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dispatches from the new world of work

Corporate-Unit Values: "Required" Addition Thereto

I like, and value, the word "decency"—a lot. (E.g., my rave reviews of Steve Harrison's The Manager's Book of Decencies: How Small Gestures Build Great Companies.) I like the word "respect"—a lot.

But I'm stuck on-hooked on-wedded to-wild about another word these (perilous) days: thoughtfulness. I am enamored with the idea of living and then adding to our formal or informal vision & values statement: "We are thoughtful in all we do." I'm so taken with the idea that I suggest that "thoughtfulness" joins the likes of "people," "customers," "product," "profit," "action," "excellence" on the "10 Great Business Words list"—or some such.

Times are perilous.
Competition is brutal.
Hustle is essential.
Cost-cutting is imperative.

All true!
But how, in the process of getting from here to difficult there in concert with our many constituents-stakeholders with whom we hope to do business over the long haul, do we "live in the world"?
Who are we?
How are we?
What are we as a human institution?
Who am I (boss, follower)?
What do I leave in my wake?

It's character in a way, to be sure. (Another stunningly important word.) But, in a sense, thoughtfulness is even more encompassing than character. It is transactional—applies to literally every internal and external transaction—as well as something that resides deep within.

I like the idea of showing up for work in a place that cherishes thoughtfulness.
I like the idea of doing business with a service provider known for its thoughtfulness.
I like being a vendor to an outfit that's thoughtful.
All this is X10 in troubled times.

Thoughtful is not "soft."
No.
No.
No.

No.
No.
No.

In fact, I'd contend that "dogmatic thoughtfulness" (now there's a term) improves growth and profitability and longterm enterprise solidity in a pretty damn direct, high impact, ultimately measurable cause-and-effect way.

Thoughtfulness is key to customer retention.
Thoughtfulness is key to employee recruitment and satisfaction.
Thoughtfulness is key to brand perception.
Thoughtfulness is key to your ability to look in the mirror—and tell your kids about your job.
"Thoughtfulness is free."
Thoughtfulness is key to speeding things up—it reduces friction.
Thoughtfulness is key to transparency and even cost containment—it abets rather than stifles truth-telling.

So think about thoughtfulness, about adding "thoughtfulness in all we do" to your unit's values statement. But do so only after you and your team have figured out exactly what thoughtfulness means in a variety of contexts. And do so only after you have made a demonstrated personal and organizational commitment to thoughtfulness. Thence, you must be unabashedly devoted to keeping each other honest in the practice of dogmatic thoughtfulness—with, alas, adverse consequences, eventually severe, for those who fail to take this essential attribute aboard.

Starting time?
Not "today"—but "now."
That is, thoughtfulness is an especially potent "tool" in crazy-disruptive-scary times.

Tom Peters posted this on 10/13/08.

Comments

Thoughtfulness is asking the four most important words you can ask in any organization, "What do you think?" Thoughtfulness is the seed one can sow that grows into involvement, engagement, and innovation. A leader must nurture it, encourage it, and give it the things it needs to grow...time, information, feedback...What do you reap? Growth, profitability, a reputation for excellence to name a few. Thoughtfulness is a powerful performance and productivity multiplier!

Posted by Dave Wheeler at October 13, 2008 9:49 PM

Thoughtfulness is a word for our times -- for business, for our government leaders, for all of us as citizens of the world. It's about helping others and in doing so improving ourselves.

Wow oh wow, Tom. Thanks.

Lois

Posted by Lois Kelly at October 14, 2008 12:51 PM

Another great post, TP! Thanks! Loved the individual onus and the collective responsibility of keeping each other accountable. This is so important. Considering the benefits of individual and collective thoughtfulness in corporations, why not elect a thoughtful president who will lead the corporate body, the citizens of the US, with the assistance of many others, to greater heights yet? You know the one, the pensive one -- not "that one."

Posted by Judith Ellis at October 14, 2008 1:40 PM

Dave, I agree with the idea of thoughtfulness being a seed. The one problem I run into is that so many executives want to spend their time harvesting the fruit from the mature trees their predecessors planted, and not spend time planting new ones. We have become a business nation obsessed with the here and now, giving little thought to what we will leave for the future. Occasionally, I run into executives who couple thoughtfulness with courage. They are willing to face the wrath and judgment of wall street analysts and put aside a bit for the future. They invest in people. They invest in R&D. They invest in their community. They invest in making this earth healthier. Those are the clients that bring the best out in me.

Posted by Mike Neiss at October 14, 2008 3:57 PM

Tom – Probably just my imagination but I feel the tone of your recent posts emphasise more than usual the importance of being a nice person, well mannered, considerate and kind.

This of course simply confirms what you have been saying for the 30 years I’ve been reading your stuff.

So how come the business world got it soooooooooo wrong that we end up in the mire we now inhabit?

You have been stressing the ‘softer’ (wrong word in my opinion and you know what I mean) issues more frequently as the crisis becomes more serious. You have been saying this stuff for centuries - I have to assume many businesses were not listening.

What frustrates the hell out of me is that this stuff is just as relevant and necessary (arguably more so) when things were going well as when they are going down the pan like now.

It feels to me that we falsely believe we only need to seriously think about the importance of the ‘soft’ stuff when we are in deep trouble.

We are in danger of creating a mutual sympathy club to make us feel less guilty for our own mistakes of greed and missing the obvious.

When things are going well it seems ok to kick ass and be macho … what total crap that is and now we are paying the price.

Thoughtfulness is just as applicable and relevant when we are doing well as it is when things are going south in a big way.

Posted by Trevor Gay at October 14, 2008 6:14 PM

When I first read the Brand You article some 11 years ago, I was so impressed that I copied it and sent it to all of my siblings. I still have the original. Interesting though, I did not as usual run out and read everything by the author which is my custom. Some 10 years later I picked up the first Tom Peters book and I was actually reminded of what struck me so profoundly in that Brand You article. While there is a capitalistic approach to things, which isn't a bad thing, there is a basic goodness, a real fairness that can't be denied in everything that I have read by and about Tom Peters. In fact, it was the Brand You article that got me to thinking about excellence and ethics in business in that I am the brand. Thank you Tom Peters.

Posted by Judith Ellis at October 15, 2008 9:35 AM

Trevor, you are right. While thoughtfulness is always a good thing, it is in times of stress when it is of the greatest importance--and when the stress often leads to thoughtlessness. I simply believe we all need to be continually reminded of this at this unsettling moment.

Posted by tom peters at October 15, 2008 5:17 PM

I wish there were more Comments here--I think this idea of thoughtfulness per se as a "basic [explicit!!] enterprise value" is of surpassing importance.

Posted by tom peters at October 15, 2008 5:19 PM

Amen Tom - keep smiling :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at October 15, 2008 5:52 PM

Mike...what a great thought and absolutely correct. One does need to invest for the future of the organization and it's future leaders. These are the folks will sustain and grow the organization's "culture". Changes in leadership can often destroy a great work environment if the new leader doesn't "model" the same behavior or attitude. Thanks...

Posted by Dave Wheeler at October 15, 2008 8:33 PM

Tom - I’m surprised too there are not more comments on this. Let me share a recent experience on 'thoughtfulness.'

I am currently working for a healthcare client. A few weeks ago I was chatting to a fairly junior member of the admin team who was nevertheless crucial to the success of the project.

She was a bit tearful and emotional and in discussion with her it turned out she had just been told ‘Thank you for doing that job so well’ by her boss.

When I asked why she was upset she replied that she had never actually been thanked for doing a job in her entire career to date. Indeed she had had some pretty bad experiences.

The person who thanked her is indeed a 'thoughtful' person – I know her well. But I’m sure she does not see herself as some sort of specially gifted individual. She just felt the need to say ‘thanks’ and in doing so, she unknowingly gave one hell of a boost to the person receiving the thanks.

These tiny gestures are massive in reality.

And finally - as you would expect me to say Tom – it’s all about simplicity.

'Thoughtfulness' costs nothing.

Posted by Trevor Gay at October 16, 2008 9:37 AM

Tom, it's great, but I wonder whether you've quite reached the centre of this yet. It seems to me that thoughtfulness per se is too diffuse to be a "root" solution, and that we may be tapdancing round several different definitions here. Thoughtfulness can mean considered rather than rash - deliberate rather than hasty. It can mean considerate rather than selfish. And it can mean contemplative rather than active. Its opposite, thoughtlessness, is usually describing mental ineptitude rather than any more serious deficiency. I suggest that for something to be a basic enterprise value it must be clear and actionable, and this doesn't seem to be there yet. Is it perhaps nearer to "caring", in the basic sense of giving a damn (showing up, seeing it through) and in the richer sense of nurturing (people, organisations, self, community, environment)?

Posted by Rob at October 19, 2008 5:41 AM

Zeitgeist. En route back from Japan, I noticed this in an intriguing article on Obama by Alec MacGillis in the New Statesman. "Together, these early clues pointed to an extraordinary fact about the 2008 election, nearly as extraordinary as the racial breakthrough it represented: Barack Obama was running not on a record of past achievement or on a concrete programme for the future, but instead on the simple promise of thoughtfulness - the notion that the leadership of the country should be entrusted not on the basis of résumé and platform, but on the prospect of applying to the nation's problems one man's singularly well-tempered intelligence."

The full article can be found at http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/10/voters-obama-clinton-mccain

Posted by Rob at October 22, 2008 12:16 AM

Hi Rob - Hope you are well - 'the simple promise of thoughtfulness' - I just love that! - thanks for sharing a fascinating article.

Posted by Trevor Gay at October 22, 2008 5:41 AM