All You Need to Know*

*more or less (and in addition to the other speakers at GLAS)

Tom Peters/Global Leaders Africa Summit/Johannesburg/21June2006

2255

All You Need to Know*

*more or less (and in addition to the other speakers at GLAS)

Slides at …

tompeters.com

The Irreducible20

9

A frustrated participant at a seminar for investment bankers in Mauritius listened impatiently to my explanation of differences of opinion among me, Mike Porter,

Gary Hamel, Jim Collins, etc. Finally, he’d had enough. “What, if anything,” he asked,

“do you believe ‘for sure’?” I mumbled something, but his query started rumbling

around in my mind. Three days later, wandering on a Sunday in London, the idea of “the irreducibles” occurred to

me—and I started jotting down notes on stuff I do indeed believe “for sure.” Before

I knew it, a few days later, the list had grown to 209 items. Hence “The Irreducible209” that follows.

Tom Peters

1. Hare 1, Tortoise 0. (Hare-y times.)2. Tempo. (O.O.D.A.)3. MBWA.4. Appreciation. (“Motivator” #1.) (Can’t be faked. Good.)5. Decency.6. Hurry.7. Time out.8. One matters. 9. Big change. Short time. (Alt not work.)10. Excellence. Always.11. Passion. Energy. Hustle. Enthusiasm. Exuberance. (Move mountains. No alt.)12. You must care.13. Emotion.14. Hard is soft. (Soft is hard.)

Astounding Tales

THREE BILLION NEW CAPITALISTS

—Clyde Prestowitz

“The corporation as we know it, which is now 120

years old, is not likely to survive

the next 25 years. Legally and financially, yes, but not

structurally and economically.” —Peter Drucker

“This is a dangerous world and it is going to become more

dangerous.”

“We may not be interested in chaos

but chaos is interested in us.”

Source: Robert Cooper, The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-first Century

ETC.

All You Need to Know*

*more or less

Cause

“Create a ‘cause,’ not a ‘business.’’

—Gary Hamel

“People want to be part of something larger

than themselves. They want to be part of

something they’re really proud of, that they’ll

fight for, sacrifice for , trust.” —Howard Schultz, Starbucks (IBD/09.05)

“Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of

questions. And the first question

for a leader always is: ‘Who do we intend to be?’ Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to

be?’” —Max De Pree, Herman Miller

Quest

“I don’t know.”

Source: Karl Weick

“Groups become great only when everyone in them, leaders and members alike, is free to do his or her absolute best.”“The best thing a leader can do

for a Great Group is to allow its members to discover their

greatness.”

Source: Organizing Genius/Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward Biederman

Leadership’s Mt Everest

“free to do his or her absolute

best” …

“allow its members to

discover their greatness.”

“The role of the Director is to create a

space where the actor or actress can become more than they’ve ever been before, more than

they’ve dreamed of being.” —Robert Altman, Oscar

acceptance

“In the end, management doesn’t

change culture. Management

invites

the workforce itself to change the culture.”

—Lou Gerstner

“We are a ‘life

Success Company”’

—Dave Linegar, founder, RE/MAX

Best Story

“Storytelling

is the core of culture.”

—Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld, James Twitchell

People

“Leaders

‘do’ people.” —Anon.

Les Wexner:

From sweaters to

people!

“Connoisseur of Talent”

Source: Colleague on PARC’s Bob Taylor

“We believe companies can increase their market cap 50 percent in 3 years. Steve Macadam at Georgia-

Pacific changed 20 of his 40 box plant managers to put more talented, higher paid

managers in charge. He

increased profitability from $25 million to $80

million in 2 years.” —Ed Michaels, War for Talent

Brand = Talent.

Our Mission

To develop and manage talent;

to apply that talent,throughout the world,

for the benefit of clients;to do so in partnership;

to do so with profit.WPP

People II

Employees: “Are there enough weird people in the lab

these days?”V. Chmn., pharmaceutical house, to a lab director

People III

A review of Jack and Suzy Welch’s Winning claims there are but two key differentiators that set GE “culture” apart from the herd:

First: Separating financial forecasting and performance measurement. Performance measurement based, as it usually is, on budgeting leads to an epidemic of gaming the system. GE’s performance measurement is divorced from budgeting—and instead reflects how you do relative to your past performance and relative to competitors’ performance; ie it’s about how you actually do in the context of what happened in the real world, not as compared to a gamed-abstract plan developed last year.

Second: Putting HR on a par with finance and marketing.

DD$21M

Decency

“It was much later that I realized Dad’s secret. He

gained respect by giving it. He talked and listened to the

fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley who shined shoes the

same way he talked and listened to a bishop or a

college president. He was seriously interested in who

you were and what you had to say.”

—Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect

“The deepest human need is the need to

be appreciated.”—William James

“The two most powerful things in existence: a kind

word and a thoughtful gesture.”

—Ken Langone

“Thank you”

Intangibles

“Hard is soft. Soft is

hard.”*

*In Search of Excellence

Self-management

“The First step in a ‘dramatic’ ‘organizational

change program’ is obvious—dramatic

personal change!” —RG

“You must be the change you

wish to see in the world.”

Gandhi

You = Your

Calendar

MBWA

“A body can pretend to

care, but they can’t pretend

to be there.” — Texas

Bix Bender

“You can’t lead a cavalry charge if

you think you look funny on a horse.”

—John Peers, President, Logical Machine Corporation

“To change minds effectively, leaders make particular use

of two tools: the stories that they tell

and the lives that they

lead.” —Howard Gardner, Changing Minds

Conformity

“To grow, companies need to break out of a

vicious cycle of competitive

benchmarking and imitation.” —W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne,

“Think for Yourself —Stop Copying a Rival,” Financial Times/08.11.03

“The short road to ruin is to emulate the

methods of your adversary.” — Winston

Churchill

Conformity II

“The Bottleneck is at the Top of the Bottle”“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?

At the top!”

— Gary Hamel/“Strategy or Revolution”/Harvard Business Review

Action

“Ninety percent of what we call

‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.” – Peter

Drucker

“We have a ‘strategic’ plan. It’s

called doing things.”

— Herb Kelleher

“Execution is the job of

the business leader.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram

Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Action/Bedrock

“GE has set a standard of candor.

… There is no puffery. … There isn’t an ounce of

denial in the place.” —

Kevin Sharer, CEO Amgen, on the “GE mystique” (Fortune)

Try ItTry ItTry It

“This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing how few oil people really

understand that you only find oil if you drill wells. You may

think you’re finding it when you’re drawing maps and

studying logs, but you have to drill.”

Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter (80%)

“We made mistakes. 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 No. 5. By the time our rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on

version No. 10. It gets back to planning versus acting: We

act from day one; others plan how to plan—for months.”

—Bloomberg by Bloomberg

Screw It Up

“Fail. Forward.

Fast.”

–High-tech Exec/PA

“Reward excellent failures.

Punish mediocre

successes.”Phil Daniels, Sydney exec

Sam’s Secret

#1!

“Tom, very simple. Sam was

not afraid to fail.” —David Glass to TP, on the occasion of

Sam’s induction into The Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame

4/40

De-cent-ral-iz-a-tion!

Ex-e-cu-

tion!

Ac-count-a-bil-ity!

6:15A.M.

Create

“A focus on cost-cutting and efficiency has helped many organizations weather the

downturn, but this approach will

ultimately render them obsolete. Only the constant

pursuit of innovation can ensure long-term success.”

—Daniel Muzyka, Dean, Sauder School of Business, Univ of British Columbia (FT/09.17.04)

“[Immelt] is now identifying technologies with which GE

will … systematically set out to build

entirely new industries” —Strategy+Business, Fall

2005

“Acquisitions are about buying market

share. Our challenge is to create markets.

There is a big difference.” —Peter Job, CEO, Reuters

What “We” Know “For Sure” About Innovation

Big mergers [by & large] don’t workScale is over-rated

Strategic planning is the last refuge of scoundrelsFocus groups are counter-productive“Built to last” is a chimera (stupid)

Success kills“Forgetting” is impossible

Re-imagine is a charming idea“Orderly innovation process” is an oxymoronic phrase

(= Believed only by morons with ox-like brains)“Tipping points” are easy to identify … long after they will do you any good

“Facts” aren’tAll information making it to the top is filtered

to the point of danger and hilarity“Success stories” are the illusions of egomaniacs (and “gurus”)

If you believe the memoirs of CEOs you should be institutionalized“Herd behavior” (XYZ is “hot”) is ubiquitous

… and amusing“Top teams” are “Dittoheads”

CEOs have little effect on performance“Expert” prediction is rarely better than rolling the dice

Revenue

“Analysts … preferred cost cutting, as long as they could see two or three years of EPS growth. I preached revenue and the analysts’ eyes would glaze

over. Now revenue is ‘in’ because so many got caught, and

earnings went to hell. They said, ‘Oh my gosh, you need revenues to

grow earnings over time.’

Well, Duh!” —Dick Kovacevich, Wells

Fargo

CRO*

*Chief Revenue Officer

SellSellSell

. “Everyone lives by selling

something.”

– Robert Louis Stevenson

SellSellSell

“TAKE THIS QUICK QUIZ: Who manages more things at once? Who puts more effort into their appearance? Who usually takes care of the

details? Who finds it easier to meet new people? Who asks more questions in a

conversation? Who is a better listener? Who has more interest in communication skills? Who is more inclined to get involved? Who encourages harmony and agreement? Who

has better intuition? Who works with a longer ‘to do’ list? Who enjoys a recap to the day’s events? Who is better at keeping in touch

with others?”

Source: Selling Is a Woman’s Game: 15 POWERFUL REASONS WHY WOMEN CAN OUTSELL MEN, Nicki Joy & Susan Kane-Benson

Bonus:

TP.27 … on Selling

(Short) (Personal)

Out-prepare!! (huge time commitment!)Learn the “culture”Practice!Care-EmpathyListen-Empathetic listening (SC)“Listen”-Body languageK.I.S.S. (1-page summary. 1 = 1.)Enthusiasm-ENERGY-“Authenticity”!!OBVIOUS belief in productSelling: Solution-Success-Experience-Dream come true-Love-Dramatic DifferenceSelling: Better STORY! (“Best story wins”)Selling: Yourself! (Brand you)“Obvious” Wow!No exaggeration!Spell out commitments!SIMPLE timelineSell “inside”-First! Thorough!Relationships-“Way down”!!Time!!!! (Eg, build trust)Ooze integrityIntroduce to rest of team, esp “mechanics”SBWA (5K for 5M)Remember: Close!Gotta-make-a-profit (be ready to walk away!)“Good loss”Don’t dis competitors!!Make her-him-target SUCCESSFUL (in a personal way)

Women BuyWomen Lead

“Women are the

majority market”

—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse

1. Men and women are different.2. Very different.3. VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.4. Women & Men have a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y nothing in common.5. Women buy lotsa stuff.

6. WOMEN BUY A-L-L THE STUFF.7. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1.8. Men are (STILL) in charge.9. MEN ARE … TOTALLY, HOPELESSLY CLUELESS ABOUT WOMEN.10. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1.

The Perfect Answer

Jill and Jack buy slacks in black…

10. Women’s Market =

Opportunity No. 1.

“AS LEADERS, WOMEN

RULE: New Studies find that

female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure”

Title, Special Report/BusinessWeek

10.6

“Forget China, India and the

Internet: Economic Growth Is Driven

by Women.” —Headline, Economist,

April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14

Value-added

$55B

And …

MasterCard Advisors

Value-added II

“ ‘Disintermediation’ is overrated. Those who fear disintermediation should in fact be afraid of

irrelevance—disintermediation is just another way

of saying that … you’ve become

irrelevant to your customers.”

—John Battelle/Point/Advertising Age/07.05

Answer: Professional Service Firm/PSF!

Department Head

to …

Managing

Partner, IS [HR, R&D, etc.] Inc.

“Game-changing Solutions”: Core Mechanism

PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”)

+

Wow Projects (“Different” vs “Better”)

+

Brand You(“Distinct” or “Extinct”)

Experience

“It’s simple, really, Tom. Hire for s,

and, above all, promote for s.”

—Starbucks middle manager/field

CXO**Chief eXperience Officer

Love

Kevin Roberts:

Lovemarks!

Top 10 “Tattoo Brands”*

Harley .… 18.9%Disney .... 14.8

Coke …. 7.7Google .... 6.6Pepsi .... 6.1Rolex …. 5.6Nike …. 4.6

Adidas …. 3.1Absolut …. 2.6

Nintendo …. 1.5

*BRANDsense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound, Martin Lindstrom

“We don’t have a good language to talk about this kind of thing. In

most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. … But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning

of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation.”

Steve Jobs

Focus

“Dennis, you need a ‘To-don’t ’

List !”

“I used to have a rule for myself that at any point in time I

wanted to have in mind — as it so happens, also in writing, on a little card I carried around with me — the three big things I was

trying to get done.

Three. Not two.

Not four. Not five. Not ten. Three.”

— Richard Haass, The Power to Persuade

K.I.S.S.

450/8

Danger: S.I.O.

(Strategic Initiative Overload)

Change

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like

irrelevance even less.” —General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff. U. S.

Army

“I’m not comfortable

unless I’m uncomfortable.

”—Jay Chiat

“The most successful people are those who are good at

‘plan B.’” —James Yorke,

mathematician, on chaos theory in The New Scientist

Change II

We become who we hang

out with!

Measure “Strangeness”/Portfolio Quality

StaffConsultants

VendorsOut-sourcing Partners (#, Quality)

Innovation Alliance PartnersCustomers

Competitors (who we “benchmark” against)

Strategic Initiatives Product Portfolio (LineEx v. Leap)

IS/IT ProjectsHQ LocationLunch Mates

LanguageBoard

“Don’t benchmark, futuremark!

” Impetus: “The future is already here; it’s just

not evenly distributed” —William Gibson

Change III/BigChange

No Wiggle Room!

“Incrementalism

is innovation’s worst enemy.”

Nicholas Negroponte

“Beware of the tyranny of making Small

Changes to Small Things.

Rather, make Big Changes to

Big Things.” —Roger

Enrico, former Chairman, PepsiCo

Five MYTHS About Changing Behavior

*Crisis is a powerful impetus for change*Change is motivated by fear*The facts will set us free

*Small, gradual changes are always easier to make and sustain*We can’t change because our brains become “hardwired” early in life

Source: Fast Company/05.2005

BigBiggerBiggest??????

“I don’t believe in

economies of scale. You don’t get better by being bigger. You get worse.” —

Dick Kovacevich/Wells Fargo/Forbes/08.04 (ROA: Wells, 1.7%;

Citi, 1.5%; BofA, 1.3%; J.P. Morgan Chase, 0.9%)

“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

“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

New Economy?!

Genentech09, Amgen09

> Merck09 (70K-3/394B-5)

Agressive

Nelson’s secret: “[Other] admirals more frightened of losing than

anxious to win”

Tempo

He who has the quickest

O.O.D.A. Loops* wins!

*Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. / Col. John Boyd

Kevin & Richard

Kevin Roberts’ Credo

1. Ready. Fire! Aim.2. If it ain’t broke ... Break it!3. Hire crazies.4. Ask dumb questions.5. Pursue failure.6. Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!7. Spread confusion.8. Ditch your office.9. Read odd stuff.

10. Avoid moderation!

Sir Richard’s Rules:

Follow your passions.Keep it simple.

Get the best people to help you.Re-create yourself.

Play.

Passion & Enthusiasm

“Nothing is so contagious

as enthusiasm.”

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“I am a dispenser of

enthusiasm.” —Ben Zander

Enthusiasm … the

ultimate virus

“A man without a smiling face

must not open a shop.” —Chinese Proverb*

*Courtesy Tom Morris, The Art of Achievement

Hustle

“Most important,

he upped the energy level

at Motorola.”

—Fortune on Ed Zander/08.05

Sunny

“A leader is a dealer in

hope.”Napoleon

Sunny II

“Ronald Reagan radiated an

almost transcendent

happiness.” —Lou Cannon

Aim High

The greatest dangerfor most of us

is not that our aim istoo high

and we miss it,but that it is

too lowand we reach it.

Michelangelo

Dream

“Tell me, what is it you plan to

do with your one wild and

precious life?” —Mary Oliver

HTSH: Engage!*

Commit! Engage! Try! Fail! Get up! Try again! Fail again! Try again! But never,

ever stop moving on! Progress for humanity is engendered by those who join and savor the fray by giving one

hundred percent of themselves to their dreams! Not by those timid souls who

remain glued to the sidelines, stifled by tradition, and fearful of losing face or

giving offense to the reigning authorities.

Key words: Commit! Engage! Try! Fail! Persist!

*HTST/Hands That Shape Humanity, Tom Peters’ contribution to a Bishop Tutu Foundation traveling exhibit

!

The Irreducible20

9

A frustrated participant at a seminar for investment bankers in Mauritius listened impatiently to my explanation of differences of opinion among me, Mike Porter,

Gary Hamel, Jim Collins, etc. Finally, he’d had enough. “What, if anything,” he asked,

“do you believe ‘for sure’?” I mumbled something, but his query started rumbling

around in my mind. Three days later, wandering on a Sunday in London, the idea of “the irreducibles” occurred to

me—and I started jotting down notes on stuff I do indeed believe “for sure.” Before

I knew it, a few days later, the list had grown to 209 items. Hence “The Irreducible209” that follows.

Tom Peters

1. Hare 1, Tortoise 0. (Hare-y times.)2. Tempo. (O.O.D.A.)3. MBWA.4. Appreciation. (“Motivator” #1.) (Can’t be faked. Good.)5. Decency.6. Hurry.7. Time out.8. One matters. 9. Big change. Short time. (Alt not work.)10. Excellence. Always.11. Passion. Energy. Hustle. Enthusiasm. Exuberance. (Move mountains. No alt.)12. You must care.13. Emotion.14. Hard is soft. (Soft is hard.)

15. Men. Women. Different. Contend. Connect.16. Women. Buy. All. (RU listening?)17. Quality. (“Mind-blowing.” Beyond 6-Sigma.)18. Re-invent. Re-pot. (Required.)19. Jaywalk.20. Big change. Small # of people. (Always.)21. Experiment. Now.22. Failure. Normal. 23. Most failures, most success. (Fail. Forward. Fast.) 24. “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.”25. Women leaders. (Altered times.) 26. Extremism. (Good business. Bad politics.)27. Innovation source. Only. Extreme irritation.28. Smile.

29. You must care.30. Mentor. (Highest ROI.)31. Best “roster” wins.32. Wow. (Okay in biz.)33. We all have customers. (Biz. Personal.)34. All contacts = Experiences.35. Cirque du Soleil. (Peerless.)36. Leaders create space for growth.37. Quests. (Only.)38. High aspirations, “high” results. (Self-fulfilling prophecy.)39. Attitude 1, Skills 0. (Mostly.) (Attitude 1, Skill 0.3?)40. Sometimes: Skill 1, Attitude 0.1.41. Must “love,” not “like.”42. Wegman’s.” (No excuses. “Mere” groceries.)43. Less than your best. Cheating.

44. Brand You. (No alt.)45. Self-sufficiency. (Biggest LT turn-on.)46. In the moment.47. The moment wins.48. Tomorrow = Never. 49. Action 1, Plan 0.1.50. “Execution” can be a “system.”51. Realism.52. Own up. Move on.53. Accountability.54. Work hard > Work smart. (Mostly.)55. Feedback. Necessary. Fast. (R.F.A. in “RFA times.”)56. Customers. Listen. Lead. (Paradox.)57. “On stage.” Always. (GW, FDR, RG = Supreme actors.)

58. Master statistical analysis.59. Excellence = Set the table.60. Legacy. (Will it have mattered?)61. “Great.” (Why not?)62. Radicals rule. (Think … Olympics.)63. !!! = Good.64. Red 1, Brown 0. (Red times.)65. Talk. Listen. (“Big 2.” Master.)66. Politics. (Normal-inevitable state of affairs. Master.)67. Student. Forever.68. “Why?” (Question #1.)69. Don’t belittle.70. Respect.71. All we have: this moment. (“Moments matter most”?) 72. Now. (Procrastination. Death.)

73. Exercise.74. Paint. (Leader. Portraits of Excellence.)75. Best story wins.76. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”77. Two “big ones.” Max. (Priorities.)78. No “I” in Team. (“I” in Win.)79. “I” in Win. (No “I” in Team.)80. Different 1, Better 0. (Better = 0.1)81. Imitation = Mistake. (Learn, from who?)82. Choose/battle the “right” competitor.83. Schools. Creativity. Entrepreneurship. (Not.)84. MBAs. Creativity. Entrepreneurship. Leadership. (Not.)85. Design. Under-rated. Wildly. (Still.) (Everything.)

86. You = Calendar. (Calendar. Never. Lies.)87. Laugh.88. Handshake. (Quantity. Quality.)89. Don’t fold your hands in front of your

chest. Ever. (Never.)90. Grace. (“Works” in biz.)91. Weird. Wins. (Weird times.)92. Crazy times. Crazy orgs.93. Internet. All.94. Women. Boomers-Geezers. Market. All.95. Passion. (Repeat. So what?)96. Energy. (Repeat. So what?)97. Hustle. (Repeat. So what?)98. Enthusiasm. (Repeat. So what?)99. Exuberance. (Repeat. So what?)100. Smile. (Repeat. So what?)101. Care. (Repeat. So what?)

102. Simplicity. Redundancy. Resilience. Bloody- mindedness. Visible optimism. (Success.) 103. Act. (Repeat. So what?) 104. Appreciate. (Repeat. So what?)105. Fun. (Biz. Why not?)106. Joy. (Biz. Why not?)107. Sales = Life.108. Marketing = Life.109. Long-term. “Top line.”110. Great company = Creates the most individual success stories. (RE/MAX)111. Talent first, performance byproduct.112. Sustained Wow* 1, “Shareholder value,” 0.2 (*Product, People.)113. Commitment, by invitation only.114. Creativity, by invitation only. 115. HR = #1. (Ought to.)116. Face-to-face. (5K miles, 5 minutes.)

117. Negotiation. Make all winners. (Save face.)118. Grace makes enemies friends.119. Network.120. Invest in relationships. (Think ROIR. Return On Investment in Relationships.)118. Relationship investment. Forethought. Calendar item. Intensity.119. Innovation. Easy. (Hang out with weird.)120. Weird = Win. (Weird times.)121. “The bottleneck is at the top of the bottle.”122. Good Board = Weird Board. (At least, surprising.)123. No contention, no progress.

124. “Crucial conversations.” “Crucial confrontations.” (Study. Learn. Do.)125. Honest feedback.126. Gaspworthy. Yes. 127. “Insanely great.”128. “Astonish me.”129. “Make it immortal.”130. “Will you remember it in 20 years?”131. No small opportunities. (Reframe.)132. One playmate, one playpen = Enough.133. End run. Sensible.134. Allies are there for the finding.135. Find successes. Build on successes. (Pos > Neg. Encourage > Fix.)136. Somebody’s doing it today. Find ’em.137. Someone is living 2016 in 2006. (Find ’em. Study ’em.)

138. Don’t “benchmark,” “futuremark.” (2016. Happening. Somewhere.)139. “PMA.” It works.140. There are no experts. (You are the expert.)141. Life is short. 142. “Sustained success.” Fat chance. Make today matter. (“Sustained.” Ha.)143. Collaborate. (Networked world.)144. Go solo. (Individual. Unit of Intellectual Capital.)145. There are no “perfect” plans. (Do. Wins.)146. Plans motivate. (Right or wrong. Sense of purpose.)147. Never rest.148. Get some sleep.149. Winning = Embracing paradox.150. Ambiguity = Opportunity.

151. Resilience.152. Relentless-ness.153. None. Above. Comeuppance. (GM. Sears. U.S. Steel. DEC.)154. Be yourself. Period.155. Never work with jerks. Including customers. (Life. Too short.)156. Under-promise, over-deliver.157. Talent. (Powerful word.)158. “Customer = Anyone whose actions affect your results.”159. Competition stinks. (Seek the soft spots where you can dominate.)160. K.I.S.S./Keep It Simple, Stupid.161. Beauty. (Good biz word.)162. “See the beauty in a hamburger bun.” (Go. Ray.)

163. Own up. Quick. ( Denial. Cancer.)164. Celebrate. Often.165. 78 people = 78 approaches. (Each. Unique.)166. Weed. Ceaselessly. (Prune. Stupid. Rules. Non-stop.)167. Get out of the way. (You = The problem.)168. Smile. Sunny. Optimism. (If it kills you.)169. Flowers. (Cheery workplace.)170. Enjoy. (Or get the hell.)171. Be intolerant of “sour.” (1 = Major pollution)172. No “quick trigger” on promotion. (Too important.)173. Evaluation = Lots of study-time.174. Evaluation = “Life or death” to evaluee.175. “360” evaluation. No fad.176. Exit when you’re done. (Done. Sooner than you think.)

177. Today. Now. My Project. Am. Is. I. Period.178. “Beautiful” systems. (Good biz phrase. Not oxymoron.)179. Build on strengths > Fix weaknesses.180. “To don’t” = “To do.” (“To don’t” > “To do” ?)181. Leaders “Do” People. (Period.)182. Leaders enjoy leading.183. Serious leadership training = Serious.184. Priorities. Obvious. (Or else.)185. 5 “Priorities” = 0 Priorities. (3 “Priorities” = 0 Priorities?)186. People. First. Last. Always.187. It. Is. Always. The. People.

188. Handshake. (Quantity. Quality.)189. Don’t fold your hands in front of your chest. Ever. (Never.)190. Simplicity. Redundancy. Resilience. Bloody-mindedness. Visible optimism. (Success.) (Repeat.)191. Employee Entrance = Guest Entrance.192. Put the customer SECOND. (Thanks, Hal.)193. Flowers. (Or did I say that before? No matter if I did.)194. Big Mergers don’t work. Small acquisitions can/do work—if you don’t screw with their energy.

195. Instinctively “head for the front line.” (In all contexts.)196. Success = DDMMPR/"D-squared, M-squared, PR” = DramDiff + Money-Financial Acumen + Good “Marketing” Instincts + Stellar People + Resilience (The “fab five”: What. Every. Small. Biz. Needs.) (Big too.)197. Core Mechanism (“Game-changing Solutions”): PSF (Professional Service Firm “model”) + Wow! Projects (“Different” vs “Better”) + Brand You (“Distinct” or “Extinct”)198. 2011/2016 has already happened. Find it.

199. Kids “know” kids. Oldies “know” oldies. Women “know” women. (Staff accordingly.)200. Everybody is my customer.201. Cosset “vendors.”202. I want to run a Housekeeping department. (And you?)203. The military doesn’t follow the “military model.” (Initiative = Excellence.)204. No such thing as “going to absurd lengths” to serve the Customer. (HSM & Lefties.)205. Forget the “customer.” All = “Clients.”206. It takes decades to get over “sleights.” (So don’t sleight.)207. Don’t “dumb down.” Ever.

208. NO LESS THAN EXCELLENCE. EVER.209. EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.

Work In Progress

XXX. One size fits. One. Only. (Evaluations. Period.)XXX. Teaching. Individualized. Only. (6 billion people = 6 billion learning trajectories.) (Montessori.)XXX. First impression. Matters. Shapes all that comes. Hard to overcome. (Understatement.)XXX. Jerks. Don’t work with. (Life = Too short.)XXX. Manage [the hell out of] first impressions.XXX. Last impression. Matters. Dominates memory. Hard to overcome. (Understatement.)XXX. Manage [the hell out of] last impressions.XXX. Plain English.XXX. K.I.S.S. (450/8.)XXX. $798. $55,000,000,000. 3,000,000,000. 7AM-7PM. 6:15AM.XXX. Donnelly Weatherstrip rules.XXX. Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing. NOT.