dispatches from the new world of work

Deja Vu All Over Again

Been reading a lot of bedrock stuff, such as Jim O'Toole's brilliant Creating the Good Life: Applying Aristotle's Wisdom to Find Meaning and Happiness, which challenges the reader to pursue a disciplined, virtuous life of continuous growth—until one's last breath. My mind kept wandering back to 1982 and the publication of In Search of Excellence. As solid as I hope (and think) our research and analytic framework were, I am also convinced that no small part of our success was derivative of the word "excellence" per se. Alas, it wasn't and isn't a word used often in business or organizational life in general. And yet I believe it is a universal aspiration. It is in fact a beautiful word with beautiful implications.

And "all that" took me back to the contents of the book. We begin with a robust theoretical exploration of individual, organizational and business excellence. But the heart of the book, in most readers' eyes, was our chapters on the "eight basics" of enterprise excellence. You'll find them displayed below:

Excellence1982: The Bedrock "Eight Basics"

A Bias for Action
Close to the Customer
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
Productivity Through People
Hands On, Value-Driven
Stick to the Knitting
Simple Form, Lean Staff
Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties

I have promised myself—and it is one promise I vow never to break—that there will never but never be an In Search of Excellence, Revised. Moreover, as I look at the list above I think it's held up pretty damn well. (As did the financial performance of the companies selected.) On the other hand, a lot has changed, and several of the "new practices," circa 1982, have become "conventional wisdom," circa 2005 (e.g., listening to customers). That conclusion and my general restlessness led me to casually start scribbling some "stuff" down. What might my "basics" of "excellence" be today? I winnowed a list of about 100 candidates to a baker's dozen. The "final" list is indeed longer than, and not so succinct as, 1982's—doubtless drawbacks. Yet it is my best effort to display what I think is most essential to surviving/thriving with excellence, circa crazy 2005. It follows:

Excellence2005: The Bedrock Baker's Dozen

A Bias For Action Is Job One! (Construct a discipline/Culture of EXECUTION!)
DECENTRALIZATION! ACCOUNTABILITY! (Tom's "Top Two," 1965-2005.)
Fail. Forward. Fast. ("Reward Excellent Failures, Punish Mediocre Successes.")
"Metabolic Management" Matters! (Hustle! Adapt! EAT CHANGE! Win the "O.O.D.A. Loop" War—Confuse Your Competitors!)
INNOVATE or Die. ("Game-changers" or Bust! Lead the Customer! Just Shout "No" to Imitation!)
A Damn Good Product. (Pursue "Dramatic Difference.")
A Damn Cool Product. (Design Rules!)
Ride the Value Added Curve to the Sky! Sell "GamechangerSolutions"; Provide "Scintillating Experiences"; Become a "Dream Merchant"; Strive to Be a "Lovemark.")
Relentlessly Pursue the "Big Two" Markets. (WOMEN Buy Everything. Boomers & Geezers Have All the Money!)
Best "Talent"/Roster Wins! (HR Rules! Everyone a Leader! Women Lead Best! "Weird" Matters Most! A Workplace to Brag About! Educate for Creativity!)
Wanted/Demanded: Radical Technology Strategies! ("Incrementalism" Is for Wimps!)
Hard Is Soft! Soft Is Hard! (People! Passion! Enthusiasm! Wow! INTEGRITY! TRUST! Good Citizen.)
Accept No Less Than EXCELLENCE! (Excellence, Pursuit thereof, Is the Only Thing That Vaults Everyone Out of Bed in the Morning.)

All yours—and you'll also find a three-slide version posted as a new Special Presentation.

Tom Peters posted this on 12/08/05.

Comments

tom

interesting. i was very pleased to see reference
to Boyd's OODA Loop and Collin's "best talent."

thanks for reminding us all to be MORE pro-active!

-ski

p.s. call me: "baised for action!"

Posted by ski at December 8, 2005 6:06 PM

Amazing how much of your insight has always applied to what I do in the church! Thanks for the continued passion for excellence...which I share.

Posted by Mark at December 8, 2005 8:02 PM

What I like best about these two lists is that you can see the difference between Tom Peters and TOM PETERS!!!

Posted by Michael Martine at December 8, 2005 9:55 PM

Tom,

Reading ISoE in paperback in 1992 as a lowly manager in a large logistics company.

I know your crits of MBAs but...it inspired me to take an MBA to try to get on another career trajectory.

6 weeks ago, I made VP in a large multinational software corp.

The lessons in ISoE still hold true today.

Thanks. From all of us.
-- Steve

Posted by steve at December 9, 2005 3:21 AM

Biggest difference I see is that you used very conservative Times New Roman font in a very formal style in 1982 - you still use Times New Roman but you use more powerful words, more emphasis, and you use capitals a lot.

Your message is still the same; still as powerful and still holds true. Know your staff, know your customers - act with integrity at all times - be humble - always do your homework and you will not go far wrong.

In Search of Excellence is â€˜the book most thumbedâ€™ in my collection and I still have the copy I bought in 1984 to read on a train journey. The book influenced my management career more than any other. I didnâ€™t agree with everything in it but probably 99%.

Sad to say, as far as I am concerned, a sequel called "Still searching for Excellence" would be appropriate for many large organisations in the UK Tom!

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 9, 2005 4:07 AM

Tom, Could you explain #12?

Posted by Nancy R. at December 10, 2005 10:30 AM

So much for simple truths in simple terms!

Posted by JLPrentiss at December 14, 2005 10:25 AM

JL: I just don't see the connection between all the stuff in #12. "Hard Is Soft! Soft Is Hard! (People! Passion! Enthusiasm! Wow! INTEGRITY! TRUST! Good Citizen.)" I'd love if Tom would jump in and explain it.

Posted by Nancy R. at December 14, 2005 11:09 AM

MBLA.....manage by loving around.chief love officer.CLO... we collect what we give.random act of kindness...courage,modesty.oops

Posted by shivakumar at December 18, 2005 6:44 AM

I like them in varying degrees, but 13 is way too many, baker or no baker. For reasons of simplicity (mental decrepitude) I have a list of one: 100% belief. 100% BELIEF. If I don't believe passionately and completely in what we're doing and why, and in the people I work with, if they don't believe equally in our aims and me and each other, we surely fail. Without 100% belief I can't persuade our many stakeholders that what we do matters (this is not-for-profit land here) and deserves their support. Without it I won't worry enough about the small important stuff. With it almost anything is possible. 100% belief, try it. If you can't smell it around your place of work, something's wrong, maybe you.

And Tom, darling, design is not by definition cool, and really does not create cool either. Lots of design is gratuitous and patronising self-abuse by people wearing black. Cool is an attitude you can't buy from a design house. I'm an ex-designer, and I love good design, but...

And while I'm at it PLEASE ditch the ghastly word Lovemark. Please, please, now. For ever. It's just unbearably cutesy and/or medical.

Posted by Robin at December 19, 2005 9:06 AM

Robin, darling, I agree with much of what you say, but will stick with "lovemark." You know, "There's no accounting for taste." (Or was it "bad taste"?)

Posted by tom peters at December 21, 2005 10:51 AM

I thought "lovemark" was a Kevin Roberts concept? I personally think it sounds like a synonym for "hickey," but that's just me.

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