Title: The Challenge: To Create More Value in All Negotiations
1 Tom Peters EXCELLENCE! THE
WORKS A Half-Centurys Reflections/1966-2016 Cha
pter TWO EXCELLENCE 01 January 2016 (10
years of presentation slides at tompeters.com)
2 Contents/The Works/1966-2016/EXCE
LLENCE! Chapter ONE Execution/The
All-Important Last 95 Chapter TWO EXCELLENCE
(Or Why Bother at All?) Chapter THREE The
Strategy First Myth Chapter FOUR (REALLY)
First Things Before First Things Chapter FIVE 34
BFOs/Blinding Flashes of the Obvious Chapter
SIX Putting People (REALLY!) First Chapter
SEVEN Tech Tsunami/Software Is Eating the
World Chapter EIGHT People First/A Moral
Imperative Circa 2016 Chapter NINE Giants
Stink/Age of SMEs/Be The Best, Its
the Only Market Thats Not Crowded Chapter TEN
Innovate Or Die/W.T.T.M.S.W./
Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins Chapter
ELEVEN Nine Value-added Strategies Chapter
TWELVE Value Added/1ST Among Equals/DESIGN
MINDEDNESS Chapter THIRTEEN The
PSF/Professional Service Firm Model
as Exemplar/Cure All Chapter FOURTEEN
You/Me/The Age of BRAND YOU/Me Inc. Chapter
FIFTEEN Women Are Market 1 For Everything/
Women Are the Most Effective
Leaders Chapter SIXTEEN Leadership/46
Scattershot Tactics Chapter SEVENTEEN Avoid
Moderation!/Pursue Insanely
Great/Just Say NO! to Normal Appendix Library
of Best Quotes
3 STATEMENT OF PURPOSEThiscirca January 2016is
my best shot. It took 50 years to write! (From
1966, Vietnam, U.S. Navy ensign, combat
engineer/Navy Seabeesmy 1st management jobto
today, 2016.) It is THE WORKS. THE WORKS is
presented in PowerPoint formatbut it includes
50,000 words of annotation, the equivalent of a
250-page book.The times are nuttyand getting
nuttier at an exponential pace. I have taken into
account as best I can (there really are no
experts) the current context. But I have given
equal attention to more or less eternal (i.e.,
human) verities that will continue to drive
organizational performance and a quest for
EXCELLENCE for the next several yearsand perhaps
beyond. (Maybe this bifurcation results from my
odd adult life circumstances 30 years in Silicon
Valley, 20 years in Vermont.)Enjoy.Steal.P-L-E
-A-S-E try something, better yet several
somethings. Make no mistake
THIS IS A 17-CHAPTER BOOK which happens to
be in PowerPoint format I invite you to join me
in this unfinishedhalf century to
datejourney.My Life Mantra 1
WTTMSW/Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins.I am
quite taken by N.N. Talebs term antifragile
(its the title of his most recent book). The
point is not resilience in the face of change
thats reactive. Instead the idea is
proactiveliterally getting off on the madness
per se perhaps I somewhat anticipated this with
my 1987 book, Thriving on Chaos. Re new
stuff, this presentation has benefited immensely
from Social Mediae.g., I have learned a great
deal from my 125K twitter followers that is,
some fraction of this material is
crowdsourced.I am not interested in
providing a good presentation. I am interested
in spurring practical action. Otherwise, why
waste your timeor mine?Note There is
considerable DUPLICATION in what follows. I do
not imagine you will read this book straight
through. Hence, to some extent, each chapter is a
stand-alone story.
4Epigraphs Business has to give people
enriching, rewarding lives or it's simply not
worth doing. Richard Branson Your customers
will never be any happier than your employees.
John DiJulius We have a strategic plan. Its
called doing things. Herb Kelleher You
miss 100 of the shots you never take. Wayne
Gretzky Ready. Fire. Aim. Ross
Perot Execution is strategy. Fred
Malek Avoid moderation. Kevin
Roberts Im not comfortable unless Im
uncomfortable. Jay Chiat It takes 20 years
to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin
it. John DiJulius on social media
Courtesies of a small and trivial character
are the ones which strike deepest in the
grateful and appreciating heart. Henry
Clay You know a design is cool when you want to
lick it. Steve Jobs This will be the
womens century. Dilma Rousseff Be the
best. Its the only market thats not crowded.
George Whalin
5First Principles. Guiding Stars.
Minimums. EXECUTION! The Last 99. GET IT
(Whatever) DONE. EXCELLENCE. Always.
PERIOD. People REALLY First! Moral Obligation
1. EXPONENTIAL Tech Tsunami. GET OFF ON
CONTINUOUS UPHEAVALS! Innovate or DIE!
WTTMSW/Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins! Women
Buy (EVERYTHING)! Women Are the Best Leaders!
Women RULE! Oldies Have (All of) the Market
Power! DESIGN Matters! EVERYWHERE! Maximize
TGRs!/Things Gone RIGHT! SMEs, Age of/Be the
Best, Its the Only Market Thats Not
Crowded Moderation KILLS!
6NEW WORLD ORDER?!0810/2011 Apple gt
Exxon0724/2015 Amazon gt WalmartMarket
capitalization Apple became 1 in the
world.Market capitalization Walmart is a
Fortune 1 companythe biggest in the world by
sales.
7 Phew.
8 Contents/The Works/1966-2016/EXCE
LLENCE! Chapter ONE Execution/The
All-Important Last 95 Chapter TWO EXCELLENCE
(Or Why Bother at All?) Chapter THREE The
Strategy First Myth Chapter FOUR (REALLY)
First Things Before First Things Chapter FIVE 34
BFOs/Blinding Flashes of the Obvious Chapter
SIX Putting People (REALLY!) First Chapter
SEVEN Tech Tsunami/Software Is Eating the
World Chapter EIGHT People First/A Moral
Imperative Circa 2016 Chapter NINE Giants
Stink/Age of SMEs/Be The Best, Its
the Only Market Thats Not Crowded Chapter TEN
Innovate Or Die/W.T.T.M.S.W./
Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins Chapter
ELEVEN Nine Value-added Strategies Chapter
TWELVE Value Added/1ST Among Equals/DESIGN
MINDEDNESS Chapter THIRTEEN The
PSF/Professional Service Firm Model
as Exemplar/Cure All Chapter FOURTEEN
You/Me/The Age of BRAND YOU/Me Inc. Chapter
FIFTEEN Women Are Market 1 For Everything/
Women Are the Most Effective
Leaders Chapter SIXTEEN Leadership/46
Scattershot Tactics Chapter SEVENTEEN Avoid
Moderation!/Pursue Insanely
Great/Just Say NO! to Normal Appendix Library
of Best Quotes
9Chapter TWO EXCELLENCE
102.1 X3/4
11(No Transcript)
12 I wrote a book in 1982. A few people bought
it. Then, hooray, a few more. (One of the
reasons, I remain convinced, is that more or less
no one used the word business and excellence
in the same sentence. Excellence? Sports. The
arts. Science. But business?? We hardly said that
excellence-in-business was the normal state of
affairs. To the contrary, we said it was ever so
rarebut that we thought we had found a few
exemplar firms for whom excellence was the
watchword.)
13 In Search of Excellence/1982
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
14 Out of our data we teased eight basics that
we saw as the Pillars of (Business) Excellence.
Discussing those basics was the heart of the
book.
15Action People Customers Values
16 To be sure, the Eight Basics. (Theyve held
up pretty darn well.) Nonetheless In Search of
Excellence in 4 words on the prior
slide. (Circa 1982. Circa 2016.)
17 People Execution Excellence
18 PXX People. eXecution. eXcellence.
19In Search of Excellence in 3
words. (Circa 1982. Circa 2015.)
20 Excellence.2016 The Bedrock Ten
Basics 1. A Bias for Action/Serious
Play/Execution 2. People First/Training-Developme
nt Mania 3. Symbiosis With the Customer 4.
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 5. Hands On,
Value-Driven 6. Simple Form, Lean Staff,
Collaboration Imperative 7. Simultaneous
Loose-Tight Properties 8. Ubiquitous
Design-mindedness 9. Technology Fanaticism 10.
Antifragile/Speed Demons RED is changes from
1982 list.
21 Update 2016. Much the same. But important
changes. (The changesas well as the
similaritiesare imbedded in the material in this
presentation.)
222.2 X140 Excellence Twitter-ized
23 In Search of Excellence twitter-ized/ lt140
Characters Cherish your people. Cuddle your
customers. Wander around. Try it beats talk
about it. Pursue Excellence. Tell the
truth. 125 characters (with spaces)/Q.E.D.
24 In Search of
Excellence.2016 Twitter-ization.
25 My Story/40 Years/lt140 CharactersTake
charge of your life!Aim high!Be Of
service!Engage others!Follow the Golden
Rule!Act now!Relentless!No less than
EXCELLENCE!
26 My life Twitter-ized.
27(2.3 By The Way )
28In Search of Excellence Beats the MarketExIn
1982-2002/Forbes.comDJIA 10,000 yields
85,000 EI 10,000 yields 140,050
Excellence Index/Basket of 32 publicly traded
stocks from In Search of Excellence companies
29 ISOE Beats the Market I am
often asked how the Excellent companies have
fared. Some, to be sure, were bombs. But, on the
20th anniversary of the books publication, in
2002, Forbes.com analyzed the stock market
performance of the firms. The results, FYI, are
on the prior slide. (In addition to the
satisfactory performance, Forbes noted that,
unlike the real world of stock-picker indices,
this analysis precluded selling off stocks that
were tankinghence the Excellence Index is at a
big disadvantage to standard indices yet it had
still done very well.) (For no particular reason,
neither I nor anyone else seems to have done a
subsequent analysis. Frankly, 20 years is a
pretty good test.)
302.4 X6 Just 6 Words But a Core Philosophy (7
Ss)
31Hard is Soft. Soft is Hard.
32Hard (numbers, plans) is Soft. Soft
(people/relationships/culture) is Hard.
33 Action. People. Customers. V
alues. Somemost?call these areas soft Where
are the numbers Where are the plans? Surely
there is room for the numbersand the plans. But
they are the real soft stuffmalleable and
manipulable. (As we saw again and again during
the 2007 economic crisis.) The truly hard
stuffwhich cant be faked or exaggeratedare
the relationships with, for instance, our
customers and our own people. Hard is
soft. Soft is hard. Mantra 1 from In
Search of EXCELLENCE. Mantra 1982. Mantra 2016.
34 THE 7-S MODELSTRATEGYSTRUCTURESYSTEMSSTYLE
SKILLSSTAFFSUPER-ORDINATE GOAL
35 The 7-S ModelHard Ss (Strategy,
Structure, Systems)Soft SS (Style, Skills,
Staff, Super-ordinate goal)
36 The 7-S ModelSTRATEGYSTRUCTURESYSTEMSSTYLE
(CORPORATE CULTURE, THE WAY WE DO
THINGS AROUND HERE)SKILLS (DISTINCTIVE
COMPETENCE/S)STAFF (PEOPLE-TALENT)SUPER-ORDINAT
E GOAL (VISION, CORE VALUES)
37The McKinsey 7-S Model (or simply 7-S model)
that Bob Waterman and I developed in 1979 (with
Tony Athos, Richard Pascale and Julien Phillips)
has stood the test of time37 years to date. Our
current-day McKinsey colleagues claim its still
the most useful framework for assessing
Organizational Effectivenessit underpins a
great deal of McKinseys current work. The
idea, encompassed by the Hard is soft, Soft is
Hard notion, is that there are soft Ss as well
as hard Ss that must be considered and
managed-as-one to maximize organization
well-being and competitive strength. Moreoverand
heres the ruball 7 must in effect be perfectly
aligned to achieve sustaining Excellence. (No
mean feat!)
38 39The 7-S model was/is to be laid out this way. The
diagram implicitly introduces the crucial idea of
fit. Each of the Ss must be considered in
relationship to the other six. This
balancing/high-tension act is at the center of
the leaders principal role as Enterprise
Architect.
40If I could have chosen not to tackle the IBM
culture head-on, I probably wouldnt have. My
bias coming in was toward strategy, analysis and
measurement. In comparison, changing the attitude
and behaviors of hundreds of thousands of people
is very, very hard. YET I CAME TO SEE IN MY
TIME AT IBM THAT CULTURE ISNT JUST ONE ASPECT OF
THE GAME IT IS THE GAME. Lou Gerstner, Who
Says Elephants Cant Dance
41Hard to describe the meaning of this to me
personally. Gerstner said again and again when he
an I were at McKinsey that I was full of baloney
for focusing on the soft culture stuff. Per
this slide, from his autobiography featuring the
IBM years, he apparently became a convert!
42THE SOFT EDGE
43Pillars of Soft-Edge Excellence Trust Teams Taste
Smarts Story Source The Soft Edge, Rich
Karlgaard
44 Rich Karlgaard is the publisher of Forbes
magazineand a Silicon Valley stalwart of the 1st
order. So it is especially interesting that he
would write a book on the soft stuff. But The
Soft Edge is just thatand his arguments are
compelling. The bottom line, in Silicon Valley
for example, is that you will not achieve more
than a smidgeon of your tech potential unless the
organization which carries out your mission
emphasizes Richs soft edge traits. (Which are
quite congruent with the 7-S Model just
described.) (The idea holds elsewhere as well.
But the point is that even in Silicon Valley the
soft stuff is paramount as one seeks lasting
impact and excellence.)
45Far too many companies invest too little time
and money in their soft-edge excellence. The
three main reasons for this mistake are 1.
The hard edge is easier to quantify. 2.
Successful hard-edge investment provides a faster
return on investment. 3. CEOs, CFO, chief
operating officers, boards of directors, and
shareholders speak the language of finance.
Source The Soft Edge, Rich Karlgaard
46 Soft-Edge Advantages 1.
Soft-edge strength leads to greater brand
recognition, higher profit margins, It is the
ticket out of Commodityville. 2. Companies
strong in the soft edge are better prepared to
survive a big strategic mistake or cataclysmic
disruption 3. Hard-edge strength is absolutely
necessary to compete, but it provides only a
fleeting advantage. Source The Soft Edge, Rich
Karlgaard
47 Amen. (Read the book. PLEASE.)
48Hard is Soft. Soft is Hard.
49Hard (numbers, plans) is Soft. Soft
(people/relationships/culture) is Hard.
50McKinsey Culture gt Strategy Wall Street
Journal, 0910.13, interview What matters most
to a company over time? Strategy or culture?
Dominic Barton, Managing Director, McKinsey
Co. Culture. McKinsey People gt
Strategy People Before Strategy title, lead
article, Harvard Business Review July-August
2015, by McKinsey MD Dominic Barton et al.
51 McKinsey fought me tooth and nail in the late
1970s. Strategy 1 was the unbending credo.
Times change. The current McKinsey MD is
singing a different tunein fact from a different
hymnal. Interesting. Eh?
522.5 X1
53Mr. Watson, how long does it take to achieve
excellence?
54 Thomas Watson, legendary CEO of IBM.
55One minute.
56One minute. You make up your mind to never again
consciously do something that is less than
excellent.
57 EXCELLENCE starts inside you and is
reflectedor notin your most minute and temporal
behaviors.
58"We all start out in life loving our fathers and
mothers above everything else in the world, but
that does not close the doors of love. That
prepares us to love our wives and husbands and
children and friends and to cooperate with and
show respect to all worthy individuals with whom
we come in contact or have an opportunity to
reach in other ways. We must apply that to
nations and to other businesses. "We in IBM
must not confine our thoughts just to IBM. We
must extend our cooperation to all other
businesses whether we do business with them or
not. We are one cog in the industrial wheel.
"Then as citizens we must extend our respect to
all worthy people in all nations. We are moving
along in troublesome times, but the love of these
various things of which I have spoken and of the
people in whom we are interested is Going to be
the great force which will make us all appreciate
the spiritual values which constitute the only
solid foundation on which we can build."
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. address to IBM Sales and
Service Class 525 and Customer Engineers Class
528, IBM Country Club, Endicott, NY, October 30,
1941
59EXCELLENCE.
602.6 X/BLD
61Everything can be taken from a man but one
thing the last of the human freedomsto choose
ones attitude in any given set of circumstances,
to choose ones own way. Victor Frankl
62 Frankl, one of the worlds greatest
psychologists, was a survivor of a Nazi
concentration camp.
63BLD Fact is, you CAN take ANY damned attitude
YOU choose to work TODAY! In fact, it's your
BLD/Biggest Life Decision!
64 BIGGEST. Up to you. Soooo..
65EXCELLENCE is a PERSONAL choice NOT an
institutional choice!
66In fact there are few items in this presentation
that are more important than this one.Bottom
lineYOUR CHOICE.PERIOD.
67Joe J. Jones 1942 2016 HE WOULDA DONE
SOME REALLY COOL STUFF BUT HIS BOSS
WOULDNT LET HIM!
68There are a hundred hundred reasons why this or
that desirable/exciting thing (SERVICE,
EXCELLENCE) cant be done around hereor, at
least, not today. But, in the end, its your
tombstone, not theirs. (I hear that damn
refrain at every seminar!)
692.7 X3/5/7
70CAUSE. (worthy of commitment)SPACE. (room
for/encouragement
for initiative by ALL) DECENCY.
(respect, grace,
integrity,
civility)
71It came out of nowhere sprang from my keyboard
unbidden. A(nother) Theory of Everything in 3
words. (What can I say? I keep looking for
clarity brevity in presenting the main themes
of my work since 1976.)
72CAUSE. (worthy of commitment)SPACE. (room
for/encouragement
for initiative by ALL) DECENCY.
(respect, grace, integrity, civility) SERVICE.
(worthy of our clients extended
familys continuing custom)EXCELLENCE. (PERIOD)
73CAUSE. (worthy of commitment)SPACE. (room
for/encouragement
for initiative by ALL) DECENCY.
(respect, grace, integrity, civility) SERVICE.
(worthy of our clients extended
familys continuing custom)EXCELLENCE.
(PERIOD) SERVANT LEADERSHIP.
74CAUSE. SPACE. DECENCY. SERVICE. EXCELLENCE.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP.
75I added 2 more ideas/2 more words. Then 1 more
idea/another 2 words. Hence in the end, A
Theory of Everything in 7 words.
767 Steps to Sustaining Success You take care of
the people. The people take care of the service.
The service takes care of the customer. The
customer takes care of the profit. The profit
takes care of the re-investment. The
re-investment takes care of the re-invention.
The re-invention takes care of the future. (And
at every step the only measure is EXCELLENCE.)
77Another 7
787 Steps to Sustaining Success You take care of
the people. The people take care of the service.
The service takes care of the customer. The
customer takes care of the profit. The profit
takes care of the re-investment. The
re-investment takes care of the re-invention.
The re-invention takes care of the future. (And
at every step the only measure is EXCELLENCE.)
79And it all starts with THE PEOPLE. (a principal
theme of this entire book.)
802.8 A Sacred Trust
81LEADERS DO PEOPLE. PERIOD. Anon.
82LEADERSHIP IS A SACRED TRUST.President,
classroom teacher, CEO, shop foreman
83!
84"Leadership is a gift. It's given by those who
follow. You have to be worthy of it. General
Mark Welsh, Commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe
85!
862.9 Engineering. NOT.
87A LIBERAL ART
88 Response to question on his (Peter
Druckers) most important contribution I
focused this discipline on people and power on
values, structure, and constitution and above
all, on responsibilitiesTHAT IS, I FOCUSED THE
DISCIPLINE OF MANAGEMENT ON MANAGEMENT AS A TRULY
LIBERAL ART. (18 January 1999)
89 Hard is Soft. Soft is hard. Management as a
LIBERAL ART. (P-l-e-a-s-e convey that to
the business schoolsfat chance getting an iota
of reaction.) (The consequences of this are
enormous. The impact on people practices, for one
giant thing, are mind bogglingstarting,
obviously with hiring.)
90Winning business was more important than making
great products. Microsoft never had the
humanities or liberal arts in its DNA. Steve
Jobs on Bill Gates and Microsoft (Vanity
Fair/0812)
91Characteristic Jobs smartasserybut not without a
dram of truth.
92That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become
Tech's Hottest Ticket. Source title, Forbes
cover story (17 August 2015)
93Hmmm
942.10 X5
95EXCELLENCE is NOT NOT NOT a long-term
"aspiration.
96EXCELLENCE is not a long-term "aspiration.
EXCELLENCE is the ultimate short-term strategy.
EXCELLENCE is THE NEXT 5 MINUTES. (Or NOT.)
97EXCELLENCE is not an "aspiration." EXCELLENCE is
THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES. EXCELLENCE is your next
conversation. Or not. EXCELLENCE is your next
meeting. Or not. EXCELLENCE is shutting up and
listeningreally listening. Or not. EXCELLENCE is
your next customer contact. Or not. EXCELLENCE is
saying Thank you for something small. Or
not. EXCELLENCE is the next time you shoulder
responsibility and apologize. Or not. EXCELLENCE
is waaay over-reacting to a screw-up. Or
not. EXCELLENCE is the flowers you brought to
work today. Or not. EXCELLENCE is lending a hand
to an outsider whos fallen behind schedule. Or
not. EXCELLENCE is bothering to learn the way
folks in finance (or IS or HR) think. Or
not. EXCELLENCE is waaay over-preparing for a
3-minute presentation. Or not. EXCELLENCE is
turning insignificant tasks into models of
EXCELLENCE. Or not.
98 Translation Reflect on your last five
minutesand next five minutes. Did they/will
they measure up to the Excellence
Standard? (Thats all there is, there aint no
more.) Next five minutes. OR NOT.
99I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do
not wait for the last judgment it takes place
every day. Albert Camus
100Truer words
1012.11 Excellence The Thing About Joe
102In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows
you it worships and admires money, but at the end
of the day it doesnt. It says it adores fame and
celebrity, but it doesnt, not really. The world
admires, and wants to hold on to, and not lose,
goodness. It admires virtue. At the end it gives
its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty,
courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that,
brought into the world, make it better. Thats
what it really admires. Thats what we talk about
in eulogies, because thats whats important. We
dont say, The thing about Joe was he was rich!
We say, if we can
103 We say, if we can The thing about Joe
was he took good care of people. Peggy
Noonan, A Lifes Lesson, on the astounding
response to the passing of journalist Tim
Russert, The Wall Street Journal, June 21-22,
2008
104Phew!Wow!
105Joe J. Jones 1942 2015 Net
Worth21,543,672.48
106Not.
107 Not the stuff of tombstones.
Eh?
1082.12 EXCELLENCEBeyond Success
109This years graduates are told by
commencement speakers to pursue happiness and
joy. But, of course, when you read a biography of
someone you admire, its rarely the things that
made them happy that compel our admiration. Its
the things they did to court unhappinessthe
things they did that were arduous and miserable,
which sometimes cost them friends and aroused
hatred. ITS EXCELLENCE, NOT HAPPINESS, THAT WE
ADMIRE MOST. David Brooks, Its Not About
You, op-ed, New York Times, 30 May 2011
110Strive for Excellence. Ignore success.Bill
Young, race car driver
111Not only do I agree with this sentimentbut I
think it is profound. In higher mathematics the
accuracy of a new proof is not enough. The proof
must be parsimonious, beautiful in its own
fashion.In the same way, ugly success may
have its virtues, but also its vices. E.g., the
winning sports team that exhibits arrogance
rather than grace toward ones defeated
opponents.EXCELLENCEto mehas its own rewards
per se and is the mightiest of aspirationsparticu
larly as one looks back in the hindsight of a
decade or two.
1122.13 Excellence Five Or Less Words To The Wise
113 EXCELLENCE/Five Or
Less Words To The Wise 4 most important words
What do you think? (Dave Wheeler _at_
tompeters.com
Most important 4
words in an organization.) 4 most
important words How can I help? (Boss as
CHRO/
Chief Hurdle Removal Officer) 2 most important
words Thank you! (Appreciation/
Recognition) 2 most
important words All yours. (Hands-off
delegation/
Respect/Trust) 3 most important words Im
going out. (MBWA/Managing By
Wandering Around/In
touch!) 2 most important words Im sorry.
(Power of unconditional
apology Stunning! Marshall
Goldsmith
1 exec issue) 5 most important words Did you
tell the customer? (Over-
communicate) 2 most important
words She says (She is the customer!)
114 EXCELLENCE/Five Or Less Words
To The Wise 2 most important words Yes maam.
(Women are more often
than not the best managers.) 2
most important words Try it! (My only for
sure in 49 years
Herb Kelleher We have a strategic
plan,
its called doing things./Bill
Parcells Blame no one.
Expect
nothing. Do something.) 3 most important words
Try it again! (My only for sure 44
years MOST TRIES
WINS.) 2 most important words Good try!
(CELEBRATE good
failures. Richard Farson/book
Whoever Makes
the Most Mistakes
Wins. Samuel Beckett Fail. Fail
again.
Fail better.) 3 most important words At your
service. (Organizations exist
to serve. Period. Leaders
live to serve.
Period.) 4 most important words How are
we doing? (To customers,
regularly.) 4 most important
words How was Marys recital? (Know your
employees
kids.) 2 most important words Lets party!
(Celebrate small wins at
the drop of a hat.)
115 EXCELLENCE/Five Or Less Words To
The Wise 1 most important word No. (To
donts gt To dos) 1 most important word Yes.
(Hey, give it a shot/Anon. quote
The best answer is
always, What the
hell./Wayne Gretzky You miss
100 of the shots
you dont take.) 2 most important words Lunch
today? (Social stuff Secret
to problem/opportunity
1/XFX/
cross-functional Excellence.) 4 most important
words Thank Dick in accounting. (Readily
acknowledge
help from other
functions.) 2 most important words
After you. (Courtesy rules.) 3 most important
words Thanks for coming. (Civility. E.g.,
boss
acknowledges employee coming to
her/his office.) 2 most
important words Great smile! (Note
acknowledge
good attitude.) 1 most important word Wow!
(The gold standard for
everything.) 1 most important
word EXCELLENT! (The ONLY
acceptable
standard/aspiration.)
1162.14 Excellence The 19Es
117If Not Excellence, What? If Not Excellence Now,
When? The 19 Es of Excellence Enthusiasm. (Be
an irresistible force of nature!) Energy. (Be
fire! Light fires!) Exuberance. (Vibratecause
earthquakes!) Execution. (Do it! Now! Get it
done! Barriers are baloney! Excuses are for
wimps! Accountability is gospel!
Adhere to the Bill Parcells
doctrine Blame nobody! Expect nothing! Do
something!) Empowerment. (Respect and
appreciation! Always ask, What do you think?
Then
Listen! Liberate! Celebrate! 100 innovators or
bust!) Edginess. (Perpetually dancing at the
frontier, and a little or a lot beyond.) Enraged.
(Determined to challenge change the status
quo!) Engaged. (Addicted to MBWA/Managing By
Wandering Around. In touch. Always.) Electronic.
(Partners with the world 60/60/24/7 via
electronic community building
and entanglement of every sort.
Crowdsourcing/doing power!) Encompassing.
(Relentlessly pursue diverse opinionsthe more
diversity the merrier! Diversity per se
works!) Emotion. (The alpha. The omega. The
essence of leadership. The essence of sales.
The essence of marketing.
The essence. Period. Acknowledge it.) Empathy.
(Connect, connect, connect with others reality
and aspirations! Walk
in the other persons shoesuntil the soles
have holes!) Experience. (Life is theater! Make
every activity-contact memorable! Standard
Insanely
Great/Steve Jobs Radically Thrilling/BMW.) Eli
minate. (Keep it simple!) Errorprone. (Ready!
Fire! Aim! Try a lot of stuff and make a lot of
booboos and then try some more stuff
and make some more
booboosall of it at the speed of
light!) Evenhanded. (Straight as an arrow!
Fair to a fault! Honest as Abe!) Expectations.
(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.
Amen!) Eudaimonia. (Pursue the highest of human
moral purposethe core of Aristotles philosophy.
Be of service. Always.) Excellence. (The only
standard! Never an exception! Start now! No
excuses! If not Excellence, what?
If not Excellence now, when?)
118 The
19 Es of EXCELLENCE Enthusiasm! (Be an
irresistible force of nature! Be fire! Light
fires!) Exuberance! (Vibratecause
earthquakes!) Execution! (Do it! Now! Get it
done! Barriers are baloney! Excuses are for
wimps! Accountability is gospel! Adhere to coach
Bill Parcells doctrine Blame nobody!!
Expect nothing!! Do something!!) Empowerment!
(Respect! Appreciation! Ask until youre blue in
the face, What do you think? Then
Listen! Liberate! 100.00 innovators!) Edginess!
(Perpetually dance at the frontier and a little,
or a lot, beyond.) Enraged! (Maintain a
permanent state of mortal combat with the
status-quo!) Engaged! (Addicted to MBWA/Managing
By Wandering Around. In touch. Always.)
Electronic! (Partner with the whole wide world
60/60/24/7 via all manner of electronic
community building and entanglement.
Crowdsourcing wins!) Encompassing!
(Relentlessly pursue diversity of every flavor!
Diversity per se generates big returns!)
(Seeking superb leaders Women rule!) Emotion!
(The alpha! The omega! The essence of leadership!
The essence of sales! The essence of
design! The essence of life itself!
Acknowledge it! Use it!)
119 The 19 Es of EXCELLENCE Empathy! (Connect!
Connect! Connect! Click with others reality and
aspirations! Walk in the other persons
shoesuntil the soles have holes!) Ears!
(Effective listening in every encounter
Strategic Advantage No. 1! Believe
it!) Experience! (Life is theater! Its always
showtime! Make every contact a Wow !
Standard Insanely Great/Steve Jobs Radically
Thrilling/BMW.) Eliminate! (Keep it
simple!! Furiously battle hyper-complexity and
gobbledygook!!) Errorprone! (Ready! Fire!
Aim! Try a lot of stuff, make a lot of booboos.
CELEBRATE the booboos! Try more stuff, make
more booboos! He who makes the most
mistakes wins! Fail! Forward! Fast!) Evenhanded!
(Straight as an arrow! Fair to a fault!
Honest as Abe!) Expectations! (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 hit it.) Eudaimonia!
(The essence of Aristotelian philosophy True
happiness is pursuit of the highest of
human moral purpose. Be of service!
Always!) EXCELLENCE! (The only standard! Never an
exception! Start NOW! No excuses!)
1202.15.1 Why Not I?
121 Excellence. Always. If not Excellence,
what?If not Excellence now, when?
122This is my mantra.This is my life.(Fact is,
though we rarely make it, I find an aspiration
of less than excellence beyond my
comprehension.)
123The failure to pursue EXCELLENCE is
incomprehensible to me.
124We may not get thereto EXCELLENCEbut what is
the point of most anything if one does not aspire
to doing it, humble or grand, with passion and
in pursuit of an admirable outcome?
125If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he
should sweep streets even as Michelangelo
painted, or Beethoven composed music, or
Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets
so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth
will pause to say, here lived a great street
sweeper who did his job well. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
126To my point Some might say this means one
should not aspire to be more than a
streetsweeper. Dr. King would doubtless agree at
one level. But there is a larger and more
universal pointthe aspiration to achieve
EXCELLENCE, the way in which the given task is
performed, not the prestige of the task. Beyond
this, though, is the fact that in 9 of 10
instances an exhibition of EXCELLENCE per se at
anything is ones foremost calling card when it
comes to moving in whatever direction one
wishes.(I once heard General Colin Powell say
the greatest of success principlesokay, he said
successis to do todays job with all ones
might and not waste energy or time angling for
the next job. Excellence/success today is the
ultimate USP/Unique Selling Proposition.)
1272.15.2 EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE. Always.
128Shorthand.
129- EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE. Always.
- People first, second, third, fourth /The
business of leaders is people to
inspire/engage/provide a trajectory of
opportunityenterprise of every size and type as
cathedral for human development. "When I hire
someone, that's when I go to work for them.
John DiJulius - 1A. Customer comes 2nd/ If you want to best
Wow! customers then you must first Wow! those
who serve the customers./"If you want staff to
give great service, give great service to
staff.Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman's/ You have to
treat your employees like customers. Herb
Kelleher, on his 1 secret to success. - 1B. Managers sole raison detre Make each of my
team - members successful!
- 1C. Effective organizations No bit players!
130 EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE.
Always. 1D. Appreciation. Acknowledgement.
The deepest human need is the need to be
appreciated. Believe it! A few kind
words are often remembered for years! 1E.
1st line supervisors. Every organizations most
important leadership cadre. Productivity
is largely determined by the caliber of the
1st line boss. Selection and development of
your sergeants must become an
obsessionalmost all do a half-assed job.
1F. Weird/ There are no normals in the
history books!/Insure a healthy supply of
oddballs/Diversity of every flavor Fresh
perspectives! Better decisions! 1G. Memories That
Matter. And dont./ People stuff sticks
with you Youll look back on the handful of
people you developed who proceeded to change
the worldand the multitude (if youve
earned it) who say, I grew most when I
worked with you. Ever seen a tombstone
engraved with the deceaseds net worth?
131 EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE.
Always. 2. You/me Businesses no longer coddle.
Youre in charge!/ Brand you stand out for
something valuable, or else learn something
new every day, or else!/Distinct or
Extinct! 3. Organizations Exist to Serve.
PERIOD. 4. EXECUTION/ Dont forget to tuck the
shower curtain into the bath tub. Conrad
Hilton on his sweat the details obsession
and 1 success secret/ Execution is
strategy. Fred Malek/ Execution is the
leaders job 1.Larry Bossidy 4A. They do
ONE BIG THING at a time. Drucker on
successful managers 1 trait. 4B. Resilience
circa 2011 Understand it. Hire for it.
Promote for it. Obsess on it.
132 EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE.
Always. 5. MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around/
Starbucks Schultz visits 25 stores a week/
In touch is not optional/You Your
calendar/Calendars never lie! 5A. Listening per
se Candidate for Core Value 1/ Listening
per se is a profession./If you dont listen,
you dont sell anything./Docs interrupt
patients after 18 seconds. And you?
5B. What do you think? How can I help?
MBWA 8/Eight words, repeated like a mantra
while wandering around, that unlock
engagement/ success for multitudes. 5C.
Innovate by Hanging out /You are what you
eat./ You will become like the five people
you associate with the most a blessing or
a curse./ Want cool? Expose yourself to
cool! /Manage hanging out
zealously-formally with customers,
interesting outsiders, etc.
133 EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE.
Always. 5D. K R P (Kindness Repeat
business Profit.) Hard is soft. Soft is
hard. 1 finding In Search of Excellence.
Kindness is hardand pay off in . 5E.
Apology PowerAwesome power 3-minute Im
sorry call heals anythingdo it
religiously!/Over- the-top response to
even small booboo strengthens customer
relationships!
134- EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE.
Always. - Little BIG Things/Focus on multipliers
Walmart - goes to big shopping cart 50 big
stuff sales boost!/Wash your Hands save
thousands of lives P.A. in hospitals! - 6A. Little BIG Things SMEs bedrock of all
economies. Nurture them. SMEs battle cry - per George Whalin Be the best. Its the
only market thats not crowded. - 7. Apple gt Exxon in market cap courtesy
DESIGN! /The big Duh Cool beats un-
cool!/Design candidate for best way to
differentiate goods-services in competitive
markets. - 7A. TGRs/Things Gone Right. Wagon Wheel
restaurant, Gill MAclean restroom with fresh
flowers.we remember such touches more or less
forever/ - Manage-measure TGRs.
- 7B. Scintillating Experiences. Howard Schultz on
- Starbucks At our core, were a coffee
- company, but the opportunity we have to
extend the brand is beyond coffee its
entertainment.
135 EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE.
Always. 8. WOMEN Buy! WOMEN Rule! WOMENs World!
Women buy 80 of everything28T world
market/Why Warren Buffett Invests Like a
Girle.g., studies harder-holds longer-less
frenzied buying and selling/Womens
leadership style fits 21st century
less-hierarchical enterprise./Evidence clear
Women well on the way to 21st century
economic domination! Brazils President
Dilma Rousseff at UN the century of women. 9.
Web-Social Media/ Everyone becomes our valued
partner, a member of our communityand
watchdog/The Power of Co-creation my Top Biz
Book for 2010/SM can be lynchpin of
transformative strategyfor organizations of
every shape and size! 10. Value added via
transformation from Customer satisfaction
to customer success huge difference-
opportunity! /E.g., IBM Global Services, from
afterthought to 60B/UPS Logistics/MasterCard
Advisors/ IDEO, help clients create culture
of innovation/The Geek SquadBest Buy's
1 strategic point of differentiation.
136EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE. Always. 11.
Innovation secret 1 Most tries wins. / A
Bias for Actionexcellence trait 1, In
Search of Excellence /Ready. Fire! Aim.
Ross Perot//Instead of trying to figure
out the best way to do something and sticking
to it, just try out an approach and keep
fixing it. Bert Rutan 11A. Try a lot
Fail a lot /Fail. Forward. Fast./ Fail
faster, succeed soonerDavid Kelley /Reward
excellent failures, punish mediocre
successes/ Whoever Makes the Most
Mistakes Wins Richard Farson 11B. You
miss 100 of the shots you never take.
Wayne Gretzky
137 EXCELLENCE. Now. EXCELLENCE. Always.
12. Live WOW!/Zappos creed WOW Customers/
eBay 14,000 employees, Amazon 20,000
employees, Craigs List 30 employees regardless
of issue, Wheres your Wild and Wooly
Craigs List Option?/ Final point in
superstar adman Kevin Roberts Credo
Avoid moderation! 13. EXCELLENCE is a personal
choice not an institutional choice!
EXCELLENCE is not an aspiration its the next
five minutes! 13A. EXCELLENCE. Always. If not
EXCELLENCE, What? If not EXCELLENCE Now,
When?
1382.16 Why Not II?
139Why in the World did you go to Siberia?
140A half-dozen years ago I went to Novosibirsk,
Siberia, to give a seminar. (Novosibirsk, center
of Soviet scientific excellence, was now
confronting the global economyand looking for a
new direction.) The unusual setting caused me
to go back to first principals in my thinking
about enterprise.I asked myself, for starters
WHATS THE POINT?
141ENTERPRISE (AT ITS BEST) An emotional, vital,
innovative, joyful, creative, entrepreneurial
endeavor that elicits maximum
concerted human
potential in the
wholehearted pursuit of EXCELLENCE in service of
others.Employees, Customers, Suppliers,
Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
142ENTERPRISE (AT ITS BEST) An emotional, vital,
innovative, joyful, creative, entrepreneurial
endeavor that elicits maximum concerted human
potential in the wholehearted pursuit of
EXCELLENCE in service of others.
143Enterprise, as I note AT ITS BEST.(Obviously
not always achievedor, alas, even aspired to.)
On the other hand if this or something very
much like it is not the aim, then what is the
point? (In Palo Alto.)(In Brooklyn.)(In Des
Moines.) (In Novosibirsk.)Think about
it.Please.(Also Consider the opposite of each
word hereis, say, joyless acceptable?)(Photo
is me and my interpreter, who turned out to have
an economics PhD from the University of Maryland
on stage in Novosibirsk.)
144It may sound radical, unconventional, and
bordering on being a crazy business idea.
However as ridiculous as it soundsjoy is the
core belief of our workplace. Joy is the reason
my company, Menlo Innovations, a customer
software design and development firm in Ann
Arbor, exists. It defines what we do and how we
do it. It is the single shared belief of our
entire team. Richard Sheridan, Joy, Inc.
How We Built a Workplace People Love
145The systems software industry is tough as
nails, fast-pacedand unforgiving. And yet
Menlo CEO Richard Sheridan insists that his
raison d'ĂȘtre, competitive advantage and success
secret is JOY!Again, please think about
this.Carefully.What would be the literal
translation in your world?And WHY
NOT?(Seriously.)
1462.17 Why Not III?
147Apple design Huge degree of care. Ian
Parker, New Yorker, 23 March 2015, on Apple
design chief Jony Ives
148 Huge degree of care shouldin my thoroughly
biased opinionbe the hallmark of every
professionals work. In our own fashion, we
should apply Jony Ives standard to everything we
do. Startingyeswith the emails we send. Why
not? Care-in-communication What could be more
important to a professional?
1492.18 ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE AS EXCELLENT/WELL
DESIGNED AS AN APPLE DEVICE
150New technology, by itself, has little economic
benefit. The economic benefits arise not from
innovation itself, but from the entrepreneurs who
eventually discover ways to put innovation to
practical useand, most critically, from the
organizational changes through which businesses
reshape themselves to take advantage of new
technology. Marc Levinson, The Box How the
Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the
World Economy Bigger
151The shipping container only changed the world
decades ... after its creation. First
everything had to change. That is, the entire
nature of ports and the transportation system
writ large. Which is to say, its the
subsequent and painstaking and political and
non-instant ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS ...
that make all the difference in moving forward,
not the technology per se.
152Management as conventionally perceived is a
dreary/ misleading/constrained word. E.g.,
mgt/standard usage Shouting orders in the slave
galley. Consider, please, a more
encompassing/more accurate definition
Management is the arrangement and animation
of human affairs in pursuit of desired
outcomes. Management is not about Theory X
vs. Theory Y/top down vs. bottom up.
Management is about the essence of human
behavior (Drucker called management a liberal
art), how we fundamentally arrange our
collective efforts in order to survive,
adaptand, one hopes, thrive. (E.g., Hall of Fame
management document Constitution of the United
States of America.)
153As Peter Drucker, in particular, taught us,
management is an artform of the utmost
importance to humanityconsider the U.S.
Constitution, one of the greatest management
documents in human history. (Yes, it is a
management document.) We think of the care
and craft that goes into the design of, say, an
Apple product. But we dont typically think in
the same way about management architecture.
That is a mistake of the first order.Arrangement
of human affairs to produce a desired and
sustainable result is by definition Leadership
Team Task 1. I am urging you to think about your
organizational architectureand the achievement
of excellence thereinthe same way Steve Jobs
thought about one of his landmark Apple
devices.
154In Good Business, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (the
FLOW guru ) argues persuasively that business has
become the center of society. As such, an
obligation to community is front center.
Business as societal bedrock, per
Csikszentmihalyi, has the RESPONSIBILITY to
increase the SUM OF HUMAN WELL-BEING.
Business is NOT part of the community. In terms
of how adults collectively spend their waking
hours Business IS the community. And should act
accordingly. The (REALLY) good news Community
mindedness is a great way (the BEST way?) to have
spirited/committed/customer-centric work
forceand, ultimately, increase (maximize?)
growth and profitability.
155 BUSINESS IS NOT PART OF THE
COMMUNITY. BUSINESS IS THE COMMUNITY. HENCE
BUSINESS ENTAILS AN ENORMOUS MORAL COMPONENT..
I love this! (And buy it 100.) Read it.
Re-read it. Think about it. Discuss it. Act
on it.
156Business Moral Imperative INCREASE THE
SUM OF HUMAN WELL-BEING. Source Good
Business, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
157Yup.Wow.(Up for it?)(Actually, circa 2016,
you have no choice.)(Now more than evere.g.,
tech driven changes are playing havoc with
employment, and were barely at the beginning of
the beginning.)
158Warren Bennis on superior forms of
enterprise Successful human communities
159Same idea. A bit more modest linguistically.
160"We all start out in life loving our fathers and
mothers above everything else in the world, but
that does not close the doors of love. That
prepares us to love our wives and husbands and
children and friends and to cooperate with and
show respect to all worthy individuals with whom
we come in contact or have an opportunity to
reach in other ways. We must apply that to
nations and to other businesses. "We in IBM
must not confine our thoughts just to IBM. We
must extend our cooperation to all other
businesses whether we do business with them or
not. We are one cog in the industrial wheel.
"Then as citizens we must extend our respect to
all worthy people in all nations. We are moving
along in troublesome times, but the love of these
various things of which I have spoken and of the
people in whom we are interested is Going to be
the great force which will make us all appreciate
the spiritual values which constitute the only
solid foundation on which we can build."
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. address to IBM Sales and
Service Class 525 and Customer Engineers Class
528, IBM Country Club, Endicott, NY, October 30,
1941
161EXCELLENCE.
1622.19 SERVICE. PERIOD.
163ORGANIZATIONS EXIST TO SERVE. PERIOD. LEADERS
LIVE TO SERVE. PERIOD.
164PERIOD. (And if this is NOT your measure )
165EXCELLENCE. Always.If not EXCELLENCE, what?If
not EXCELLENCE now, when? EXCELLENCE is not an
"aspiration."EXCELLENCE is not a
"journey."EXCELLENCE is the next five
minutes. Organizations exist to SERVE.
Period.Leaders exist to SERVE. Period. SERVICE
is a beautiful word. SERVICE is character,
community, commitment. (And profit.)SERVICE is
a beautiful word. SERVICE is not "Wow." SERVICE
is not "raving fans." SERVICE is not "a great
experience." Service is "just" thatSERVICE.
166My take on all this understanding the role of
enterprise by combining the call to SERVE and the
aspiration to EXCELLENCE.(In Search of
Excellence, my 1982 book with Bob Waterman, is
generally regarded as the book that married the
idea of Excellence per se to the practice of
business. The quest for Excellence is the
unyielding bedrock of enterpriseas we saw it.
And to that I now say with passion and urgency
add service to excellence at the co-top of the
veeeeery short list.)
1672.20 EXCELLENCE. Not.
168 At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter
Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph
Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager,
had made more money in a single day than Heller
had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22
over its whole history. Heller responds
169 At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter
Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph
Heller that their host, a hedge fund manager,
had made more money in a single day than Heller
had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22
over its whole history. Heller responds Yes,
but I have something he will never have
Source John Bogle, Enough. The Measures of
Money, Business, and Life (Bogle is founder of
the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group)
170At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter
Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph
Heller that their host, a hedge fund manager,
had made more money in a single day than Heller
had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22
over its whole history. Heller responds Yes,
but I have something he will never have
enough. Source John Bogle, Enough. The
Measures of Money, Business, and Life (Bogle is
founder of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group)
171If there is a must read book in the current
century that examines the moral role of business
in society, its Jack Bogles Enough. The
Measures of Money, Business, and Life. (The
Vonnegut-Heller exchange launches the book.)
172CHAPTER TITLES Too Much Cost, Not Enough
Value Too Much Speculation, Not Enough
Investment Too Much Complexity, Not Enough
Simplicity Too Much Counting, Not Enough
Trust Too Much Business Conduct, Not Enough
Professional Conduct Too Much Salesmanship, Not
Enough Stewardship Too Much Focus on Things,
Not Enough Focus on Commitment Too Many
Twenty-first Century Values, Not Enough
Eighteenth-Century Values Too Much Success,
Not Enough Character Source Jack Bogle,
Enough! (chapter titles)
173Revealingand compellingchapter titles from
Enough. The Measures of Money, Business, and
Life. Read it.P-L-E-A-S-E.
1742.21 EXCELLENCE.
175 Excellence. Always. If not Excellence,
what?If not Excellence now, when?
176EXCELLENCE is a PERSONAL choice NOT an
institutional choice!
177EXCELLENCE is not a long-term "aspiration.
EXCELLENCE is the ultimate short-term strategy.
EXCELLENCE is THE NEXT 5 MINUTES. (Or NOT.)
178ORGANIZATIONS EXIST TO SERVE. PERIOD. LEADERS
LIVE TO SERVE. PERIOD.
179Hard is Soft. Soft is Hard.
180Hard (numbers, plans) is Soft. Soft
(people/relationships/culture) is Hard.
Slide 1