7. “ 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
9. Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics” 1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonom y and Entre p reneurshi p 4. Productivity Through Peo p le 5. Hands On , Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Sim p le Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties
18. “ 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 to p!” — Gary Hamel/ Harvard Business Review
19. “ Diverse groups of problem solvers—groups of people with diverse tools—consistently outperformed groups of the best and the brightest. If I formed two groups, one random (and therefore diverse) and one consisting of the best individual performers, the first group almost always did better. … Diversity trumped ability .” —Scott Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies Diversity
22. Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything — Don Tapscott & Anthony Williams
23. Wikinomics WikiWorld Weapons of Mass collaboration CrowdSourcing smart mobs Linux Human genomw project InnoCentive YouTube Second Life Wikipedia Myspace
24. “ The Billion-man Research Team: Companies offering work to online communities are reaping the benefits of ‘crowdsourcing.’” —Headline, FT , 0110.07
25. 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.
29. “ 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
31. “ 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 to plan — for months .” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
50. “ 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)
59. “ Experiences are as distinct from services as services are from goods.” —Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore, The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage
60. Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!” “What we sell is the ability for a 43-year-old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns and have people be afraid of him.” Harley exec, quoted in Results-Based Leadership
64. “ The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices and s imilar quality.” —Kjell Nordstr ö m and Jonas Ridderstr å le, Funky Business
73. The “Small Guys” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16 * Niche-aimed. (Never, ever “all things for all people,” a “mini-Wal*Mart.) * Never attack the monsters head on! (Instead steal niche business and lukewarm customers.) * “ Dramaticall y Different ” (La Difference ... within our community, our industry regionally, etc … is as obvious as the end of one’s nose!) (THIS IS WHERE MOST MIDGETS COME UP SHORT.) * Compete on value/experience/intimacy, not price. (You ain’t gonna beat the behemoths on cost-price in 9.99 out of 10 cases.) * Emotional bond with Clients, Vendors. (BEAT THE BIGGIES ON EMOTION/CONNECTION!!)
74. The “Small Gu y s” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16 * Hands-on, emotional leadership. (“We are a great & cool & intimate & joyful & dramatically different team working to transform our Clients lives via Consistently Incredible Experiences!”) * A community star! (“Sell” local-ness per se. Sell the hell out of it!) * An incredible experience, from the first to last moment—and then in the follow-up! (“These guys are cool! They ‘get’ me! They love me!”) * DESIGN DRIVEN! (“Design” is a premier weapon-in-pursuit-of-the sublime for small-ish enterprises, including the professional services.)
75. The “Small Gu y s” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16 * Employer of choice. (A very cool, well-paid place to work/learning and growth experience in at least the short term … marked by notably progressive policies.) (THIS IS EMINENTLY DO-ABLE!!) * Sophisticated use of information technology . (Small-“ish” is no excuse for “small aims”/execution in IS/IT!) * Web-power! (The Web can make very small very big … if the product-service is super-cool and one purposefully masters buzz/viral marketing.) * Innovative! (Must keep renewing and expanding and revising and re-imagining “the promise” to employees, the customer, the community.)
76. The “Small Gu y s” Guide: Wallop Wal*Mart16 * Brand-Lovemark* (*Kevin Roberts) Maniacs ! (“Branding” is not just for big folks with big budgets. And modest size is actually a Big Advantage in becoming a local-regional-niche “lovemark.”) * Focus on women-as-clients. (Most don’t. How stupid.) * Excellence! (A small player … per me … has no right or reason to exist unless they are in Relentless Pursuit of Excellence. One earns the right—one damn day and client experience at a time!—to beat the Big Guys in your chosen niche!)
79. Furniture vs. Dreams “We do not sell ‘furniture’ at Domain. We sell dreams . This is accomplished by addressing the half-formed needs in our customers’ heads. By uncovering these needs, we, in essence, fill in the blanks. We convert ‘needs’ into ‘dreams.’ Sales are the inevitable result .” — Judy George, Domain Home Fashions
80. The Value-added Ladder/ EMOTION Dreams Come True Spellbinding Experiences Gamechanging Solutions Services Goods Raw Materials
94. “ Forget China , India and the Internet : Economic Growth Is Driven by Women .” —Headline, Economist , April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
95. Women’s Trifecta+ * Buy * Wealth * Lead + ECLIPSE OF MALES (Old/Retire; Young/Poorly educated)
96. “ Women are the majority market” —Fara Warner/ The Power of the Purse
97. “ Women don’t buy brands. They join them .” EVEolution
98. Selling to men: The TRANSACTION Model Selling to Women: The RELATIONAL Model Source: Selling to Men, Selling to Women , Jeffery Tobias Halter
99. 10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE Women make [all] the financial decisions. Women control [all] the wealth. Women [substantially] outlive men. Women start most of the new businesses. Women’s work force participation rates have soared worldwide. [2 of 3] Women are closing in on “same pay for same job.” Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly [even if the pace is slow for the corner office per se]. Women’s leadership strengths are exceptionally well aligned with new organizational effectiveness & value-added imperatives. Women are better salespersons than men. Women buy [almost] everything—commercial as well as consumer goods. So what exactly is … the point of men ?
100. “ AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE : New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure” TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
101. New (4 of 7) Value-added “Ladder”: Plays to Women’s Inherent Strengths! Lovemark/ F Dreams Come True/ F Spellbinding Experiences/ F Gamechanging Solutions/ F Services/ F Goods/ M Raw Materials/ M
103. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “ People turning 50 today have more than half of their adult life ahead of them.” —Bill Novelli, 50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America
104. Average # of cars purchased per household, “lifetime”: 13 Average # of cars bought per household after the “head of household” reaches age 50: 7 Source: Marti Barletta, PrimeTime Women
105. 44-65 : “New Customer Majority” * *45% larger than 18-43; 60% larger by 2010 Source: Ageless Marketing , David Wolfe & Robert Snyder
112. The Manager’s Book of Decencies: How Small gestures Build Great Companies —Steve Harrison, Adecco Servant Leadership —Robert Greenleaf One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership —Lance Secretan, founder of Manpower, Inc.
114. Servant Leadership /Robert Greenleaf 1. Do those served grow as persons? 2. Do they, while being served, become healthier wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?
115. “ Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” —Philo of Alexandria
117. THE PROBLEM IS RARELY/NEVER THE PROBLEM. THE RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEM INVARIABLY ENDS UP BEING THE REAL PROBLEM . * *RMN, M Stewart, WJC, “Scooter” Libby
118. OFTEN AS NOT/MORE OFTEN THAN NOT THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM IS NOT MUCH OF A PROBLEM.
119. PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS. PERIOD .* *From Whole Foods to IBM to the corner deli
120. Relationships (of all varieties) : THERE ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN A THREE - MINUTE PHONE CALL WOULD HAVE AVOIDED SETTING OFF THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL THAT RESULTED IN A COMPLETE RUPTURE.
121. “ WHY NOT JUST TELL THE TRUTH?” —Raymond Carver
124. “ 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
125. “ The deepest human need is the need to be appreciated.” William James
127. “ Ph.D. in leadership. Short course: Make a short list of all things done to you that you abhorred. Don’t do them to others. Ever. Make another list of things done to you that you loved. Do them to others. Always.” — Dee Hock
129. “ No matter what the situation, [the great manager’s] first response is always to think about the individual concerned and how things can be arranged to help that individual experience success.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
130. “ The key difference between checkers and chess is that in checkers the pieces all move the same way, whereas in chess all the pieces move differently. … Discover what is unique about each person and capitalize on it .” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
131. “ The mediocre manager believes that most things are learnable and therefore that the essence of management is to identify ach person’s weaker areas and eradicate them. The great manager believes the opposite. He believes that the most influential qualities of a person are innate and therefore that the essence of management is to deploy these innate qualities as effectively as possible and so drive performance .” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
132. “ The one thin g you need to know about sustained individual success: Discover what you don’t like doing and stop doing it.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know
134. “ Do one thing every day that scares you.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
135. “ Every time we come to a comfort zone, we will find a way out.” “No Cloning.” “‘Reinvent the brand’ with each new show.” “A typical day at the office for me begins by asking, ‘ What is impossible that I am going to do today ?’” —Daniel Lamarre, president, Cirque du Soleil
138. “ 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
140. “ The leaders of Great Groups love talent and know where to find it. They revel in the talent of others.” —Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius
143. 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; i.e., 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.
148. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
149. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
150. “ 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)
151. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
152. “ Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
153. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
154. “ The role of the Director is to create a space where the actors and actresses can become more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being .” —Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
155. “ In the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management invites the workforce itself to change the culture.” —Lou Gerstner
156. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
158. MBWA * *5,000 miles for a 5-minute face-to -face meeting (courtesy super- agent Mark McCormick)
159. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
160. “ The First step in a ‘dramatic’ ‘organizational change program’ is obvious— dramatic personal change !” —RG
161. “ You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi
162. “ A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.” —Chinese Proverb
163. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
164. Relentless : “One of my superstitions had always been when I started to go anywhere or to do anything, not to turn back , or stop, until the thing intended was accomplished.” —Grant
165. “ Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” —William Feather, author
166. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
168. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
169. 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 !
170. " The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.” —GB Shaw, Man and Superman: The Revolutionists' Handbook.
171. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
172. On NELSON: “[other] admirals more frightened of losing than anxious to win”
173. The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. Michelangelo
174. PURPOSE . PASSION . Potential . Presence . Personal . PERSISTENCE . PEOPLE . Potent . Positive .
175. “ Excellence can be obtained if you: ... care more than others think is wise; ... risk more than others think is safe; ... dream more than others think is practical; ... expect more than others think is possible.” Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
176. "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting ‘ GERONIMO!’ ” — Bill McKenna, professional motorcycle racer ( Cycle magazine 02.1982)
