SEOUL 14 September 2006

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SEOUL 14 September 2006
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. Everyone lives by selling something.
Robert Louis Stevenson
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A Few Biases You Should
Know AboutI am not a macro-economist.I am
exceptionally biased by 30 years (1970-2000) in
Silicon Valley.I would rather work for eBay
than BankAmerica.I believe that the Giant
Merger Game is the single greatest waste of
energy in the world of business.Economies of
scale are wildly over-rated.I find the entire
notion of career to be disturbing and a little
silly.I find the notion of built to last
hilarious.Between 1965 and 1980 I turned 179.9
degrees from Mr Big Government to Mr Cool
Entrepreneur. (Thank you, Frank
Perdue.)Joseph Schumpeter (gales of creative
destruction) and F.A. Hayek are my
economist gods JK Galbraith is my bete
noir.Innovation is a wonderfully messy
chaotic processnot amenable to strategic
plans.I believe in Luck. (Fooled by
Randomnessbest book Ive ever read.)
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A Few Biases You Should
Know AboutI find most strategic plans (and
strategic planners) to be amusing.I am not
Mike Porter.I am not Peter Drucker.I am
not Jim Collins.I believe that the
resilience of Giant Companies is
wildly-absurdly over-rated.I believe that
Americas productivity edge comes from car
dealers more than Giant Cos.No business
model is the last word.I am a Great Believer
in the basics product, people, customers,
execution. (Hence there is nothing very
interesting, save one thing, in In Search of
Excellence.)I believe that EXCELLENCE is a
legitimate aspiration for each of us and
that any lesser aspiration is unconscionable.
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Tom PetersEXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.XAlways/KM
ACSEOUL/14 September 2006
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Slides at tompeters.com
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The Irreducible209/Sales122/60TIBs
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1. Hare 1, Tortoise 0. (Hare-y times.) 2. Tempo.
(O.O.D.A.) 3. MBWA. 4. Appreciation. (Motivator
1.) (Cant be faked. Good.) 5. Decency. 6.
Hurry. 7. Time out. 8. One matters. 9. Big
change. Short time. (Alt not work.) 10.
Excellence. Always. 11. Passion. Energy. Hustle.
Enthusiasm. Exuberance. (Move mountains. No
alt.) 12. You must care. 13. Emotion. 14. Hard is
soft. (Soft is hard.)
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EXCELLENCE. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.
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25
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Thats a Big Number .
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THREE BILLION NEW CAPITALISTS Clyde Prestowitz
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There is no job that is Americas God-given
right anymore. Carly Fiorina/HP/January2004
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There is no job that is _____s God-given right
anymore.
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Deutsche Bank Moves Half of Its Back-office Jobs
to India/ headline/FT/0327 (500 of 900 Research)
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Thats a small Number .
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26m
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43h
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EXCELLENCE. EVERYWHERE.ASPIRATION.NECESSITY.

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One Singaporean worker costs as much as
3 in Malaysia 8 in
Thailand 13 in China 18 in
India. Source The Straits Times/2003
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Thaksinomics (after Thaksin Shinawatra)
Bangkok Fashion City managed asset reflation
(add to brand value of Thai textiles by
demonstrating flair and design excellence)Sourc
e The Straits Times/2004
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SpainPortugalItalyIrelandSingapore
TaiwanThailandMalaysiaPhilippinesDubaiOmanCh
ileRomaniaAustralia New Zealand
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Better By Design A National StrategyNZ
Design Excellence
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SpainPortugalItalyIrelandSingapore
ThailandMalaysiaPhilippinesDubaiOmanChileRom
ania AustraliaNew ZealandTaiwan
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MADE IN TAIWAN From Cheap Manufacturing to
Chic Branding Headline/Advertising Age/06.05
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Taiwan, Your Partner in InnoValuePoster/Buchares
t/03.06
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SpainPortugalItalyIrelandSingapore
ThailandMalaysiaPhilippinesDubaiOmanChileRom
ania AustraliaNew ZealandTaiwan
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London circa 1976 You cant build a real
economy on services, finance, advertising,
etc.London circa 2006 deliberately aims to be
the capital of the 21st century
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EXCELLENCE. EVERYWHERE.ROOTS.
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Age of AgricultureIndustrial AgeAge of
Information IntensificationAge of Creation
IntensificationSource Murikami Teruyasu,
Nomura Research Institute
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Agriculture Age (farmers)Industrial Age (factory
workers)Information Age (knowledge
workers)Conceptual Age (creators and
empathizers)Source Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind
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Human creativity is the ultimate economic
resource. Richard Florida, The Rise of the
Creative Class
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THE FUTURE BELONGS TO SMALL POPULATIONS
WHO BUILD EMPIRES OF THE MIND AND WHO IGNORE
THE TEMPTATION OFOR DO NOT HAVE THE OPTION
OFEXPLOITING NATURAL RESOURCES.Source Juan
Enriquez/As the Future Catches You
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U.S. Historical Strength Invest in
CreativityFoster new industriesFree open
societyInvestment higher ed, R D,
cultureImmigrants Source Richard Florida,
The Rise of the Creative Class
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The Creative Age is a wide-open game.
Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class
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London circa 1976 You cant build a real
economy on soft services like finance,
advertising, etc.London circa 2006
deliberately aims to replace New York as the
capital of the 21st century
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EXCELLENCE. THE MANDATE.
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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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It is not the strongest of the species that
survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one
most responsive to change. Charles Darwin
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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 significantly underperformed
the market just 2 (2), GE Kodak,
outperformed the market from 1917 to 1987.SP
500 from 1957 to 1997 74 members of the Class of
57 were alive in 97 12 (2.4) of 500
outperformed the market from 1957 to
1997.Source Dick Foster Sarah Kaplan,
Creative Destruction Why Companies That Are
Built to Last Underperform the Market
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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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It is generally much easier to kill an
organization than change it substantially.
Kevin Kelly, Out of Control
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C.E.O. to C.D.O.
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DYB.com
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The Silicon Valley of today is built less atop
the spires of earlier triumphs than upon the
rubble of earlier debacles. Newsweek/Paul Saffo
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Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre
successes.Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
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Wealth in this new regime flows directly from
innovation, not optimization. That is, wealth is
not gained by perfecting the known, but by
imperfectly seizing the unknown. Kevin Kelly,
New Rules for the New Economy
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TP1 Netscape!Where would you rather have
worked for those 5 years, Netscape or
IBM-HP-Microsoft-Oracle? (Where, 25 years from
now, would you rather to be able to tell
someonee.g., grandchildthat you worked?)
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EXCELLENCE. STARTERS.HORRORS.
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Franchise Lost! TP How many of you 600
really crave a new Chevy?
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Ford, GM and Chrysler do not just make cars
expensively they make bad cars expensively.
Investec analyst, International Herald, 0805.06
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Sluggish Obese Unimaginative More Sluggish
More Obese More Unimaginative Even More
Sluggish Even More Obese Even More
Unimaginative NISSAN RENAULT GM
Innovative Challenger for Toyota????
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EXCELLENCE. STARTERS.BASICS.
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P.P.C.E.E.E.
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People.Product.Clients.Execution.Enthusiasm.E
xcellence.
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People.Product.Clients.Execution.Enthusiasm.E
xcellence.Relentlessness.
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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
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"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.
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People.Product.Clients.Execution.Enthusiasm.E
xcellence.Relentlessness. Senility.
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ForgetgtLearnThe problem is never how to get
new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how
to get the old ones out. Dee Hock
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EXCELLENCE. THE WORD.
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SynonymsPurityTranscendenceVirtueEleganceMaj
estyAntonymsMediocrity
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EXCELLENCE. GAMECHANGER.
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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
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ExIn 1982-2002/Forbes.comDJIA 10,000 yields
85,000 EI 10,000 yields 140,050
Forbes/Excellence Index /Basket of 32
publicly traded stocks
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Them-Us
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Them UsStrategy

EXECUTIONPlanning
ActionMarketing
Selling/SalesMarkets
CustomersCustomers
ClientsMicro-segmentation Big
Stuff (Women, Boomers)Cost minimization
Revenue maximizationSynergy/Efficiencies
DecentralizationStrategic supplier
Pioneering supplierProcess
ProjectEffectiveness
ExcellenceMen
WomenLeadership
Management
LeadershipStandardization
Exceptionalism (53 53)Big clients
COOL clientsPrestigious Board
INTERESTING Board
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EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.
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Why in the world did you go to Siberia?
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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.
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Business (at its best) An emotional, vital,
innovative, joyful, creative, entrepreneurial
endeavor that elicits maximum concerted human
potential in the wholehearted service of
others.Excellence. Always.Employees,
Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners,
Temporary partners
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EXCELLENCE. DEFINED.
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Great Companies SET THE AGENDA. (PERIOD.)
disturb the sleep of
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AGENDA SETTERS Set the Table/ Pioneers/
Questors/ AdventurersUS Steel Ford Toyota
Sears GM ITT The Gap Limited WalMart
Tesco PG 3M Intel IBM Apple Nokia
Cisco Dell MCI Sun Microsoft Google
Enron Schwab GE Laker Southwest People
Express Ogilvy Virgin eBay Amazon Sony
Amgen BMW CNN Nike
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Built to Last vs Built for ImpactBut what if
former head of strategic planning at Royal Dutch
Shell Arie De Geus is wrong in suggesting, in
The Living Company, that firms should aspire to
live forever? Greatness is fleeting and, for
corporations, it will become ever more fleeting.
The ultimate aim of a business organization, an
artist, an athlete or a stockbroker may be to
explode in a dramatic frenzy of value creation
during a short space of time, rather than to live
forever. Kjell Nordström and Jonas
Ridderstråle, Funky Business
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EXCELLENCE. VALUE ADDED.UP THE LADDER.
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EXCELLENCE I. SOLVE IT.
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55B
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Big Browns New Bag UPS Aims to Be the Traffic
Manager for Corporate America Headline/BW/2004
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Huge Customer Satisfaction versus Customer
Success
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EXCELLENCE.NECESSITY.OPPORTUNITY.
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Disintermediation is overrated. Those who
fear disintermediation-outsourcing should in fact
be afraid of irrelevance outsourcing is just
another way of saying that youve become
irrelevant to your customers. John
Battelle/Point/Advertising Age/07.05
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support function / cost center/ overhead
or
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Are you Rock Stars of the Age of Talent
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EXCELLENCE.SOLVE IT. NO OPTION.PSF. (PSF)
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Department Head to Managing Partner, IS
HR, RD, etc. Inc.
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The PSF35 Thirty-Five Professional Service
Firm Marks of Excellence
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The PSF35 The Work The Legacy1.
CRYSTAL CLEAR POINT OF VIEW (E very
Practice Group If you cant explain your
position in eight words or less, you dont
have a positionSeth Godin)2. DRAMATIC
DIFFERENCE (We are the only ones who do what
we doJerry Garcia)3. Stretch Is Routine
(Never bite off less than you can
chewanon.)4. Eye-Appetite for Game-changer
Projects (Excellence at Assembling Best
TeamFast) 5. Playful Clients (Adventurous
folks who unfailingly Aim to Change the
World)6. Small Uneconomic Clients with Big
Aims 7. Life Is Too Short to Work with Jerks
(Fire lousy clients)8. OBSESSED WITH LEGACY
(Practice Group and Individual Dent the
UniverseSteve Jobs)9. Fire-on-the-spot Anyone
Who Says, Law/Architecture/Consulting/
I-banking/ Accounting/PR/Etc. has become a
commodity 10. Consistent with 9 above DO
NOT SHY AWAY FROM THE WORD (IDEA)
RADICAL
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Point of View!
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Core MechanismGame-changing Solutions PSF
(Professional Service Firm model/The
Organizing Principle) Brand You(Distinct or
Extinct/The Talent) Wow! Projects
(Different vs Better/The Work)
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EXCELLENCE. ATTITUDE.TRANSFORMATION.PSF.
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Are you the Principal Engine of Value
AddedE.g. Your RD budget as robust as the
New Products team?
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Purchasing Officer Thrust 1 Cost (at All
Costs) Minimization Professional? Or/to Full
Partner-Leader in Lifetime Value-added
Maximization?(Lopez Arguably Villain 1 in
GM tragedy/Anon VSE-Spain)
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Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
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The Value-added Ladder/ STUFF N THINGSGoods
Raw Materials
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The Value-added Ladder/Stuff TRANSACTIONSServ
icesGoods Raw Materials
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The Value-added Ladder/ OPPORTUNITY-SEEKING
Gamechanging SolutionsServicesGoods Raw
Materials
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EXCELLENCE II. EXPERIENCE IT.
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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
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The Starbucks Fix Is on We have
identified a third place. And I really
believe that sets us apart. The third place is
that place thats not work or home. Its the
place our customers come for refuge. Nancy
Orsolini, District Manager
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Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
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The Value-added Ladder/ MEMORABLE
CONNECTIONSpellbinding Experiences
Gamechanging SolutionsServicesGoods Raw
Materials
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CXOChief eXperience Officer
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EXCELLENCE. DRAMATIC.DIFFERENCE.DOABLE.
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798
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415/SqFt/WalMart798/SqFt/Whole Foods
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EXCELLENCE. NO EXCUSES.
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WallopWalMart16Or Why its so ABSURDLY
EASY to BEAT a GIANT Company
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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!!
)
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Jims Group Jim Penman/Empire Builders/MT
/Jan/Feb 2006/Australia
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The Missing 900M Will the Boat Sink the Water
The Life of Chinas Peasants Chen Guidi and Wu
Chuntao
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What Ive Learned about Small BusinessTom
Peters
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Passion for PRODUCT.OBSESSION With Product.LOVE
The Product.Aim To Be ONLY ONES WHO DO WHAT WE
DO.Keep ADDIN Stuff.Invest UNWISELY in
RD.Reside Permanently In The DISCOMFORT
Zone.Unhealthy PARANOIA Is A Good Thing.Add
Clients That PUSH-PULL.SELL. SELL. SELL.
SELL.Go For Broke CUSTOMER CONTACT
PEOPLE.PERFECTION Customer Contact People.Hire
for ATTITUDE.INVITE On An Adventure. GREAT
CFO/Biz Guy-Gal. NASTY CFO/Biz
Guy-Gal.QUADRANGULAR LEADERSHIP
Visionary-Talent Fanatic-Project Manager-I.P.M.
(I.P.M. Inspired Profit Mechanic)
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I Bacteria Man HEREBY PLEDGEWhen asked,
What are some examples of companies stepping up
to todays challenges? I will NEVER AGAIN
offer an example of a Giant Company instead Ill
refer to Cirque du Soleil, Donnellys
Weatherstrip Service, 3K tanning salons, 10.6M
women-owned businesses (or the typically/95
female recipients of micro-lending) There
is more to Biz Life than Giant Cos LOTS MORE
that hidden 99
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Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
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EXCELLENCE III. DREAM IT.
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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
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Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
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The Value-added Ladder/ EMOTIONDreams Come
TrueSpellbinding Experiences Gamechanging
SolutionsServicesGoods Raw Materials
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Big Blue
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EXCELLENCE IV. LOVE IT.
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Brands have run out of juice. Theyre dead.
Kevin Roberts/Saatchi Saatchi
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Kevin Roberts Lovemarks!
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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
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Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
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The Value-added Ladder/ ECSTASY Lovemark
Dreams Come True Spellbinding
ExperiencesGamechanging SolutionsServicesGoods
Raw Materials
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Up, Up, Up, Up the Value-added Ladder.
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Ladder.2006 4 of 7! Lovemark Dreams Come
True Spellbinding ExperiencesGamechanging
SolutionsServicesGoodsRaw Materials
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EXCELLENCE.SOUL I.THE STORY.
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Storytelling is the core of culture.
Branded Nation The Marketing of Megachurch,
College Inc., and Museumworld, James Twitchell
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Best story wins!
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Market Power Story Power
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EXCELLENCE. SOUL II.DESIGN.
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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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Design is treated like a religion at BMW.
Fortune
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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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CDOChief Design Officer
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EXCELLENCE. WHAT MATTERS.
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What Isnt Matter Is What Matters section
title, Branded Nation The Marketing of
Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld, James
Twitchell
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VA Teaching MomentAndy pointed to a molding,
about halfway up the wall
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EXCELLENCE.NEW MARKETS.ENORMOUS.
OPPORTUNITIES.
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EXCELLENCE. OPPORTUNITY.
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Women are the majority market Fara
Warner/The Power of the Purse
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1. Men and women are different.2. Very
different.3. VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.4. Women
Men have a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y nothing in
common.5. Women buy lotsa stuff.6. WOMEN BUY
A-L-L THE STUFF.7. Womens Market Opportunity
No. 1.8. Men are (STILL) in charge.9. MEN ARE
TOTALLY, HOPELESSLY CLUELESS ABOUT WOMEN.
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10. Womens Market Opportunity No. 1.
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To be a leader in consumer products, its
critical to have leaders who represent the
population we serve. Steve Reinemund/PepsiCo
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Cases!McDonalds (mom-centered to majority
consumer not via kids)Home Depot (Do it
everything! Herself)PG (more than house
cleaner) DeBeers (right-hand rings/4B)AXA
FinancialKodak (women emotional centers of
the household)Nike (gt jock endorsements new
def sports majority consumer)AvonBratz (young
girls want friends, not a blond
stereotype)Source Fara Warner/The Power of the
Purse
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Goldman Sachs in Tokyo has developed an index of
115 companies poised to benefit from womens
increased purchasing power over the past decade
the value of shares in Goldmans basket has risen
by 96, against the Tokyo stockmarkets rise of
13. Economist, April 15
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EXCELLENCE. OPPORTUNITY.
150
2000-2010 Stats18-44 -155 21(55-64
47)
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44-65 New Customer Majority 45 larger
than 18-43 60 larger by 2010Source Ageless
Marketing, David Wolfe Robert Snyder
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EXCELLENCE. INNOVATE. OR. DIE.
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A focus on cost-cutting and efficiency has
helped many organizations weather the downturn,
but this approach will ultimately render them
obsolete. Only the constant pursuit of innovation
can ensure long-term success. Daniel Muzyka,
Dean, Sauder School of Business, Univ of British
Columbia (FT/09.17.04)
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More than 1 RD spending, last 25 years?
155
GM
156
New Economy?!Genentech09, Amgen09 gt Merck09
(70K-3/394B-5)
157
Pathetic!
158
Forbes100 from 1917 to 1987 39 members of the
Class of 17 were alive in 87 18 in 87 F100
18 F100 survivors significantly underperformed
the market just 2 (2), GE Kodak,
outperformed the market from 1917 to 1987.SP
500 from 1957 to 1997 74 members of the Class of
57 were alive in 97 12 (2.4) of 500
outperformed the market from 1957 to
1997.Source Dick Foster Sarah Kaplan,
Creative Destruction Why Companies That Are
Built to Last Underperform the Market
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I dont believe in economies of scale. You dont
get better by being bigger. You get worse.
Dick Kovacevich/Wells Fargo
160
Scale?Microsofts Struggle With Scale
Headline, FT, 09.2005Troubling Exits at
Microsoft Cover Story, BW, 09.2005Too Big
to Move Fast? Headline, BW, 09.2005
161
Dells predicament may be intractable. Dell
remained slavishly loyal to its core idea of
ultra-efficient supply-chain management and
direct sales to customers, even as rivals have
stepped up their game. Instead of adapting,
critics say, Dell cut costs in ways that
compromised customer service and, possibly,
product quality. BW, 0904 Theyre a one-trick
pony. It was a great trick for over 10 years.
tech exec/BW Dells culture is not
inspirational or aspirational. This is when they
need to be imaginative, but Dells culture only
wants to talk about execution. Geoffrey
Moore There are some organizations where people
think theyre a hero if they invent a new thing.
Being a hero at Dell means saving money. Kevin
Rollins, CEO
162
When asked to name just one big merger that had
lived up to expectations, Leon Cooperman, former
cochairman of Goldman Sachs Investment Policy
Committee, answered Im sure there are success
stories out there, but at this moment I draw a
blank. Mark Sirower, The Synergy Trap
163
Conglomerates dont work. James Surowiecki,
The New Yorker
164
Acquisitions are about buying market share. Our
challenge is to create markets. There is a big
difference. Peter Job, former CEO, Reuters

165
Free at Last Most Recent Chapter in a
Long-running SagaFreescale Semiconductor
16B
166
Spinoffs systematically perform better than IPOs
track record, profits freed from the
confines of the parent more entrepreneurial,
more nimble Jerry Knight/ Washington Post/
08.05
167
EXCELLENCE. INNOVATION. THE REAL STORY.
168
Recently I asked three corporate executives what
decisions they had made in the last year that
would not have been made were it not for their
corporate plans. All had difficulty identifying
one such decision. Since all of the plans are
marked secret or confidential, I asked them
how their competitors might benefit from
possession of their plans. Each answered with
embarrassment that their competitors would not
benefit. Russell Ackoff (from Henry Mintzberg,
The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning)
169
The Perils of Conservatism/Industry
Leadership 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
170
A pattern emphasized in the case studies in this
book is the degree to which powerful competitors
not only resist innovative threats, but actually
resist all efforts to understand them, preferring
to further their positions in older products.
This results in a surge of productivity and
performance that may take the old technology to
unheard of heights. But in most cases this is a
sign of impending death. Jim Utterback,
Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation
171
The Mess Is the Message! Period!An Economic
Interpretation of the Constitution of the United
States Charles Beard (1913)The Box How the
Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the
World Economy Bigger Marc LevinsonTube The
Invention of Television David Marshall Fisher
Empires of Light Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse,
and the Race to Electrify the World Jill
JonnesThe Soul of a New Machine Tracy
KidderRosalind Franklin The Dark Lady of DNA
Brenda MaddoxThe Blitzkrieg Myth John
Mosier
172
LessonsNeed-drivenA thousand
parentsMessyEvolutionaryTrivialRelentless
ExperimentationTrial many, many eRRORsReal
heroes seldom around when the battle is
wonLoooong time for systemic adaptation/s(many
innovations) (bill of lading, standard time)Not
Plan-drivenThe product of Strategic
Thinking/PlanningThe product of focus groups
173
Get mad. Do something about it. Now.
174
Fooled by Randomness The Hidden Role of Chance
in Life and the Markets Nassim Nicholas Taleb
175
We are in a brawl with no rules. Paul Allaire
176
S.A.V.
177
What We Know For Sure About InnovationBig
mergers dont workScale is over-ratedStrategic
planning is the last refuge of scoundrelsFocus
groups are counter-productiveBuilt to last is
a chimera (stupid)Success killsForgetting is
impossibleRe-imagine is a charming ideaOrderly
innovation process is an oxymoronic phrase (
Believed only by morons with ox-like
brains)Tipping points are easy to identify
long after they will do you any goodFacts
arentAll information making it to the top is
filtered to the point of danger and
hilaritySuccess stories are the illusions of
egomaniacs (and gurus)If you believe the
memoirs of CEOs you should be institutionalizedH
erd behavior (XYZ is hot) is ubiquitous and
amusingTop teams are DittoheadsCEOs have
little effect on performanceExpert prediction
is rarely better than rolling the dice
178
InnoTacs
179
We become who we spend time with!
180
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
181
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
182
Keep Austin Weird
183
futuremark
184
Dont benchmark, futuremark! Impetus The
future is already here its just not evenly
distributed William Gibson
185
To grow, companies need to break out of a
vicious cycle of competitive benchmarking and
imitation. W. Chan Kim Renée Mauborgne,
Think for Yourself Stop Copying a Rival,
Financial Times/2003
186
Find em!
187
Somewhere in your organization, groups of people
are already doing things differently and better.
To create lasting change, find these areas of
positive deviance and fan the flames.
Richard Pascale Jerry Sternin, Your
Companys Secret Change Agents, HBR
188
Demos! Heroes! Stories!
189
Never doubt that a small group of committed
people can change the world. Indeed it is the
only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
190
send em on a quest!
191
Organizing Genius / Warren Bennis and Patricia
Ward BiedermanGroups become great only when
everyone in them, leaders and members alike, is
free to do his or her absolute best.The best
thing a leader can do for a Great Group is to
allow its members to discover their greatness.
192
Leaderships Mt Everest/Mt Excellencefree to
do his or her absolute best allow its
members to discover their greatness.
193
Concoct a Parallel universe!
194
SkunkWorks/ ParallelUniversethe 1
solutionSource Scott Bedbury (Others 3M,
Google, Shell, NAVFAC)
195
Venture fund Gerstner/Amex, Dow/Marriott,
Grove/Intel, Bedbury/Starbucks
196
Forward, march The Sri Lanka Stratagem
197
ACTION culture
198
Experiment fearlesslySource BW0821.06, Type
A Organization Strategies/ How to Hit a Moving
TargetTactic 1
199
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 No. 5. By the
time our rivals are ready with wires and screws,
we are on version No. 10. It gets back to
planning versus acting We act from day one
others plan how to planfor months. Bloomberg
by Bloomberg
200
tolerate encourage? failure
201
Fail . Forward. Fast.High Tech CEO,
PennsylvaniaFail faster. Succeed
Sooner.David Kelley/IDEO
202
Sams Secret 1!
203
Clarity
204
JackWorld/1_at_T (1) Neutron Jack. (Banish
bureaucracy.) (2) 1, 2 or out Jack. (Lead or
leave.) (3) Workout Jack. (Empowerment, GE
style.) (4) 6-Sigma Jack. (5) Internet Jack.
(1-5/Throughout) TALENT JACK!
205
bet the table
206
Immelt is now identifying technologies with
which GE will systematically set out to
build entirely new industries
StrategyBusiness, Fall 2005
207
Conscious measurement
208
Innovation Index How many of your Top 5
Strategic Initiatives/Key Projects score 8 or
higher out of 10 on a Weird/ Profound/
Wow/Game- changer Scale?
209
Inno64 Innovation Strategies Tactics
210
Parallel universe /Exec Ed v res MBA End run
regnant powers/JKC Find done deals-practicing
mavericks/Stone-ReGo Bell curves2016 in
2006 Non-industry benchmarking Everything
Portfolio V.C.s all! Hot language/Wow-Astonish
me-Insanely great-immortal-Make something
great Lead customers/PW-Embraer Lead suppliers
/Top decile RD Weird alliances Mottos/Paul Arden
(Whatever You Think Think the Opposite) Hire
freaks/Enough weird people? Weird Boards!!!
211
EXCELLENCE. INNOVATION. REVOLUTION.ORGANIZATIO
N.
212
Excellence The SE22 ORIGINS OF SUSTAINABLE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
213
SE22/Origins of Sustainable
Entrepreneurship 1. Genetically disposed to
Innovations that upset apple carts (3M, Apple,
FedEx, Virgin, BMW, Sony, Nike, Schwab,
Starbucks, Oracle, Sun, Fox, Stanford
University, MIT) 2. Perpetually determined to
outdo oneself, even to the detriment of
todays winners (Apple, Cirque du Soleil,
Nokia, FedEx) 3. Treat History as the Enemy
(GE) 4. Love the Great Leap/Enjoy the Hunt
(Apple, Oracle, Intel, Nokia, Sony) 5. Use
Strategic Thrust Overlays to Attack Monster
Problems (Sysco, GSK, GE, Microsoft) 6. Establish
a Be on the COOL Team Ethos. (Most PSFs,
Microsoft) 7. Encourage Vigorous
Dissent/Genetically Noisy (Intel, Apple,
Microsoft, CitiGroup, PepsiCo) 8. Culturally as
well as organizationally Decentralized
(GE, JJ, Omnicom) 9. Multi-entrepreneurship/Many
Independent-minded Stars (GE, PepsiCo)
214
SE22/Origins of Sustainable
Entrepreneurship 10. Keep decentralizingtireles
s in pursuit of wiping out Centralizing
Tendencies (JJ, Virgin) 11. Scour the world for
Ingenious Alliance Partners especially
exciting start-ups (Pfizer) 12. Acquire for
Innovation, not Market Share (Cisco, GE) 13.
Dont overdo pursuit of synergy (GE, JJ, Time
Warner) 14. Execution/Action Bias Just do it
dont obsess on how it fits the business
model. (3M, J J) 15. Find and Encourage and
Promote Strong-willed/ Hyper-smart/Independe
nt people (GE, PepsiCo, Microsoft) 16. Support
Internal Entrepreneurs (3M, Microsoft) 17. Ferret
out Talent anywhere/No limits approach to
retaining top talent (Virgin, GE, PepsiCo)
215
SE22/Origins of Sustainable Entrepreneurship 1
8. Unmistakable Results Accountability focus
from the get-go to the grave (GE, New York
Yankees, PepsiCo) 19. Up or Out (GE, McKinsey,
big consultancies and law firms and ad
agencies and movie studios in general) 20.
Competitive to a fault! (GE, New York Yankees,
News Corp/Fox, PepsiCo) 21. Bi-polar
Top Team, with Unglued Innovator 1,
powerful Control Freak 2 (Oracle, Virgin) (Watch
out when 2 is missing Enron) 22.
Masters of Loose-Tight/Hard-nosed about a very
few Core Values, Open-minded about
everything else (Virgin)
216
Itinerant. Potential. Machines.
217
TALENT POOL TO DIE FOR. Youthful. Insanely
energetic. Value creativity. Risk taking is
routine. Failing is normal if youre
stretching. Want to make their bones in the
revolution. Love the new technologies. Well
rewarded. Dont plan to be around 10 years from
now.
218
TALENT POOL PLUS. Seek out and work with
worlds best as needed (its often needed). We
aim to change the world, and we need gifted
colleagueswho well may not be on our payroll.
219
BRASSY-BUT-GROUNDED-LEADERSHIP. Visionary
leaders matched by leaders with shrewd business
sense HOW DO WE TURN A PROFIT ON THIS GORGEOUS
IDEA? Appreciate market creation as much as
or more than market share growth. ARE INSANELY
AWARE THAT MARKET LEADERS ARE ALWAYS IN
PRECARIOUS POSITIONS, AND THAT MARKET SHARE WILL
NOT PROTECT US, IN TODAYS VOLATILE WORLD, FROM
THE NEXT KILLER IDEA AND KILLER ENTREPRENEUR.
(Gates. Ellison. Venter. McNealy. Walton. Case.
Etc.)
220
ALLIANCE MANIACS. Dont assume that the best
resides within. WORK WITH A SHIFTING ARRAY OF
STATE-OF-THE-ART PARTNERS FROM ONE END OF THE
SUPPLY CHAIN TO THE OTHER. Including vendors
and consultants and who especially PIONEERING
CUSTOMERS will pull us into the future.
221
POTENTIAL MACHINES-ORGANISMS. Dont know whats
coming next. But are ready to jump at
opportunities, especially those that
challenge-overturn our own way of doing things.
222
Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organizations
Subtitle, The Tom Peters Seminar (1993)
223
EXCELLENCE. 4/40.
224
4/40
225
De-cent-ral-iz-a-tion!
226
Decentralization is not a piece of paper. Its
not me. Its either in your heart, or not.
Brian Joffe/BIDvest
227
Ex-e-cu-tion!
228
Execution is the job of the business leader.
Larry Bossidy Ram Charan/ Execution The
Discipline of Getting Things Done
229
Ac-count-a-bil-ity!
230
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)
231
615A.M.
232
EXCELLENCE. ACTION.ROOTS.
233
GRANT
234
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
235
NELSON
236
On NELSON other admirals more frightened of
losing than anxious to win
237
BOSSIDY
238
Execution is a systematic process of
rigorously discussing hows and whats,
tenaciously following through, and ensuring
accountability. Larry Bossidy Ram Charan/
Execution The Discipline of Getting Things Done
239
PEROT
240
READY.FIRE!AIM.Ross Perot (vs Aim! Aim!
Aim! /EDS vs GM/1985)
241
MASTERS
242
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
243
KELLEHER
244
We have a strategic plan. Its called doing
things. Herb Kelleher
245
PETERS-WATERMAN
246
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
247
EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.TALENT.
248
Brand Talent.
249
The role of the Director is to create a space
where the actor or actress can become more than
theyve ever been before, more than theyve
dreamed of being. Robert Altman, Oscar
acceptance
250
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
251
Leaders do people. Period. Anon.
252
Hire very good people!
253
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
254
DD21M
255
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.
256
A Few Lessons from the ArtsEach hired and
developed and evaluated in unique ways (23
contributors 23 unique contributions 23
pathways 23 personalities 23 sets of
motivators)Attitude/Enthusiasm/Energy
paramountRe-lent-less!Practice is cool (G
Leonard/Mastery)Team and individual Aspire to
EXCELLENCE ObviousEx-e-cu-tionTalent Brand
DuhThe Project rulesEmotional languageBit
players. No.B.I.W. (everything)Delta events
Delta rosters (incl leader/s)
257
Re-imaginePeople Power The Talent50
258
The Talent501. People first!2.
Soft is Hard. 3. FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE We are in
an Age of Talent/ Creativity/Intellectual-
capital Added.4. Talent excellence in every
part of the organization.5. P.O.T./Pursuit
Of Talent Obsession.6. HR sits at The Head
Table.7. HR is cool.
259
50. Talent Brand.
260
EXCELLENCE. WOMEN.RULE.
261
AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male counterparts
in almost every measureTitle, Special
Report/BusinessWeek
262
WOMEN DOMINATE ECONOMIC GROWTH.
263
Forget China, India and the Internet Economic
Growth Is Driven by Women. Headline, Economist,
April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
264
EXCELLENCE. INDIVIDUAL.BRAND YOU.
265
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
266
New Work
SurvivalKit.2006 1. Mastery! (Best/Absurdly Good
at Something!)2. Manage to Legacy (All Work
Memorable/Braggable WOW Projects!) 3. A
USP/Unique Selling Proposition (R.POV8
Remarkable Point of View captured in 8 or
less words) 4. Rolodex Obsession (From
vertical/hierarchy/suck up loyalty to
horizontal/colleague/mate loyalty)5.
Entrepreneurial Instinct (A sleepless Eye for
Opportunity! E.g. Small Opp for Independent
Action beats faceless part of Monster Project)6.
CEO/Leader/Businessperson/Closer (CEO, Me Inc.
Period! 24/7!)7. Master of Improv (Play a dozen
parts simultaneously, from Chief Strategist
to Chief Toilet Scrubber)8. Sense of Humor (A
willingness to Screw Up Move On) 9. Comfortable
with Your Skin (Bring interesting you to
work!)10. Intense Appetite for Technology (E.g.
How Cool-Active is your Web site? Do you
Blog?)11. Embrace Marketing (Your own
CSO/Chief Storytelling Officer)12. Passion for
Renewal (Your own CLO/Chief Learning Officer)
13. Execution Excellence! (Show up on time!
Leave last!)
267
Distinct or Extinct
268
EXCELLENCE. ABSENT THE SCHOOLS FIASCO.
269
How many artists are there in the room? Would
you please raise your hands. FIRST GRADE En mass
the children leapt from their seats, arms waving.
Every child was an artist. SECOND GRADE About
half the kids raised their hands, shoulder high,
no higher. The hands were still. THIRD GRADE At
best, 10 kids out of 30 would raise a hand,
tentatively, self-consciously. By the time I
reached SIXTH GRADE, no more than one or two kids
raised their hands, and then ever so slightly,
betraying a fear of being identified by the group
as a closet artist. The point is Every school
I visited was participating in the systematic
suppression of creative genius. Source
Gordon MacKenzie, Orbiting the Giant Hairball
270
Ye gads Thomas Stanley has not only found no
correlation between success in school and an
ability to accumulate wealth, hes actually found
a negative correlation. It seems that
school-related evaluations are poor predictors of
economic success, Stanley concluded. What did
predict success was a willingness to take risks.
Yet the success-failure standards of most schools
penalized risk takers. Most educational systems
reward those who play it safe. As a result, those
who do well in school find it hard to take risks
later on. Richard Farson Ralph Keyes,
Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins
271
15 Leading Biz SchoolsDesign/Core
0Design/Elective 1Creativity/Core
0Creativity/Elective 4Innovation/Core
0Innovation/Elective 6Source DMI/Summer
2002/Research by Thomas Lockwood
272
EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.LEADERSHIP.
273
EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.PURPOSE.
274
I never, ever thought of myself as a
businessman. I was interested in creating things
I would be proud of. Richard Branson
275
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)
276
EXCELLENCE. BY INVITATION.
277
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 gameit is the game. Lou Gerstner, Who
Says Elephants Cant Dance
278
In the end, management doesnt change culture.
Management invites the workforce itself to
change the culture. Lou Gerstner
279
EXCELLENCE.ENTHUSIASM.ENERGY. PASSION.
280
Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be
swamped with it yourself. Before you can move
their tears, your own must flow. To convince
them, you must yourself believe. Winston
Churchill
281
Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
282
Most important, he upped the energy level at
Motorola. Fortune on Ed Zander/08.05
283
EXCELLENCE. RELENTLESSNESS.
284
RE-LENT-LESS-NESS
285
BLOOD-Y-MIND-ED-NESS
286
Bloodyminded Unreasonably stubborn Source The
Random House Dictionary of the English Language
287
Whenever anything is being accomplished, I have
learned, it is being done by a monomaniac with a
mission. Peter Drucker
288
It is no use saying We are doing our best. You
have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
WSC
289
EXCELLENCE. AGILITY.
290
The most successful people are those who are
good at plan B. James Yorke, mathematician,
on chaos theory, in The New Scientist
291
EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.SELF-MANAGEMENT.
292
X.Step 1Buy a Mirror!
293
The First step in a dramatic organizational
change program is obviousdramatic personal
change! RG
294
EXCELLENCE. SHOWING UP.
295
25
296
MBWA
297
You must be the change you wish to see in the
world.Gandhi
298
You Your calendarCalendars NEVER lie!!
299
EXCELLENCE. STRETCH.
300
The greatest dangerfor most of usis not that
our aim istoo highand we miss it,but that it
istoo lowand we reach it.Michelangelo
301
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!
302
EXCELLENCE. THINK BIG.
303
Beware of the tyranny of making Small Changes
to Small Things. Rather, make Big Changes to Big
Things. Roger Enrico, former Chairman,
PepsiCo
304
No Wiggle Room! Incrementalism is
innovations worst enemy. Nicholas
Negroponte
305
Five MYTHS About Changing BehaviorCrisis is
a powerful impetus for changeChange is
motivated by fearThe facts will set us
freeSmall, gradual changes are always easier
to make and sustainWe cant change because our
brains become hardwired early in lifeSource
Fast Company
306
EXCELLENCE. THE LEADERSHIP23.
307
Leadership23/ML1.
Enthusiasm. Energy. Exuberance.2. Action.
Execution.3. Tempo. Metabolism.4.
Relentless.5. Master of Plan B.6.
Accountability.7. Meritocracy.8. Leaders do
people. Mentor. (Success creation
business.)9. Women. Diversity.10. Integrity.
Credibility. Humanity. Grace.11. Realism.12.
Cause. Adventures. Quests.
308
Leadership23/ML13.
Legacy.14. Best story wins.15. On the edge.
(Wildest chimera of a moonstruck
mind.) 16. Reward excellent failures. Punish
mediocre successes.17. Different gt Better.
(Only ones who do what we do.)18. MBWA.
Customer MBWA.19. Laughs.20. Repot. Curiosity.
Why?21. You Calendar. To Dont. Two.22.
Excellence. Always. 23. Nelsonian! (Other
admirals more afraid of losing than anxious
to win.)
309
EnthusiasmEnergyExuberanceVoracious
CuriosityIrritability/Dis-satisfactionRelentless
nessSelf-relianceCloser (Execution)excellence

310
EXCELLE ALWAYS.
311
You only find oil if you drill wells. The
Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O G
wildcatter
312
EXCELLE ALWAYS.