Analysis of Tom Peters Video

1. Analysis of Tom Peters Video Who else has the same hand gestures?

2. Possible Generic Elements • He stressed the need for a mission statement, so that everyone knows why they are there • Without it, no shared purpose or objectives • The mission statement must be realistic and focused—no “to serve the public better.” Practical and applicable in daily routine

3. “A mission statement should be realistic and focused…”

4. Possible Generic Elements • He showed the value of the threat of extinction in creating innovation • This brings competition into the workplace so you are being measured relative to someone else (benchmarking) • He stressed the need, in each case, for a measurable “bottom line.” • His emphasis was on productivity (more for less) and efficiency (doing a ‘better job’)

5. “The Value of the Threat of Extinction”

6. Possible Generic Elements • Without competition, there is no incentive • He was stressing, though he did not say so, the move from Public Administration to Public Management • Think about constantly downgrading the “rule book”. • The thrust toward “enabling” or “empowering” initiative, not following rules

7. “We must be ready to throw the rule book out…”

8. Possible Generic Elements • Get away from “how things were done in the past.” Tradition very powerful in many cultures. • The powerful role of devolving responsibility as far as it will go. Management must be seen, and ask questions. An “open system”. • “Talking about success makes it easier to talk about failure.”

9. “Talking about success makes it easier to talk about failure…”

10. Possible Generic Elements • With responsibility comes accountability, but people lower down accept that happily as part of the confidence shown in them. • It is vitally important that everyone feels they are sharing in the enterprise • Where people really identify with the job and feel they have a stake in it, they will work better, be less demanding, and help the unit be more productive which releases incentives.

11. “It is important that people feel they identify with the enterprise…”

12. Possible Generic Elements • High turnover should be seen as an indicator of failure as you are unable to foster commitment. • Workers should feel like they are in it for the long haul, and that helps you get through bad times. • There is a need to stress flexibility in job description: the exact opposite of traditional practice.

13. “There is a need to stress flexibility…”

14. Possible Generic Elements • As important as “job description” is the constant attention to training and retraining to keep the unit on the cutting edge. • Get away from the “book-keeping” mentality, where you serve the accounts. The accounts should serve the task. • Remember “putting the money in one bucket” and allowing departments to make their claims on it according to their proposals. • Expenditure needs to be justified—no “line budgets”

15. “Get away from the ‘book-keeping’ mentality…”

16. Possible Generic Elements • One thing not dealt with was the question: “How do you deal with difficult people?” It is fine to show harmony and light in the teams, but what do you do about the free riders? • The traditional “supervisory” role of management (the foreman) was negative, and we want to reverse this—though it will still have to deal with problems. No one is suggesting that this team work dispenses with the need for management

17. “How do you deal with difficult people?”