dispatches from the new world of work

Cognos

I'm speaking to Cognos today in Orlando. The company, which netted $136M on $825M in sales last year, is a leader in performance management software—e.g., "Enterprise Scorecarding," "Business Intelligence," "Enterprise Planning." In addition to the slides (here) for my morning presentation, I did a "Tom Thing" ... and created yet another list, culling wisdom (hunches, actually) from the last 35 or so years. Hence, "The Planning, Planning Systems, Intelligence & Measures50." Some/most entries will be obvious, others a little obscure—I plan to write this up/flesh it out, as part of what I call "Project05," in July-August.

Tom Peters posted this on 06/28/05.

Comments

My favorite - Can a 4th grader understand it. I don't think fourth graders are cynical enough to be used as a measure. The true test of the effectiveness of any communication - see if a teenager can
A) Understand it
B) Find it remotely interesting

Posted by John Jantsch at June 28, 2005 11:36 AM

Tom

Didn't you hold a session many years ago including the head of Pilot Software (Bus Intel like Cognos) - any thoughts? comparisons?

Posted by PaulH at June 28, 2005 11:48 AM

So you want to be remembered as a player, Tom? That's interesting, because sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and both is OK, as long as you have fun doing it. However, would you rather play your own game, pretty much by yourself, or rather in a circle of friends? Lots of players seem to be pretty lonely these days, chasing their dreams and losing all social competence. Plus, there is the other angle of "responsibility". Many players are in reality more like gamblers and put not only their own lifes in jeopardy, but their families', too.

Posted by Andy Bitterer at June 28, 2005 5:23 PM

"To consummate the greatest enterprises, One Spirit for a thousand hands suffices."

Goethe

Posted by Noel Guinane at June 29, 2005 2:45 AM

Tom,

I really enjoyed your â€œtalkâ€ last week at the Cognos Forum. It was my first time hearing you, and I must say, I am now a big fan.

Because of you, my lack of an MBA, in a professional world full of seat cushions sewn from that very parchment, is no longer an issue. I appreciate your making it clear that it is the fortitude that makes one successful, not merely the â€œme tooâ€ quest for academic nirvana.

Now, how do we broadcast this to all of the pinheads who think otherwise?

I look forward to attending another one of your â€œInsanely Greatâ€ talks.

Regards,

Posted by Joseph Vescio at July 6, 2005 11:50 AM