First Things First Tom Peters/0913.10

NOTE: To appreciate this presentation [and ensure that it is not a mess], you need Microsoft fonts: “Showcard Gothic,” “Ravie,” “Chiller” and “Verdana”

I have discovered that sometimes the most important points I want to make are buried somewhere in my presentation. Hence, of late I start presentations with “two things I am determined to leave behind—which, if you attend obsessively, will cover my fees X1000.” 3

xfx 4

X =XFX* *eXcellence = Cross-functional eXcellence

The Strategic Importance of XFX (Cross-functional eXcellence) I believe that in most any organization of, say, more than a dozen people, the #1 issue is “cross-functional communication-integration.” It is both “Problem #1” and “Opportunity #1.” From intelligent pattern recognition to order execution to innovation, our INTERNAL barriers, not our competitors’ cleverness, are the principal impediment to effectiveness. I suspect we all agree with that. But is it—AND IT RARELY IS—literally seen as “SO1” —Strategic Opportunity #1? (Please do me the honor of thinking about this.) 6

Never waste a lunch!

Much more needs to be said, but the assumption that XFX depends on great systems is fallacious. Great systems are important. But … the #1 issue in achieving XFX is … SOCIAL! That is, XFX is dependent on the breadth and depth of social relationships among members of various functions. And such relationships in turn are 1st and foremost the provenance of … DOING LUNCH! (I’m not kidding.) 8

*Measure! Monthly! Part of everyone’s evaluation! % XF lunches* *Measure! Monthly! Part of everyone’s evaluation!

220 ABs/year

The working year amounts to about 240 days The working year amounts to about 240 days. 240 days = 240 lunch opportunities. Or, in my lingo: 240 At Bats. So … 11

Lunch > SAP/ Oracle

1st-line management 13

#1 cause of employee Dis-satisfaction?

Employee Retention & Satisfaction: Overwhelmingly … based on the first-line manager! Source: Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently

If “people are everything”— AND THEY SURELY ARE —then their effectiveness “is everything.” And without a shadow of doubt the #1 determinant of their effectiveness—productivity, engagement, teamwork—is the quality of the 1st-line manager.* *I cite Marcus Buckingham’s excellent research in the prior slide. While his work is indeed seminal, there is in fact a ton of evidence that supports this point. 16

Capital Asset! **Selecting and training and mentoring one’s pool of front- line managers can be a “Core Competence” of surpassing strategic importance. **Put under a microscope every attribute of the cradle-to- grave process of building the capability of our cadre of front-line managers.

I do not suggest for a second that organizations don’t take the 1st-line manager’s job “seriously.” I do suggest that 9.7 out of 10 are less than … OBSESSED … with the selection and training and mentoring of these organizational lynchpins. And fail to see the “portfolio of 1st-line managers” as a premier … STRATEGIC ASSET. 18