dispatches from the new world of work

Thanks!

"Mr Thank You Note" (me) is indeed remiss in thanking all of my colleagues who Posted while I was away. From the number of comments and quality of comments, let alone the content, it seems to have been a smashing success!

Hooray!
Thank you!

(Rick Semler, management guru and Semco [Brazil] founder, once offered a revision of MBWA/Managing By Walking Around. His MBWA was Managing By Walking Away. He almost religiously took a 6-week vacation in a place where he couldn't be reached (ever more difficult). His logic: Only by being truly out of touch could he truly delegate. I like that. And that's what seems to have occurred here. My colleagues, in the absence of Old Motormouth, outdid themselves!!! Well, New Zealand is on the planning boards already for January 2008.)

(A little more New Zealand below.)

New Zealand sky

Tom Peters posted this on 02/20/07.

Comments

It's all about having a good team around you and also having great faith in their ability to do both their own jobs and cover a portion of yours whilst you're away.

You obviously have a great team!

Posted by Shaune at February 20, 2007 10:10 AM

1. MBWA - Management by Walking Away - constant vacation - love it
2. MBVL - Management by Vow of Luxury
3. MBEFL - Management by Enslaving Front-liners

Posted by sean_mbvl at February 20, 2007 2:05 PM

MBLPA - Management By Leaving People Alone

Posted by Leonard Klaatu at February 20, 2007 3:07 PM

"Up The Organisation" by Robert Townsend published in 1970 is still one of the best books around on change, leadership, talent, strategy, positioning, brand management, decency, and execution. Somewhere in the book he says he was asked by the people who hired him "so how will you know you have finished the job?" He replied "that is easy when I can go away on holidays and my phone doesn't ring!" Or words to that effect.

Richardo Semler is brilliant but he always owned the firm. He started from a different base - as do many owners who invent new business models and proceed to change a whole industry (Google, Skype, Virgin, Starbucks, etc)

Townsend was made chief executive for change at Avis when the place truly sucked. No one who worked their before he got there was talent - they were the brunt of jokes in their industry. He signed on for 5 years and completed the job way before his contract expired.

In the process Townsend provided much sought after "talent" (yeah the ones that no one wanted) to many industries. His staff were constantly being "head hunted" for bigger and better jobs....

I am sure that "the new Robert Townsends" of our world are still doing an excellent job. They are not establishment though and so they do not get the media attention of those CEO's who are doing what everyone else is doing....

Up the organisation - you can bet on it....

Richard.

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at February 20, 2007 3:43 PM

The best way to gain power is to let go of power.

Posted by Trevor Gay at February 20, 2007 6:11 PM

Great to have you back Tom, although your team did you proud. My family and I spent most of August in NZ-so I have spent most of the last six/seven months in winter weather-it was our second visit and just brilliant. My ambition after visit no.1 was visit no.2, and my new ambition is visit no.3

Posted by tomjam at February 20, 2007 6:27 PM

If you give something to 10 people, 10 people give something to you. When we empower others, they empower us. See, this way you can be away, and things get attended to.

Love this!

P.S. You were missed.

Posted by Ramla A. at February 21, 2007 5:41 AM

Richard - nice mention of Robert Townsend. Up the Organization is one of my favorite business books of all time (with deference to Tom). The book is being re-published in May by Wiley, with a forward by Warren Bennis, and tributes by his editor Robert Gottleib (Kopf), Prof. James O'Toole of USC, and his children. This is one of the books you should always have around. Robert and Tom also did a fantastic audio book for Nightingale-Conant that is hard to find, but if you can, fantastic to listen to.

Posted by Bruce Gerhardt at February 21, 2007 10:07 AM

Thanks for the acknowledgment, Tom. We're always willing to create some controversy in your absence!

Posted by John O'Leary at February 21, 2007 10:50 AM

Tom, Speaking personally, I had the feeling of being a naughty child playing in the kitchen when mum and dad were out....!! But the massed TPC ranks had a lot of fun, and I don't think we broke any of the crockery in your absence!

Thanks for your kind comments - we'll be back!

Posted by Madeleine McGrath at February 21, 2007 11:21 AM

We are of course glad to have you back stateside! Thanks for the thanks! Seems all of us who have been around you for some time now are never short of things to say. And it is much easier when we have Cathy checking our grammar. And John...us controversial?? tee hee

Posted by Mike Neiss at February 21, 2007 4:10 PM

But you need to post more often, and while I very much enjoy the very positive tone, I wonder sometimes if you don't sacrifice a bit of bite to be so upbeat. I wonder about the useful bite that gets sacrificed, not the gratuitous bite.

And, have you ever thought of owning a wax head of yourself? Well, not really you -- it's Millard Fillmore. But it looks uncannily like you: http://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2007/03/08/tom-peters-izzat-you/

Posted by Ed Darrell at March 10, 2007 5:58 PM