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

1. CONRADHILTON, at a gala celebrating his career, was called to the podium and asked,“What were the most important lessons you learned in your long and distinguished career?”His answer …

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

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

4. Tom Peters’ Excellence! New Zealand Defence Force Auckland/21 February 2019 (This presentation/10+ years of presentation slides at tompeters.com; also see our annotated 23-part Monster-Master at excellencenow.com)

5. 37/6

6. 37 Years/18 Books/ 3,000 Speeches/67 Countries = 6 Words “Hard is soft. Soft is hard.” (You can Google it!)

7. Hard (numbers/plans) is Soft. Soft (relationships/culture) is Hard.

8. GOOGLE GETS A SURPRISE I“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 sound more like what one gains as an English or theater major than as a programmer. …Source: Valerie Strauss, “The surprising thing Google learned about its employees—and what it means for today’s students” (Washington Post, 20 December 2017)

9. GOOGLE GETS A SURPRISE II“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. …Source: Valerie Strauss, “The surprising thing Google learned about its employees—and what it means for today’s students” (Washington Post, 20 December 2017)

10. CULTURE IS THE GAME

11. CULTURE:IT IS THE GAME

12. “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 *“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”—Ed Schein

13. EXCELLENCE

14. X5

15. EXCELLENCE is not a “long-term” "aspiration.” EXCELLENCE is the ultimate short-term strategy. EXCELLENCE is … THE NEXT5MINUTES.* (*Or NOT.)

16. EXCELLENCE is not an "aspiration." EXCELLENCE is … THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES. EXCELLENCE is your next conversation. Or not. EXCELLENCE is your next meeting. Or not. EXCELLENCE is shutting up and listening—really listening. Or not. EXCELLENCE is your next5-line email. Or not. EXCELLENCE is saying “Thank you” for something “small.” Or not. EXCELLENCE is the next time you shoulder responsibility and apologize. Or not. EXCELLENCE is waaay over-reacting to a screw-up. Or not. EXCELLENCE is the flowers you brought to work today. Or not. EXCELLENCE is lending a hand to an “outsider” who’s fallen behind schedule. Or not. EXCELLENCE is bothering to learn the way folks in finance (or IS or HR) think. Or not. EXCELLENCE is waaay “over”-preparing for a 3-minute presentation. Or not. EXCELLENCE is turning “insignificant” tasks into models of … EXCELLENCE. Or not.

17. PUT PEOPLE (REALLY!!) FIRST

18. PUT PEOPLE (REALLY!!) FIRST

19. The Excellence Dividend Book Tour* (*Time & Time & Time Again)Interviewer: “Tom, you always talk about people.”Me: “What the f*** else is there to talk about?”

20. “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.”—CNBC, 9 March 2016 “The intellectual talents of highly trained professionals are no more protected from automation than is the driver’s left turn.” Cage: Automation and Us

22. Given/Axiomatic …THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT MAKING ANY ORGANIZATION OF ANY SIZE IN ANY BUSINESS A … GREATPLACETOWORKEVERY LEADER/2019 HAS A MORAL OBLIGATION TO DEVELOP PEOPLE SO THAT WHEN THEY LEAVE THEY ARE BETTER PREPARED FOR (CRAZY) TOMORROW THAN THEY WERE WHEN THEY ARRIVED.

23. MANAGING: A PAIN IN THE BUTT. 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: 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.

24. HIRING

25. 1/7,500 “May I help you down the jetway …”

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

27. 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

28. TRAINING = INVESTMENT#1!

29. If you don't believe that training is “Investment #1,” ask an admiral, general, policechief, firechief, orchestraconductor, footballcoach, archery coach, moviedirector, actor(age 22 or 62), primaballerina, surgeon, ER or ICUchief or nurse,nuclear power plantoperator ... (or me).

30. “training, TRAINING and M-O-R-E T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G” —Admiral Chester Nimitz, CINCPAC, communication to Chief of Naval Operations Ernest King. Fact: The U.S. Navy was woefully under-prepared at the time of Pearl Harbor. The fix: T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G … CONSIDERED MORE IMPORTANT THAN HARDWARE! (NOTE: The capitalization, punctuation and italics In the quote above are Admiral Nimitz’s, not mine.)

31. ASSET #11ST-LINE LEADERS

32. 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 or at sea is dependent to an extraordinary degree on its Sergeants and Chief Petty Officers. Does industry have the same awareness?

33. Front-line Chiefs (Full Complement of): Principal determinants of … enterprise productivity. Principal determinants of … employee retention. Principal determinants of … product/ service quality. Principal carriers/embodiments of … corporate culture. Principal visible “spear carriers” for … Excellence. Principal champions/enablers of … sustained employee development.

34. EVALUATING (One Size Fits One) (53 = 53)

35. 53 = 53People are NOT“Standardized.” Their evaluations should NOTbe standardized. EVER.

36. INNOVATION

37. WTTMSW+

38. WTTMSW* *Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins

39. “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

40. “WE HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN. IT’S CALLED ‘DOING THINGS.’ ”—Herb Kelleher

41. WTTMSASTMSUTFW* *Whoever Tries The Most StuffAnd Screws The Most Stuff UpThe FastestWins

42. “EXPERIMENT FEARLESSLY”Source: BusinessWeek, “Type A Organization Strategies: How to Hit a Moving Target”—TACTIC #1“RELENTLESS TRIAL AND ERROR”Source: Wall Street Journal, CORNERSTONE of effective approach to “rebalancing” company portfolios in the face of changing and uncertain global economic conditions

43. WE ARE WHAT WE EAT.WE ARE WHO WE HANG OUT WITH.

44. “You will become like the five people you associate with the most—this can be either a blessing or a curse.”—Billy Cox

45. “Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met in the last 90 days? How do I get in touch with them?”—Fred Smith

46. “THE BOTTLENECK IS AT THE …“Where are you likely to find people with the least diversity of experience, the largest investment in the past, and the greatest reverence for industry dogma …TOP OF THE BOTTLE”— Gary Hamel/Harvard Business Review

47. CROSS-FUNCTIONAL EXCELLENCE: NEVER WASTE A LUNCH

48. XFX = #1* *Cross-Functional eXcellence

49. LUNCH > SAP/ ORACLE

50. SUCK DOWN FOR SUCCESS“Success doesn’t depend on the number of people you know; it depends on the number of people you know in highplaces!”or“Success doesn’t depend on the number of people you know; it depends on the number of people you know in low places!”