excellence. Always. New slides. New stories. July-august 2006.

1. excellence.Always.New slides.New stories.July-august 2006.

2. New 02 September 2006

3. context

4. The “Missing 900K” Will the Boat Sink the Water: The Life of China’s Peasants —Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao’s

5. Schools & Techtonic Plates In: "economics, technology, social customs and globalization." Out: Socialism in general ("one short chapter"). Chinese communism before the 1979 economic revolution ("a sentence"). Mao ("only once--in a chapter on etiquette"). Source: The New York Times, p1, 0901.2006, on reported on revised history textbooks for high school seniors in Shanghai, China.

6. “Forbes100” from 1917 to 1987: 39 members of the Class of ’17 were alive in ’87; 18 in ’87 F100; 18 F100 “survivors” underperformed the market by 20%; just 2 (2%), GE & Kodak, outperformed the market 1917 to 1987.S&P 500 from 1957 to 1997: 74 members of the Class of ’57 were alive in ’97; 12 (2.4%) of 500 outperformed the market from 1957 to 1997.Source: Dick Foster & Sarah Kaplan, Creative Destruction: Why Companies That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market

7. (Practical)Implication?“Go for it!”(Why not—alternative is slow death, at best)

8. In-Cab University*Business. Humanities. Science. Personal growth.*Listen in truck, transmit assignments via cellphone or Wi-Fi at truck stops*$225 per credit hour; several big fleets paying*Stephen Fraser, 38: “Rather than driving all day and dreaming about lottery winnings, I’m actually using my mind.”

9. Leaders: gotta say it!

10. “No leader sets out to be a leader per se, but rather to express him- or herself freely and fully. That is, leaders have no interest in proving themselves, but an abiding interest in expressing themselves.”—Warren Bennis,On Becoming a Leader

11. Leaders

12. EnthusiasmEnergyExuberanceVoracious CuriosityIrritability/Dis-satisfactionRelentlessnessSelf-reliance“Closer” (Execution)excellence

13. EnthusiasmEnergyExuberanceVoracious Curiosityartistic inclinationIrritability/Dis-satisfactionRelentlessnessSelf-reliance“Closer” (Execution)engagementexcellence

14. Exuberance

15. Exuberance

16. Exuberance: The Passion for Life, by Kay Redfield Jamison+ “I believe exuberance is incomparably more important than we acknowledge. If, as has been claimed, enthusiasm finds the opportunities and energy makes the most of them, a mood of mind that yokes the two of them is formidable indeed.” “The Greeks bequeathed to us one of the most beautiful words in our language—the word ‘enthusiasm’—en theos—a god within. The grandeur of human actions is measured by the inspiration from which they spring. Happy is he who bears a god within, and who obeys it.”—Louis Pasteur “Exuberance is, at its quick, contagious. As it spreads pell-mell through a group, exuberance excites, it delights, and it dispels tension. It alerts the group to change and possibility.”

17. Exuberance: The Passion for Life, by Kay Redfield Jamison+ “A leader is someone who creates infectious enthusiasm.”—Ted Turner “‘Glorious’ was a term [John] Muir would invoke time and again … despite his conscious attempts to eradicate it from his writing. ‘Glorious’ and ‘joy’ and ‘exhilaration’: no matter how often he scratched out these words once he had written them, they sprang up time and again …” “To meet Roosevelt, said Churchill, ‘with all his buoyant sparkle, his iridescence,’ was like ‘opening a bottle of champagne.’ Churchill, who knew both champagne and human nature, recognized ebullient leadership when he saw it.”

18. Exuberance: The Passion for Life, by Kay Redfield Jamison+ “At a time of weakness and mounting despair inthe democratic world, Roosevelt stood out by his astonishing appetite for life and by his apparently complete freedom from fear of the future; as a man who welcomed the future eagerly as such, and conveyed the feeling that whatever the times might bring, all would be grist to his mill, nothing would be too formidable or crushing to be subdued. He had unheard of energy and gusto … and was a spontaneous, optimistic, pleasure-loving ruler with unparalleled capacity for creating confidence.”—Isaiah Berlin on FDR

19. Exuberance: The Passion for Life, by Kay Redfield Jamison+ “Churchill had a very powerful mind, but a romantic and unquantitative one. If he thought about a course of action long enough, if he achieved it alone in his own inner consciousness and desired it passionately, he convinced himself it must be possible. Then, with incomparable invention, eloquence and high spirits, he set out to convince everyone else that it was not only possible, but the only course of action open to man.”—C.P. Snow “We are all worms. But I do believe that I am a glow-worm.”—Churchill on Churchill “The multitudes were swept forward till their pace was the same as his.”—Churchill on T.E. Lawrence “He brought back a real joy to music.”—Wynton Marsalis on Louis Armstrong

20. bedrock behaviors

21. Home RunBeing there! * ** *** *****No more, no less**“A body can pretend to care, but they can’t pretend to be there.” — Texas Bix Bender*** GEN Melvin Zais on COs and inspections****Silence is golden! [Utter silence is golden-er.]

22. Period!Shake handsSmileEye contact

23. Period+!Shake handsSmileEye contactThank youFlowersOpen poseROIR

24. Period+!Shake handsSmileEye contactThank youFlowersOpen poseROIR

25. Sorting Out a Problem/ Misunderstanding with an e-mail:Don’t delay! It’s the effort that counts (Long>Short)Get personal (“authentic”—yuck)FLAT OUT APOLOGIZE (no equivocality)Take more blame than you “deserve”

26. BG: It sounds like you listen to your instincts.DvF:“I do. I have a very, very good relationship with myself.”Source: Diane von Furstenberg, Boston Globe on her staying power, 0806.06

27. By Invitation only!

28. By Invitation!

29. “In the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management invitesthe workforce itself to change the culture.”—Lou Gerstner

30. “If I could have chosen not to tackle the IBM culture head-on, I probably wouldn’t have. My bias coming in was toward strategy, analysis and measurement. In comparison, changing the attitude and behaviors of hundreds of thousands of people is very, very hard.[Yet] I came to see in my time at IBM that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game—it is the game.”—Lou Gerstner, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance

31. Game-changing Solutions: Core MechanismPSF(Professional Service Firm “model”)+Wow Projects (“Different” vs “Better”)+Brand You(“Distinct” or “Extinct”)

32. Unassailable Value-Added: The “PSF” model

33. The Pursuit of Unassailable Value-Added

34. The [Only?] AnswerPSF(Professional Service Firm “model”/The Organizing Principle)+Brand You(“Distinct” or “Extinct”/The Talent) +Wow! Projects (“Different” vs “Better”/The Work)

35. The [Only?*] Answer*PSF+Brand You+Wow! Projects*damn it!

36. PSF + BY + WP = VA

37. PSF + BY + WP + DD + E = UVA

38. PSF + BY + WP + DD + E = UVA

39. PSF (Professional Service Firm) + BY (Brand You) + WP (WOW Projects) + DD (Dramatic Difference) + E (Excellence) = UVA (Unassailable Value-Added)

40. The [Only?] AnswerPSF(Professional Service Firm “model”/The Organizing Principle)+Brand You(“Distinct” or “Extinct”/The Talent) +Wow! Projects (“Different” vs “Better”/The Work)

41. The New Enterprise Value-Added Equation/Mark2006(1) 100% “WOW PROJECTS” (New Org “DNA”/“The Work”)+ (2) Incredible “TALENT”Transformed into (3) Entrepreneurial “BRAND YOUs” and (4) Launched on Awesome “QUESTS FOR EXCELLENCE”= (5) Internal “Rockin’ PSFs” (Staff Depts. Morphed into Wildly Innovative Professional Service Firms) … (6) Which Coalesce to Transform the FEVP/Fundamental Enterprise Value Proposition from “Superior Products & Services” to “ENCOMPASSING SOLUTIONS” &“GAME-CHANGING CLIENT SUCCESS”

42. Big Idea/“Meta”-Idea/Premier “Engine of Value Added”(1) The Talent: “Best Roster” of Entrepreneurial-minded Brand Yous.(2) The (Virtual) Organization: Internal or External “PSF”/Professional Service Firmworking with “Best Anywhere” = Engine of Value Added through the Application of Creative “Intellectual Capital”(3) The Work Product: “Game Changer”/ “Gaspworthy” WOW Projects

43. Static/ImitativeIntegrity.Quality.Continuous Improvement.Superior Service (Exceeds Expectations.)Completely Satisfactory Transaction.Smooth Evolution.Market Share.Dynamic/DifferentDramatic Difference!Disruptive!Insanely Great! (Quality++++)Life-(Industry-)changing Experience!Game-changing!WOW!Surprise!Delight!Breathtaking!Punctuated Equilibrium!Market Creation!

44. EXCELLENCE =Flawless EXECUTION+ Continuous IMPROVEMENT+ Brilliantly Trained PEOPLE+Gamechanging QUESTS + WEIRD Rosters +GASPWORTHY Results

45. Itinerant Potential Machines.

46. Re-imagine Tomorrow’s Organizations:ItinerantPotential Machines.

47. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”—Charles Darwin

48. “I wanted GE to operate with the speed, informality, and open communication of a corner store. Corner stores often have strategy right. With their limited resources, they have to rely on laser-like focus on doing one thing very well.”—Jack Welch/Fortune/04.05

49. TALENT POOL TO DIE FOR. Youthful. Insanely energetic. Value creativity. Risk taking is routine. Failing is normal … if you’re stretching. Want to “make their bones” in “the revolution.” Love the new technologies. Well rewarded. Don’t plan to be around 10 years from now.

50. TALENT POOL PLUS. Seek out and work with “world’s best” as needed (it’s often needed). “We aim to change the world, and we need gifted colleagues—who well may not be on our payroll.”