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I am often asked
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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
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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
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Excellence. Always. Gartner Group/PPM IT
Governance Summit Tom Peters/San Diego/22 June
2011 (Slides _at_ tompeters.com)
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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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Breakthrough 82 People! Execution!
Excellence! In Search of Excellence
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Hard Is SoftSoft Is Hard
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The Pursuit of BalanceHard Is Soft (Plans,
Systems, s)Soft Is Hard (people, Culture,
customers, values, relationships) sales gt
marketingservice gt sales
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What Works.What Doesnt.
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No.OptimizationCentralization Weve
got to get this right.Lets get organized.
Perfectly compatibleSynergyBenchmarkingB
est practicesLow standard deviationBig
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Yes. SatisficeRequisite
varietyRADICAL decentralizationHigh
standard deviationResilienceFocus/Niche/
Mid-sizeLets get DIS-organized.
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Yes. SatisficeRequisite
varietyRADICAL decentralizationHigh
standard deviationResilienceFocus/Niche/
Mid-sizeLets get DIS-organized.
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Mr. Foster and his McKinsey colleagues collected
detailed performance data stretching back 40
years for 1,000 U.S. companies. They found that
none of the long-term survivors managed to
outperform the market. Worse, the longer
companies had been in the database, the worse
they did. Financial Times
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Dick Kovacevich You dont get better by being
bigger. You get worse.
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Data drawn from the real world attest to a fact
that is beyond our control Everything in
existence tends to deteriorate. Norberto
Odebrecht, Education Through Work
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Public Enemy 1 I.C.D. Immutable Centralist
Drift Once a system grows sufficiently complex
and centralized, it doesnt matter how badly our
best and brightest foul things up. Every crisis
increases their authority, because they seem to
be the only ones who understand the system well
enough to fix it. But their fixes tend to make
the system even more complex and centralized, and
more vulnerable to the next national-security
surprise, the next natural disaster, the next
economic crisis. Ross Douthat/NYTimes
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4 Japan3 USA2 China1 Germany
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• MittELstand
• agile creatures darting between the legs of the
  multinational monsters"

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Be the best. Its the only market thats not
crowded. From Retail Superstars Inside the 25
Best Independent Stores in America, George Whalin
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Jungle Jims International Market, Fairfield,
Ohio An adventure in shoppertainment, as
Jungle Jims call it, begins in the parking lot
and goes on to 1,600 cheeses and, yes, 1,400
varieties of hot sauce not to mention 12,000
wines priced from 8 to 8,000 a bottle all this
is brought to you by 4,000 vendors. Customers
come from every corner of the globe. Bronners
Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Michigan, pop
5,000 98,000-square-foot shop features the
likes of 6,000 Christmas ornaments, 50,000 trims,
and anything else you can name if it pertains to
Christmas. Source George Whalin, Retail
Superstars
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Rose gardeners face a choice every spring. The
long-term fate of a rose garden depends on this
decision. If you want to have the largest and
most glorious roses of the neighborhood, you will
prune hard. This represents a policy of low
tolerance and tight control. You force the plant
to make the maximum use of its available
resources, by putting them into the the roses
core business. Pruning hard is a dangerous
policy in an unpredictable environment. Thus, if
you are in a spot where you know nature may play
tricks on you, you may opt for a policy of high
tolerance. You will never have the biggest roses,
but you have a much-enhanced chance of having
roses every year. You will achieve a gradual
renewal of the plant. In short, tolerant pruning
achieves two ends (1) It makes it easier to cope
with unexpected environmental changes. (2) It
leads to a continuous restructuring of the plant.
The policy of tolerance admittedly wastes
resourcesthe extra buds drain away nutrients
from the main stem. But in an unpredictable
environment, this policy of tolerance makes the
rose healthier in the long run. Arie De Geus,
The Living Company
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The secret of fast progress is inefficiency,
fast and furious and numerous failures.Kevin
Kelly
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Never forget the all-important last 98.
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Conrad Hilton
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Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his career,
was called to the podium and asked, What were
the most important lessons you learned in your
long and distinguished career? His answer
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remember to tuck the shower curtain inside the
bathtub.
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Execution is strategy. Fred Malek
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Costco figured out the big, simple things and
executed with total fanaticism. Charles
Munger, Berkshire Hathaway
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When assessing candidates, the first thing I
looked for was energy and enthusiasm for
execution. Does she talk about the thrill of
getting things done, the obstacles overcome, the
role her people played or does she keep
wandering back to strategy or philosophy? I
saw that leaders placed too much emphasis on what
some call high-level strategy, on
intellectualizing and philosophizing, and not
enough on implementation. People would agree on a
project or initiative, and then nothing would
come of it. Source Larry Bossidy Ram
Charan/Execution The Discipline of Getting
Things Done
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If 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
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1.Period.
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XFX 1 Cross-Functional eXcellence
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Never waste a lunch! The sacred 220 at bats
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Personal relationships are the fertile soil
from which all advancement, all success, all
achievement in real life grow. Ben Stein
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Allied commands depend on mutual confidence and
this confidence is gained, above all through
the development of friendships. General
D.D. Eisenhower, Armchair General Perhaps
his most outstanding ability at West Point was
the ease with which he made friends and earned
the trust of fellow cadets who came from widely
varied backgrounds it was a quality that would
pay great dividends during his future coalition
command.
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R.O.I.R. gtR.O.I. Return On Investment In
Relationships
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XFX Social Accelerators. 1.
EVERYONEs more or less JOB 1 Make friends in
other functions! (Purposefully. Consistently.
Measurably.) 2. Do lunch with people in other
functions!! Frequently!! (Minimum 10 to 25 for
everyone? Measured.) 3. Ask peers in other
functions for references so you can become
conversant in their world. (Its one helluva sign
of ... GIVE-A-DAMN-ism.) 4. Invite counterparts
in other functions to your team meetings.
Religiously. Ask them to present cool stuff
from their world to your group. (B-I-G deal
useful and respectful.) 5. PROACTIVELY SEEK
EXAMPLES OF TINY ACTS OF XFX TO
ACKNOWLEDGEPRIVATELY AND PUBLICALLY. (Bosses
ONCE A DAY make a short call or visit or send
an email of Thanks for some sort of XFX gesture
by your folks and some other functions
folks.) 6. Present counterparts in other
functions awards for service to your group. Tiny
awards at least weekly and an Annual All-Star
Supporters from other groups Banquet modeled
after superstar salesperson banquets. 7.
DiscussA SEPARATE AGENDA ITEMgood and
problematic acts of cross-functional co-operation
at every Team Meeting.
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His habit was to let the locals get primary
creditunheard of! Sometimes he disappeared into
the woodwork entirely. He had the whole __PD
working their butts off for him, including the
temperamental Chief. close colleague of
senior federal law enforcement officer
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Womens Negotiating
StrengthsAbility to put themselves in their
counterparties shoesComprehensive, attentive
and detailed communication styleEmpathy that
facilitates trust-buildingCurious and attentive
listeningLess competitive attitudeStrong
sense of fairness and ability to
persuadeProactive risk managerCollaborative
decision-makingSource Horacio Falcao, cover
story, World Business, Say It Like a Woman Why
the 21st-century negotiator will need the female
touch
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AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male counterparts
in almost every measure TITLE/ Special
Report/ BusinessWeekProjected to be 80 middle
managers by approx 2020
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Loser Hes such a suck-up!Winner
Hes such a suck-down.
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I got to know his Icahns secretaries. They
are always the keepers of everything. Dick
Parsons, then CEO Time Warner, on dealing with
an Icahn threat to his companyParsons is not a
visionary. He is, instead, a master in the art of
relationship. Bloomberg Businessweek (03.11)
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I believe that it is more important for a
leader to be trained in psychiatry than
cybernetics. The head of a big company recently
said to me, I am no longer a Chairman. I have
had to become a psychiatric nurse. Todays
executive is under pressure unknown to the last
generation. David Ogilvy
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Dont ever use that word synergy. Its a
hideous word. The only thing that works is
natural law. Given enough time, natural
relationships will develop between our
businesses. Barry Diller, responding to a
student question, address at the Harvard Business
School (from Marshall Goldsmith, What Got You
Here Wont Get You There
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1.Period.
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The doctor interrupts after Source
Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think
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18 seconds
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An obsession with Listening is ... the ultimate
mark
of Respect. Listening is ... the
heart and soul of Engagement. Listening is ...
the heart and soul of Kindness. Listening is ...
the heart and soul of Thoughtfulness. Listening
is ... the basis for true Collaboration. Listening
is ... the basis for true Partnership. Listening
is ... a Team Sport. Listening is ... a
Developable Individual Skill. (Though women
are far better at it
than men.) Listening is ... the basis for
Community. Listening is ... the bedrock of Joint
Ventures that work. Listening is ... the bedrock
of Joint Ventures that grow. Listening is ... the
core of effective Cross-functional
Communication (Which is in turn
Attribute 1 of
organizational effectiveness.) cont.
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Could It Be This Simple? In-effective leaders
TALK. Effective leaders LISTEN. Inspiration
Multipliers How the Best Leaders Make Everyone
Smarter, Liz Wiseman Some hard evidence that
effective leaders, in terms of of elapsed
meeting time, talk less than half as much as less
effective leaders.
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"When I was in medical school, I spent hundreds
of hours looking into a microscopea skill I
never needed to know or ever use. Yet I didn't
have a single class that taught me communication
or teamwork skillssomething I need every day I
walk into the hospital. Peter Pronovost, Safe
Patients, Smart Hospitals  
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Is there a full-bore training course in
"Listening" for 100 of employees, CEO to temps?
If not, There damn well ought to be.
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7 K R P
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Courtesies of a small and trivial character are
the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and
appreciating heart. Henry Clay,American
Statesman (1777-1852)
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"Let's not forget that small emotions are the
great captains of our lives."Van Gogh When
dealing with people, remember you are not dealing
with creatures of logic, but with creatures of
emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice and
motivated by pride and vanity. Dale Carnegie
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K R P Kindness Repeat Business Profit
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Press Ganey Assoc 139,380 former patients from
225 hospitalsnone of THE top 15 factors
determining Patient Satisfaction referred to
patients health outcome.Instead directly
related to Staff Interaction directly correlated
with Employee Satisfaction Source Putting
Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin,
Patrick Charmel
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I regard apologizing as the most magical,
healing, restorative gesture human beings can
make. It is the centerpiece of my work with
executives who want to get better. Marshall
Goldsmith, What Got You Here Wont Get You
There How Successful People Become Even More
Successful.
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With a new and forthcoming policy on apologies
Toro, the lawn mower folks, reduced the average
cost of settling a claim from 115,000 in 1991 to
35,000 in 2008 and the company hasnt been to
trial in the last 15 years!
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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. divorce, loss
of a BILLION aircraft sale, etc., etc.

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Why Must I
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You have to treat your employees like
customers. Herb Kelleher, upon being asked his
secret to successSource Joe Nocera, NYT,
Parting Words of an Airline Pioneer, on the
occasion of Herb Kellehers retirement after 37
years at Southwest Airlines (SWAs pilots union
took out a full-page ad in USA Today thanking HK
for all he had done) across the way in Dallas,
American Airlines pilots were picketing AAs
Annual Meeting)
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Brand Talent.
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Our MissionTo develop and manage talentto
apply that talent,throughout the world, for the
benefit of clientsto do so in partnership to
do so with profit.WPP
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Oath of Office Managers/Servant
Leaders Our goal is to serve our customers
brilliantly and profitably over the long
haul. Serving our customers brilliantly and
profitably over the long haul is a product of
brilliantly serving, over the long haul, the
people who serve the customer. Hence, our job as
leadersthe alpha and the omega and everything
in betweenis abetting the sustained growth and
success and engagement and enthusiasm and
commitment to Excellence of those, one at a
time, who directly or indirectly serve the
ultimate customer. Weleaders of every
stripeare in the Human Growth and
Development and Success and Aspiration to
Excellence business. We leaders only grow
when they each and every one of our
colleagues are growing. We leaders only
succeed when they each and every one of our
colleagues are succeeding. We leaders
only energetically march toward Excellence when
they each and every one of our colleagues
are energetically marching toward
Excellence. Period.
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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 PARCs Bob
Taylor Connoisseur of Talent
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Les Wexner From sweaters to people!
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The Memories
That Matter The people you developed who went on
to stellar accomplishments inside or outside
the company. The (no more than) two or three
people you developed who went on to create
stellar institutions of their own. The longshots
(people with a certain something) you bet on
who surprised themselvesand your peers. The
people of all stripes who 2/5/10/20 years
later say You made a difference in my life,
Your belief in me changed everything. The sort
of/character of people you hired in general. (And
the bad apples you chucked out despite some
stellar traits.) A handful of projects (a half
dozen at most) you doggedly pursued that
still make you smile and which fundamentally
changed the way things are done inside or
outside the company/industry. The supercharged
camaraderie of a handful of Great Teams aiming
to change the world.
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Hang Time!
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You will become like the five people you
associate with the mostthis can be either a
blessing or a curse. Billy Cox
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The Hang Out Axiom I We are What We Eat/We Are
the company we keep
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Measure/Manage Portfolio Strangeness/QualityS
taffConsultantsVendorsOut-sourcing Partners
(, Quality, Diversity)Innovation Alliance
PartnersCustomersCompetitors (who we
benchmark against) Strategic Initiatives
Product Portfolio (Line extension v. Leap)IS/IT
ProjectsHQ LocationLunch MatesLanguageBoardEt
c.
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The We are what we eat/ We are who we hang
out with Axiom At its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership decision (employee,
vendor, customer, etc, etc) is a strategic
decision about Innovate, Yes or No
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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
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Once a month on, say, a Friday, invite somebody
intriguing, in any field, to have lunch with
your gang. Call it Freak Fridays
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Companies have defined so much best practice
that they are now more or less identical.
Jesper Kunde, Unique Now ... or Never
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The short road to ruin is to emulate the
methods of your adversary. Winston Churchill
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WTTMSW.
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READY.FIRE!AIM.H. Ross Perot (vs Aim! Aim!
Aim! /EDS vs GM/1985)
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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 C.f. INTUIT (Months to week
w/customers)
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Burt Rutan wasnt a fighter jock he was an
engineer who had been asked to figure out why the
F-4 Phantom was flying pilots into the ground in
Vietnam. While his fellow engineers attacked such
tasks with calculators, Rutan insisted on
considering the problem in the air. A near-fatal
flight not only led to a critical F-4
modification, it also confirmed for Rutan a
notion he had held ever since he had built model
airplanes as a child. The way to make a better
aircraft wasnt to sit around perfecting a
design, it was to get something up in the air and
see what happens, then try to fix whatever goes
wrong. Eric Abrahamson David Freedman,
Chapter 8, Messy Leadership, from A Perfect
Mess The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
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Experiment fearlesslySource BusinessWeek,
Type A Organization Strategies How to Hit a
Moving TargetTactic 1relentless trial and
errorC Source Wall Street Journal,
cornerstone of effective approach to
rebalancing company portfolios in the face of
changing and uncertain global economic conditions
(11.08.10)
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Culture of PrototypingEffective prototyping
may be the most valuable core competence an
innovative organization can hope to have.
Michael Schrage

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Fail. Forward. Fast.High Tech CEO,
Pennsylvania
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1/45 Whoever Tries The Most Stu
ff Wins
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K.I.S.S.(Damn It!)
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Design is everything. Everything is
design. The Power of Design A Force for
Transforming Everything, Richard Farson
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Charles Handy One bank is currently claiming to
leverage its global footprint to provide
effective financial solutions for its customers
by providing a gateway to diverse markets.
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I assume that it is just saying that it is there
to
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I assume that it is just saying that it is there
to help its customers wherever they are.
Charles Handy
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90K in U.S.A. ICUs on any given day 178 discrete
steps/day/patient in ICU.50 ICU stays result in
serious complicationSource Atul Gawande,
The Checklist (New Yorker, 1210.07)
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Dr. Peter Pronovost, Johns HopkinsChecklist/d
ealing with line infections1/3rd lines,
at least one procedural error when he started
checklist programNurses/permission-requirement
to stop procedure if doc, other not following
checklist (BIG DEAL)In 1 year, ICUs 10-day
line-infection rate 11 to 0 Source
Atul Gawande, The Checklist (New Yorker,
1210.07)
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Appropriate systems standards Beauty. Grace.
Clarity. Simplicity.
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Architect Rem Koolhaas on his drive for
clarity-simplicity Often my job is to undo
things.Source New Yorker
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"I've never seen a job done by a team of five
hundred that couldn't be done better by a team of
fifty. Gordon Bell
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The art of war does not require complicated
maneuvers the simplest are the best and common
sense is fundamental. From which one might wonder
how it is generals make blunders it is because
they try to be clever. Napoleon