Comments

Tom, I'll second your nomination.

For me, it ties beautifully with the TP quote hanging on my office wall, "Remember. Remember. Remember. Your life's trajectory will be determined almost entirely by events which by definition cannot be planned for. Act Accordingly. Whatever that means."

Love it, can't count how many people I've passed that on to.

Thank you Tom and staff.

Posted by gayle at May 19, 2008 10:41 AM

WOW! Thank you, Gayle, for that quote! And, of course, thank you TP. The suggested book will soon arrive on my doorsteps.

Posted by Judith Ellis at May 19, 2008 11:48 AM

Critical Incidents those low frequency (approaching zero probability) events have a powerful effect because of the high emotion content of tragedy and sudden/sever threats. How you handle them becomes what you're known for.

Your choice of mentioning Rudy Giuliani is a good case. Overall, his mayoralty was a mixed bag. If you read the New York papers from just before September 11, they're focused on his horribly messy divorce and you get a sense that folks were glad that Rudy was headed for the exit. But on September 11, Rudy was everything we hope a leader will be in a crisis and that's what people remember.

On a slightly different note, try Thinking in Time by Neustadt and May for great coverage of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Posted by Wally Bock at May 19, 2008 4:51 PM

Tom... The Cuban Missile Crisis is an excellent choice. I had the pleasure of taking the lead role in a couple of Post Graduate classes on decision making and organisation theory - a long time ago. These students were bright young people who already were 'making it' in their careers. I made the Crisis - especially Bobby Kennedy's glorious 3 days - the highlight of the course. Why? Because it demonstrates the value of talented people in organisations in a way that no other books or direct experience I have had can match. Bobby and key members of President JFK's Cabinet saved the world. They did it because they refused - down right refused - to submit to the system. They refused to comply with orthodoxy, they refused to roll over to past policy settings, they refused to defer to those with all the corporate memory and experience, they refused to not believe that they were capable of thinking up a different ending to their sequence of events... I lectured, unmercifully, my students on the value to the US economy of Bobby and his crew... You can talk about GM,IBM, Bank America, etc (businesses of the day) as providing great wealth for the nation as being the best of the best as having the best of the best talent BUT a bunch of lowly paid (relatively) public officials in 3 key days made the crucial decisions that saved it all from possible destruction... What value do you put on those who worked only with totally inadequate information, self-generated creative ideas, intolerance of stupidity, a fixed purpose to do good not evil, etc. What value can you put on the work of Bobby and his mob? They forever proved to me that it is the people not the system that determines the success of your organisation, your business, your government, your community, etc... Bobby was a leader who led "the system" to another place - you rarely find such people in organisations but when you do you tend also to find that most of their colleagues oppose them.. What is more common are people who lead by fitting best and most comfortably into "the system"... Both types are needed in business but I know who I would rather work with or for - the people who lead the system.... Sure it is a "hairy ride" at times but you get to some truly exciting places after the ride is done! In both cases a business needs the very best example of what I call "systems led people" or "people led systems"... For those core 3 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was Bobby who gave the world the best of the best example of a "people led system".... Thanks TOM for stirring my memory of this great leader ( I cried when JFK was shot BUT I was totally devastated when Bobby was shot in a that hotel kitchen)... He was known to everyone who loved him simply as Bobby!.... Richard.

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at May 19, 2008 5:05 PM

Giuliani is an out of date example.
It was great back in December, but its over
at this point.

Posted by Giuliani? at May 20, 2008 12:00 PM

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Black swan events will occur, but how we respond determines who we are. We prepare for such moments by daily looking at ourselves honestly and re-aligning ourselves continually. This in itself is a great beautiful challenge.

It is this challenge that embraces humility. It is this challenge that defers to others. It is this challenge that makes the world simply a better place, our homes more loving, our communities more loving, and our work environments...yes...more loving too.

Looking honestly at ourselves and re-aligning ourselves continually, engender grace that allow us "to stand at times of challenge and controversy."

Posted by Judith Ellis at May 20, 2008 4:06 PM

"Your life's trajectory will be determined almost entirely by events which by definition cannot be planned for."

Awesome. I used to believe Tom Peters admonition that you are in charge of your life and have to make it what you will. Now I know it is all fate. There is nothing I can do.

Posted by Anita at May 20, 2008 8:55 PM

I'm not sure if such events mean that we have no control over our own lives. The notion of predestination determined by purpose, proclivities and passion I could subscribe. In this there is personal choice. But to say that we have no control of our lives, that our decisions mean nothing, I could never subscribe. There is a lack of personal responsibility here that I oppose which could be detrimental personally and professionally.

Is the suggestion here that our fate is controlled solely by outside factors of which we have no control? I am greatly opposed to this notion. There are, however, those events that we have no control over, but after they have occured our reaction to them are ours. Hence, we shape our own trajectory in a sense. These unplanned events are determined by our response to them. Is it then our response to the events that defines us and not the events themselves? how to get viagra canada

Posted by Judith Ellis at May 20, 2008 9:53 PM

You will always (undoubtedly) encounter black-swans no matter how much ever you try to protect (insulate) yourself from the environment (universe). The trick is to accept the fact that you have been kissed (touched) by it & keep moving forward. There are always UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS a.k.a. UNCERTAINITY and one has to face the fact & bite the bullet…this too will pass by…As Keynes once said “In the long run we are all dead”…so, TAKE IT EASY!

Posted by K.Sriram at May 21, 2008 2:15 AM

I read and really enjoyed it too, great book!

Posted by Speedmaster at May 29, 2008 9:26 AM