Comments

Thanks!

Posted by Judith Ellis at March 30, 2009 7:16 PM

A timely gift. When a lesson's to be learned a teacher will be sent. It is why I keep coming back, time and again, great value at a great price.

Posted by David Porter at March 30, 2009 7:33 PM

I love this kind of stuff but something always feels missing in these kind of things. They ring true enough, but after 30 years the "yeah buts" pop up. For example:

6. Hire enthusiasm. My boss's boss once said "I'll take enthusiasm over knowledge any day." She was talking about me and another manager. I was not the enthusiastic one. This was a subtle hint directed at me. Ms Enthusiasm generated lots of activity. Fast forward to the end, I took 4 people and no budget and got the organization to a point in 9 months that it had been trying to achieve for four years, with 10-15 handpicked people (I was one), and a million a year consulting contract with an external organization.

Without some measure of core competence or core strategy the enthusiasm, listening skills, thank yous, etc., probably might not deliver the extra pop they could deliver.

Of course, if I read more of Tom's work, I might find the rest of the story :-).

Good stuff.

Bruce

Posted by Bruce Benson at March 30, 2009 8:00 PM

The list is beautiful. If we actually did these things and worked on them consistently, what a difference it would make in our relationships and businesses. I have decided that I will live by them more and more. All of the points readily resonate, even if some are biting. My bishop says "if you can't say amen say ouch."

This is such a spiritual principle:

"Apologize. Even if “they” are “mostly” to blame. “I regard apologizing as the most magical, healing, restorative gesture human beings can make. It is the centerpiece of my work with executives who want to get better.”—Marshall Goldsmith. Strong language from the master of executive communications. Apologize if you are 10% to blame. Apologize especially if it hurts, if the person you’re apologizing to is an “enemy.” Measure it: set time aside weekly for “three-minute calls,” mostly to apologize: I contend that for every ruptured relationship there was a time when a “mere” three-minute call would have gone a long way toward turning things around."

Apologizing especially when it hurts to do so is so very important. Often times the greatest movement forward happens when we humble ourselves, even when we are mostly right. Sometimes I am successful; other times I am not. But nothing beats just doing it. As with anything, humility becomes easier when practiced. It's something that seems to need daily practice.

My mother was a stickler for how we apologized too. It could not be full of excuses or an attempt to feel good. "Make it short," she would say. Tone mattered. Apologies were for others, although the benefit was ours too. I loved the "three minute calls." They cut down on the inclination to make excuses or to justify ourselves. The weekly routine also reminds us that we are fallible.

Thank you, TP--much appreciated.

Posted by Judith Ellis at March 30, 2009 10:21 PM

Tom, the Success formulas are priceless. Keep adding to them, please!

Posted by Steve Yastrow at March 30, 2009 10:37 PM

58: Now Stop Reading Lists and Make It Happen.

?

Posted by RobCH at March 31, 2009 12:13 AM

Bruce Benson, Amen! There are few ideas that are "clean"--that hold 100% of the time. I apparently got some major points with skeptical Finns last Friday because I refused to answer several important questions with certainty. I circled the issue, with lots of hems and haws. On the other hand, a lot of this stuff is pretty clean, eg things like increasing your "thank you" rate and practicing your listening. I suppose one might have two lists--the "for sures" and the "mostlys."

Posted by tom peters at March 31, 2009 6:03 AM

The gist away presents sounds touchy and passion.Only to know the true character of the given.

Posted by Ari Lestariono at April 2, 2009 1:18 AM

Nice to know "Heart of Strategy" so it is interesting.

Posted by Durward Sobek at April 2, 2009 2:06 AM