Google’s Shocker

1. LongTHE EXCELLENCE DIVIDEND:Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That LastTom PetersAuckland Business School/March 2018(This presentation/10+ years of presentation slides at tompeters.com; also see our annotated 23-part Monster-Master at excellencenow.com)

2. Google’s Shocker

3. GOOGLE GETS A SURPRISE“Project Oxygen [data from founding in 1998 to 2013] shocked everyone by concluding that, among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] expertise comes in dead last. The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others’ different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas. Those traits sounds more like what gets as an English or theater major than as a programmer. …“Project Aristotle [2017] further supports the importance of soft skills even in high-tech environments. Project Aristotle analyzes data on inventive and productive teams,. Google takes pride in it’s A-teams, assembled with top scientists, each with the most specialized knowledge and able to throw down one cutting-edge idea after another. Its data analysis revealed, however, that the company’s most important and productive ideas come from B-teams comprised of employees that don’t always have to be the smartest people in the room. Project Aristotle shows that that the best teams at Google exhibit a range of soft skills: equality, generosity, curiosity toward the ideas of your teammates, empathy and emotional intelligence. And topping the list: emotional safety. No bullying. …“[Tech] billionaire venture capitalist and ‘Shark Tank’ TV personality Mark Cuban looks for philosophy majors when he’s investing in sharks most likely to succeed.”Source: Valerie Strauss, “The surprising thing Google learned about its employees—and what it means for today’s students” (Washington Post, 20 December 2017)

4. Sir Duffield Upends the Establishment

5. Commerce Bank/Metro Bank:Get ’Em Away From the ATM and Into the Branches (“We want them in our stores.”):7X. 7:30A-8:00P. Fri/12A.7:30AM = 7:15AM.8:00PM = 8:15PM.Source: Source: Source: Vernon Hill, Fans! Not customers. How to Create Growth companies in a No Growth World

6. 2,0000,000 (17,000)

7. The Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Model“COST CUTTING IS A DEATH SPIRAL.OUR WHOLE STORY IS GROWING REVENUE.”“ARE YOU GOING TO COSTCUT YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY?or …ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY?” “OVER-INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE, OVER-INVEST IN OUR FACILITIES.” Source: Source: Source: Vernon Hill, Fans! Not customers. How to Create Growth companies in a No Growth World

8. Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed: THE THREE RULES: How Exceptional Companies Think* … 1. Better before cheaper. 2. Revenue before cost. 3. There are no other rules. (*5-year study/Deloitte: From a database of over 25,000 companies from hundreds of industries covering 45 years, the authors uncovered 344 companies that qualified as statistically “exceptional,” and finally winnowed the list to 27 firms, including Thomas & Betts, Weis Markets, Hartland Express.) Jeff Colvin, Fortune: “The Economy Is Scary … But Smart Companies Can Dominate” … They manage for value—not for EPS. They get radically customer-centric. They keep developing human capital.

9. THE EXCELLENCE DIVIDEND:Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That LastTom PetersAuckland Business School/March 2018

10. EXECUTION: The “All Important ‘Last 95 Percent’”

11. “Remember to tuck the shower curtain inside the bathtub.”

12. “Amateurs talk about strategy. Professionals talk about logistics.” —General Omar Bradley, commander of American troops/D-Day

13. Pinnacle of Human Achievement

14. MANAGING: AS A PAIN IN THE ASS. Somebody’s got to do it; punching bag for higher ups on one end, grouchy employees on the other; blame magnet if things go wrong, big bosses abscond with the credit if things go right. MANAGING: AS THE PINNACLE OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT. The greatest life opportunity one can have [literally]; mid- to long-term success is no more and no less than a function of one’s dedication to and effectiveness at helping team members grow and flourish as individuals and as contributing members to an energetic, self-renewing organization dedicated to the relentless pursuit of Excellence.

15. People [REALLY] First

16. 1/4,096: excellencenow.com “Business has to give people enriching, rewarding lives … or it's simply not worth doing.” —Richard Branson

17. “PEOPLE BEFORE STRATEGY” —Lead article, Harvard Business Review. July-August 2015, by Ram Charan, Dominic Barton, and Dennis Carey “You have to treat your employees like customers.”—Herb Kelleher “What employees experience, Customers will. The best marketing is happy, engaged employees.YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL NEVER BE ANY HAPPIER THAN YOUR EMPLOYEES.” —John DiJulius, The Customer Service Revolution: If you want staff to give great service, give great service to staff.” —Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman’s

18. EXCELLENT customer experience depends … entirely … onEXCELLENT employee experience! If you want to WOW your customers, FIRST you must WOW those who WOW the customers!

19. “It may sound radical, unconventional, and bordering on being a crazy business idea. However— as ridiculous as it sounds—joy is the core belief of our workplace. Joy is the reason my company, Menlo Innovations, a customer software design and development firm in Ann Arbor, exists. It defines what we do and how we do it. It is the single shared belief of our entire team.” —Richard Sheridan, Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love

20. 7/12 (!)1996-2014/Twelve companies have been among the “100 best to work for” in the USA every year, for all 16 years of the list’s existence; along the way, they’ve added/ 341,567 new jobs, or job growth of +172%:PublixWhole FoodsWegmansNordstromCisco SystemsMarriottREIGoldman SachsFour SeasonsSAS InstituteW.L. GoreTDIndustriesSource: Fortune/ “The 100 Best Companies to Work For”/0315.15

21. Profit Through Putting People First Business Book Club Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management Is Over—and Collaboration Is In, by Peter Shankman with Karen Kelly Uncontainable: How Passion, Commitment, and Conscious Capitalism Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives, by Kip Tindell, CEO Container Store Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business, by John Mackey, CEO Whole Foods, and Raj Sisodia Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose, by Raj Sisodia, Jag Sheth, and David Wolfe The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits, by Zeynep Ton, MIT Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love, by Richard Sheridan, CEO Menlo Innovations Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down, by Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies Patients Come Second: Leading Change By Changing the Way You Lead by Paul Spiegelman & Britt Berrett The Customer Comes Second: Put Your People First and Watch ’Em Kick Butt, by Hal Rosenbluth, former CEO, Rosenbluth International It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, by Mike Abrashoff, former commander, USS Benfold Turn This Ship Around; How to Create Leadership at Every Level, by L. David Marquet, former commander, SSN Santa Fe Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlingham Hidden Champions: Success Strategies of Unknown World Market Leaders, by Hermann Simon Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America, by George Whalin Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job, by Dennis Bakke, former CEO, AES Corporation The Dream Manager, by Matthew Kelly The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Lasting Success, by Rich Karlgaard, publisher, Forbes Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, by Tony Hsieh, Zappos Camellia: A Very Different Company Fans, Not Customers: How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World, by Vernon Hill Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School, by Richard Branson

22. People [REALLY] First:Hiring

23. “We look for ... listening, caring, smiling, saying ‘Thank you,’ being warm.” — Colleen Barrett, former President, Southwest Airlines

24. “The ultimate filter we use [in the hiring process]is that we only hire nice people.… When we finish assessing skills, we do something called ‘running the gauntlet.’ We have them interact with 15 or 20 people, and everyone of them have what I call a ‘blackball vote,’ which means they can say if we should not hire that person. I believe in culture so strongly and that one bad apple can spoil the bunch. There are enough really talented people out there who are nice, you don’t really need to put up with people who act like jerks.” —Peter Miller, CEO Optinose (pharmaceuticals)

25. Observed closely during Mayo Clinic employment interviews (for renown surgeons as well as others): The frequency of use of“I”or“We.” Source: Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman, chapter 6, “Hiring for Values,” Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic

26. People [REALLY] First:Training/Investment #1

27. In the Army, 3-star generals worry about training. In most businesses, it's a “ho-hum” mid-level staff function.

28. Gamblin’ Man Bet #1: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training as expense rather than investment. Bet #2: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training as defense rather than offense. Bet #3: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training as “necessary evil” rather than “strategic opportunity.” Bet #4: >> 8 of 10 CEOs, in 45-min “tour d’horizon” of their biz, would NOT mention training.

29. Boss & RPD:Your [boss] job is [much] safer if every one of your team members is committed to RPD/Radical Personal Development. Actively support one and all!

30. People [REALLY] First:Promoting

31. Promotion Decisions/2 per Year = Legacy“life and death decisions”Source: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management

32. People [REALLY] First:1st-Line Bosses/Asset #1

33. If the regimental commander lost most of his 2nd lieutenants and 1st lieutenants and captains and majors, it would be a tragedy. IF HE LOST HIS SERGEANTS IT WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE.The Army and the Navy are fully aware that success on the battlefield is dependent to an extraordinary degree on its Sergeants and Chief Petty Officers. Does industry have the same awareness?

34. Employee retention & satisfaction:“Overwhelminglybased on the first-line manager!”—Marcus Buckingham/Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules“People leave managers not companies.”—Dave Wheeler

35. People [REALLY] First:Women Rule!

36. “AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE:New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure”TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek

37. For One [BIG] Thing … “McKinsey & Company found that the international companies with more women on their corporate boards far outperformed the average company in return on equity and other measures. Operating profit was …56%higher.” Source: Nicholas Kristof, “Twitter, Women, and Power,” NYTimes, 1024.13

38. “Women are rated higher in fully 12 of the 16 competencies that go into outstanding leadership. And two of the traits where women outscored men to the highest degree — taking initiative and driving for results — have long been thought of as particularly male strengths.” —Harvard Business Review/2014

39. “Research [by McKinsey & Co.] suggests that to succeed, start by promoting women.” —Nicholas Kristof, “Twitter, Women, and Power,” NYTimes “In my experience, women make much better executives than men.” —Kip Tindell, CEO, Container Store

40. Women’s Negotiating Strengths*Ability to put themselves in their counterparts’ shoes*Comprehensive, attentive and detailed communication style*Empathy that facilitates trust-building*Curious and attentive listening*Less competitive attitude*Strong sense of fairness and ability to persuade*Proactive risk manager*Collaborative decision-makingSource: Horacio Falcao, Cover story/May 2006, World Business, “Say It Like a Woman: Why the 21st-century negotiator will need the female touch”

41. Portrait of a Female Investor1. Trade less than men do2. Exhibit less overconfidence—more likely to know what they don’t know3. Shun risk more than male investors do4. Less optimistic, more realistic than their male counterparts5. Put in more time and effort researching possible investments—consider details and alternate points of view6. More immune to peer pressure—tend to make decisions the same way regardless of who’s watching7. Learn from their mistakes8. Have less testosterone than men do, making them less willing to take extreme risks, which, in turn, could lead to less extreme market cyclesSource: Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl: And Why You Should Too, Louann Lofton, Chapter 2, “The Science Behind the Girl”

42. People [REALLY] First:The Tech Tsunami/The moral Imperative

43. Ellen Demarest*Marvella Ruth Hinton*Rusty Bodtke*Gail Neiderhoffer*Marilyn Dexheimer*ANNE CHIPLEY HARTMAN*Kay Dann*Chris Darwall*Barbara AmbrosioKaty GalleyKate Abbe*Sherry ConnellyKathleen TeichgraeberLiz HiltonGinny PatrickSally Helgesen*Louise BernikowCarin SiehlFabienne Marsh*Heather Shea*Leigh Peyton*Susan Sargent*

45. “SOFTWARE IS EATING THE WORLD.”—Marc Andreessen “The intellectual talents of highly trained professionals are no more protected from automation than is the driver’s left turn.” —Nicholas Carr, The Glass Cage: Automation and Us “If you think being a ‘professional’ makes your job safe, think again.” —Robert Reich

46. “Ten Million Jobs at Risk from Advancing Technology: Up to 35 percent of Britain's jobs will be eliminated by new computing and robotics technology over the next 20 years, say Deloitte experts.” —Headline, Telegraph (UK), 11 November 2014 “Almost half of U.S. jobs are at high risk of computerization over the next 20years, according to Oxford academics Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne.” —Harriet Taylor, CNBC, 9 March 2016

47. “The root of our problem is not that we’re in a Great Recession or a Great Stagnation, but rather that we are in the early throes of a Great Restructuring. Our technologies are racing ahead, but our skills and organizations are lagging behind.” Source: Race AGAINST the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee

48. CORPORATE MANDATE #1 2018:Your principal moral obligation as a leader is to develop the skillset, “soft” and “hard,” of every one of the people in your charge (temporary as well as semi-permanent) to the maximum extent of your abilities. The bonus: This is also the#1 mid- to long-term … profit maximization strategy!

49. “The role of the Director is to create a space where the actors and actresses canbecome more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being.” —Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech

50. Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast