Tom Peters’ Excellence. Always. Innovate . Or Die . ExpoManagement Mexico

1. NOTE:To appreciate this presentation [and insure that it is not a mess], you need Microsoft fonts:“Showcard Gothic,”“Ravie,”“Chiller”and“Verdana”

2. Tom Peters’ Excellence. Always. Innovate. OrDie. ExpoManagement Mexico Centro de Exposiciones Banamex/10 November 2010 (Slides at tompeters.com)

3. Paul Ormerod: “I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for myself?’ The answer seems obvious …

4. “I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for myself?’ The answer seems obvious:Buy a very large one and just wait.”—Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics

5. “Mr. Foster and his McKinsey colleagues collected detailed performance data stretching back 40 years for 1,000 U.S. companies.They found that noneof the long-term survivors managed to outperform the market. Worse, the longer companies had been in the database, the worse they did.” —Financial Times

6. “Data drawn from the real world attest to a fact that is beyond our control:Everything in existence tends to deteriorate.”—Norberto Odebrecht, Education Through Work

7. The Innovate or Die 18

8. #1

9. try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Screw it up. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it. Screw it up. it. Try it. Try it. try it. Try it.Screw it up. Try it. Try it. Try it. 1/45

10. READY.FIRE!AIM.Ross Perot (vs “Aim! Aim! Aim!” /EDS vs GM/1985)

11. “Experiment fearlessly”Source: BusinessWeek, Type A Organization Strategies/ “How to Hit a Moving Target”—Tactic #1

12. “We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the software. We fixed them by doing it over and over, again and again. We do the same today. While our competitors are still sucking their thumbs trying to make the design perfect, we’re already on prototype version#5.By the time our rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on version #10.It gets back to planning versus acting: We act from day one; others plan how toplan—for months.”—Bloomberg by Bloomberg

13. Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics” 1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties

14. #1A

15. “Fail. Forward. Fast.”High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania

16. “Rewardexcellent failures.Punishmediocre successes.”Phil Daniels, Sydney exec

17. “The secret of fast progress is inefficiency, fast and furious and numerous failures.”—Kevin Kelly

18. Read This!Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes:Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins: The Paradox of Innovation

19. “It is not enough to ‘tolerate’ failure—you must ‘celebrate’ failure.”—Richard Farson (Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins)

20. #1B

21. “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”—WayneGretzky

22. #2

23. The “Parallel Universe” Axiom

24. “SkunkWorks”/ “ParallelUniverse”“the 1% solution”Source: Scott Bedbury (Others: 3M, Google, Shell, NAVFAC)

25. SkunkWorks/ “Skunks” (!!!)

26. “Somewhere in your organization, groups of people are already doing things differently and better. To create lasting change, find these areas of positive deviance and fan the flames.”—Richard Pascale & Jerry Sternin, “Your Company’s Secret Change Agents,” HBR

27. #3

28. Little =BIG**Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister

29. Big carts = 1.5X Source: Walmart

30. Bag sizes = New markets: $B Source: PepsiCo

31. Socks = 10,000

32. see green= recover 20% faster

33. #4

34. XFX = #1

35. Never waste a lunch!

36. ???? % XF lunches* *Measure! Monthly! Part of evaluation! [The PA’s Club.]

37. “XFX Social Accelerators.” 1. EVERYONE’s [more or less] JOB #1: Make friends in other functions! (Purposefully. Consistently. Measurably.) 2. “Do lunch” with people in other functions!! Frequently!! (Minimum 10% to 25% for everyone? Measured.) 3. Ask peers in other functions for references so you can become conversant in their world. (It’s one helluva sign of ... GIVE-A-DAMN-ism.) 4. Invite counterparts in other functions to your team meetings. Religiously. Ask them to present “cool stuff” from “their world” to your group. (B-I-G deal; useful and respectful.) 5. PROACTIVELY SEEK EXAMPLES OF “TINY” ACTS OF “XFX” TO ACKNOWLEDGE—PRIVATELY AND PUBLICALLY. (Bosses: ONCE A DAY … make a short call or visit or send an email of “Thanks” for some sort of XFX gesture by your folks and some other function’s folks.) 6. Present counterparts in other functions awards for service to your group. Tiny awards at least weekly; and an “Annual All-Star Supporters [from other groups] Banquet” modeled after superstar salesperson banquets. 7. Discuss—A SEPARATE AGENDA ITEM—good and problematic acts of cross-functional co-operation at every Team Meeting.

38. “XFX Social Accelerators.” 8. When someone in another function asks for assistance, respond with … more … alacrity than you would if it were the person in the cubicle next to yours—or even more than you would for a key external customer. (Remember, XFX is the key to Customer Retention which is in turn the key to “all good things.”) 9. Do not bad mouth ... “the damned accountants,” “the bloody HR guy.” Ever. (Bosses: Severe penalties for this—including public tongue-lashings.) 10. Get physical!! “Co-location” may well be the most powerful “culture change lever.” Physical X-functional proximity is almost a … guarantee … of remarkably improved co-operation—to aid this one needs flexible workspaces that can be mobilized for a team in a flash. 11. Formal evaluations. Everyone, starting with the receptionist, should have a significant XF rating component in their evaluation. (The “XFX Performance” should be among the Top 3 items in all managers’ evaluations.) 12. Demand XF experience for, especially, senior jobs. For example, the U.S. military requires all would-be generals and admirals to have served a full tour in a job whose only goals were cross-functional achievements. 13. XFX is … PERSONAL … as well as about organizational effectiveness. PXFX [Personal XFX] is arguably the #1 Accelerant to personal success—in terms of organizational career, freelancer/Brand You, or as entrepreneur.

39. THE WHOLE POINT HERE IS THAT “XFX” IS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE #1 OPPORTUNITY FOR STRATEGIC DIFFERENTIATION. WHILE MANY WOULD LIKELY AGREE, IN OUR MOMENT-TO-MOMENT AFFAIRS, XFX PER SE IS NOT SO OFTEN VISIBLY & PERPETUALLY AT THE TOP OF EVERY AGENDA. I ARGUE HERE FOR NO LESS THAN … VISIBLE. CONSTANT. OBSESSION.

40. #5

41. 1980:“Strategic Thrust Overlay”

42. GEWorkoutVA/ServiceSix SigmaInflationR&D/Business DevelopmentRisk Management

43. G[B]TD: TacticsSmall [but powerful] Central “Staff”* [*Line-like]Senior “Homegrown” Boss [& Staff]Enormous Incentives [$/Eval]Line Accountability [Not “Matrix” ]Demo-led [Emergent Methodology]“Tour of [External] Excellence”“Blitz” TrainingCentral Unit/Finite LifeSpeed!Goal: “Culture Change”!

44. #6

45. “‘Decentralization’ is not a piece of paper. It’s not me. It’s either in your heart, or not.”—Brian Joffe/BIDvest

46. Enemy #1I.C.D.Note 1:Inherent/Inevitable/Immutable Centralist DriftNote 2: Jim Burke’s 1-word vocabulary: “No.”

47. #7

48. #4 Japan#3 USA#2 China#1 Germany

49. Reason:Mittelstand!**E.g.: Goldmann Produktion

50. “Be the best. It’s the only market that’s not crowded.” From: Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America, George Whalin