Comments

Welcome and enjoy!! We're broiling with you. And as an ex-Yank, you're right - Toronto is glorious. :-)

Posted by Aleah at June 24, 2005 10:28 AM

Just left the room where you presented the keynote address. The first time I was finally able to hear you in person. WONDERFUL!

You said you watch the DVD of Cirque du Soleil before presenting - I listen to Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organizations (go figure!)

I work with about 300 colleges and universities with respect to their marketing and communication with prospective students - been doing this for over 15 years after spending 8 as "an administrator" at two colleges (I say I spent that time sitting in meetings, not actually administrating anything). What puzzles me is the "me too" mentality of colleges that you drive home so much in your presentations. But I can't seem to get colleges to take a chance and change to something interesting and unique - they are beholden to structures that prohibit change and people that spend their time building roadblocks instead of creating greatness.

My question is, is this a leadership 'chiefs" issue or an "indians" issue? How do organizations change that are so historically apposed to it?

Again, REALLY enjoyed your keynote. You really shook them up - and they so greatly need it!

Posted by Brian Niles at June 24, 2005 10:32 AM

I remember the olde GMAT days - used software, classroom, supplements for 1 month - took it, miracle luckout 99th percentile - hmmm ... I recall absolutely nothing about the exam now. The MBA program though - sheer delightful madness competition - the Oregon university profs = magnifique :>) ...

Posted by Sean at June 24, 2005 11:04 AM

Welcome to Toronto Tom. I'm listening to your book 'Re-Imagine' on my iPod. I've been a fan of your work and attitude since grade 9 Marketing (about 23 years ago). Keep it up and enjoy your stay.

Posted by Dean Sprung at June 24, 2005 12:28 PM

Toronto's climate is extreme but thankfully the people are consistently hospitable. To cool off, grab a cold beer at one of the outdoor cafes along the Waterfront or at the newly renovated Distillery District! - Michael (a Toronto expat living in NYC)

Posted by Michael Letros at June 24, 2005 12:53 PM

hey Tom, Welcome to Toronto, yup tis really hot todat. Like Micheal says..chill out at the waterfront !!

Taking about our Healthe Dept. and its a good strategic move there.. however what do you mean "With all the problems in Canadian healthcare, " ???

I see the US healthcare is rotten and ready to break !!

Posted by /pd at June 24, 2005 1:04 PM

Hi Tom

Never heard you speak. Could not afford to probably, but may be I can't afford not to? Did buy a book of yours once, "In Search of Excellence". I kept it for quite a long time because it was such a cool book. Do you know why? It is the only book I have ever purchased that had a start, a middle but then it had a production fault that meant I had two starts and two middles, but no end! I thought it was deeply ironic - don't you? Now, after a number of years in marketing I am re-inventing myself and going to run a children's hospital in Malawi. I am looking to re-brand myself/family to create a new persona as Malawiman. Just starting on the brand pyramid now - all thoughts gratefully received. I don't want boring and worthy, I want quirky and fun. Malawi is the 125th poorest country on earth. Most people are dead before they reach my next birthday - 40. At least I get to have my mid-life crisis in the sun.

Best wishes,

Stuart Palmer

Posted by Stuart Palmer at June 24, 2005 1:45 PM

USA healthcare for affluent is exceptional - Asians, Europeans, N-S Americans flock there for challenging procedures.
Socialist Canada has cheap drugs - quality suspect like a pd rant. :>)

Posted by Sean at June 24, 2005 2:16 PM

Toronto is a beautiful and vibrant city. Was just there myself in the spring.

Another good fix for Canadian health care is to disband it! Great news for the citizens of Quebec who now "legally" pay for private care outside of the centralized Canadian health care waiting list!

When will governments learn what private business is learning right now - old centralized control systems are all going to collapse eventually?

Posted by Jack at June 24, 2005 2:27 PM

I once flew my little airplane to Toronto so I could hang out in Chapters Book Store for the evening and eat dinner at the Mexican restaurant across the street.

Chapters is one of my favorite hang-outs.

Posted by Erick Blackwelder at June 24, 2005 11:25 PM

Some light relief for the weekend guys :-) - enjoy

Trevor

I came across this recently and despite being a manager all my life I feel there is some truth in this little story. Please enjoy it and even if you are a manager have a good laugh.

Talk About Real Life

Once upon a time, in a nice little forest, there lived an orphaned bunny and an orphaned snake. By a surprising coincidence, both were blind from birth.

One day, the bunny was hopping through the forest, and the snake was slithering ahead of him, when the bunny tripped over the snake and fell down.

This, of course, knocked the snake about quite a bit. "Oh, my," said the bunny, "I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I've been blind since birth, so, I can't see where I'm going. In fact, since I'm also an orphan, I don't even know what I am."

"It's quite ok," replied the snake. "Actually, my story is the same as yours. I too have been blind since birth, and also never knew my mother. Tell you what, maybe I could slither all over you, and work out what you are so at least you'll have that going for you."

"Oh, that would be wonderful" replied the bunny. So the snake slithered all over the bunny, and said, "Well, you're covered with soft fur, you have really long ears, your nose twitches, and you have a soft cottony tail. I'd say that you must be a bunny rabbit."

"Oh, thank you, thank you," cried the bunny, in obvious excitement.

The bunny suggested to the snake, "Maybe I could feel you all over with my paw, and help you the same way that you've helped me." So the bunny felt the snake all over, and remarked,

"Well, you're smooth and slippery, and you have a forked tongue, no backbone and no balls. I'd say you must be a team leader, a supervisor or possibly someone in senior management."

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 25, 2005 1:42 AM

Dear Mr. Peters,
I knew I was going to love your speech from the moment you uttered the words "Cirque de Soleil!" You and that amazing troupe are two soaring acts!
I haven't been involved with the MBA world for very long but I love how you threw out the challenge to get more women matriculated into MBA programs. As one of thousands who "went underground" in the early 1990's to start up an at-home business when the corporate model of 10-12 hour days didn't mesh well with child-rearing, I greatly applaud your call to action. Perhaps what is required is a multi-tiered approach where we recruit young women to come in to a program directly from their undergraduate years (3-2 or 4-2 programs), approach women in traditionally female-dominated fields such as nursing where the creme de la creme might be ready to say "enough is enough" with the hospital politics and be inclinded to go for the MBA for greater options, or we start allowing for programs (and prestigious ones at that) to be available ON THE WEB where women can to do the bulk of their MBA coursework at a time of day/night when the kids are asleep with perhaps a few days a month (or whatever works) to actually be on campus. There are certainly solutions out there - I might challenge our very smart Graduate Women in Business Club to do this as a case and see what evolves.
Again, many thanks for the most stirring speech I've heard since JFK's call to action in 1961.
Cordially,
Wendy

Posted by Wendy Shinay at June 25, 2005 7:29 AM

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It is actually Dr. Cirque [I mean Dr. Peters not Mr.] ... and women far surpass men now in bachelor [ironic] and masters' degrees - so slow down and aid the men. And quit consuming so much and making everyone semi-obese/obese - given women do 1000% of purchase decision making per Dr. Cirque ... ship those carcinogenic Fritos to the fascist Saddam :>)

And JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you ..." speech was more a Kennedy crime family call to action. Asking more of our government and politicians is exactly what we need to do ... especially treason suspects like Sen. Durbin ...

viagra purchase in sydney Posted by Sean at June 25, 2005 6:08 PM

Tom,

How are you? I'm Frank Ruscica, founder of an Amazon.com-/Microsoft-approved startup in the market that Peter Drucker and others believe will be the world's biggest within thirty years: customized education and career services.

The centerpiece of our market-entry strategy is a sitcom, Land of OpportuniTV. Extensive details at http://landof.opportunitv.com

The pilot episode will be submitted to the upcoming NY TV Festival, which features a who's-who of network programming execs on the festival's board.

If our submission is well-received, then, it may usher in a new basis of competition in business: the ability to bring a company to life through profitable entertainment programming (i.e., through 'startup comedy').

Better still, the show may catalyze the build-out of the industry that is exceedingly likely to be the leading creator of good jobs for Americans in the coming years.

Just our little would-be WOW! project :-)

Of course, feel free to contact me with any questions, etc. In particular, feel free to ask for details re: how our biz model will brutally disrupt the status quo in education.

Now, I'm off to drill down on Thomas Stanley of slide 78 :-)

Enjoy,

Frank Ruscica
Founder/CEO
The Opportunity Services Group :: Have Fun to Get Ready

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Quite honestly, I'm impressed when anyone past 50 can remember where they were or who they dated in the 60s. I see it as a great screening assessment for memory disorders - Alzheimer's or any one of the other dementias that might compromise our ability to remember the 60s or the 70s, for that matter. Then again, there are some things about those decades that we might want to forget - The Monkees, gogo boots. No wonder The Animals advised that "We gotta get outa this place." how to buy viagra no prescription

Posted by Pam Brill at June 26, 2005 3:11 PM

For the record, "Daydream Believer" by The Monkees is on my iPod, and as one of the My Top Rated" tunes at that! (Mind you, it was written by John Stewart, who has to be one of the most under-appreciated American songwriters of the rock generation...)

What were gogo boots though?

Posted by Mark JF at June 27, 2005 4:54 AM

Thomas J. Stanley is coauthor of the book "The Millionaire Next Door."

Posted by Mike at June 27, 2005 1:00 PM

Mr. Peters,

I heard your speech while at the GMAC conference. You said that no MBA program teaches innovation, with the exception of two small programs that have one or two core courses about innovation. We do! The Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been teaching innovation and entrepreneurship for years. This year, we launched an innovative new curriculum that gets rid of the silo approach common to many top MBA programs.

Faculty work together in teams to teach the five major streams of knowledge in the Lally MBA:

Creating and managing an enterprise
Business implications of emerging technologies
Networks, innovation and value creation
Developing innovative new products and services
Strategy, technology and competition

Our goal during the two-year, 60-credit MBA program is to help students develop the skills, expertise and business acumen to understand the complete life cycle of any business-large or small.

Business Week featured the Lally School in a recent article, “This is not your Father’s MBA”, available here: http://lallyschool.rpi.edu/main.cfm?inc=article&artid=54&c=0

I cordially invite you to visit the Lally School and see our innovative MBA program. Call or email me and I'll arrange it for you.

Sincerely,
Michele Martens
Manager, Graduate Programs
Lally School of Management and Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 Eighth St Troy. NY 12180-3590
phone (518)276 6586 email martem@rpi.edu

Posted by Michele Martens at June 28, 2005 3:39 PM