Tom Peters

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Tom Peters EXCELLENCE. The Basics.Now
More than ever. PCBC200827 June/George Moscone
Center
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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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Note to Readers not involved
with the PCBC2008 and the California residential
real estate industry Obviously, times are tough
for these folks. (I was explicitly asked to speak
on excellence in adverse circumstances.) And
the tougher the times the more important the need
for a little humor and flippancy to accompany
ones otherwise sober message. Moreover, despite
my residence in Vermont, I spent 35 adult years
in California, mostly in NCal, but also in SCal.
My fondness for our great state-republic is
infiniteas is my comfort among Californians.
Hence there is an insider character to the
start of this presentation, and a tone that
comes from overwhelmingly feeling among
friendsand also, probably, some indecipherable
shorthand. The immediately following 4 slides
were the basis for almost all my remarks to
PCBC2008 Pacific Coast Builders Conference
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Off The Top Observations, With
Prejudice Angelo Mozilo is a big fat
jerk.Ken Lewis is a fool. Where is A.P.
Giannini when we need him? Barry Bonds was the
best natural hitter ever.That which goes up
also comes down. (That assertion alone is
worth the price of admission.)That which goes
waaaaaay up also comes waaaaaay down. (It
was in the Beginning and now and ever shall
be. Amen.) IQs rise as markets go up. (Isnt
it amazing how smart we all were 18 months
ago?) Why have we done this s over over
over?Why will we do this s again again
again? The madness of crowds is the most
profound statement of truth ever. My Dear
Old Dads preference for real estate over
stocks still suits his son. Dollar for dollar,
landscaping is the premier source of value
added to residential property.
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Bigger is almost never better. Big mergers
are stupid. Big mergers spring naturally from
big egos.Carly Fiorina saved HP.Malcolm
Gladwell gives good hair.I miss Bill
Walsh.San Francisco is the greatest city in
the worldand LA aint all bad (neither is-are
Oxnard-Port Hueneme).It doesnt get any better
than thisU.S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln and
John C. Fremont were born for moments like
this. There is no such thing as a good-great
leader who has not confronted, been battered
by and stumbled through-overcome a
catastrophe. The Upside for the gutsy and
creative is as high as the downside is
low. Jerry Rice is the greatest football player
everand Willie Mays is the best baseball
player ever. (And Sandy Koufax was okay
too.) Women rule. And make (almost) all the
res real estate decisions.
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Decency must not be sacrificed in tough
times. Decency is more important than ever in
tough times. Painful decisions must be
mademake them as gracefully as possible
doing so is the best investment in the long
term possible. Your reputation will be shaped by
the long memory of how you behaved when the fan
was covered with yogurt. Tough decisions
mostly affect other peoples families. You
must still make the tough decisions, but the
minute they cease to be agonizing,
resignyoure not worth saving, youve become
a mini-Mozilo. Character rules in adverse
times. Now is when investment in relationships
pays offand now is when you pay the full
price of not having invested in relationships
when times were good and you didnt need to
be nice to others. Keep good peopleif it
kills you.
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If your world is in relatively good order do
not be tempted to use this opportunity to
consolidate by acquiring questionable assets
at firesale pricesyou are not good enough to
turn cow pies into gold only your ego thinks
you are, and your ego is as usual
wrong. Smaller but really good is a better
place to be. (So youll be ready to fully
participate in the next round of folly when
the next Moment of Madness arrives.) You will
be remembered in the long haul for the quality
of you work, not the quantity of your
workthe quantity part is just your defective
ego talking. (No one evaluates Picasso, based
on the number of paintings he churned
out.) Work out more and harder in bad timesget
high or less low on chemical cocktails
generated by killer workouts. Take advantage of
tough times to realize that in the long haul
you will be remembered for you humanity not your
net worththink Tim Russert. If not
Excellence, what?
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Tom Peters EXCELLENCE. The Basics.Now
More than ever. PCBC200827 June/George Moscone
Center
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Slides at tompeters.com
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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
(05.08)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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Give good tea!
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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 the
Annual Meeting)
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Forget China, India and the Internet Economic
Growth Is Driven by Women. Headline, Economist,
April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
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Women are the majority market 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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10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN
RULE Women make all the financial
decisions.Women control all the wealth. Women
substantially outlive men. Women start most of
the new businesses. Womens work force
participation rates have soared
worldwide. Women are closing in on same pay for
same job. Women are penetrating senior
ranks rapidly even if the pace is slow for
the corner office per se. Womens
leadership strengths are exceptionally well
aligned with new organizational effectiveness
imperatives. Women are better salespersons than
men. Women buy almost everythingcommercial
as well as consumer goods. So what exactly is
the point of men?
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You know a design is good when you want to lick
it. Steve Jobs Source Design Intelligence
Made Visible, Stephen Bayley Terence Conran
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Hypothesis DESIGN is the principal difference
between love and hate!Not like and
dislike
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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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Message (?????) Men cannot design for womens
needs.
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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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Dick Kovacevich You dont get better by being
bigger. You get worse.
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4 Japan3 USA2 China1 Germany
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Reason!!!Mittelstand
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Basement Systems Inc.
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Basement Systems Inc.Larry JaneskyDry
Basement Science (115,000!)1990 0 2003
13M 2007 62,000,000
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Focus A recent study by Stanford Business
School faculty shows that producers whose
offerings or expertise are more clearly
associated with one or two product categories
have better sales than those whose goods or
professional identity span multiple categories.
More focused producers throw off subtle hints
that they know their stuff, which is not lost on
customers. In short, says professor Michael
Hannan, The jack of all trades is the master of
none governs consumer choices of whose goodies to
buy. Stanford Business, 0208
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General David Petraeus White lines along
the road Secure and serve the population.
Live among the people. Promote reconciliation.
Move mounted, work dismounted situational
awareness can only be achieved by operating
face-to-face, not separated by ballistic
glass. Walk. David Petraeus, Mens Journal
(06.08) I love that last one for its
simplicity. DP
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Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his life,
was asked, What was the most important lesson
youve learned in you long and distinguished
career? His immediate answer
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remember to tuck the shower curtain inside the
bathtub.
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2-cent candy
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ltTGWvs. gtTGR
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4/40
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try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it.
Try it. Try it. Screw it up. Try it. Try it. Try
it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Screw it up. it. Try
it. Try it. try it. Try it. Screw it up. Try it.
Try it. Try it.
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We have a strategic plan. Its called doing
things. Herb Kelleher
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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
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Ex-e-cu-tion!
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Execution is strategy. Fred Malek
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Execution is the job of the business leader.
Larry Bossidy Ram Charan/ Execution The
Discipline of Getting Things Done
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K.i.s.s.Keep It Simple, Stupid
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Compression hose would mostly fix the
hospital problem According to the American
Heart Association, up to two million Americans
are affected annually by deep vein thrombosis. Of
those who develop pulmonary embolism, up to
300,000 will die each year. ... Deep vein
thrombosis also is among the leading causes of
preventable hospital death. Even more disturbing
is the fact that, according to a U.S.
multi-center study published by two of ClotCare's
editorial board members, 58 of patients who
developed a DVT while in the hospital received no
preventive treatment despite the presence of
multiple risk factors and overwhelming data that
prophylaxis is very effective at reducing these
events. Marie B. Walker, clotcare.com, March
2008
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Beware of the tyranny of making Small Changes to
Small Things. Rather, make Big Changes to Big
Things. Roger Enrico, former Chairman, PepsiCo
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Beware of the tyranny of making Small Changes
to Small Things. Rather, make Big Changes to Big
Things using Small, Almost Invisible
Straightforward Levers with Big Systemic Impact.
TP
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Everything matters -80 Source Nudge,
Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, etching of fly
in the urinal reduces spillage by 80,
Schiphol Airport
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Ac-count-a-bil-ity!
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SECDEF Bob Gates Walter Reed, Army Secy Nucs,
USAF Secy COS
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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)
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615A.M.
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Relentless One of my superstitions had always
been when I started to go anywhere or to do
anything, not to turn back , or stop, until the
thing intended was accomplished. Grant
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Action.EXECUTION.ACCOUTABILITY.615A.M.
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TP How to flush 500,000 down the toilet in
one easy lesson!!
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lt CAPEXgt People!
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no less than Cathedrals in which the full and
awesome power of the Imagination and Spirit and
native Entrepreneurial flair of diverse
individuals is unleashed in passionate pursuit of
Excellence.
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The role of the Director is to create a space
where the actors and actresses can become more
than theyve ever been before, more than theyve
dreamed of being. Robert Altman, Oscar
acceptance speech
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The four most important words in any
organization are What do you think?
Source courtesy Dave Wheeler, posted at
tompeters.com, source of original unknown
(0609.08)
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EMPHASIZE THE SOFT SKILLS.
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?
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1 cause ofDis-satisfaction?
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Employee retention satisfaction
Overwhelmingly, based on their immediate
manager!Source Marcus Buckingham Curt
Coffman, First, Break All the Rules What the
Worlds Greatest Managers Do Differently
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2/year legacy.
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Hard Is SoftSoft Is Hard
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Hard Is Soft (Plans, s)Soft Is Hard (people,
customers, values, relationships))
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R.O.I.R.
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Return On Investment In Relationships
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THE PROBLEM IS RARELY/NEVER THE PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEM INVARIABLY ENDS UP BEING
THE REAL PROBLEM.

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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.

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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
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EXCELLENCE. BEDROCK.LEADERSHIP. THE 9Ps.
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L(21) L(-21)

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Leadership(21A.D.) Leadership(21B.C.)

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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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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)
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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I am a Dispenser of Enthusiasm!Ben Zander
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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The role of the Director is to create a space
where the actors and actresses can become more
than theyve ever been before, more than theyve
dreamed of being. Robert Altman, Oscar
acceptance speech
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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MBWA
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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You must be the change you wish to see in the
world.Gandhi
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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Relentless One of my superstitions had always
been when I started to go anywhere or to do
anything, not to turn back , or stop, until the
thing intended was accomplished. Grant
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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Leaders do people. Period. Anon.
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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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!
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.
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On NELSON other admirals more frightened of
losing than anxious to win
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PURPOSE.PASSION.Potential.Presence.Personal.P
ERSISTENCE.PEOPLE. Potent.Positive.