'I don't intend to be known as the King of the Tinkerers

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Tom Peters PM2121 Ideas for Century21 Project
ManagementPrimavera/21 October 2002/San Diego
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1. We Are in a Brawl with No Rules!
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We are in a brawl with no rules.Paul Allaire
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The corporation as we know it, which is now 120
years old, is not likely to survive the next 25
years. Legally and financially, yes, but not
structurally and economically.Peter Drucker,
Business 2.0 (08.00)
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2. Kaizen Is Not Enough.
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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.Source Dick Foster
Sarah Kaplan, Creative Destruction Why Companies
That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market
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Good management was the most powerful reason
leading firms failed to stay atop their
industries. Precisely because these firms
listened to their customers, invested
aggressively in technologies that would provide
their customers more and better products of the
sort they wanted, and because they carefully
studied market trends and systematically
allocated investment capital to innovations that
promised the best returns, they lost their
positions of leadership.Clayton Christensen,
The Innovators Dilemma
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Incrementalism is innovations worst enemy.
Nicholas Negroponte
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Just Say No I dont intend to be known as the
King of the Tinkerers. CEO, large financial
services company (New York, 5-99)
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If you dont like change, youre going to like
irrelevance even less. General Eric Shinseki,
Chief of Staff, U. S. Army
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Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre
successes.Phil Daniels, Sydney exec (and, de
facto, Jack)
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3. Welcome to Project Management World!
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E.g. Jeff Immelt 75 of admin, back room,
finance digitalized in 3 years.Source BW
(01.28.02)
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Unless mankind redesigns itself by changing our
DNA through altering our genetic makeup,
computer-generated robots will take over the
world. Stephen Hawking, in the German magazine
Focus
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If there is nothing very special about your
work, no matter how hard you apply yourself, you
wont get noticed, and that increasingly means
you wont get paid much either.Michael
Goldhaber, Wired
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Answer PSF!Professional Service
FirmDepartment Head to Managing Partner,
HR IS, etc. Inc.
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TP to NAPM You are the Rock Stars of the
B2B Age!
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4. We Aim to Change the World.
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Theres no use trying, said Alice. One cant
believe impossible things. I daresay you
havent had much practice, said the Queen. When
I was your age, I always did it for half an hour
a day. Why, sometimes Ive believed as many as
six impossible things before breakfast.Lewis
Carroll
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Dont rebuild. Reimagine.The New York Times
Magazine on the future of the WTC space in Lower
Manhattan/09.08.2002
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Lets make a dent in the universe.
Steve Jobs
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Your Current Project?1. Another
days work/Pays the rent.4. Of value.7.
Pretty Damn Cool/Definitely subversive.10.
WE AIM TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
(Insane!/Insanely Great!/WOW!)
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The greatest dangerfor most of usis not that
our aim istoo highand we miss it,but that it
istoo lowand we reach it.Michelangelo
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If you are not prepared to be fired over your
beliefs you are working on the wrong project -
TP
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Joe J. Jones 1942 2002 HE WOULDA DONE
SOME REALLY COOL STUFF BUT HIS BOSS
WOULDNT LET HIM!
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5. Is the eVision Ambitious Enough?
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100 square feet
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Ebusiness is about rebuilding the organization
from the ground up. Most companies today are not
built to exploit the Internet. Their business
processes, their approvals, their hierarchies,
the number of people they employ all of that is
wrong for running an ebusiness.Ray Lane,
Kleiner Perkins
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6. Take the Value Added Opportunity Fully into
Account.
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09.11.2000 HP bids 18,000,000,000for
PricewaterhouseCoopersconsulting business!
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These days, building the best server isnt
enough. Thats the price of entry.Ann
Livermore, Hewlett-Packard
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Gerstners IBM Systems Integrator of choice.
Global Services 35B. Pledge/99 Business
Partner Charter. 72 strategic partners, aim for
200. Drop many in-house programs/products.
(BW/12.01).
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No longer are we only an insurance provider.
Today, we also offer our customers the products
and services that help them achieve their dreams,
whether its financial security, buying a car,
paying for home repairs, or even taking a dream
vacation.Martin Feinstein, CEO, Farmers Group
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7. Communication All!
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The organizations we created have become
tyrants. They have taken control, holding us
fettered, creating barriers that hinder rather
than help our businesses. The lines that we drew
on our neat organizational diagrams have turned
into walls that no one can scale or penetrate or
even peer over. Frank Lekanne Deprez René
Tissen, Zero Space Moving Beyond Organizational
Limits.
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IT MAY SOMEDAY BE SAID THAT THE 21ST CENTURY
BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. Al-Qaeda
represents a new and profoundly dangerous kind of
organizationone that might be called a virtual
state. On September a virtual state proved that
modern societies are vulnerable as never
before.Time/09.09.2002
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The deadliest strength of Americas new
adversaries is their very fluidity, Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld believes. Terrorist
networks, unburdened by fixed borders,
headquarters or conventional forces, are free to
study the way this nation responds to threats and
adapt themselves to prepare for what Mr. Rumsfeld
is certain will be another attack. Business
as usual wont do it, he said. His answer is to
develop swifter, more lethal ways to fight. Big
institutions arent swift on their feet in
adapting but rather ponderous and clumsy and
slow. The New York Times/09.04.2002
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Dawn Meyerreicks, CTO of the Defense
Intelligence Systems Agency, made one of the most
fateful military calls of the 21st century. After
9/11 her office quickly leased all the
available transponders covering Central Asia. The
implications should change everything about U.S.
military thinking in the years ahead. The U.S.
Air Force had kicked off its fight against the
Taliban with an ineffective bombing campaign, and
Washington was anguishing over whether to send in
a few Army divisions. Donald Rumsfeld told Gen.
Tommy Franks to give the initiative to 250
Special Forces already on the ground. They used
satellite phones, Predator surveillance drones,
and GPS- and laser-based targeting systems to
make the air strikes brutally effective.In
effect, they Napsterized the battlefield by
cutting out the middlemen (much of the militarys
command and control) and working directly with
the real players. The data came in so fast that
HQ revised operating procedures to allow
intelligence analysts and attack planners to work
directly together. Their favorite tool,
incidentally, was instant messaging over a secure
network.Ned Desmond/Broadbands New Killer
App/Business 2.0/ OCT2002
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8. Extreme Sanctions!
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The Solutions25.NO MORE SILOS. NO MORE
STOVEPIPES. (DAMN IT.)
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1. Its the (OUR!) organization,
stupid!2. Friction free! 3. No STOVEPIPES!4.
Stovepiping is a F.O.Firing Offense.5. ALL on
the web! (ALL ALL.)6. Open access!6. Project
Managers rule! (E.g. Control the purse
strings and evals.)7. VALUE-ADDED RULES!
(Services Rule.) (Experiences Rule.) (Brand
Rules.)8. SOLUTIONS RULE! (We sell SOLUTIONS.
Period. We sell PRODUCTIVITY
PROFITABILITY. Period.)9. Solutions Our
culture. 10. Partner with B.I.C.
(Best-In-Class). Period.
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12. All functions contribute equallyIS, HR,
Finance, Purchasing, Engineering,
Logistics, Sales, Etc.13. Project Management can
come from any function.14. WE ARE ALL IN SALES.
PERIOD.15. We all invest in wiring the
customer organization.16. WE ALL LIVE THE
BRAND. (Brand Solutions. That MAKE
MONEY FOR OUR CUSTOMER- PARTNER.)17. We
use the word PARTNER until we all want to
barf!18. We NEVER BLAME other parts of our
organization for screw-ups.19. WE AIM TO
REINVENT THIS INDUSTRY!20. We hate the word-idea
COMMODITY.
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21. We believe in High tech, High touch.22. We
are DREAMERS.23. We deliver . (PROFITS.)
(CUSTOMER SUCCESS.)24. If we play the SOLUTIONS
GAME brilliantly, no one can touch us!25.
Our TEAM needs 100 I.C.s (Imaginative
Contributors). This is the ULTIMATE All Hands
affair!
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9. Its Sales, Stupid!
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The Sales25 Great Salespeople 1.
Know the product. (Find cool mentors, and use
them.)2. Know the company.3. Know the customer.
(Including the customers consultants.) (And
especially the corporate culture.)4. Love
internal politics at home and abroad.5.
Religiously respect competitors. (No badmouthing,
no matter how provoked.)6. Wire the customers
org. (Relationships at all levels
functions.)7. Wire the home teams org. and
vendors orgs. (INVEST Big Time time in
relationships at all levels functions.) (Take
junior people in all functions to client
meetings.)
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Great Salespeople 8.
Never overpromise. (Even if it costs you your
job.) 9. Sell only by solving problems-creating
profitable opportunities. (Our product solves
these problems, creates these unimagined
INCREDIBLE opportunities, and will make you a ton
of moneyheres exactly how.) (IS THIS A
PRODUCT SALE OR A WOW-ORIGINAL SOLUTION YOULL
BE DINING OFF 5 YEARS FROM NOW? THAT WILL BE
WRITTEN UP IN THE TRADE PRESS?)10. Will involve
anybodyincluding mortal enemiesif it enhances
the scope of the problem we can solve and
increases the scope of the opportunity we can
encompass.11. Know the Brand Story cold live
the Brand Story. (If not, leave.)
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Great Salespeople 12.
Think Turnkey. (Its always your problem!)13.
Act as orchestra conductor You are responsible
for making the whole-damn-network respond.
(PERIOD.)14. Help the customer get to know the
vendors organization build up their
Rolodex.15. Walk away from bad business. (Even
if it gets you fired.)16. Understand the idea of
a good loss. (A bold effort thats sometimes
better than a lousy win.)17. Think those who
regularly say Its all a price issue suffer
from rampant immaturity shrunken
imagination.18. Will not give away the store to
get a foot in the door. 19. Are wary
respectful of upstartsthe real enemy.20. Seek
several cool customerswholl drag you into
Tomorrowland.
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Great Salespeople
21. Use the word partnership obsessively,
even though it is way overused. (Partnership
includes folks at all levels throughout the
supply chain.)22. Send thank you notes by the
truckload. (NOT E-NOTES.) (Most are for little
things.) (50 of those notes are sent to those
in our company!) Remember birthdays. Use the word
we. 23. When you look across the table at the
customer, think religiously to yourself HOW CAN
I MAKE THIS DUDE RICH FAMOUS GET HIM-HER
PROMOTED? 24. Great salespeople can
affirmatively respond to the query in an HP
banner ad HAVE YOU CHANGED CIVILIZATION
TODAY?25. Keep your bloody PowerPoint slides
simple!
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TP If you dont LOVE SALES find another life.
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10. Its Politics, Stupid! (I.E. ITS ALL ABOUT
POWER.)
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TP If you dont LOVE POLITICS find another
life.
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11. Best Talent Wins.
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From 1, 2 or youre out JW to Best
Talent in each industry segment to build best
proprietary intangibles EMSource Ed
Michaels, War for Talent (05.17.00)
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25/8/53(Damn it!)
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Visibly energetic/ Passionate/ Enthusiastic
about everything.Engaging/ Inspires
others. (Inspires the interviewer!)Loves
messes pressure. Impatient/ Action fanatic.A
finisher.Exhibits Fat WOW Project Portfolio.
(Loves to talk about her
work.)Smart.Curious/ Eclectic interests/ A
little (or more) weird.Well-developed sense of
humor/ Fun to be around. No. 1 re
bosses Exceptional talent selection
development record. (Former co-workers
Did you visibly grow while working with
X? / How has the department/team grown
on a world-class scale during Xs tenure?)
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33 Division Titles. 26 League Pennants. 14 World
Series Earl Weaver0. Tom Kelly0. Jim
Leyland0. Walter Alston1AB. Tony LaRussa132
games, 6 seasons. Tommy LasordaP, 26 games.
Sparky Anderson1 season.
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AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male counterparts
in almost every measureTitle, Special Report,
Business Week, 11.20.00
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Womens Strengths Match New Economy Imperatives
Link rather than rank workers favor
interactive-collaborative leadership style
empowerment beats top-down decision making
sustain fruitful collaborations comfortable with
sharing information see redistribution of power
as victory, not surrender favor
multi-dimensional feedback value technical
interpersonal skills, individual group
contributions equally readily accept ambiguity
honor intuition as well as pure rationality
inherently flexible appreciate cultural
diversitySource Judy B. Rosener, Americas
Competitive SecretWomen Managers
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12. Whats the Freak Quotient?
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Saviors-in-WaitingDisgruntled
CustomersUpstart CompetitorsRogue
EmployeesFringe SuppliersWayne Burkan, Wide
Angle Vision
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Employees Are there enough weird people in the
lab these days?V. Chmn., pharmaceutical house,
to a lab director (06.01)
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13. Improv!
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The Kotler Doctrine1965-1980
R.A.F.(Ready.Aim.Fire.)1980-1995
R.F.A.(Ready.Fire!Aim.)1995-????
F.F.F.(Fire!Fire!Fire!)
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If things seem under control, youre just not
going fast enough.Mario Andretti
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Duct Tape Rules!Andrew Higgins, who built
landing craft in WWII, refused to hire graduates
of engineering schools. He believed that they
only teach you what you cant do in engineering
school. He started off with 20 employees, and by
the middle of the war had 30,000 working for him.
He turned out 20,000 landing craft. D.D.
Eisenhower told me, Andrew Higgins won the war
for us. He did it without engineers. Stephen
Ambrose/Fast Company
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14. Soft Is Hard.
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Soft Is Hard- ISOE
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The references were there the portfolio was
dazzling. But there was no fire, no foot halfway
over the starting line eager to sprint down the
track to success.James Cramer, The Greenway
Group former CEO of the AIA (on the rejection
of a famous firm)
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14A. Soft Is Hard II.
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The two most powerful things in existence a
kind word and a thoughtful gesture.Ken
Langone, CEO, Invemed Associates from Ronna
Lichtenberg, Its Not Business, Its Personal
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15. Show Up!
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Rudy!
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Mark McCormack 5,000 miles for a 5 min. meeting!
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16. Focus!
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To Dont List
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17. Do We Know the Customer?
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?????????Home Furnishings 94Vacations 92
(Adventure Travel 70/ 55B travel
equipment)Houses 91D.I.Y. (home projects)
80Consumer Electronics 51 Cars 60
(90)All consumer purchases 83 Bank Account
89Health Care 80
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Read This Book EVEolution The Eight Truths
of Marketing to WomenFaith Popcorn Lys
Marigold
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18. Design Is King.
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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
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We dont have a good language to talk about
this kind of thing. In most peoples
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
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18. Design Is King II. (K.I.S.S.)
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Fred S.s mediocre thesis. Herb K.s napkin.
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K.I.S.S. Gordon Bell (VAX daddy) 500/50.
Chas. Wang (CA) Behind schedule? Cut least
productive 25.
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Ninety percent of what we call management
consists of making it difficult for people to get
things done. P.D.
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19. Create Cool Experiences.
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Experiences are as distinct from services as
services are from goods.Joseph Pine James
Gilmore, The Experience Economy Work Is Theatre
Every Business a Stage
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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
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WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
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Its All About EXPERIENCES Trapper to
Wildlife Damage-control ProfessionalTrapper
lt20 per beaver pelt.WDCP 150/problem
beaver 750-1,000 for flood-control piping
so that beavers can stay.Source
WSJ/05.21.2002
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LAN Installation Co. toGeek Squad (2 to
30/Minn.)
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20. A Project Is a (Temporary) Brand.
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WHATS OUR STORY?
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You do not merely want to be the best of the
best. You want to be considered the only ones who
do what you do.Jerry Garcia
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21. Project Management Inspired Leadership.
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G.H. Create a cause, not a business.
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BZ I am a Dispenser of Enthusiasm!