … The Sales 25.

Getting Things Done: The Power & Implementation 34.

Presentation Excellence: The PresX56

“The problem with communication...is the ILLUSION that it has been accomplished.” —George Bernard Shaw

The Interviewing Excellence: The IntX31

EXCELLENCE. REVENUE. MATTERS. MOST.

“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 so many got caught, and earnings went to hell. They said, ‘Oh my gosh, you need revenues to grow earnings over time.’ Well, Duh!” —Dick Kovacevich, Wells Fargo

EXCELLENCE. SALES.

This is not about … “customer centrism” “integrated marketing” etc. etc. etc. It is about …

… sellin’ a whole lotta stuff and having customers go bananas with love to the point that they tell every damn friend they have and then start buttonholing strangers on trains and planes and busses.

M.I.A.*: Talk. (Present.) Listen. (Interview.) Sell. (Life = Sales.) Do. (Execution- Implementation.) Talent. (Recruit-Develop-Retain.) Project Management. (Create. Solicit support. Execution. Adoption-Client “Culture Change.”) Product. (“It.”) Innovation. (Design. Creativity. “Buzz-building.” Politics.) Leadership. (USMA, etc.) E.Q. (Connect.) “Culture” Change. (Lasting impact.) Diversity. (Cross-cultural Effectiveness.) Career Creation. (Brand You life-lifestyle.) Wellness. (Life.) *B.Schools (“M.I.A.” or at most “B.I.A.”—barely in action)

. “Everyone lives by selling something.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Sell 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

C R O* *Chief Revenue Officer

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!!!! (E.g., 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)

GE (more or less) : The Sales122: 122 Ridiculously Obvious Thoughts About Selling Stuff Tom Peters/0402.2006

motivational stuff

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

Paul Arden, Whatever You Think Think the Opposite

“ARE YOU BEING REASONABLE? Most people are reasonable; that’s why they only do reasonably well.” Source: Paul Arden, Whatever You Think Think the Opposite

BONUS Stating the Obvious: THE PROBLEM IS RARELY THE PROBLEM.

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!

OFTEN AS NOT/MORE OFTEN THAN NOT THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM IS NOT MUCH OF A PROBLEM.

PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS. PERIOD.* *From Whole Foods to IBM to the corner deli

Relationships (of all varieties) : 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.

POWER WORDS! “ I’m sorry.”

Stating the Obvious: MORE POWER WORDS/IDEAS

Thank You!

MBWA* *5,000 miles for a 5-minute face-to -face meeting (courtesy super- agent Mark McCormick)

Say it with … FLOWERS

POWER IDEAS! You must care. —General Melvin Zais

The Irreducible209

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.

EXCELLENCE. 4/40.

De-cent- ral-iz- a-tion!

“‘Decentralization’ is not a piece of paper. It’s not me. It’s either in your heart, or not.” — Brian Joffe/BIDvest

Ex-e- cu-tion!

TP/BW on BigCo Sin #1: “too much talk, too little do”

“We have a ‘strategic plan.’ It’s called doing things.” — Herb Kelleher

“ 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

“Never forget implementation boys. In our work it’s what I call the ‘missing 98 percent’ of the client puzzle.” —Al McDonald

“You only find oil if you drill wells.” Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter

Ac-count- a-bil-ity!

“Realism is the heart of execution.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

“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)

6:15A.M.

“This [adolescent] incident [of getting from point A to point B] is notable not only because it underlines Grant’s fearless horsemanship and his determination, but also it is the first known example of a very important peculiarity of his character: Grant had an extreme, almost phobic dislike of turning back and retracing his steps. If he set out for somewhere, he would get there somehow, whatever the difficulties that lay in his way. This idiosyncrasy would turn out to be one the factors that made him such a formidable general. Grant would always, always press on— turning back was not an option for him.” —Michael Korda, Ulysses Grant

EXCELLENCE. 4/40.

DECENTRALIZATION. EXECUTION. ACCOUTABILITY. 6 :15A.M.

GRANT NELSON BOYD BOSSIDY

“The only way to whip an army is to go out and fight it.” —Grant Source: John Mosier, Grant

“recognized the value of momentum … throw [opponent] off balance … blitzkreig … traveling light … headquarters in the saddle” —Jean Edward Smith/GRANT

“The genius of Grant’s command style lay in its simplicity. Grant never burdened his division commanders with excessive detail. … no elaborate staff conferences, no written orders prescribing deployment. … Grant recognized the battlefield was in flux. By not specifying movements in detail, he left his subordinate commanders free to exploit whatever opportunities developed.” —Jean Edward Smith/GRANT

“This [adolescent] incident [of getting from point A to point B] is notable not only because it underlines Grant’s fearless horsemanship and his determination, but also it is the first known example of a very important peculiarity of his character: Grant had an extreme, almost phobic dislike of turning back and retracing his steps. If he set out for somewhere, he would get there somehow, whatever the difficulties that lay in his way. This idiosyncrasy would turn out to be one the factors that made him such a formidable general. Grant would always, always press on— turning back was not an option for him.” —Michael Korda, Ulysses Grant

“One of my superstitions had always been when I started to go anywhere or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop, until the thing intended was accomplished.” —Grant

CWVA to MBWA: “In these days of telegraph and steam I can command while traveling and visiting about.” —U.S. Grant Managing by wandering around” —HP circa 1980 Source: Ulysses S. Grant, by Geoffrey Perret

Insubordinate (when it comes to delays)/N Action-oriented/Offense/ Total victory/N Relentless Troop Commander par Excellence/N Leeway to Commanders/N

NELSON

Nelson’s Way: A Baker’s Dozen/Short 1. Simple scheme. 2. Noble purpose! 3. Engage others. 4. Find great talent, let it soar! 5. Lead by Love! 6. Trust your gut, not the focus group: Seize the Moment! 7. Vigor! 8. Master your craft. 9. Work harder than the next person. 10. Show the way, walk the talk, exude confidence! Start a Passion Epidemic! 11. Change the rules: Create your own game! 12. Shake of the pain, get back up off the ground, the timing may well be right tomorrow! (E.g., Get lucky!) 13. By hook or by crook, quash your fear of failure, savor your quirkiness and participate fully in the fray! Source: Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia’s God of War

“He above all encouraged (and prepared) his subordinates to seize the initiative whenever necessary, particularly in the fog of war —and the men who served under him knew what he expected.” —Jay Tolson, on “The Nelson Touch,” The Battle That Changed The World

On NELSON: “[other] admirals more frightened of losing than anxious to win”

He who has the quickest “O.O.D.A. Loops”* wins! *Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. /Col. John Boyd

BOSSIDY

“ Execution is the job of the business leader.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

The Leader’s Seven Essential Behaviors *Know your people and your business *Insist on realism *Set clear goals and priorities *Follow through *Reward the doers *Expand people’s capabilities *Know yourself Source: Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Action8/VPMR+/Peters on Bossidy *Knowledge/External Focus (Competitors/Customers) *Realism/Truth-telling * Vision * Projects (Must add up to Vision) * Milestones *Commitment/Energy * RapidReview *Consequences (+/-)

EXCELLENCE. LEADING.

Leadership 23

Leadership23 1. Enthusiasm. Energy. Exuberance. 2. Action. Execution. 3. Tempo. Metabolism. 4. Relentless. 5. Master of Plan B. 6. Accountability. 7. Meritocracy. 8. Leaders “do” people. Mentor. (“Success creation business.”) 9. Women. Diversity. 10. Integrity. Credibility. Humanity. Grace. 11. Realism. 12. Cause. Adventures. Quests. 13. Legacy. 14. Best story wins. 15. On the edge. (“Wildest chimera of a moonstruck mind.”) 16. “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” 17. Different > Better. (“Only ones who do what we do.”) 18. MBWA. Customer MBWA. 19. Laughs. 20. Repot. Curiosity. Why? 21. You = Calendar. “To Don’t.” Two. 22. Excellence. Always. 23. Nelsonian! (“Other admirals more afraid of losing than anxious to win.”)

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!

Sir Richard’s Rules: Follow your passions. Keep it simple. Get the best people to help you. Re-create yourself. Play. Source: Fortune on Branson

Message clarity = CALENDAR + MBWA + Language + Perceived INTENSITY/ENTHUSIASM/ ENERGY + Concrete-Visible support + Prototypes + Tolerance for Failure/“Good losses” + Promotions + Tempo + Resilience + Celebration + Perceived RELENTLESSNESS + Training

“No leader sets out to be a leader per se, but rather to express him- or herself freely and fully. That is leaders have no interest in proving themselves, but an abiding interest in expressing themselves.” — Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader

EXCELLENCE. DETERMINATION.

DE-TERM- IN-A- TION

BLOOD-Y- MIND-ED- NESS

Bloodyminded: Unreasonably stubborn Source: The Random House Dictionary of the English Language

“It is no use saying ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.” — WSC

First-level Scientific Success The smartest guy in the room wins” Or …

First-level Scientific Success Fanaticism Persistence-Dogged Tenacity Patience (long haul/decades) -Impatience (in a hurry/”do it yesterday”) Passion Energy Relentlessness (Grant-ian) Enthusiasm Driven (nuts!) (Brutal?) Competitiveness Entrepreneurial Pragmatic (R.F!A.) Scrounge (“gets” the logistics-infrastructure bit) Master of Politics (internal-external) Tactical Genius Pursuit of (Oceanic) Excellence! High EQ/Skillful in Attracting + Keeping Talent/Magnetic Prolific (“ground up more pig brains”) Egocentric Sense of History-Destiny Futuristic-In the Moment Mono-dimensional (“Work-life balance”? Ha!) Exceptionally Intelligent Exceptionally Clever (methodological shortcuts/methodological genius) Luck

6:15A.M.

Relentless!* *Churchill, Grant, Patton, Welch, Bossidy, Nardelli (GE execs), UPS, FedEx, Microsoft/Gates-Ballmer, Eisner, Weill, eBay, Nixon-Kissinger, Gerstner, Rice, Jordan, Armstrong

“Whenever anything is being accomplished, I have learned, it is being done by a monomaniac with a mission.” —Peter Drucker

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.” —GB Shaw, Man and Superman: The Revolutionists' Handbook.

“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

“You want ‘checklists.’ I instead offer you a ‘guaranteed’ ‘formula’: Passion. Enthusiasm. Bloody- mindedness [as contrasted with mere ‘determination’]. Relentlessness. A demonic need to make ‘it’ happen.” —TP

“My only goal is to have no goals. The goal, every time, is that film, that very moment.” —Bernardo Bertolucci

Nelson. Grant. Churchill.

Carly F: 2Cs/Capability + Character TP: 2Ds/Determination + Decency

The [EXTREME] Limits to Miracle Approaches* 6-sigma + Bloody-minded Determination = Roaring Success 6-sigma + by-the-numbers/ “fashionable” “leadership” = Tepid results (at best) *Or: the rich get richer …

Geronimo!

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body—but rather a skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘ Wow, what a ride!’ ” —anon.

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting ‘GERONIMO!’ ” —Bill McKenna, professional motorcycle racer (Cycle magazine 02.1982)

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 exhibit

The Cup Challenge Tom Peters/0214.2006

For a forthcoming event, I was asked to provide some possible “sayings” on leadership, six words or less, designed go on coffee mugs distributed as gifts. The results, a hasty draft, follow …

“Passion!” “Energy!” “Enthusiasm!” “Passion! Energy! Enthusiasm!” "Enthusiasm! Enthusiasm! Enthusiasm!" "Enthusiasm Moves Mountains!" "Nothing Matches Enthusiasm as a 'Motivator'!" “Technicolor Times Demand Technicolor Actions” “Technicolor Times Demand Technicolor People” “Wow. Now.” “Re-imagine!” “Re-imagine! Re-do! Re-vise! Re-vo-lu-tion!”

“Enthusiasm, the Ultimate Virus!”

"Respect!" “Leaders ‘Do’ People. Period.” “Credibility. Asset No. 1.” “Tell the Truth.” “Truth Wins.” “Challenge. Challenge. Challenge.” “Two Big Goals. Tops.” “Focus. Your Calendar Never Lies” “Good Story. Good Leader.” “Best Story Wins.” “Live the Story.” “Change the World. Accept Nothing Less.” "Dream!" “Dream. The Only Worthwhile Reality.” “Beware Those Who Agree With You” “Seek Dissidents. Nurture Dissidents. Cherish Dissidents”

“Excellence!” “Demand Excellence!” “Demand Excellence. The Greatest Gift.” “Excellence, Life’s Gold Standard” “Stop Talking! Start Doing!” “Execute. Execute. Execute.” “‘Good Execution’ Beats ‘Good Strategy’” “Agility Trumps Size” "Women make the best bosses!" “Women Rule. Believe It.” "You must care!" “Listen.” “Ask. ‘Why?’”

“‘Different’ beats ‘Better.’” “‘Distinct’ or ‘Extinct.’” “Innovate or Die” “‘Me Too’ = ‘Me Dead’” “Talent Time!” “Best Talent Wins.” “Moderation Fails in Immoderate Times”

“ No Less Than Excellence. Ever.”

EXCELLENCE: MANAGEMENT VERSUS (??) LEADERSHIP

RIGHT THINGS. THINGS RIGHT.

Not! “ Leadership is doing the right things. Management is doing things right.” —WB et al.

So What??????? MANAGERS “do things right” LEADERS “do the right things”

The Twain SHALL Meet! Leadership: Invite Associates/Colleagues/Talent to join a Gaspworthy Adventure in EXCELLENCE which will provide matchless Personal and Professional Growth and be of Dramatically Different Service to selected Clients Management: Do it!

LEADERSHIP (Eternal!): Invigorate a sizeable # of people to Aspire to Excellence in pursuit of a Common (Noble) Goal that revolves around service-of-exceptional- value to Clients

“Leadership” v. “Management” “In [President Bush’s] belief that America needed to respond resolutely to the dangers of terrorism, tyranny and proliferation, he was mainly right. His chief failures stem from incompetent execution.” —The Economist/05.13.2006

DRUCKER’S GREAT CONTRIBUTION: management per se as a/the principal determinant of institutional effectiveness

“Never forget implementation boys. In our work it’s what I call the ‘missing 98 percent’ of the client puzzle.” —Al McDonald, former Managing Director, McKinsey & Co, to a project team that included TP

You only find oil if you drill wells. Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter

EXCELLENCE. STRETCH.

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

EXCELLENCE. KABOOM.

“ 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

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!

EXCELLENCE. OFFENSE.

Nelson’s secret: “[Other] admirals more frightened of losing than anxious to win”

EXCELLENCE. TRANSCENDENCE. THRILLS.

Radically Thrilling Language! “Radically Thrilling.” —BMW Z4 (ad)

C T O* *Chief Thrills Officer

Synonyms Purity Transcendence Virtue Elegance Majesty Antonyms Mediocrity

C T O* *Chief Transcendence Officer

EXCELLENCE. WOW. NOW.

C W O* *Chief WOW Officer

C ! O *Chief ! Officer

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 exhibit

EXCELLE ALWAYS.

The Irreducible209+/ Sales122/60TIBs Tom Peters/0607.2006

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, Gary Hamel, Jim Collins, etc. Finally, he’d had enough. “What, if anything,” he asked, “do you believe ‘for sure’?” 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. Hare 1, Tortoise 0. (Hare-y times.) 2. Tempo. (O.O.D.A.) 3. MBWA. 4. 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. Men. Women. Different. Contend. Connect. 16. Women. Buy. All. (RU listening?) 17. Quality. (“Mind-blowing.” Beyond 6-Sigma.) 18. Re-invent. Re-pot. (Required.) 19. Jaywalk. 20. Big change. Small # of people. (Always.) 21. Experiment. Now. 22. Failure. Normal. 23. 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. You must care. 30. Mentor. (Highest ROI.) 31. Best “roster” wins. 32. Wow. (Okay in biz.) 33. We all have customers. (Biz. Personal.) 34. All contacts = Experiences. 35. Cirque du Soleil. (Peerless.) 36. Leaders create space for growth. 37. Quests. (Only.) 38. 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. Wegmans.” (No excuses. “Mere” groceries.) 43. Less than your best. Cheating.

44. Brand You. (No alt.) 45. Self-sufficiency. (Biggest LT turn-on.) 46. In the moment. 47. The moment wins. 48. Tomorrow = Never. 49. Action 1, Plan 0.1. 50. “Execution” can be a “system.” 51. Realism. 52. Own up. Move on. 53. Accountability. 54. Work hard > Work smart. (Mostly.) 55. Feedback. Necessary. Fast. (R.F.A. in “RFA times.”) 56. Customers. Listen. Lead. (Paradox.) 57. “On stage.” Always. (GW, FDR, RG = Supreme actors.)

58. Master statistical analysis. 59. Excellence = Set the table. 60. Legacy. (Will it have mattered?) 61. “Great.” (Why not?) 62. Radicals rule. (Think … Olympics.) 63. !!! = Good. 64. Red 1, Brown 0. (Red times.) 65. Talk. Listen. (“Big 2.” Master.) 66. 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. Exercise. 74. Paint. (Leader. Portraits of Excellence.) 75. Best story wins. 76. “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. You = Calendar. (Calendar. Never. Lies.) 87. Laugh. 88. Handshake. (Quantity. Quality.) 89. 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. Bloody- mindedness. 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. Own up. Quick. ( Denial. Cancer.) 164. Celebrate. Often. 165. 78 people = 78 approaches. (Each. Unique.) 166. 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.

208. NO LESS THAN EXCELLENCE. EVER. 209. EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

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.

GE (more or less) : The Sales122: 122 Ridiculously Obvious Thoughts About Selling Stuff Tom Peters/0402.2006

This list was first prepared for GE Energy sales & marketing people in January. It started with a half-dozen items, and grew like Topsy. Possibly, given its origins, it’s a little tilted toward complex, engineering- based sales. In any event, it makes a perfect companion to “The Irreducibles209.” This, too, is effectively a list of “irreducibles.” Tom Peters

1. “Strategy” overrated, simply “doin’ stuff” underrated. See Kelleher and Bossidy: “We have a ‘strategic plan,’ it’s called doing things.”—Herb Kelleher. “Execution is a systematic process of rigorously discussing hows and whats, tenaciously following through, and ensuring accountability.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. Action has its own logic—ask Genghis Khan, Rommel, COL John Boyd, U.S. Grant, Patton, W.T. Sherman. 2. What are you personally great at? (Key word: “great.”) Play to strengths! “Distinct or Extinct.” You should aim to be “outrageously good”/B.I.W. at a niche area (or more). 3. Are you a “personality,” a de facto “brand” in the industry? The Dr Phil of... 4. Opportunism (with a little forethought) mostly wins. (“Successful people are the ones who are good at Plan B.”) 5. Little starts can lead to big wins. Most true winners—think search & Google—start as something small. Many big deals— Disney & Pixar—could have been done as little-er deals if you’d had the guts to jump before the value became obvious.

6. Non-obvious targets have great potential. Among many other things, everybody goes after the obvious ones. Also, the “non-obvious” are often good Partners for technology experiments. 7. The best relationships are often (usually?) not “top to top”! (Often the best: hungry division GMs eager to make a mark.) 8. IT’S RELATIONSHIPS, STUPID—DEEP AND FROM MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS. 9. In any public-sector business, you must become an avid student of “the politics,” the incentives and constraints, mostly non-economic, facing all of the players. Politicians are usually incredibly logical—if you (deeply!) understand the matrix in which they exist. 10. Relationships from within our firm are as important— often more important—as those from outside—again broad is as important as deep. Allies—avid supporters!—within and from non-obvious places may be more important than relationships at the Client organization. Goal: an “insanely unfair ‘market share’” of insiders’ time devoted to your projects!

“Everyone lives by selling something.” —Robert Louis Stevenson

11. Interesting outsiders are essential to innovative proposal and sales teams. An “exciting” sales-proposal team is as important as a prestigious one. 12. Is the proposal-sales team weird enough—weirdos come up with the most interesting, game-changer ideas. Period. 13. Lunch with at least one weirdo per month. (Goal: always on the prowl for interesting new stuff.) 14. Gratuitous comment: Lunches with good friends are typically a waste of (professional) time. 15. Don’t short-change (time, money, depth) the proposal process. Miss one tiny nuance, one potential incentive that “makes my day” for a key Client player—and watch the whole gig be torpedoed. 16. “Sticking with it” sometimes pays, sometimes not—it takes a lot of tries to forge the best path in. Sometimes you never do, after a literal lifetime. (Ah, life.) 17. WOMEN ARE SIMPLY BETTER AT RELATIONSHIPS—don’t get hung up—particularly in tech firms—on what industries- countries “ women can’t do.” (Or some such bullshit.)

18. Work incessantly on your “story”—most economic value springs from a good story (think Perrier)! In sensitive public or quasi-public negotiations, a compelling story is of immense value—politics is about the tension among competing stories. (If you don’t believe me, ask Karl Rove or James Carville.) (“Storytelling is the core of culture.” —Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld, James Twitchell) 19. Call this 18A, or 18 repeat: Become a first-rate Storyteller! (“A key – perhaps the key – to leadership is the effective communication of a story.”—Howard Gardner, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership) 20. Risk Assessment & Risk Management is more about stories than advanced math—i.e., brilliant scenario construction. 21. Good listeners are good sales people. Period. 22. Lousy listeners are lousy sales people. Period. 23. GREAT LISTENERS ARE GREAT SALES PEOPLE. (Listening “skills” are hard to learn and subject to immense effort in pursuit of Mastery. A virtuoso “listener” is as rare as a virtuoso cello player.) (“If you don’t listen, you don’t sell anything.”—Carolyn Marland/MD/Guardian Group)

24. Things that are funny to me (American) are often-mostly not funny to those in other cultures. (Humor is as fine-edged as it gets, and rarely travels.) 25. You don’t know Jack Squat about other peoples’ cultures— especially if you are a typically myopic American. (Like me.) 26. Are you a great interviewer? It’s a make or break skill. (Think Barbara Walters’ skill at extracting unwanted truths from pros in persona-protection... in front of 10s of millions of people. 27. Are you a great (not merely “good”) presenter? Mastering presentation skills is a life’s work—with stupendous payoff. 28. Work like hell on the Big 2: LISTENING/INTERVIEWING, PRESENTING. These are “the essence of [sales] life”—and usually picked-up in an amateurish fashion. Mistake! (Become a “professional student” of these two areas, achieve Mastery.) 29. Are you good at flowers? Think: FLOWER POWER! (see Harvey Mackay’s “Mackay 66”—what you should know about a Client; e.g., birthdays & anniversaries.) (My “flowers budget” is out of control. Hooray for me.) 30. You can’t do it all—be clear at what you are good at, bad at, indifferent at. Hubris sucks.

“If you don’t listen, you don’t sell anything.” —Carolyn Marland/ Managing Director/ Guardian Group

31. The point is not to “prove yourself.” (That’s ego-talk.) Let the best person present to the Client—perhaps a “lower level” geek. (“Control freaks” get their just desserts in the long haul— or sooner.) 32. The numbers will more or less take care of themselves over the long haul—if the relationship/s is/are solid gold. 33. The Gold Standard in selling: INDISPENSABLE to the Client. No other goal is worthy. 34. Never stop growing-broadening-deepening the relationship. The key to “indispensability” is to get the Client more and more … and more … and then more … imbedded in “our” web. Hence the so-called “selling process” is only the first step! 35. USE THE WORD “WE” … CONSTANTLY & RELIGIOUSLY! (E.g.: “We”—the Client & me—“are going to change the world with this service.”) 36. Don’t waste your time on jerks—it’ll rarely work out in the mid- to long-term. 37. Genius is walking away from lousy “scores” (deals)—and accepting the attendant heat. Big Business is the premier home to Big Egos overpaying by a factor of 2 to 22 with billion$$$$ at stake. (Think Jerry Levin and AOL Time Warner.)

38. You haven’t a clue as to how this situation will actually play out—be prepared to move fast in a different direction. 39. Keep your word. 40. KEEP YOUR WORD. 41. Underpromise (i.e., don’t over-promise; i.e., cut yourself a little slack) even if it costs you business—winning is a long-term affair. Over-promising is Sign #1 of a lack of integrity. You will pay the piper. 42. There is such a thing as a “good loss”—if you’ve tested something new and developed good relationships. A half-dozen honorable, ingenious losses over a two-year period can pave the way for a Big Victory in a New Space in year 3. 43. It’s a competitive world out there. New, innovative products are harder to sell than old stand-bys. Nonetheless, you will be a long-term star to the extent that you are willing to push the harder-to-sell-at-the-moment Innovative Products that cement long-term Client success (Indispensability!) —even if it means a #s hit this quarter. PART OF YOUR JOB: TAKE CLIENTS ON AN ADVENTURE THAT PUTS THEM AHEAD OF THE GAME CALLED (GAMECHANGING—hopefully) COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE!

44. Think “legacy”—what the hell is all this really about for you and the world? (“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” —Mary Oliver) 45. THERE ARE NO “MODERATES” IN THE HISTORY BOOKS! 46. Keep it simple! (Damn it!) No matter how “sophisticated” the product. If you can’t explain it in a phrase, a page, or to your 14- year-old... you haven’t got it right yet. 47. Know more than the next guy. Homework pays. (of course it’s obvious—but in my work it is too often honored in the breach.) 48. Regardless of project size, winning or losing invariably hinges on a raft of “little stuff.” Little stuff is and always has been everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!—or, “one man’s little stuff is another man’s 7.6 Richter deal-breaker.” 49. In public settings in particular, face saving is all. When something changes, allow the other guy to come out looking like a winner, especially if he has lost. (Even if you must accept the egg on your face—he will always remember you!) 50. Don’t hold grudges. (It is the ultimate in small mindedness— and incredibly wasteful and ineffective. There’s always tomorrow.)

51. IT’S ALWAYS “THE POLITICS”—wee private-sector deal or giant public sector deal. (Every player, small or large, is angling for something. Master the calculus of advantage.) 52. To beat the “turnover problem” in key Client posts amidst long negotiations, invest outrageous amounts of time building a wide & deep set of relationships with mid-level (& lower!!) “plodding” “careerists.” The invisible careerists are the bedrock upon which repeated success is built! (My “Capitol Hill Axiom”: It’s the 24-year-old LA who in the end briefs the Senator right before she goes to the Floor to vote.) 53. Speaking of “she”: Gender differences are Enormous— dealing with a woman and dealing with a man are different kettles of fish—you must become an A+ student of gender differences. (E.g.: Men are typically more interested in the short-term “score.” Women are more interested in the long- term consequences.) 54. “LITTLE PEOPLE” OFTEN HAVE BIG FRIENDS. 55. This is not war, damn it. All parties can win (or not lose, anyway). And losing bidders can walk away from a deal with increased respect for you and your team.

56. Never, ever dump on a competitor—the Tom Watson IBM glory-days mantra. 57. Never forget the “Law of Cousins!” In developing nations in particular, power brokers at all levels are at least cousins! Consideration for a second cousin can pay off big time. 58. Speaking of “favors,” jail sucks. 59. Work hard beats work smart. (Mostly.) 60. REPEAT: HE/SHE WHO HAS THE MOST-BEST RELATIONSHIPS WINS. RELATIONSHIPS ARE THE ESSENCE OF THE WORK OF THE SALESPERSON. THE HARD... AND LONG... WORK OF THE SALESPERSON. 61. Mano v mano “hardball” is seldom the answer—end runs based and patient multi-level relationship building via deeper- wider networks win. 62. If the deal is wired from below, truly wired, than the so- called “big negotiations” are essentially irrelevant. 63. If every quarter is a “little better” than the prior quarter— then you are not taking any serious risks. 64. Phones beat email.

65. A THREE-MINUTE CALL TODAY CAN AVOID A GAME-LOSER OF A FIASCO NEXT MONTH. There was always a time when a little thing could have been addressed that headed off a subsequent big thing. As to avoiding that call, didn’t someone say, “Pride goeth before the fall”? 66. Be hyper-organized about relationship management—you are in the anthropology business. Study the great pols! Brilliant NRM (network relationship management) is not accidental! It is not catch-as-catch can. (Football analogies are cute—but deep political understanding pays the private-school tuition.) 67. Obsess on ROIR (Return On Investment In Relationships). 68. “THANK YOU” NOTES: World’s highest-return investment!! 69. The way to anyone’s heart: Doing a nice thing for their kid. (But, gawd, does this take a gentle touch.) 70. Scoring off other people is stupid. Winners are always in the business of creating the maximum # of winners—among adversaries at least as much as among “partners.” 71. Your colleagues’ successes are your successes. Period. (Trust me, my greatest personal success—financially as well as artistically—has been creating a bigger pond in which everyone wins, even if my “market share” is down.)

72. Lend a helping hand, especially when you don’t have the time. E.g. share relationships—the more you give away the more you get in return (just like they say in church). 73. Listen up: “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. (I.e., Respect is Cool.) 74. Mentoring is a thrill—and the practical payoff is enormous. The best mentors have the whole world working its buns off for them! 75. Hire for enthusiasm. Promote for enthusiasm. Cherish enthusiasm. REMOVE NON-ENTHUSIASTS—THEY ARE CANCERS. (“Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.”— Samuel Taylor Coleridge. “A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.”—Chinese Proverb.) 76. IT’S ALWAYS YOUR PROBLEM—you sold it to them.

77. It’s never over: While there may be an excellent service activity in your company, the “relationship” belongs to You! Hence the “aftersales” “moments of truth” are at least as—if not more than*--important to the Continuing Relationship as the sale “transaction” itself. (*I vote for “more than.”) You’ll get your biggest “points” with the Client for being an effective after-the-fact go-between with your company. 78. Don’t get too hung up on “systems integration”—first & foremost, the individual bits have got to work. 79. For God’s sake don’t over promise on “systems integration”—it’s nigh on impossible to deliver. 80. On the other hand … winners clamber Up the Value-added Ladder, and offer ever so much more than “mere” product. ALL SUCCESSFUL SALES PEOPLE ARE IN THE “SOLUTIONS BUSINESS”—no matter how jargony that may sound.

81. “Systems” / “Solutions” selling means grappling directly with “culture change” in Client organizations. (“The business of selling is not just about matching viable solutions to the customers that require them. It’s equally about managing the change process the customer will need to go through to implement the solution and achieve the value promised by the solution”—Jeff Thull, The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale) 82. Shit happens. That’s what they pay you for. 83. This is not a “GE” or “Ben & Jerry’s” sale—it is a Joe Jones/Jane Jones sale. YOU ARE THE “BRAND” THE CLIENT BUYS—especially over the long haul. 84. Duh: You make money, the company makes money—on repeat business. 85. Master—yes, you—the “PR” Game. “Word of Mouth” is not accidental! You want Word of Mouth? Make it happen! 86. GOAL #1: MAKE YOUR CLIENT A HERO—YOU ARE NOT THERE TO GET CREDIT. (“Taking credit” is for egomaniacs. And losers.) 87. “Decent margins,” over the mid- to long-term, are a product of better relationships, not better “negotiating skill.” (Mostly.)

“You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner. You’ve got to be out there on the lunatic fringe.” —Jack Welch

88. In the immortal words of ex-GE Vice Chairman Larry Bossidy, more or less, “Realism rocks.” (“Bullshit artist” and “great salesperson,” contrary to conventional wisdom, are Diametric Opposites. “Truthteller” and Great Salesperson is more like it.) 89. Be the first to tell the Client bad news (e.g., slipped delivery); his intelligence sources will tell him fast—you want to be there first with your story and to enhance your rep as Truthteller! 90. Work like hell to get a reputation as a valued industry expert, to become an industry resource. 91. Work the Trade Association angle for all its worth—it may take a decade to pay off—e.g., when you become an officer or are on an important panel or testify Before Congress. 92. PAY YOUR DUES IN THE CLIENT ORG AND IN YOUR OWN ORG! 93. It’s all bloody tactics. 94. You must... LOVE.... the product! (Period.) 95. YOU MUST LOVE THE PRODUCT! 96. Don’t over-schedule. “Running late” is inexcusable at any level of seniority; it is the ultimate mark of self-importance mixed with contempt.

97. Women are better salespeople. (See Addendum.) 98. Women alone understand Women. 99. Actually, Women by and large understand Men better than Men understand Men. 100.Women purchasers buy Stories and recommendations. 101. Women take longer to become Loyal purchasers, but then stay Loyal. 102. Men buy Stats. 103. Men decide fast, but are fickle. 104. Men & Women are … VERY, VERY … Different. 105. Women buy most things. Consumer. Increasingly, professional goods and services. 106. Women’s Market is Opportunity #1. 107. Boomers. Many, many. Lots & lots & lots of … $$$. 108. Boomers-Geezers are very different purchasers than those in other categories.

109. It takes time to get to know people. (DUH.) 110. The very idea of “efficiency” in relationship development is... STUPID. 111. MBWA (still) rules. 112. “Preparing the soil” is the “first 98 percent.” (Or more.) 113. WORK THE PHONES! 114. Rule 5K-5M: 5K miles for a 5-Minute meeting often makes sense. (Yes, often.) (Even with constrained travel budgets.) (Thanks, super-agent Mark McCormack.) 115. Become a student! Study great salespeople! (Including Presidents.) (“Natural” is a little bit true—but then Naturals are always the ones who study hardest— e.g., Jerry Rice.) 116. Become a student! Yes, you can study Relationship Building. So, study … 117. Beware complexifiers and complicators. (Truly “smart people”... Simplify things.)

118. The smartest guy in the room rarely wins—alas, he usually is aware he’s the smartest guy. (And needn’t waste his time on that “soft relationship crap.”) 119. Be kind. It works. 120. Be especially kind when there are screw-ups. (There’s plenty of time later to Play the Great Accountability Game.) 121. Presidents never tire of being treated like Presidents. 122. Luck matters. So: Good luck!

ADDENDUM: Women Rock … as Salespersons (From Item #98.) And the answers are? “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

Tom’s 60TIBs* *TIB = This I Believe

EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

1. TECHNICOLOR RULES! (Passion Moves Mountains!) 2. Audacity Matters! 3. Revolution Now! 4. Question Authority! (& Hire Disrespectful People.) 5. Disorganization Wins! (LOVE THE MESS!)

6. Think 3M: Markets Matter Most. ONLY EXTREME COMPETITION STAVES OFF STALENESS. (You can take the boy out of Silicon Valley, but you can’t take Silicon Valley out of the boy!) 7. Three Hearty Cheers for Weirdos. (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Scott McNealy, Craig Venter et al.) 8. Message 2003: Technology Change (Info-sciences, Biosciences) Is in Its Infancy! (WE AIN’T SEEN NOTHIN’ YET!) 9. Everything Is Up For Grabs! Volatility Is Thy Name! (Forever & Ever. Amen.) RE-INVENT … OR DIE! 10. Big Sucks. (Mostly.) (VERY Mostly.)

11. “Permanence” Is a Snare & a Delusion. (Forget “Built to Last.” It’s Yesterday’s Idea.) 12. Kaizen” (Continuous Improvement) Is … Dangerous. 13. DESTRUCTION RULES! 14. Forget It! (“Learning” = Easy. “Forgetting” = Nigh on Impossible.) 15. Innovation Is Easy: Hang Out with Freaks. (Employees, Board Members, Customers, Suppliers, Alliance Partners, Consultants.)

16. Boring Begets Boring. (Cool Begets Cool.) 17. Think “Portfolio.” (We’re All V.C.s.) 18. Perception Is All There Is. (“Insiders” … ALWAYS … overestimate the Radicalism of What They’re Up To.) 19. Action … ALWAYS … Takes Precedence. Think: R.F!A./Ready. Fire! Aim. (REWARD SUCCESS. REWARD FAILURE. PUNISH … INACTION.) 20. He Who Makes & Tests the Quickest & Coolest Prototypes Reigns!

21. Haste Makes Waste. (SO GO WASTE!) 22. Screw-ups are … the … Mark of Excellence. (“Do It Right the First Time” Is a Very Stupid Idea.) 23. Play Hard! Play Now! (Cherish Play!) 24. TALENT TIME! (He/She Who Has the Best “Roster” Rules!) 25. Re-do Education. Totally. (FOSTER CREATIVITY … NOT UNIFORMITY.) (THE NOISIEST CLASSROOM WINS.)

26. Diversity’s Hour Is Now! 27. SHE … Is the Best Leader! 28. MARKETING MANTRA: Embrace the “BIG THREE” Demographics. (1) SHE … is the Customer. (For everything.) (2) Rapidly Aging Boomers Have … ALL THE MONEY. (3) Green … Matters. (TRILLIONS OF $$$$$ Are at Stake.) (NOBODY … Gets It.) (Mere “Programs” Will Not Suffice.) 29. Re-boot Healthcare. (UNDERSTATEMENT.) 30. WHAT ARE WE SELLING? “Experiences” & “Solutions” > “Quality” & “Satisfaction.” (The Traditional Value-added Equation Is Being Set on Its Ear.)

31. DESIGN = New Seat of the Soul. 32. Branding Is for … EVERYONE. He Who Has the … BEST STORY … Takes Home the Marbles. 33. DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE = Only Difference. 34. WORDS/Language Matters … a Lot. (E.g.: Three Hearty Cheers for “Wow”!) 35. WHAT MATTERS IS STUFF THAT MATTERS. (Query #1: “Are You Proud of It?”)

36. eALL. (IS/IT: Half-way = No Way.) 37. DREAM … Big! DREAM … Enormous. DREAM … Gargantuan. (These Are XXXL Times.) 38. THINK MIKE! (Michelangelo: “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.”) 39. There Is Only … ONE BIG ISSUE. Cross- functional Communication. 40. Stop Doing Dumb Shit. (SYSTEMATIZE THE PROCESS OF “UN-DUMBING.”)

41. Beautiful Systems Are … BEAUTIFUL. 42. The … WHITE-COLLAR REVOLUTION … Will Devour Everything in Its Path. 43. Take Charge of Your Destiny! BrandYou Moment! DISTINCT … OR EXTINCT! 44. “Powerlessness” Is a State of Mind! Think: King. Gandhi. De Gaulle. 45. Pursue Adventure … in Every Task.

46. EXCELLENCE … Is a State of Mind. (Excellence Takes a Minute.) (No Bull.) 47. SHOW UP! (If You Care, You’re There.) 48. YOUR CALENDAR KNOWS ALL. (You = Calendar.) (Mind Your “TO DON’T” List.) 49. LIFE IS SALES. (The Rest Is Details.) 50. Boss Mantra #1: “I DON’T KNOW.” (“I Don’t Know” = Permission to Explore.)

51. Management Role 1: GET OUT OF THE WAY. (Clear the Way.) (“Manager” = Hurdle Removal Professional.) 52. Epitaph from Hell: “He Woulda Done Some Truly Cool Stuff … But His Boss Wouldn’t Let Him.” 53. Change Takes However Long You Think It Takes. (Eschew … “Incrementalism.”) 54. Respect! (Rule 1: Don’t Belittle!) 55. “Thank You” Trumps All!

56. Integrity Matters! Integrity = Credibility. (Dennis K. Is a Jerk.) 57. SOFT IS HARD. HARD IS SOFT. (Numbers Are Soft. People Are Not.) 58. Try Sunny! (Sunny Begets Sunny. Gloomy Begets Gloomy.) 59. DISPENSE ENTHUSIASM! 60. FUN …Is Not a 4-Letter Word. So, too … JOY. (And … GRACE.)

The End.

EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

EXCELLE ALWAYS.

LONG Tom Peters’ EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. XAlways/BANGKOK/01August2006.

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