First Things First Tom Peters/0913.10

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First Things FirstTom Peters/0913.10
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NOTE To appreciate this presentation and
ensure that it is not a mess, you need Microsoft
fonts Showcard Gothic, Ravie, Chiller
and Verdana
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I have discovered that sometimes the most
important points I want to make are buried
somewhere in my presentation. Hence, of late I
start presentations with two things I am
determined to leave behindwhich, if you attend
obsessively, will cover my fees X1000.
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xfx
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X XFXeXcellence Cross-functional
eXcellence
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The Strategic Importance of XFX(Cross-functional
eXcellence) I believe that in most any
organization of, say, more than a dozen people,
the 1 issue is cross-functional
communication-integration. It is both Problem
1 and Opportunity 1. From intelligent
pattern recognition to order execution to
innovation, our INTERNAL barriers, not our
competitors cleverness, are the principal
impediment to effectiveness. I suspect we all
agree with that. But is itAND IT RARELY
ISliterally seen as SO1 Strategic Opportunity
1? (Please do me the honor of thinking about
this.)
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Never waste a lunch!
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Much more needs to be said, but the assumption
that XFX depends on great systems is fallacious.
Great systems are important.But the 1 issue
in achieving XFX is SOCIAL!That is, XFX is
dependent on the breadth and depth of social
relationships among members of various functions.
And such relationships in turn are 1st and
foremost the provenance of DOING LUNCH!(Im
not kidding.)
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XF lunches Measure! Monthly! Part of
everyones evaluation!
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220 ABs/year
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The working year amounts to about 240 days.
240 days 240 lunch opportunities. Or, in
my lingo240 At Bats.So
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Lunch gt SAP/ Oracle
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1st-line management
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1 cause ofemployee Dis-satisfaction?
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Employee Retention Satisfaction Overwhelmingly
based on the first-line manager!Source
Marcus Buckingham Curt Coffman, First, Break
All the Rules What the Worlds Greatest Managers
Do Differently
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If people are everything AND THEY SURELY
ARE then their effectiveness is everything.
And without a shadow of doubt the 1 determinant
of their effectivenessproductivity, engagement,
teamworkis the quality of the 1st-line
manager.I cite Marcus Buckinghams excellent
research in the prior slide. While his work is
indeed seminal, there is in fact a ton of
evidence that supports this point.
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Capital Asset!Selecting and
training and mentoring ones pool of front-
line managers can be a Core Competence of
surpassing strategic importance.Put under
a microscope every attribute of the
cradle-to- grave process of building the
capability of our cadre of front-line
managers.
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I do not suggest for a second that organizations
dont take the 1st-line managers job
seriously. I do suggest that 9.7 out of 10 are
less than OBSESSED with the selection and
training and mentoring of these organizational
lynchpins.And fail to see the portfolio of
1st-line managers as a premier STRATEGIC
ASSET.