Comments

Amen to this and thank you Tom.

Process, measurement and numbers are of course crucial but they are 'runners up' to hearts and minds. In another context completely but in a similar vein today I heard Nicky Gumbel say ‘This is not about looking into the head for facts; it is about looking into the heart for feelings’ – I like that.

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 30, 2007 2:57 PM

Tom

My son and I flew over NZ a couple of days ago on the way home from a "holiday" in California and Nevada (yeah go figure!)..

The striking point was just how GREEN the countryside was around Auckland - we could see the impact of the RAIN but we could not see nor feel the impact of the SAND FLIES... I have had experience with sand flies in the past and I advocate consuming the whiskey yourself and to hell with the sand flies...

Richard

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at January 30, 2007 3:32 PM

Yes the sandfiles, they are very small and I was wondering how they could be such a pest, my wife reacted quickly to their 'nips' I brushed them off without too much bother, about four days later I had these crazy itches! YOW! thankfully I got over it but still have a few scars! Small but VERY noticeable, they left a lasting impression.

NZ is a great place but heed the warning of the early seal hunters, they smothered themselves in seal fat to combat the onslaught of the sandflies.

A business metaphor or some such... Watch out for the small details, they may seem of little bother at the time, but the ongoing effect can be huge!

Posted by Steve Gray at January 30, 2007 4:33 PM

Tom

Given that you are "kicked back" on holidays and talking about real life events like whiskey and sand flies... Plus the fact that it is just you, me, Trevor and Steve on the line here... I wish to tell you a true story about "thriving on chaos"...

I was working for a small (well not so small actually) privately owned consulting company. The owner sent around a memo "read TP Thriving on Chaos and I will send you a personal cheque for $500!" I rang him immediately saying something like, "I love that book, I refer to it all the time, blah blah blah.." "I know and I will send you a cheque right now" he said in a lighthearted way. I thought he was joking so I laughed. I got his personal cheque for $500 and I sent it back immediately with a note "Thanks but no thanks!"

No reply. If he had sent me a second cheque - one drawn against company funds - for $500, $1,000, or even $10.000 in recognition of my integrity, honesty, and perhaps for upholding the company values I would have banked it.

He essentially fired me 12 months later not because of what I could do or could not do for his company but simply for being who I am...

My only regret is that I did not have the wisdom or foresight to leave 12 months earlier because in retrospect the $500 cheque incident was clearly the "writing on the wall" and it said you do not really fit in here.....

Richard

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at January 30, 2007 6:11 PM

"A business metaphor or some such... Watch out for the small details, they may seem of little bother at the time, but the ongoing effect can be huge!"

Great application, Steve.

Posted by Tom E. Snyder at January 30, 2007 7:09 PM

Can I just say a word of thanks to Mrs. Peters for relaxing her, "No work" rule that saw her banning Tom from taking his laptop etc etc with him on holiday?

Or is the audio blogging a covert skunk works operation that could land Tom in hot water when Mrs. P finds out about it? :-)

Posted by Mark JF at January 31, 2007 6:52 AM

1. To many of us - sand flies - clearly are a metaphor [bravo Dr. TP] for pesky front-liners that ACT up and try to escape their caste-determined minimum wage lifestyle

2. Sand flies front liners [SFFL] MUST be kept on a short DEET leash to enhance their utility

3. SFFL should be used strategically to divert sand flies so that we $250M CEO-types can more easily enjoy the luxury we so richly DESERVE

Posted by sean_$3M at January 31, 2007 9:53 AM

Sean_$3M

While we are being lighthearted and kicked back here... Sean I think "minimalists" need $0 or $30M in wealth producing assets not the $3M you refer to.... Mind you $3 of yours is worth much more than $3 of mine...

Keep pumping out your message - I just love the poetry and symmetry of some of your missives - I think I may just have finally "got it" but then you know I am a very slow learner....

Welcome to the Hotel California where "some dance to remember and some dance to forget"....

Richard

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at January 31, 2007 3:16 PM

Richard - Sean takes some getting used to but there is heart of gold in there and much wisdom. You mention 'The Eagles' (my favourite band of all time) and there were initially times with Sean when I felt like saying:

Sean - ‘Get over it’
But then the ‘Tequila Sunrise’ appeared for me
I got used to Sean's ‘Lyin’ Eyes’
When Sean's insults would ‘Take it to the limit’
But in the end there was just no point in me becoming being a ‘Deperado’
So just as I was reaching ‘The Last Resort’
I decided to ‘Take it Easy’

And is now ..... all is well with me and Sean -united in 'Front Liner' promotion

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 31, 2007 5:09 PM

Hi Trevor

Thanks for that mate...

I would add "we are prisoners of our own device" and our gatekeepers (for gatekeepers - as you know Trevor - read mindset for that is what I bang on and on about) are "programmed for entry not for exit"... What we are all constantly learning or re-learning throughout our lives is that "you can check out any time you like but you may never leave"...

"And when you’re looking for your freedom
(nobody seems to care)
And you can’t find the door
(can’t find it anywhere)

When there’s nothing to believe in
Still you’re coming back, you’re running back
You’re coming back for more"

Trevor as you know the words above are from "Take it to the limit" by the Eagles.... That band must have been on some seriously good stuff....

So Trevor and Sean and Tom, et al let's "Take it to limit one more time...."

Richard

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at January 31, 2007 6:51 PM

1. Richard & Trevor - it is such a CRAZY world I simply & minimally must travel it as a fellow eco-light humor spirit - albeit as radical too w/killer instinct if need be

2. And I wonder if it is just as pleasing to toss a TV out of the Ritz [20th floor or so] if it is a flat screen vs. olde model that explodes on the pavement?

3. Simply must trash a Ritz room again - like back @ Summer of Love 1967 ... the Who would be proud ... of this NEW rad dream & scheme ...

Posted by sean_take_it at February 1, 2007 9:14 AM

Mark JF:
This is indeed a skunkworks operation. I'm not sure of the level of covertness, or of the potential dousing with hot water or similar torment with relation to Susan. I am, however, certain that Tom is laptop-free and has been audio blogging by phone. That is why he has not been responding in his normal fashion to comments. Thanks for your concern, Mark!

Posted by Shelley Dolley at February 1, 2007 10:40 AM

Mark JF

We all care for Tom Peters on this blog site - otherwise we would not spend time contributing to it. Tom is a compulsive personality - could you imagine any regime that would totally contain him? I have enjoyed the sense of this particular blog being "personal" and "off-the-record" (sorry I spent too long in politics and playing games with reporters and other self-appointed gatekeepers) and as you say somehow boyishly "covert". I never expected Tom to respond - I was writing to him as I might have to Santa Claus when I was five. I have done so in the hope that Tom might enjoy this type of exchange when he gets back from the time warp that is NZ! I may be making a mistake in this belief but it is good to just have some fun on this blog and go into matters of "real" substance that are not aimed at making money, stroking our collective ego, etc. I have obviously enjoyed it and have posted way too much here to be really healthy - my excuse is that I have just had a fabulous holiday with my 13 year old son and I am still in that kicked back mood (there is nothing better than to spend time with a teenager to find out that most of this stuff we bang on about does not really matter in the big scheme of things ) - I think I will snap out of it now and go do some paid work....

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In friendship....

Richard

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at February 1, 2007 4:04 PM

Since Dr. Peters is in New Zealand, I wonder if he has noticed the Fox Glacier (one of NZ's major tourist/hiking attractions) is actually getting LARGER. That's right--THE GLACIER IS GROWING. And, that's despite the 'consensus' among pseudo-scientitists with political agendas that we are all going to die in the boiling swamp of global warming soon. Of course, I'm sure the consensual climatologists looking for more gov't grant money will be able to 'explain' why the growing glacier (and record sub-zero temps in my back yard this week) are actually signs pointing to global warming.

And I always thought they were sand FLEAS, not sand FLIES.

Hmmm...

Posted by Mike at February 5, 2007 8:50 AM

mike, you know, at first i thought you were right, but it seems they are known as sandflies. (i'm using wikipedia.org to verify this.)

Posted by Erik Hansen at February 5, 2007 10:46 AM

brand viagra buy Thanks Erik. Thanks for posting your source, too. I'm not saying Wikipedia is incorrect. The only thing about "wiki" research is that it follows the same philosophy as the global warming crowd--if there is a consensus, it must be true. As an academically trained researcher, I find this to be wrong-headed and possibly dangerous. There are probably sand fleas AND sand flies.

Posted by Mike at February 6, 2007 8:04 AM