dispatches from the new world of work

Quote/s of the Day

Addressed a couple of thousand KFC franchisees yesterday. I dusted off a couple of quotes from my old friend, former Burger King CEO Barry Gibbons:

"When we did it 'right' it was still pretty ordinary." (Barry Gibbons on his "Nightmare No. 1")

"I thought, 'What a dreadful mission I have in life.' I'd love to get six-thousand restaurants up to spec, but when I do it's 'Ho-hum.' It's bugged me ever since. It's one of the great paradoxes of modern business. We all know distinction is key, and yet in the last twenty years we have created a plethora of ho-hum products and services. Just go fly in an airplane. It could be such an enlightening experience. Ho-hum. We swim in an ocean of ho-hum, and I'm going to fight it. I'm going to die fighting it."—Barry Gibbons

Here are a couple of other pithies on this topic of the limits of normalcy:

"To succeed, we must stop being so goddamn normal. In a winner takes all world, normal = nothing."—Kjell Nordström & Jonas Ridderstråle, Funky Business

"I don't think there's anything worse than being ordinary."—Mena Suvari/American Beauty

Tom Peters posted this on 02/23/05.

Comments

The comment is ok. but these guys kjell nordstrÃ¶m and his friend, I donÂ´t think they have a bit of originality. I bought their first book and thought it was a copy of your (Tom) most successful quotes. Ok, they have sold lots of books but that doesnÂ´t change my opinion. The only not ordinary thing in them is their head and it seems they copy each other.

Posted by felix gerena at February 23, 2005 4:37 PM

the last hit in the spanish teen music market is a song called "Antes muerta que sencilla". It means something like "better dead than ordinary".

Posted by felix gerena at February 23, 2005 4:40 PM

I find it ironic that such a great, inspiring quote comes from "ho hum" Burger King. I mean, I haven't seen a fast food chain do anything innovative or interesting since McDonald's tried to change the definition of fast food with its McDLT, served with the hot pieces on one side of the package, and the cold on the other.

One innovation I have appreciated as a vegetarian is the Burger King BK Veggie alternative to meat patties, but they've been so afraid of the backlash from promoting a non-beef burger that it's the least heralded and promoted item on their menu.

Ho hum indeed.

Posted by Dave Taylor at February 24, 2005 12:57 AM

"We all know distinction is key, and yet in the last twenty years we have created a plethora of ho-hum products and services." That sums up my view of business in general. Although I would add, "and a plethora of ho-hum lives".

What mad genius (or even moderately quirky personality) would choose to work for a large corporation? Those places are the graveyards of quirkiness, the graveyards of weirdness, and the graveyards of soul.

Posted by AJ Hoge at February 24, 2005 2:38 AM

Worse than being ordinary? When the most significant words you get quoted for are somebody else's work.

Posted by Jason Kerr at February 24, 2005 3:25 AM