'It is not the strongest of the species that survives, no

1
NEW ZEALAND 2007
2
Ho hum 2 weeks in New Zealand
PfizerFordGapChryslerYahoomicrosoftwalma
rt??????
3
It is not the strongest of the species that
survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one
most responsive to change. Charles Darwin
4
Tom Peters X25EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.Great
Lakes Broadcasting ConferenceLansing/0314.2007
In Search of Excellence 1982-2007
5
Slides at tompeters.comAlso see LONG
6
EXCELL-ENCE????
7
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
8
EXCELLENCE. CIRCA 1982.
9
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
10
EXCELLENCE. ASPIRATION.
11
Why in the world did you go to Siberia?
12
SynonymsPurityTranscendenceVirtueEleganceMaj
estyAntonymsMediocrity
13
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.
14
EXCELLENCE. INNOVATE. OR. DIE.
15
We become who we hang out with 1
16
Measure Strangeness/Portfolio
QualityStaffConsultantsVendorsOut-sourcing
Partners (, Quality)Innovation Alliance
PartnersCustomersCompetitors (who we
benchmark against) Strategic Initiatives
Product Portfolio (LineEx v. Leap)IS/IT
ProjectsHQ LocationLunch MatesLanguageBoard
17
Normal o for 800
18
The Bottleneck Is at the Top of the
BottleWhere 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
19
Diverse groups of problem solversgroups of
people with diverse toolsconsistently
outperformed groups of the best and the
brightest. If I formed two groups, one random
(and therefore diverse) and one consisting of the
best individual performers, the first group
almost always did better. Diversity trumped
ability. Scott Page, The Difference How the
Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms,
Schools, and Societies Diversity
20
We become who we hang out with 2
21
WhackyWikiWorldWow
22
Wikinomics How Mass Collaboration Changes
Everything Don Tapscott Anthony Williams
23
WikinomicsWikiWorldWeapons of Mass
collaborationCrowdSourcingsmart
mobsLinuxHuman genomw projectInnoCentiveYouTub
eSecond LifeWikipediaMyspace
24
The Billion-man Research Team Companies
offering work to online communities are reaping
the benefits of crowdsourcing. Headline,
FT, 0110.07
25
try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it.
Try it. Try it. Screw it up. Try it. Try it. Try
it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Screw it up.
it. Try it. Try it. try it. Try it. Screw it up.
Try it. Try it. Try it.
26
do things.
27
We have a strategic plan. Its called doing
things. Herb Kelleher
28
drill.
29
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 youre finding it when youre drawing maps
and studying logs, but you have to drill.
Source The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian
O G wildcatter
30
try things.
31
We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were
omissions we didnt think of when we initially
wrote the software. We fixed them by doing it
over and over, again and again. We do the same
today. While our competitors are still sucking
their thumbs trying to make the design perfect,
were already on prototype version 5. By the
time our rivals are ready with wires and screws,
we are on version 10. It gets back to planning
versus acting We act from day one others plan
how to planfor months. Bloomberg by Bloomberg
32
Screw. things.Up.
33
FAIL, FAIL AGAIN. FAIL BETTER. Samuel Beckett
34
Fail . Forward. Fast.High Tech CEO,
Pennsylvania
35
Sams Secret 1!
36
Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre
successes.Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
37
try.Miss.try.
38
READY.FIRE!AIM.Ross Perot (vs Aim! Aim!
Aim! /EDS vs GM/1985)
39
No try. No deal.
40
You miss 100 of the shots you never take.
Wayne Gretzky
41
EXCELLENCE. 4/40.
42
4/40
43
De-cent-ral-iz-a-tion!
44
If it feels painful and scarythats real
delegation. Caspian Woods, small biz owner
45
Best practice ZERO Standard Deviation
46
Ex-e-cu-tion!
47
Execution is the job of the business leader.
Larry Bossidy Ram Charan/ Execution The
Discipline of Getting Things Done
48
Costco figured out the big, simple things and
executed with total fanaticism. Charles
Munger, Berkshire Hathaway
49
Ac-count-a-bil-ity!
50
GE has set a standard of candor. There is no
puffery. There isnt an ounce of denial in the
place. Kevin Sharer, CEO Amgen, on the GE
mystique (Fortune)
51
615A.M.
52
DECENTRALIZATION.EXECUTION.ACCOUTABILITY.61
5A.M.
53
EXCELLENCE. VALUE ADDED.UP THE LADDER.
54
EXCELLENCE.VALUE-ADDED LADDER I. SOLVE IT.
55
55B
56
Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
57
The Value-added Ladder/ OPPORTUNITY-SEEKING
Gamechanging SolutionsServicesGoods Raw
Materials
58
EXCELLENCE.VALUE-ADDED LADDER II. EXPERIENCE
IT.
59
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
60
Experience Rebel Lifestyle!What we sell is
the ability for a 43-year-old accountant to dress
in black leather, ride through small towns and
have people be afraid of him.Harley exec,
quoted in Results-Based Leadership
61
Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
62
The Value-added Ladder/ MEMORABLE
CONNECTIONSpellbinding Experiences
Gamechanging SolutionsServicesGoods Raw
Materials
63
EXCELLENCE. DRAMATIC.DIFFERENCE.DOABLE.
64
The surplus society has a surplus of similar
companies, employing similar people, with
similar educational backgrounds, coming up with
similar ideas, producing similar things, with
similar prices and similar quality. Kjell
Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle, Funky Business
65
This is not a mature category.
66
This is an undistinguished category.
67
798
68
7X. 730A-800P. F12A.93-03/10 yr annual
return CB 29 WM 17 HD 16. Mkt Cap 48
p.a.
69
?
70
Jims Group Jim Penman/Empire Builders/MT
/Jan/Feb 2006/Australia
71
EXCELLENCE. NO EXCUSES.
72
WallopWalMart16Or Why its so ABSURDLY
EASY to BEAT a GIANT Company
73
The Small Guys Guide Wallop
WalMart16 Niche-aimed. (Never, ever all
things for all people, a mini-WalMart.) 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 ones nose!) (THIS IS WHERE
MOST MIDGETS COME UP SHORT.) Compete on
value/experience/intimacy, not price. (You aint
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!!
)
74
The Small Guys Guide Wallop WalMart16
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
momentand then in the follow-up! (These guys
are cool! They get me! They love me!) DESIGN
DRIVEN! (Design is a premier weapon-in-pursuit-o
f-the sublime for small-ish enterprises,
including the professional services.)
75
The Small Guys Guide Wallop WalMart16
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.)
76
The Small Guys Guide Wallop WalMart16
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
dont. 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 rightone damn day and client
experience at a time!to beat the Big Guys in
your chosen niche!)
77
Small Giants Companies That Choose To Be Great
Instead Of Big by Bo Burlingham
78
EXCELLENCE.VALUE-ADDED LADDER III. DREAM
IT.
79
Furniture vs. DreamsWe 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
80
The Value-added Ladder/ EMOTIONDreams Come
TrueSpellbinding Experiences Gamechanging
SolutionsServicesGoods Raw Materials
81
EXCELLENCE.VALUE-ADDED LADDER III. ALL YOU
NEED IS LOVE.
82
Brands have run out of juice. Theyre dead.
Kevin Roberts/Saatchi Saatchi
83
Kevin Roberts Lovemarks!
84
(No Transcript)
85
(No Transcript)
86
(No Transcript)
87
(No Transcript)
88
Tattoo Brand What of users would tattoo the
brand name on their body?
89
Top 10 Tattoo BrandsHarley . 18.9Disney
.... 14.8Coke . 7.7Google .... 6.6Pepsi ....
6.1Rolex . 5.6Nike . 4.6Adidas .
3.1Absolut . 2.6Nintendo . 1.5BRANDsense
Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste,
Smell, Sight, and Sound, Martin Lindstrom
90
Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
91
The Value-added Ladder/ ECSTASY Lovemark
Dreams Come True Spellbinding
ExperiencesServicesGoodsRaw Materials
92
women.BOOMERS.GEEZERS.
93
women.BOOMERS.GEEZERS.
94
Forget China, India and the Internet Economic
Growth Is Driven by Women. Headline, Economist,
April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
95
Womens TrifectaBuy WealthLead
ECLIPSE OF MALES (Old/Retire Young/Poorly
educated)
96
Women are the majority market Fara
Warner/The Power of the Purse
97
Women dont buy brands. They join
them.EVEolution
98
Selling to men The TRANSACTION ModelSelling to
Women The RELATIONAL ModelSource Selling
to Men, Selling to Women, Jeffery Tobias Halter
99
10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN
RULE Women make all the financial
decisions.Women control all the wealth. Women
substantially outlive men. Women start most of
the new businesses. Womens work force
participation rates have soared
worldwide. Women are closing in on same pay for
same job. Women are penetrating senior
ranks rapidly even if the pace is slow for
the corner office per se. Womens
leadership strengths are exceptionally well
aligned with new organizational effectiveness
value-added imperatives. Women are better
salespersons than men. Women buy almost
everythingcommercial as well as consumer
goods. So what exactly is the point of men?
100
AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male counterparts
in almost every measure TITLE/ Special
Report/ BusinessWeek
101
New (4 of 7) Value-added Ladder Plays to
Womens Inherent Strengths! Lovemark/F Dreams
Come True/F Spellbinding Experiences/FGamechangi
ng Solutions/FServices/FGoods/MRaw Materials/M
102
women.BOOMERS.GEEZERS.
103
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People turning 50 today have
more than half of their adult life ahead of
them. Bill Novelli, 50 Igniting a Revolution
to Reinvent America
104
Average of cars purchased per household,
lifetime 13Average of cars bought per
household after the head of household reaches
age 50 7Source Marti Barletta, PrimeTime Women
105
44-65 New Customer Majority 45 larger
than 18-43 60 larger by 2010Source Ageless
Marketing, David Wolfe Robert Snyder
106
Boomers-Geezers-Womens TrifectaBuy/all
Wealth/all time left/ lots
Eclipse of males/retire-die
107
Little Stuff (plus) The True BasicsTom
Peters/03.14.2007
108
Thank You!
109
FLOWERPOWER
110
Courtesies of a small and trivial character are
the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and
appreciating heart. Henry Clay
111
The Jim Jeffords oversight!
112
The Managers Book of Decencies How Small
gestures Build Great Companies. Steve Harrison,
Adecco Servant Leadership Robert
Greenleaf One The Art and Practice of Conscious
Leadership Lance Secretan, founder of Manpower,
Inc.
113
Leaders SERVE people. Period. Anon.
114
Servant Leadership/Robert Greenleaf 1. Do
those served grow as persons? 2. Do they,
while being served, become healthier wiser,
freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to
become servants?
115
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a
great battle. Philo of Alexandria
116
THE PROBLEM IS RARELY THE PROBLEM.
117
THE PROBLEM IS RARELY/NEVER THE PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEM INVARIABLY ENDS UP BEING
THE REAL PROBLEM. RMN, M Stewart, WJC,
Scooter Libby

118
OFTEN AS NOT/MORE OFTEN THAN NOT THE UNDERLYING
PROBLEM IS NOT MUCH OF A PROBLEM.

119
PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS. PERIOD. From Whole
Foods to IBM to the corner deli

120
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.

121
WHY NOT JUST TELL THE TRUTH? Raymond Carver
122
POWER WORDS!Im sorry.
123
RESPECT
124

• It was much later that I realized Dads 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

125
The deepest human need is the need to be
appreciated.William James
126
Dont belittle! OD Consultant
127
Ph.D. in leadership. Short course Make a short
list of all things done to you that you abhorred.
Dont do them to others. Ever. Make another list
of things done to you that you loved. Do them to
others. Always. Dee Hock
128
THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO KNOW (Marcus
Buckingham)
129
No matter what the situation, the great
managers 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
130
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
131
The mediocre manager believes that most things
are learnable and therefore that the essence of
management is to identify ach persons 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
132
The one thing you need to know about sustained
individual success Discover what you dont like
doing and stop doing it. Marcus Buckingham,
The One Thing You Need to Know
133
SWEET SPOT SEEKING THE DISCOMFORT ZONE.
134
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Eleanor Roosevelt
135
Every time we come to a comfort zone, we will
find a way out. No Cloning. Reinvent the
brand with each new show. A typical day at the
office for me begins by asking, What is
impossible that I am going to do today?
Daniel Lamarre, president, Cirque du Soleil
136
EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.TALENT.
137
Hire very good people!
138
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
139
SO YOURE A PEOPLE PERSON? PROVE IT.
140
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
141
PARCs Bob Taylor Connoisseur of Talent
142
SO YOURE A PEOPLE PERSON? PROVE IT.
143
A review of Jack and Suzy Welchs 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. GEs performance measurement
is divorced from budgetingand instead reflects
how you do relative to your past performance and
relative to competitors performance i.e., its
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.
144
SO YOURE A PEOPLE PERSON? PROVE IT.
145
lt CAPEXgt People!
146
Brand Talent.
147
EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.LEADERSHIP.9Ps.
148
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
149
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
150
People want to be part of something larger than
themselves. They want to be part of something
theyre really proud of, that theyll fight for,
sacrifice for , trust. Howard Schultz,
Starbucks (IBD/09.05)
151
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
152
Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
153
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
154
The role of the Director is to create a space
where the actors and actresses can become more
than theyve ever been before, more than theyve
dreamed of being. Robert Altman, Oscar
acceptance speech
155
In the end, management doesnt change culture.
Management invites the workforce itself to
change the culture. Lou Gerstner
156
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
157
25
158
MBWA5,000 miles for a 5-minute face-to-face
meeting (courtesy super-agent Mark McCormick)
159
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
160
The First step in a dramatic organizational
change program is obviousdramatic personal
change! RG
161
You must be the change you wish to see in the
world.Gandhi
162
A man without a smiling face must not open a
shop. Chinese Proverb
163
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
164
Relentless 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
165
Success seems to be largely a matter of
hanging on after others have let go. William
Feather, author
166
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
167
Leaders do people. Period. Anon.
168
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
169
Kevin Roberts Credo1.
Ready. Fire! Aim.2. If it aint broke ... Break
it!3. Hire crazies.4. Ask dumb questions.5.
Pursue failure.6. Lead, follow ... or get out of
the way!7. Spread confusion.8. Ditch your
office.9. Read odd stuff.10. Avoid moderation!
170
"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.
171
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
172
On NELSON other admirals more frightened of
losing than anxious to win
173
The greatest dangerfor most of usis not that
our aim istoo highand we miss it,but that it
istoo lowand we reach it.Michelangelo
174
PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
175
Excellence can be obtained if you ... care
more than others think is wise ... risk more
than others think is safe ... dream more than
others think is practical ... expect
more than others think is
possible. Source Anon. (Posted _at_ tompeters.com
by K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 117 AM)
176
"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)
177
Ger-on-i-mo!