The Tom Peters Weblog: Cool Friends http://www.tompeters.com/cool_friends Dispatches from the New World of Work tompeters!company http://www.tompeters.com/images/tplogo.jpg http://www.tompeters.com/ en-us cathymosca@tompeters.com Copyright 2011 Tom Peters Company. 2011-08-26T08:17:24-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Best of the Cool Friends: David Maister 12116@http://www.tompeters.com/ One of Tom's frequent themes is the need for all businesses—that is, all, minuscule to gargantuan—to conduct themselves like Professional Service Firms. Furthermore, Tom recognizes David Maister as the world's leading authority on the management of professional service firms. So, in the second of the Best of the Cool Friends series, we'd like to revisit the interview Erik Hansen did with David Maister in October 2000, which contains some very up-to-date insights. If you'd like to catch up with David's more recent work, you can do so at his website, or check out his latest book, Strategy and the Fat Smoker (meaning: some habits are hard to change!).

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2011-08-26T08:17:24-05:00 Best of the Cool Friends Ray Kurzweil Tom mentioned Ray Kurzweil in a recent post. We thought it would be enlightening to revisit the Cool Friend conversation... 12038@http://www.tompeters.com/ Tom mentioned Ray Kurzweil in a recent post. We thought it would be enlightening to revisit the Cool Friend conversation Erik Hansen had with Ray back in 2005 about, among other things, Ray's book, The Singularity. Our realization that we wanted to go back and read this interview prompted Tom to suggest that we occasionally highlight a particularly engrossing Cool Friend interview. Thus the Best of the Cool Friends Series was born!

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2011-04-13T12:54:23-05:00 Cool Friend #157Francis Gouillart Our new Cool Friend Francis Gouillart has coauthored with Venkat Ramaswamy, The Power of Co-Creation: Build It With Them To... 12005@http://www.tompeters.com/ Our new Cool Friend Francis Gouillart has coauthored with Venkat Ramaswamy, The Power of Co-Creation: Build It With Them To Boost Growth, Productivity and Profits. "Co-creation is about engaging people to create more value together. It involves redesigning interactions... [to] unleash the creative energy of people." To find out more, read the interview with Erik Hansen and visit their site.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2011-02-22T11:10:45-05:00 Cool Friend #156Bill Taylor (No. 2) When we last checked in with Bill Taylor, he had coauthored Mavericks At Work with Polly LaBarre, a book about... 11969@http://www.tompeters.com/ When we last checked in with Bill Taylor, he had coauthored Mavericks At Work with Polly LaBarre, a book about a generation of executives and entrepreneurs who were "rethinking how some of the basics of business get done." He's taken the challenge of innovation a step further with his new book, Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself. This time around, the focus is on highly successful change agents working in long established organizations who are doing the hard work of reinvention.

In the new Cool Friend interview, Bill talks with Erik Hansen about "leaders who aren't afraid to wrestle with the toughest challenges there are." For more about Bill, visit his site.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2011-01-19T10:18:38-05:00 Cool Friend #155Kevin Kelly Get ready to change the way you think about technology. Our new Cool Friend, Kevin Kelly, is someone we've respected... 11955@http://www.tompeters.com/ Get ready to change the way you think about technology. Our new Cool Friend, Kevin Kelly, is someone we've respected for years and who certainly did not diminish our high regard with this interview. Among many other things, he's the co-founder and Senior Maverick at Wired. His latest book is What Technology Wants. In the interview, Kevin and Erik Hansen discuss the similarities between the evolution of life and the evolution of technology. Both are constantly increasing in complexity, and as Kevin explains, some developments or inventions are inevitable. Why does this matter? I'll let Kevin explain:

In a certain sense, we have an obligation, a social obligation, a moral obligation, to increase the varieties and the kinds of technologies in the world in the hopes that we can make the technology that would really, truly liberate and unleash the creative geniuses of all the people born in the world.


Get a whole lot smarter today, just by reading this interview.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2011-01-06T08:27:47-05:00 Cool Friend #154 Richard Pascale Richard Pascale is the coauthor, with Jerry and Monique Sternin, of The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve... 11925@http://www.tompeters.com/ Richard Pascale is the coauthor, with Jerry and Monique Sternin, of The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World's Toughest Problems. Tom was fascinated by this book and highly recommends it. In the new Cool Friend interview, Richard explains to interviewer Erik Hansen that in seemingly impossible situations, there are a few people succeeding with the same set of resources that seem to be failing others. The key to major positive change is finding these positive deviants and showing the community their success in order to get it to spread.

Richard provides examples from reducing neo-natal mortality rates in Pakistan to helping hungry children in Vietnam to reducing deaths in hospitals caused by an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection. We're hoping you'll find this method very useful in making positive change where you are. Read the interview and visit Richard's site for more information.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-12-02T11:13:19-05:00 Cool Friend #153Stephen Shapiro (No.2) Cool Friend Steve Shapiro returns to tell us about his new book, Personality Poker: The Playing Card Tool for Driving... 11902@http://www.tompeters.com/ Cool Friend Steve Shapiro returns to tell us about his new book, Personality Poker: The Playing Card Tool for Driving High-Performance Teamwork and Innovation. He's created a game to help identify—so that you can diversify—the personality types within your organization. The more diverse the personality types, the more fertile the environment for innovation.

Read the interview with Erik Hansen and find out more about Steve at his site.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-11-16T07:06:24-05:00 Cool Friend #152Sally Helgesen (No.3) Sally's back! She's recently coauthored a book with Julie Johnson called The Female Vision. Sally discusses with Erik Hansen the... 11869@http://www.tompeters.com/ Sally's back! She's recently coauthored a book with Julie Johnson called The Female Vision. Sally discusses with Erik Hansen the evolution of the role of women in the workplace in the late twentieth century. Sally sees a major shift starting and explains the signs. She also explains that women have to push past their comfort zones in order to make their organization a place where their vision is valued, and is specific about how.

Read the interview and be sure to visit Sally's site.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-10-21T11:23:50-05:00 Cool Friend #151: Maddy Dychtwald New Cool Friend Maddy Dychtwald is the coauthor of Influence: How Women's Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for... 11829@http://www.tompeters.com/ New Cool Friend Maddy Dychtwald is the coauthor of Influence: How Women's Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better. She and Erik Hansen discuss the increase in women's economic power and her belief that women will be "the biggest change agent of the next several decades." She dispels some myths about women-owned businesses and proposes that we can all help this change along by "fostering financial knowledge, education, and expertise for ourselves and for women and girls."

Read the interview and find out more about her at Age Wave or her blog, Influence.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-09-24T14:02:48-05:00 Recent Books from our Cool Friends Tom's great friends and former partners, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, have a new book out called The Truth About... 11785@http://www.tompeters.com/ Tom's great friends and former partners, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, have a new book out called The Truth About Leadership: The No-Fads, Heart of the Matter Facts You Need to Know. They've devoted their lives to leadership, so this is one you won't want to miss.

Bob Sutton has a new book coming out in September called Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst. Not only that, according to Bob, "we just put together a quiz that people can use to help determine of their boss is good or bad—and whether he or she lives in a fool's paradise."

Don Tapscott also has a book coming out in September called MacroWikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World.

David Meerman Scott's new book is Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead:What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History. Tom has quoted Jerry Garcia for years and wholly subscribes to the "give lots away for free" aspect of their marketing philosophy.

Sally Helgesen has a new book out called The Female Vision: Women's Real Power at Work.

If there's a single person we'd recommend you listen to about social media, it's Chris Brogan. Thankfully, he published a handbook this year called Social Media 101: Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business Online.

And someone who never ceases to surprise us with revelations about human behavior, Dan Ariely, has a new book called The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home.

This doesn't fit precisely within the theme of this post, but we want to point you to an excellent resource. Our good friends and colleagues Robert Thompson and Mike Neiss have started a series of podcasts that they cleverly call Thought Grenades. Have a listen.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-09-01T11:13:18-05:00 Cool Friend #150: James Strock Who are you serving? How can you best serve? Are you making your unique contribution? Are you getting better every... 11758@http://www.tompeters.com/ Who are you serving? How can you best serve? Are you making your unique contribution? Are you getting better every day? These are the four questions central to the book Serve to Lead, by James Strock. Jim is our new Cool Friend. In the interview, he and Erik Hansen discuss how your thinking shifts when you start asking these questions on a regular basis and how they apply to current events. Read the interview and find out more about Jim at JamesStrock.com.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-08-17T09:26:59-05:00 Cool Friend #149: Anna Bernasek Our new Cool Friend, Anna Bernasek, is the author of The Economics of Integrity: From Dairy Farmers to Toyota, How... 11724@http://www.tompeters.com/ Our new Cool Friend, Anna Bernasek, is the author of The Economics of Integrity: From Dairy Farmers to Toyota, How Wealth Is Built on Trust and What That Means for Our Future. In the interview, Erik Hansen and Anna discuss how a financial system focused on quarterly performance encourages short-term rather than long-term strategies, and the problems that result. Anna explains why, for fiscal and non-fiscal reasons, it's in your self-interest to act with integrity. Read the interview and, to find out more about Anna, visit her site.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-07-20T13:03:47-05:00 Cool Friend #148: Ed Schein When people need help, they often can't articulate exactly what it is they need. Ed Schein's book, Helping: How to... 11638@http://www.tompeters.com/ When people need help, they often can't articulate exactly what it is they need. Ed Schein's book, Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help, Understanding Effective Dynamics in One-to-One, Group and Organizational Relationships, offers practical strategies for determining what kind of help is desired. Ed is Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus at MIT, and he's done a great deal of writing and consulting on the subject of culture change. In the new Cool Friends interview, Ed talks with Erik Hansen about how to offer the most effective help. If you call yourself a consultant, I'd call this interview essential reading, and this book, a highly recommended purchase.

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2010-05-24T11:03:49-05:00 Cool Friend #147: Joy Panos Stauber Erik Hansen, our Cool Friend interviewer (among the many other hats he wears), recently chatted with Joy Panos Stauber, the... 11587@http://www.tompeters.com/ Erik Hansen, our Cool Friend interviewer (among the many other hats he wears), recently chatted with Joy Panos Stauber, the woman behind our beautiful banners. They covered design, being a designer, and of particular interest, the design of Tom's new book, The Little BIG Things, which Joy had a significant hand in. You can read the interview here and find out more about Joy here.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-04-27T07:32:39-05:00 Cool Friend News Our Cool Friends are always moving and shaking. Here are a few things they've been up to lately: Sylvia Ann... 11589@http://www.tompeters.com/ Our Cool Friends are always moving and shaking. Here are a few things they've been up to lately:

Sylvia Ann Hewlett just published a study through the Harvard Business Review called "The Globe: The Battle for Female Talent in Emerging Markets."

Lior Arussy has a new book, Customer Experience Strategy: The Complete Guide From Innovation to Execution. Sally Helgesen's new book, The Female Vision: Women's Real Power at Work, will be coming out in June.

Charles H. Green interviewed Chris Brogan and we think you'll enjoy reading it.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2010-04-26T14:23:58-05:00 Cool Friend #146: Bill Warner Our new Cool Friend Bill Warner was about age 20 when he started his first company. Twelve years later, in... 11528@http://www.tompeters.com/ Our new Cool Friend Bill Warner was about age 20 when he started his first company. Twelve years later, in 1987, he founded Avid Technology, a company that went on to win an Emmy and an Oscar®—the Oscar being for transforming the editing process in film-making! Currently Bill is working with nonprofits including FutureBoston and Move With Freedom, guiding start-up companies, and working to transform the high-tech scene in Massachusetts. He has acted as an angel investor for eight start-ups and for three nonprofits. Read the interview to learn Bill's thoughts on how intention leads to invention, the difference between intention and vision, and how to keep "your" people happy. There's no book as yet, but we hope there will be soon.

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2010-03-24T12:16:13-05:00 Cool Friend #145: Garrison Keillor The host of Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor has written his first-ever Christmas book, and the book... 11356@http://www.tompeters.com/ The host of Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor has written his first-ever Christmas book, and the book tour fortuitously brought him our way. We welcome him to the Cool Friends! He and Erik discuss the book, A Christmas Blizzard (briefly), as the conversation meanders through the creative process. Keillor offers advice to writers ("The first page almost always can go"), artists ("Artists are supposed to be useful"), and speakers ("The audience is going to give you the benefit of the doubt for at least a minute or two. Don't waste that"). We think you should read our first-ever Christmas Cool Friends interview. Happy holidays!

Addendum: In its 21 December issue, Time magazine is publishing 10 Questions for Garrison Keillor, available now on Time.com along with a video version.

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2009-12-11T09:20:49-05:00 Cool Friend #144:Bob Waterman If you're a fan of Tom's first book, In Search of Excellence, don't miss reading this interview with his... 11311@http://www.tompeters.com/ BobWaterman_big_fish.jpg
If you're a fan of Tom's first book, In Search of Excellence, don't miss reading this interview with his coauthor, Bob Waterman. We're glad to add Bob as a Cool Friend, and we all enjoyed working on this interview. (Yes, he does share a few secrets about what went on during the writing of the book.) I think the most fascinating aspect is examining another path taken from the same jumping-off point. Bob was no less successful than Tom, just not as publicly. He describes to Erik how ISOE/In Search came to be and what he's been up to since then. Bob also talks about his involvement with the Restless Leg Syndrome Foundation. Funny, both Tom and Bob ended up vacationing in New Zealand, as you can see in the picture above. Divergent paths veered close again after more than 25 years. Welcome to the Cool Friends, Bob!

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2009-11-17T04:13:15-05:00 Cool Friend #143: Hal Movius Think you're prepared to negotiate? Think again. New Cool Friend Hal Movius, author of Built to Win: Creating a World-Class... 11260@http://www.tompeters.com/ Think you're prepared to negotiate? Think again. New Cool Friend Hal Movius, author of Built to Win: Creating a World-Class Negotiating Organization, warns you that you should change your approach. It's not about getting the biggest piece of the pie, it's about making sure the pie is big enough so that the other side doesn't walk away feeling robbed. Educate yourself about all the interests involved and you'll be able to not only get what your organization needs but create value for the other side and leave the relationship in a better place. Read his Cool Friends interview and find out more about what Hal Movius and coauthor Lawrence Susskind are up to at the Consensus Building Institute.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2009-10-08T11:33:13-05:00 Cool Friend #142: Tara Hunt Are you making Whuffie? It's the currency of reputation. Are you adding value to the community? Can you be trusted?... 11234@http://www.tompeters.com/ Are you making Whuffie? It's the currency of reputation. Are you adding value to the community? Can you be trusted? Tara Hunt is the co-founder of Citizen Agency, which she later left to establish herself as a free agent whose mission is to teach clients how to better foster relationships with the communities they serve, especially through effective use of social media. You can find her blogging at HorsePigCow, on Twitter as MissRogue, on Facebook, in pictures on Flickr, and locate her on Dopplr. Or you could read our Cool Friends interview, where she and Erik discuss her book The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business. Oh, and here's her website, TheWhuffieFactor.

Posted by Shelley Dolley |

]]> 2009-09-08T16:50:50-05:00 Cool Friend #141: Kathleen Colson There is debate over the most effective way to eradicate poverty in Africa. Our new Cool Friend Kathleen Colson believes... 11211@http://www.tompeters.com/ There is debate over the most effective way to eradicate poverty in Africa. Our new Cool Friend Kathleen Colson believes listening to Africans is the first step. She's listened for years, and, as a result, founded the BOMA Fund to put what she's learned into action. Through three programs, the Rural Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP), Agents of Change, and Cows For Kids, BOMA helps groups in northern Kenya learn how to run businesses, become leaders, and start on the road to self-sufficiency. In her interview, Kathleen discusses how foreign aid disrupts African markets and how helping to bring viable new trade to Kenya could lead to a brighter future for people there. Learn more by reading her Cool Friends interview or visiting the website of the BOMA Fund.

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2009-08-21T08:03:53-05:00 Cool Friend #140: John Kador This new Cool Friend interview with John Kador will have you re-examining every apology you’ve ever made or heard. Author... 11174@http://www.tompeters.com/ This new Cool Friend interview with John Kador will have you re-examining every apology you’ve ever made or heard. Author of Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust, Kador explains the most effective ways to apologize as well as some surprising financial implications. When Tom read the book he was getting the apology message from several quarters, and he declared apologizing to be a core competence for everyone who would be effective at business, so fundamental that he included it in the Success Tips as #155. You can read John Kador's Cool Friends interview, or learn more about apologies at his blog, personal website (www.jkador.com), and book website, (www.EffectiveApology.com). John can also be found on Twitter at Twitter.com/jkador.

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2009-07-10T08:44:39-05:00 Cool Friend #139: George Whalin Author of Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores In America, new Cool Friend George Whalin points us to... 11138@http://www.tompeters.com/ Author of Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores In America, new Cool Friend George Whalin points us to the most remarkable places to shop in this country. Each has its own fascinating story, which Whalin details in the book. In his interview with Erik, he also recounts a story about George Harrison, a stolen guitar, and a Federale in Guadalajara. George Whalin is the founder of Retail Management Consultants, which provides business-building services to retail companies and industry suppliers all across North America. He has worked with companies in every area of retailing from single-store merchants to leading national chains, as well as retail trade associations, franchise organizations, and some of the world's best-known consumer products manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers. You can see what Tom said about Whalin's book in a blog post titled "Guarantee!," or learn more at his Retailer Blog. We welcome George to our group of Cool Friends.

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2009-06-16T07:15:33-05:00 Cool Friend #138: Diane Hessan Our latest Cool Friend Diane Hessan is the CEO of Communispace, a social networking company that is a "pioneer in... 11094@http://www.tompeters.com/ Our latest Cool Friend Diane Hessan is the CEO of Communispace, a social networking company that is a "pioneer in creating online communities to help marketers deeply engage customers." The company has built and managed more than 350 private online customer communities for an impressive collection of Fortune 500 companies. Erik and Diane discuss the company's business, social media, and Tom, whom Diane knows well. Given the business she's in, naturally there are many ways to find Diane online: Twitter, Twitter.com/CommunispaceCEO; blog, Blog.Communispace.com; and website, Communispace.com being only three among them. And, be sure to read her Cool Friends interview.

Posted by Cathy Mosca |

]]> 2009-05-29T05:13:04-05:00