A Passion for

Passion:
The Motivational Speech

Tom Peters/12June04
“Uncertainty is the only thing to be
sure of.” —Anthony Muh,
head of investment in Asia, Citigroup Asset Management

“If you don’t like change, you’re

going to like irrelevance even less.” —
General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff,
U. S. Army
 Forget>“Learn”
“The problem is never how
to get new, innovative
thoughts into your mind,
but how to get the old
ones out.”
Dee Hock
“I’m not comfortable unless
I’m uncomfortable.”
—Jay Chiat
“If things seem under
control, you’re just not
going
fast enough.”
Mario Andretti
A Bias for
Action
 The Kotler Doctrine:

1965-1980: R.A.F.
(Ready.Aim.Fire.)

1980-1995: R.F.A.
(Ready.Fire!Aim.)

1995-????: F.F.F.
(Fire!Fire!Fire!)
 “We have a
‘strategic’ plan. It’s
called doing things.” —
Herb Kelleher
“When assessing candidates, the first
thing I looked for was energy and
enthusiasm for execution. Does she
talk about the thrill of getting things
done, the obstacles overcome, the role
her people played—or does she keep
wandering back to strategy or
philosophy?” —Larry Bossidy,
Honeywell/AlliedSignal, in Execution
 Fail.
Forward.
Fast.
“Fail faster.
Succeed
sooner.”
David Kelley/IDEO
 Fail.
Forward.
Fast.
–High-tech Exec
 “Reward
excellent
failures. Punish
mediocre successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec (and, de facto, Jack)
Seek Out
Weird!
“To grow, companies need
to break out of a vicious
cycle of competitive
benchmarking and
imitation.” —W. Chan Kim & Rene 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
 We become
who we hang
out with!
“Ninety percent of what
we call ‘management’
consists of making it
difficult for people to get
things done.” – P.D.
 “I start with the premise that
the function of leadership is to
produce more leaders, not
more followers.”—Ralph Nader
Brand You, Big Time!

I AM AN
ARMY OF
ONE
 “It is no use saying
‘We are doing our
best.’ You have got to
succeed in doing what
is necessary.” —WSC
“To Don’t ”
List
Best Talent
Wins!
 Talent!

Tina Brown: “The first thing

to do is to hire enough
talent that a critical mass
of excitement starts to
grow.”
Source: Business2.0/12.2002-01.2003
 “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
Message: Some
people are
better than other
people. Some people
are a helluva lot
better than other
people.
 Talent
Department
“AS LEADERS, WOMEN
RULE: New Studies find
that female managers
outshine their male
counterparts in almost
every measure”
Title, Special Report, BusinessWeek, 11.20.00
Women Rule!
“AS LEADERS, WOMEN
RULE: New Studies find
that female managers
outshine their male
counterparts in almost
every measure”
Title, Special Report, BusinessWeek, 11.20.00
“JUST GOT LAID
OFF? HIRE
YOURSELF!”—Cover
story, Forbes, 12 May 2003
 “If there is nothing
very special about
your work, no matter how
hard you apply yourself, you
won’t get noticed, and that
increasingly means you won’t
get paid much either.”
Michael Goldhaber, Wired
 The Rule of Positioning

“If you can’t describe

your position in eight
words or less, you don’t
have a position.”
— Jay Levinson and Seth Godin, Get What You
Deserve!
“Nobody gives you
power. You just
take it.”—Roseanne
 “You are the storyteller
of your own life, and you
can create your own
legend or not.”
Isabel Allende
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
It’s in Your
Hands!
 Bill Parcells’ World/
Brand You World!

BLAME NOBODY!
EXPECT NOTHING!
DO SOMETHING!
NY Post (9/99)
Educate for a
Creative
Society
Make Dreams
Come True!
A Sea of Sameness
“While everything may
be better, it
is also
increasingly
the same.”
Paul Goldberger on retail, “The Sameness of Things,”
The New York Times
“Companies have defined
so much ‘best practice’
that they are now more or
less identical.”
Jesper Kunde, Unique Now ... or Never
“Clients want either the
best or the least
expensive; there is no in
between.” —John Dijulius, Secret Service
Dream Marketing
 DREAM: “A dream is a complete
moment in the life of a client.
Important experiences that tempt
the client to commit substantial
resources. The essence of the
desires of the consumer. The
opportunity to help clients become
what they want to be.” —Gian Luigi
Longinotti-Buitoni
 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
 “The Ritz-Carlton
experience enlivens the
senses, instills well-
being, and fulfills even
the unexpressed wishes
and needs of our guests.”
— from the Ritz-Carlton Credo
 EVEolution: Truth No. 1

Connecting Your Female

Consumers to Each
Other Connects Them to
Your Brand
“Women don’t buy
They
brands.

join them.”
EVEolution
 Purchasing Patterns

Women: Harder to convince; more

loyal once convinced.

Men: Snap decision; fickle.

Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women

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.
“You do not merely want to
be the best of the best. You
want to be considered
the only ones who do
what you do.”
Jerry Garcia
“A great company
is defined by the
fact that it
is not compared
to its peers.”
Phil Purcell, Morgan Stanley
 Brand = You Must Care!
“Success means never
letting the competition
define you. Instead you have
to define yourself based on a
point of view you care deeply
about.”
Tom Chappell, Tom’s of Maine
 Rules of “Radical Marketing”
Love + Respect Your Customers!
Hire only Passionate Missionaries!
Create a Community of Customers!
Celebrate Craziness!
Be insanely True to the Brand!

Sam Hill & Glenn Rifkin, Radical Marketing

(e.g., Harley, Virgin, The Dead, HBS, NBA)
The Vision
Thing
G.H.:“Create a
‘cause,’ not a
‘business.’ ”
“I never, ever thought of myself
as a businessman.I was
interested in creating
things I would be
proud of.” —Richard Branson
“Vision is a love
affair with an
idea.” —Boyd Clarke & Ron
Crossland, The Leader’s Voice
“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
“A key – perhaps the key –
to leadership is
the effective
communication
of a story.”
Howard Gardner
Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership
Leaders don’t just make products
and make decisions.

Leaders make
meaning. – John Seely Brown
 “Leadership is the
PROCESS of
ENGAGING PEOPLE in
CREATING a LEGACY
of EXCELLENCE.”
Leaders Are
“Dealers in
Hope”
BZ: “I am a …
Dispenser of
Enthusiasm!”
Hackneyed but none the less
LEADERS SEE
true:
CUPS AS “HALF
FULL.”
 “[Ronald
Half-full Cups:
Reagan] radiated an
almost transcendent
happiness.”
Lou Cannon, George (08.2000)
“I’m not sure about his politics,
but that’s not what made him
great. He inspired people. He
made us all feel better about
ourselves.” —bystander, California, during RR
funeral
You Must
Care!
“I didn’t have a ‘mission statement’ at
Burger King. I had a dream. Very
simple. It was something like, ‘Burger
King is 250,000 people, every one of
whom gives a shit.’ Every one.
Accounting. Systems. Not just the
drive through. Everyone is ‘in the
brand.’ That’s what we’re talking
about, nothing less.”
— Barry Gibbons
 “The deepest human
need to
need is the
be appreciated.”
William James
“The two most powerful things
a kind
in existence:
word and a
thoughtful
gesture.”
Ken Langone, CEO, Invemed Associates [from Ronna
Lichtenberg, It’s Not Business, It’s Personal]
 “We look for ...

“... listening, caring,

smiling, saying ‘Thank
you,’ being warm.”
— Colleen Barrett, President, Southwest Airlines
“Soft” Is
“Hard”
- ISOE
 Message: Leadership is
all about love! [Passion,
Enthusiasms, Appetite for Life,
Engagement, Commitment, Great
Causes & Determination to Make a
Damn Difference, Shared Adventures,
Bizarre Failures, Growth, Insatiable
Appetite for Change.] [Otherwise, why bother?
Just read Dilbert. TP’s final words: CYNICISM SUCKS.]
 “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
 “Wealth in this new regime flows
directly from innovation, not
optimization. That is, wealth is not
gained by perfecting the known,
but by imperfectly seizing the
unknown.”
Kevin Kelly, New Rules for the New Economy
 No Wiggle Room!

“Incrementalism
is innovation’s
worst enemy.”
Nicholas Negroponte
 “It’s no longer enough to be a
‘change agent.’ You must be a
change insurgent—provoking,
prodding, warning everyone in sight
that complacency is death.”
—Bob Reich
“You can’t behave in a calm,
rational manner. You’ve got
to be out there on the lunatic
fringe.” — Jack Welch
“In Tom’s world, it’s always better
to try a swan
dive and deliver a colossal belly
flop than to step timidly off the
board while holding your nose.” —
Fast Company /October2003
Successful Businesses’ Dozen Truths: TP’s 30-Year Perspective

1. Insanely Great & Quirky Talent.

2. Disrespect for Tradition.
3. Totally Passionate (to the Point of Irrationality) Belief in What
We Are Here to Do.
4. Utter Disbelief at the Bullshit that Marks “Normal Industry Behavior.”
5. A Maniacal Bias for Execution … and Utter Contempt
for Those Who Don’t “Get It.”
6. Speed Demons.
7. Up or Out. (Meritocracy Is Thy Name. Sycophancy Is Thy Scourge.)
8. Passionate Hatred of Bureaucracy.
9. Willingness to Lead the Customer … and Take the Heat Associated
Therewith. (Mantra: Satan Invented Focus Groups to Derail True
Believers.)
10. “Reward Excellent Failures. Punish Mediocre Successes.”
11. Courage to Stand Alone on One’s Record of Accomplishment
Against All the Forces of Conventional Wisdom.
12. A Crystal Clear Understanding of Brand Power.
 “Sir Richard’s Rules:
“Follow your passions.
“Keep it simple.
“Get the best people to help you.
Re-create yourself.
“Play.”
Source: Fortune/10.03
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!
Have you changed
civilization today?
Source: HP banner ad
“the wildest
chimera of a
moonstruck
mind” —The Federalist on
Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase
 “If you ask me what I
have come to do in this
world, I who am an
artist, I will reply: I am
here to live my life out
loud.” — Émile Zola
 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!

 HTSH: You Must Care
Make the time each day to offer an expression
of appreciation to just one of your fellow
human beings. It is the accumulation of such
“small” kindnesses and acts of recognition
that add up to a life worth having been lived.
In short … you must care. You must wear
your passion and compassion on your sleeve,
and attend assiduously to the moment. It will
not come ’round again.

Key word: Care

 “You must be
the change you
wish to see in the
world.”
Gandhi
 “Life is not a journey to the
grave with the intention of
arriving safely in a pretty and
well-preserved body—but rather
a skid in broadside, thoroughly
used up, totally worn out, and
loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow, what
a ride!’ ” —anon.