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"It's not true that life is one damn thing after another--it's one damned thing over and over."
~Edna St. Vincent Millay, Oct. 1930

Posted by Tom Asacker at December 8, 2008 1:50 PM

The beauty of In Search of Excellence is the implementation of the small things that transform the whole. Perhaps globalization did not consider this. Hence, the bloated unwieldiness of its core corrupted. The core wasn't small and essential, but massive and viral. Should the mass not grow out of the small? When the small transforms it is felt by all and its single voice understood. What is the single voice of globalization besides everybody can do it? But what is the it? Be rich? When transformation occurs through massive viral markets, perhaps corruption more readily destroy unawares. Globalization through massive economic means may not affect the sense of ethics at all, though it brings more people into social classes that enable them to provide for themselves.

There are many such examples of globalization, for example, in India where women have developed small cell phone businesses that afford them a better lifestyle. This is good. But this will probably not affect whether larger companies in India or America will behave justly and honorably, neither will it probably lessen the desire of people in various countries the strong sense of nationalistic pride. Is this a negative? In fact, I wholeheartedly believe in nation states. I wholeheartedly believe in cultural differences. I wholeheartedly believe in variance. But these beliefs need not trample yours.

David Porter wrote very effectual words on my blog where the topic was "Being a Paper Society." He writes:

"For those of us who believe in an abundance vs. a scarcity mentality, such a world is possible. One in which a reasonable rate of return is achieved, leading to more investment capital, and where employees are paid a fair wage well above the poverty line, then allowing those employees to purchase the goods at the store or the cars from their Big 3 employers etc. I think it hearkens back to your earlier post on 'Enough.' I am afraid we haven't yet solved that calculus but thoughtful discussions such as this at least put the questions before us."

The fact that TP questions himself after all of these years of service is fantastic. The fact that we are having such "thoughtful discussions" on THIS blog on some many relevant topics give us hope that we will have a collective consciousness that will require individual actions in our various communities, work environments, and nation states. (Nation states will probably never change. And even if it does, there will undoubtedly be factions within it. The "Power to Will" as Nietzsche understood well will probably not change.) Small change is the only kind of change that takes root nationally, affecting the masses for good globally.

Posted by Judith Ellis at December 8, 2008 2:40 PM

Regarding the first point, something I've observed recently is that we now think of science and technology as progressing faster and faster, but in the past scientific and intellectual revolutions have been followed by centuries of stagnation at times. Despite our view of accelerating forward progress, things can slow down and even slip backwards sometimes.

What you're talking about isn't a new technology but it doesn't seem that different from having a society really accept a new technology or way of thinking.

I firmly believe that the right ideas will prevail, but when things are going well it's sometimes hard to remember that it won't always be like that.

Posted by Richard at December 8, 2008 3:13 PM

The first reaction to crisis is often falling back on that we know and trust – albeit ill advised comfort blankets that are actually not comfortable at all. Real progress always comes through in the end over time. Walter Shewhart’s PDCA cycle that he first wrote about in 1939 (later developed by Dr Deming to become PDSA) is the flavour of the month in healthcare in many parts of the world nowadays - 70 years later. (I am told some modern consultants like to claim the credit for Shewhart’s ideas). The wisdom of people like Shewhart will never be lost once the wisdom is ‘out there’ and Tom Peters ideas will not be lost either. Your depression is understandable because you have championed the opposite of much if what happens in these days of entrenchment. The good news is ‘this too will pass’ – both the depression and the apparent ‘backward’ movement. Have no fear your legacy is assured and sound. Maybe, just maybe, something else we are learning as a result of this current crisis is that things cannot happen tomorrow after all ... we may just have to familiarise ourselves with the concept of patience once more and who is to say that is a bad thing?

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 8, 2008 4:04 PM

To use an aussie expression: I have always maintained that there only about 10 original business books,and if you have read your ISoE, then you have covered 90% of the ground.(The benefit of inventing a genre.)
But what's happening should happen. The system was broken, so it broke. It is actually proof that the market will 'self-regulate'. The people who have taken things too far are discovering so. the pain is unfortunate but inevitable. the worst thing we can do now is tinker & bailout: those are the bandaids that will cover the ulcer not cure it.

Posted by Dennis at December 8, 2008 4:24 PM

I'm not sure if we're talking here about a falling back, but perhaps what we have fallen into i.e., unfair trade policies that need to be looked at anew as well as our abandonment of manufacturing. America is too vast a country for there to be minimal manufacturing. It is what built the solid middle class. Why do away with it?

I'm not sure if we're talking here about a debilitating fear, but an outright sheer determination to see what lead us here. It seems like an honest inward look of how we have contributed to what we all experiencing. This is most certainly needed by all of us. In my rather insignificant position in the large scheme of things, I ask myself what contributions have I made to all of this.

Legacy is probably the least of worries in such a time. How to move forward is perhaps the greater concern. Intentions matter, even when we have made errors. Good intention restores, even after misjudgment.

Posted by Judith Ellis at December 8, 2008 4:46 PM

Crises do two things. They reveal character. And they provide an opportunity for reflection and renewal.

The last couple of decades have given us two core ideas that I hope we can discard in this time. One is the idea that we can master the universe with our computer models, formulas, and rationality. The other is the idea that people are interchangeable parts, instead of God's unique creatures.

If we can come out of this with a focus on simplicity and practicality and an understanding of the wonderful diversity of humanity, it will turn out to be a good time.

Posted by Wally Bock at December 8, 2008 6:07 PM

Tom - I'd say yes you are connected hence forth with this radical breach of faith in all things capitalism - solely as luck would have it given the times & your age & career choice! :>)

And now we have Charles Krauthammer's aptly labeled: all things political capitalism. Those in neoliberal favor - perhaps like yourself - continue to pillage & plunder what is left! :>)

As a lucky 6-year career young financier - philanthropic is a main new dogma. I'd encourage all TP'ers to learn finance fast since their are amazing investment buys right now! :>)

Posted by Rahib at December 8, 2008 6:46 PM

Tom...

I too am depressed Tom... I am depressed because I see a bleak mid-term future for the middle class in America. Their future is bleak because they are neither rich (their wealth provides for them) nor poor (the government and non-profits provide - inadequately to be sure - for them). These folk are being squeezed because they are self-funded and their funds are limited and shrinking. Also their children's futures are being compromised by their dependence on huge "student loans" and other costs of getting ready for the new world of work...

2009 is all pain and hardship for the US... Why?

Debt has kept C20th management alive for the past 20 years. It has papered over inefficient and ineffective management practices. It has kept people in jobs where no jobs should exist. It has kept investors fixated with asset prices rather than economic fundamentals. It has saved the nation-state economy when it should have been bankrupted.

Ahead is more pain. De-leveraging of debt backed assets will continue throughout 2009 and beyond. Within this process organisations have to de-leverage their dependence upon manual processes. Automation and self-service are the keys to survival. If you can automate any part of your business then do it in 2009. If you can provide more self-service facilities and amenities to your customers then do it too in 2009.

The old question "and what do you do for a living?" has never been asked as much as it will be in 2009. More importantly, this is not an ice-breaker question nor is it polite conversation. This is a question that will demand an answer. That answer will prompt more questions. The answers to those questions will also be of great interest to whomever is asking.

The world is about to de-leverage debt and people simultaneously. Just as there are toxic debts in the sub-prime real estate belt so there are toxic jobs. In 2009 those jobs that no longer make economic sense will quickly disappear.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler in the US have many of those types of jobs - toxic jobs. They have to go. I assume at least GM and Chrysler will go too. Ford may just survive. If is does it will be a much different place to work in the future than it is today. The old reliance on union labour will have to go. The old notions of workers as the key to production will have to go.

If the car maker Ford is to survive then it has to go global and it has to become networked. Around the globe clusters of Ford customers and workers will cooperate to make parts of a new range of products that offer new transport options. Will they be cars, trucks, and recreational vehicles? Yes and no! They will perform similar functions to what those transport modes do now but they will be radically different in concept and execution. They will be made in a totally new way too. They will be made here there and everywhere. They will be made just-in-time and in response to a customer order. The whole notion of manufacturing these entities will be low scale and yet cost effective. The idea of mass production and scale is gone. These orders will be filled more like Boeing or Airbus fills its orders. Prototypes are made. Orders are collected around the world to customise these prototypes and then individual products are produced.

Ford will look more like Linux than Microsoft. It will look nothing like GM does today. It will be a networked entity with inputs from all around the world - much of the research and development will be done for free. Yeah free! There may also be a new purchasing plan which enables the product to built, used, and environmentally disposed of within a whole of life product rental agreement.

I know I am a dreamer and that I am totally out of sink with you Tom and the crew assembled here as commentators BUT I hope and trust that there is still room for a simple difference of world view and perspective here on Tompeters!....

Richard.

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at December 9, 2008 2:00 AM

A few thoughts:

End of history? Balderdash. There's always a temptation to view today as the pinnacle of achievement when it never really is. I watched Clint Eastwood's new film "Changeling" on Saturday night and while the psychiatrists in it appear barbaric (and in this film they were) the techniques they used were genuinely thought to be cutting edge and effective. 80 years from now, people will look back at us think we're primitive, misguided etc etc. It's not the end of history nor is it history repeating itself: it's part of a very long process.

The reason we've only seen a glimpse of globalisation is because we haven't learned how to be global - or don't want to be. Outsourcing is one thing and learning how to do it can be difficult. But if you outsource stuff and remain an American, British, Japanese company at heart, you're not a global company: you're a national company that happens to have suppliers and subsidiaries all around the globe. Businesses have outsourced but where do they make their profits? How many exchanges are they traded on? How many non-nationals are in their senior teams? What CSR commitment do they have to their supplier countries (apart from a cursory audit)? When sh*t happens, is it a foreign operation that gets cut first when it should be a domestic one?

So, it's all a long process and we've stumbled at the first attempt. Big deal. Fail forward fast. Reward excellent failure. Now let's pick up ourselves up, learn from the fall and have another go.

Posted by Mark JF at December 9, 2008 2:41 AM

I'm not convinced by end-of-dream, end-of-history pontifications. They are usually remarkably uncluttered by evidence and they pretend that the rest of us bought into the concept of dreams and golden ages in the first place, and I for one did not. It's an old and shabby sales trick - construct an over blown distortion of the contrary view to your precious thesis (product) and then wheel out you bright shiny pride and joy and watch the dollars roll in.

Meanwhile back in the real world.... if you construct a business that requires you to bring together thousands of components from hundreds of sites in tens of countries you have built a business that depends for its very survival on the best of all worlds - that the economy, political situation, power grid and transportation systems all work flawlessly in every site in every country. We are living in a world where currently that cannot be guaranteed. So forget the real time management across continents and go back to de-centralised operations that can make their own way with little central guidance for months on end. If you want a name for it call it robust globalization.

Posted by Sean at December 9, 2008 3:39 AM

"So forget the real time management across continents and go back to de-centralized operations that can make their way with little guidance for months on end."

Thanks, Sean!

With this real time management and de-centralized operations, I wonder if little can indeed become big through a very centralized voice of excellence and ethics and an environment that produces value and values others. Globalization without ethics perhaps works in the short run, but it undoubtedly devalues in the long run.

MarkJF - Why the effort to make an American a Japanese or a Brit or vice versa? I like your products and even you, but I do not desire to be you. Why are we trying not to distinguish another? Globalization, I assume, works on some level because we desire the same thing i.e., food and shelter for our families, not to mention that we all want a greater profit margin i.e., more money, loot, dough, dinero, scratch, lucre. But the system of exchange has to be bigger than these. Enough!

Exchange has to be infused with a value beyond capital. This value can be defined in one word – people, honoring and valuing people! We all desire the basics for our families and loved ones. Globalization has brought this to the masses around the world. But differences rule! The matter is whether I can respect your difference and whether you will honor my distinct value.

Posted by Judith Ellis at December 9, 2008 6:12 AM

Judith - I'm not sure by what step of "logic" you've pegged me as wanting Brits to become Americans etc but go back and re-read my piece because that simply is not what I said. I fully agree we should distinguish ourselves from one another; my point is that globalisation demands a different mind set. For example, if we want to move to a more global model of business, we have to take our national policy on people (make everyone successful at work and at home) and work it across borders.

Posted by Mark JF at December 9, 2008 9:20 AM

"those in neoliberal favor"

Like Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke or that neo-lib auto-bailout champion George W. Bush????

(Bush has wisely chosen, in my view, not to end his two terms as Herbert Hoover II.)

(I remain Capitalist--Big C--to the core, but if you don't think "isms" need course corrections from time to time, and sometimes pretty big ones, you are looney.)

Posted by tom peters at December 9, 2008 9:50 AM

Mark - I'm sorry if I misread your words. Everything’s cool. It is most certainly not my desire to peg anyone; there are no boxes here, save those we create of our own doing and not another's. I guess it was this line that threw me for a loop: "But if you outsource stuff and remain an American, British, Japanese company at heart, you're not a global company: you're a national company that happens to have suppliers and subsidiaries around the globe." I do not see anything wrong inherently wrong with this, especially if the model works and values people.

This reminds me of when I went into a KFC in other places in the world and saw various ethnic foods on the menu. I was not taken aback. But I did not go to KFC for sushi and I sure didn't go to pay $15 dollars for a chicken dinner after longing for home being abroad many months. (I did not even eat much of the stuff at home at all!) But, hey, this was my thing at the time and I exercised my right and just order the chicken they way I would have gotten back home. It was the same chicken; the same Colonel's original recipe.

I agree that "if we want to move more to a more global model of business, we have to take our national policy on people (make everyone successful at work and at home) and work it across borders." Logic, by the way, is good. But there are also those things that defy logic and often this is where creativity and innovation are found. Art and music often defy logic and are universal. Perhaps some lessons in these things should be a requirement for those studying business in our global society.

Posted by Judith Ellis at December 9, 2008 9:52 AM

Tom, thanks for a great article. I too "am depressed as hell and not going to take it anymore!" I'm just not sure what to do. There are cataclysmic (seismic) events on our horizon; life altering changes; and like most epochs in history, pain, lots of pain. We are transitioning into a completely "flat earth" society. Where large scale uprising, and nations bumping against nations, will erode away national boundaries. Out of the chaos will emerge the "New World Order", so feared by Ayn Rand. It will not be pretty; in fact it will be down right savage and brutally efficient. Civil liberties will become a distant memory, and only whispered about with hushed tones in dark corners. Gone...Gone...Gone... It's all gone.

Posted by AllsoupedUp at December 9, 2008 1:42 PM

A few days ago I say Michael Kinsley being interviewed by Charlie Rose. I was way impressed with the interview and ordered his latest book, Creative Capitalism: A Conversation with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and other Economic Leaders. It arrived today! Here are a few interesting quotes apropos to our discussion:

"Creative Capitalism takes this interest in the fortunes of others and ties it to our interest in our own futures-in ways that help advance both. This hybrid engine of self-interest and concern for others serves a much wider circle of people than can be reached by self-interest or caring alone...What unifies all forms of Creative Capitalism is that they're market driven efforts to bring solutions we take for granted to people who can't get them. As we refine and improve this approach, there is every reason to believe these engines of change will become larger, stronger, and more efficient." --Bill Gates

"Basically, I don't feel I've got the right to give away shareholders’ money, though I feel our shareholders should have the right to designate part of their share of profits to go to their own charitable priorities…When the government bureaucrats allocate the taxpayers' money, all the rich guys get mad about it. But when the rich guys are allocating their shareholders' money they seem to think that God gave them that right." --Warren Buffett

"Bill (Gates) is telling us that even Smith-'the father of capitalism...who believed strongly in the value of self-interest for society'-praised the impulse to altruism. Society needs both and this is where creative capitalism comes in… I agree that Smith is badly served by many of his supposed followers. The idea that 'greed is good,' which one often sees attributed to him, is a travesty...He was at pains in both books to emphasize the importance of self-control, of regard for the opinions of others, and of an expansive role of government in providing security, rule of law, and economic infrastructure." --Clive Cook

Now, who can honestly say that Capitalism has not worked and cannot continue to do so for the good of all?

Posted by Judith Ellis at December 9, 2008 3:46 PM

OK, so you're telling us most everything about
business that you promoted starting back in the 90's was wrong?
Were you by any chance the guy who initiated the idea that floated around in the 1970's that cocaine was a safe drug?

Posted by zed at December 9, 2008 6:14 PM

My 28 year career as a shit hot design architect worth major money went away in the terror recession of 2002 and I can tell you that witnessing American A/E companies outsourcing work to India (that I could have done in Dallas) in the name of larger profits and globalization darn near drove me cazy.

With no other options, I hung out my shingle and over the last 5 years I have re-invented myself and re-learned how to deliver hands-on architecture to admittedly second tier clients for smaller fees and no employees.

Life is good now and my work, though radically different, has never been better.

My big idea? Utopia is not Eden.

I know. It sounds trivial. But it took a long time for me to give up trying to educate my cients on the merits if the Bauhaus and begin learning what immense beauty can be found at the resonant point of God,nature and man...my customers - not my clients.

The payoff? Contentment

In some ways I guess, less really is more.

Posted by Steve at December 9, 2008 9:27 PM

I really appreciate your experience, Steve. While reading I was wondering, though, if those on the factory floor would have the same opportunity without having a higher education? (We are probably talking a ratio of a few out of thousands of white collar jobs to blue collar ones.) They would probably not be able to open up shop independently in their respective trades. I suppose they could go back to school and retrain for another profession. The difference may be that they may not have the time or money to do so. They would probably have to take two or three jobs to support their families in an altogether different industry just to make ends meet. I am, however, all for ingenuity that requires one to get off of their duff and make something happen for themselves. I am also for contentment. Thanks for your story.

Posted by Judith Ellis at December 10, 2008 4:43 AM

"OK, so you're telling us most everything about business that you promoted starting back in the 90's was wrong? Were you by any chance the guy who initiated the idea that floated around in the 1970's that cocaine was a safe drug?"

Zed, for reasons unknown, I'll take this particular dose of your unremitting bile seriously. There's no free lunch. (Note that.) In order to get anything done, you've got to be an enthusiast, a more or less true believer. But enthusiasts by definition overshoot the mark. There's little I said in the 90s that I'd retract. But there are things I said that need filing down, and things I missed. This is not news.

Changing willy nilly with the times is spineless. Not changing when the times change is irresponsible lunacy. I.e., there's no free lunch.

(For better or for worse, I was among the early whistle blowers on the coke threat--for all the good it did. However I wiil admit that we were all distracted by that silly heroin epidemic that almost brought New York to its knees.)

Posted by tom peters at December 10, 2008 8:02 AM

Glad something was said on this matter, as I have gone online a few time when mentioned to see exactly what the reference was and could not find anything. Zed seems pretty astute, so I'm thinking he'll return with something. What? Dunno.

Posted by Judith Ellis at December 10, 2008 9:57 AM

I know "unremitting bile" is benaeath my dinity--but the weather is truly shitty in VT today. Cold. Dark near noon. The dreaded "wintery mix." There will never sunshine again.

Posted by tom peters at December 10, 2008 10:54 AM

Dear Judith: Thanks for your thoughtful reply and you are correct - what others might do without higher education may not be known to us but that’s the brilliance of the American free enterprise system isn’t it?

One has the option to make one’s own opportunity wherever they are on the ladder of life.

In my situation, we had a modest savings account and no debt, my wife and I had retired the mortgage on our house (in a community we love) the year before and resisted the tug of buying a larger new home and we also stayed married through some tough personal times.

So, along with my experience/education, good health, a solid marriage, frugality , a firm Christian faith and a community of long time friends were the assets that I leveraged to start a new professional life and create a livelihood where none existed before.

Can the average factory worker do the same?

I believe yes. Yes they can essentially – given the same assets and disciplines, absolutely.

The question is – do they believe they can?

cheap viagra on line mastercard Posted by Steve at December 10, 2008 11:56 AM

Globalization seemed like a great idea back in the 1990's. I was working for Home Depot at the time and they were building a gigantic distribution center in Savanaha, Ga to deal will all the goods coming in from China. The markup on that stuff was large but it still seemed like a good price to customers and I was fine with it because the stock price was going up so quick. I left HD and taught math for a while in a poor school district. About half of the students in my classes were repeat students - 3-4 times in the first semester of an 9th grade algebra course. If these kids could have left high school and gotten a decent paying that did not require lots of education, they might have been able to move themselves into the middle class. But there are just not many jobs around like that and one of the reasons (I believe) is that people who are relatively unaffected by the changes brought on by the lack of unskilled well paying jobs due to ideas like globalization and outsourcing are/were big supporters. The cost of a product should be more than its price in dollars.
You happen to be/have been the only high profile supporter of globalization who I can be sure will see my views on globalization. So I thank you for reacting to my "unremitting bile". I'm sure I'd never have recieved an answer from Tom Friedman if I sent him something like that.

Posted by zed at December 10, 2008 12:25 PM

Zed, one disjunction here, which, as teacher, you might explain. The conventional wisdom is that Americans won't do the "menial" jobs, hence 10 million or so illegal immigrants. If there were 2 million or 3 million illegals, I'd perhaps say it was just some folk crossing the border to take advantage of us; but if it's ten plus million, it would seem to indicate that there are jobs we don't feel are worth doing???? (And, of course, if this recession does become depression, will there be a, god help us, violent backlash against the illegals; frankly, I wouldn't put it past us.)

Posted by tom peters at December 10, 2008 1:36 PM

Beautiful, Steve. Thank you. There are more than a few things about your words of wisdom that are probably lacking in many. One, many of us have not saved. We are most definitely the borrower and not the lender. Two, many of us have not disciplined ourselves. We get what we want when we want it. Three, in tough times many of us withdrawal; we do not come together. Four, many do not believe that all things are possible if we believe. All things begin with a simple thought that it is possible indeed. So, Steve, thanks again for reminding us of the importance of these things.

Posted by Judith Ellis at December 10, 2008 1:38 PM

"There will never sunshine again."

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Posted by Judith Ellis at December 10, 2008 1:59 PM