Tom Peters’ Re-imagine 2005:

Innovate! or

Die!
InnoDie.LONG.1110.2005
Innovate
or

Die!!!
Pathet
ic!
Resist
 “The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of

similar companies, employing

similar people, with similar
educational backgrounds, coming up with

similar ideas, producing similar

similar prices and
things, with

similar quality.”
Just Say “No” to …

Imitatio
n!
 “The short road
to ruin is to emulate the
methods of your
adversary.” — Winston Churchill
 GH/TP:

“Get better”
vs
“Get different”
 “The ‘mass market’ is dead.
Consumers look for either price or

quality. The middle is

untenable.”
—Walter Robb/COO/Whole Foods/Investors Business Daily/06.20.05
 “Clients want either the
best or the least expensive;
there is no in between.”
—from John Di Julius, Secret Service
 “How do dominant
companies lose their
position? Two-thirds of
the time, they pick the
wrong competitor to
worry about.” —Don Listwin, CEO,
Openwave Systems/WSJ/06.01.2004 (commenting on Nokia)
 We become who
we hang out with!
“Reward excellent
failures. Punish
mediocre successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
 Read It Closely: “We don’t sell

We sell
insurance anymore.

speed.”
Peter Lewis, Progressive
“Strategy meetings held once or
“Strategy
twice a year” to
meetings needed several
times a week”
Source: New York Times on Meg Whitman/eBay
“Ninety percent of what we call
‘management’ consists of
making it difficult for people to
get things done.” – Peter Drucker
 “Execution is the
job of the business
leader.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The
Discipline of Getting Things Done
“We have a ‘strategic’
plan. It’s called doing
things.” — Herb Kelleher
“I saw that leaders placed too much emphasis on
what some call high-level strategy, on
intellectualizing and philosophizing, and not
enough on implementation. People would agree
on a project or initiative, and then nothing
would come of it.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“Execution is a systematic process of
rigorously discussing hows and
whats, tenaciously following through,
and ensuring accountability.” —Larry Bossidy
& Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
 The Leader’s Seven Essential Behaviors
*Know your people and your business
*Insist on realism
*Set clear goals and priorities
*Follow through
*Reward the doers
*Expand people’s capabilities
*Know yourself
Source: Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“Realism is the
heart of
execution.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution:
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
1. Every morning, write a
list of the things that
need to be done that day.

2. Do them.
Source: Hugh MacLeod/tompeters.com/NPR
 “The First step in a ‘dramatic’
‘organizational change program’
is obvious—dramatic personal
change!” —RG
 Customer
Bear In Mind:

Satisfaction versus
Customer

Success
Experience It !
Hire for attitude.
Train for skills.
 “Create a
G.H.:

‘cause,’ not a
‘business.’ ”
“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

‘Who
first question for a leader always is:

do we intend to be?’ Not

‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we
intend to be?’”
—Max De Pree, Herman Miller
"If your actions inspire others
to dream more, learn more, do
more and become more, you are
a leader." —John Quincy Adams
 “The deepest human need is the
need to be appreciated.”
William James
“You must be the
change you wish to
see in the world.”
Gandhi
“Fail faster.
Succeed
sooner.”
David Kelley/IDEO
 Dispense
Enthusiasm!
“Nothing is so
contagious as
enthusiasm.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
BZ: “I am a …
Dispenser of
Enthusiasm!”
 “A man without a
smiling face must not
open a shop.” —Chinese Proverb*

*Courtesy Tom Morris, The Art of Achievement

“Tell me, what is it you
plan to do with your one
wild and precious life?”
—Mary Oliver
 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!

Stay Hungry. Stay
Foolish.
Steve Jobs
 Avoid …
Moderation!
 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
 “[Other]
Nelson’s secret:

admirals more frightened

of losing than anxious to
win”
Free the Lunatic
Within …
 “You can’t behave in a
calm, rational manner.
You’ve got to be out there
on the lunatic fringe.” — Jack
Welch
Forward, March!
Let us
march !