Excellence Now

For more than three decades, Tom has been obsessed with Excellence (with a capital E). In this beautifully designed ebook, he's sharing his thoughts, ideas, inspirations, formulas, stories, tips, lessons, experience, examples, and, perhaps most important, attitude. The bottom line: Don't ask what Excellence is. Ask when. Tom's answer: Excellence Now.

Excellence Now: Innovation

The challenge to add more and more value grows, and the importance of innovation, and a culture of innovation, grows exponentially. A "culture of innovation" covers "everything." There is no halfway.

Excellence Now: Action

In 1982, Tom and Bob Waterman put "A Bias for Action" at the top of their list of eight traits of successful companies in their groundbreaking book, In Search of Excellence. Given the subsequent acceleration of change, "A Bias for Action" would doubtless top a similar list today. Here's Tom's take on how to do it right now.

Excellence Now: Purpose

Tom believes that any serious examination of business management and excellence must, especially in these perilous times, begin with an assessment of the moral basis for enterprise. His take in this provocative, highly designed book?
Organizations exist to SERVE.
Leaders exist to SERVE.

How To Be a Great Professional Services Firm

Tom believes that we are all part of one industry, whether we label it manufacturing, finance, or healthcare: professional services. In this brief book, he argues that thinking and acting like a professional services firm is the best (only!) way to add value to our products, companies, and careers. Here are his 55 key ideas culled from his 30-plus-year career as a preeminent management thinker, to help make that happen for you.

Surviving the (Never-Ending) Downturn

When he gives his legendary presentations, Tom is always asked this question: "Do you have any secrets or strategies for surviving the downturn?" His short answer: "Yes!" His slightly longer answer: this beautifully designed ebook.

Getting Stuff (That Matters) Done

In this installment of Tom's continued distillation of what he's learned over the course of his career, he turns to what's perhaps the essence of (capital E intended) Excellence: getting things done. Given Peters' intellectual discipline, it takes the form of a list of 44 items. And given Peters' appreciation for the unexpected, there are a few asides.

Really First Things First

Each of Tom's speeches is carefully customized for each client. But there are four key principles he wants every businessperson to know.

You Matter to Me

In this brief treatise, Tom proposes that leaders (of any size organization) must employ this one powerful management tool: acknowledgement. Show people you appreciate them and unlock their potential for excellence!

Excellence

"In Zenlike terms, all we have is today. If the day's work cannot be assessed as Excellent, then the oceanic overall goal of Excellence has not been advanced. Period."

Strategy

"Not many of these more or less 'tips' are oceanic. That is, they are mostly, as the book's title suggests...'little BIG things.'"

Enterprise

"Do you authorize-encourage everyone (100 percent) to break the rules 'a little bit' so as to stretch for the customer? Do you solicit examples of serious stretch behavior—and celebrate it wildly?"

Leadership

"The 'business' of leaders at all levels is to help those in their charge develop beyond their dreams—which in turn almost automatically leads to 'all that other stuff,' such as happy customers, happy stock-holders, happy communities."

You

"Take charge now! Task one: Work on yourself. Relentlessly!"

We Are in a Brawl with No Rules

The introductory book in the series gives Tom's view of the world of work—a Brawl with no Rules. Everything our parents grew up believing about their careers has been replaced with a new reality where we must re-invent ourselves unceasingly. Hence, Tom exults, "We get to make it up as we go along!" Exhilarating, yes; challenging, even more so.

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The Work Matters!

First published as a handout to serve as a lead-in to Tom's trio of books about Reinventing Work, BrandYou50, PSF50, and Project50, this ebook gives the basic tenet upon which those books are based: The work [you do] matters. Turn yourself into a brand known for quality work, your department into a professional service firm that does work worth paying for, and every project you touch into one that Wows!

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Women Roar

For years, Tom has been expounding on the market opportunity comprised of women, who control the pocketbooks of the vast majority of homes and businesses. In this ebook he presents his case for that opportunity and for another aspect of the "women's thing." As he sees it, women are better leaders than men (under the conditions of the New Economy).

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The Case for Brand Inside

Tom states his case: "It's the organization, stupid!" If you don't take care of your internal customers, how caring will they be toward your external customers?

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The Heart of Branding

Do you have clear answers to some "simple" questions such as "Who are we?" "How are we unique?" "Why does it matter, and to whom?"

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Design Mindfulness

Tom claims that design is the principal reason we LOVE or HATE anything ... "product" or "service." Hence, he concludes, design is the hidden engine powering the brand promise. So ... why do so few pay (obsessive) attention to it? The potential payoff is humongous.

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Education and Third Millennium Work

Education has been aimed at turning students into adults fit to spend 40 years in the same job has it dangerously wrong. Education for the new millennium must prepare students to take their places in the new Brain & Productivily-based economy.

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The Death Knell for "Ordinary": Pursuing Difference

In the new economy as described above, the mandate for you as a person or business owner/manager is to stand out. This ebook warns against the creeping commoditization that can infuse your product or service with an air of the same-old thing. In this manifesto, Tom summarizes nine powerful strategies for combatting "Creeping & Ultimately Fatal Commoditization."

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The High Standard Deviation Enterprise

Full title: Getting Weird & Staying Weird: Creating & Maintaining the High Standard Deviation Enterprise. That is, hang out with weird customers and suppliers, recruit and promote weird talent, force your organization into constant contact with the weird ones.

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In Search of Excellence: A Three-Generation Report Card

People often ask Tom why he doesn't follow up on ISOE with a reassessment of the excellent companies profiled. This ebook is his answer, a look back, not at each company individually, but an overview of their status.

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The Professional Service Firm

Run your business like a Professional Service Firm. in light of HP's offering $18 Billion for PricewaterhouseCoopers consultants, Tom concluded that making a "great box" was not enough, and that "internal" "professional services" would become The Engine of Value Creation.

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Boss-Free Implementation of Stuff That Matters

Tom suggests that you can make changes in your organization. How? Do an end run around the powers that be, then present them your idea as a fait accompli.

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Talent

The competition is on for acquiring top talent. Use Tom's tips to put you out in front in this all-important race: Provide Awesome OPPORTUNITIES. PAY Incredibly Well. Pursue DIVERSITY. Seek out THE STRANGE ONES. Why? Talent= The Brand ... over the long haul.

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WebWorld

When Tom wrote this ebook, he could not have foreseen the impact of social media. Now, every business knows—without Tom's prodding—that they risk obscurity if they ignore their Web presence.

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