Tom Peters Seminar2000 Distinct or … Extinct TechLearn2000 & The World eLearning Congress Orlando/ 14November2000
Part I: Brand Inside Part II: Brand Outside Part III: Brand Leadership
Work I The Destruction Imperative!
NOW THAT’S B-I-G! “The period will bring the single greatest change in worldwide economic and business conditions since we came down from the trees.” David Schneider & Grady Means, MetaCapitalism
“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, Business 2.0 (08.00)
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
“When asked to name just one big merger that had lived up to expectations, Leon Cooperman, former cochairman of Goldman Sachs’ Investment Policy Committee, answered: I’m sure there are success stories out there, but at this moment I draw a blank.” Mark Sirower, The Synergy Trap
“Acquisitions are about buying market share. Our challenge is to create markets. There is a big difference.” Peter Job, CEO, Reuters
“Our ideal acquisition is a small startup that has a great technology product on the drawing board that is going to come out in six to twelve months. We buy the engineers and the next generation product. …” John Chambers, Cisco
The [New] G e Way DYB.com
The Gales of Creative Destruction +29M = -44M + 73M +4M = +4M - 0M
Lessons from the Bees! Since merger mania is now the rage, what lessons can the bees teach us? A simple one: Merging is not in nature. [Nature’s] process is the exact opposite: one of growth, fragmentation and dispersal. There is no megalomania, no merging for merging’s sake. The point is that unlike corporations, which just get bigger, bee colonies know when the time has come to split up into smaller colonies which can grow value faster. What the bees are telling us is that the corporate world has got it all wrong.” David Lascelles, Co-director of The Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation [UK]
Learning Connection Learning is less important than forgetting.
Brand Inside Brand Org: Lean, Linked, Electronic & Malleable
Headline: “Bank of America to Cut … 10,000 Jobs” “Middle-level and senior managers are expected to be the principal targets of the job cutbacks.” Source: The New York Times ( )
White Collar Revolution!
The Pincer 5 “Destructive” entrepreneurs/ Global Competition “White Collar Robots” THE INTERNET! [E.g.: GM + Ford + DaimlerChrysler] Global Outsourcing [E.g.: India, Mexico] Speed!!
“Assetless Company” John Bryan, CEO, on selling all Sara Lee’s manufacturing
RR on “Assetless” [J.B.] Sara Lee “The most profitable businesses in the future will act as knowledge brokers, linking insights into what’s available with insights into the customer’s individual needs and preferences.”
Advance Paradigm Data on 165,000,000 prescriptions per year; docs and insurers have access to records Reduces med errors; saves $2.88 per scrip [prescribing errors]; docs save $14,000 per year in review time Rev in ’99: $2B; $477M in ’98 Source: Business Week (09.00)
Learning Connection Forget it: Blow the corporation up. Now.
Brand Inside Brand Work: The Professional Service Firm Model & The WOW Project
So what will be the Basic Building Block of the New Org?
Answer: PSF! [Professional Service Firm] Department Head to … Managing Partner, HR [IS, etc.] Inc.
“P.S.F.”: Summary H.V.A. Projects (100%) Pioneer Clients WOW Work (see below) Hot “Talent” (see below) “Adventurous” “culture” Point of View (Methodology) W.W.P.F. (100%) When: Now!
The Raw Material … The WOW Project!
“Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
Heart of the Matter F2F!* *Freak to Freak … or K2K [Kook to Kook]
Epitaph from Hell … Joe T. Jones 1942 – 2000 HE WOULDA DONE SOME REALLY COOL STUFF BUT … HIS BOSS WOULDN’T LET HIM!
Characteristics of the “Also rans”* “Minimize risk” “Respect the chain of command” “Support the boss” “Make budget” *Fortune, article on “Most Admired Global Corporations”
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
Learning Connection Forget it: Work = WOW Projects that attack conventional wisdom.
Brand Inside Brand You: Distinct … or Extinct
“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
New World of Work < 1 in 10 F500 #1: Manpower Inc. Freelancers/I.C.: 16M-25M Temps: 3M (incl. CEOs & lawyers) Microbusinesses: 12M-27M Total: 31M-55M Source: Daniel Pink, Free Agent Nation
Minimum New Work SurvivalSkillsKit2000 Mastery Rolodex Obsession (vert. to horiz. “loyalty”) Finishing Skills Entrepreneurial Instinct CEO/Leader/Businessperson Mistress of Improv Sense of Humor Intense Appetite for Technology Groveling Before the Young Embracing “Marketing” Passion for Renewal
Invent. Reinvent. Repeat. Source: HP banner ad
Learning Connection Forget it: Re-invent yourself. Again & again.
Brand Inside Brand Talent: The Great War for Talent
“When land was the scarce resource, nations battled over it. The same is happening now for talented people.” Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH
From “1, 2 or 3” [JW] to … “Best talent in each industry segment to build best proprietary intangibles” [EM] Source: Ed Michaels, War for Talent ( )
“Talented people are less likely to wait their turn. We used to view young people as trainees; now they are authorities. Arguably this is the first time the older generation can – and must – leverage the younger generation very early in their careers.” Ed Michaels, War for Talent ( )
“Diversity defines the health and wealth of nations in a new century. Mighty is the mongrel. … The hybrid is hip. The impure, the mélange, the adulterated, the blemished, the rough, the black-and-blue, the mix-and-match – these people are inheriting the earth. Mixing is the new norm. Mixing trumps isolation. It spawns creativity, nourishes the human spirit, spurs economic growth and empowers nations.” G. Pascal Zachary, The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans and the Competitive Edge
The Cracked Ones Let in the Light “Our business needs a massive transfusion of talent, and talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among non-conformists, dissenters and rebels.” David Ogilvy
Women and new- economy management …
The New Economy … Shout goodbye to “command and control”! Shout goodbye to hierarchy! Shout goodbye to “knowing one’s place”!
Women’s Stuff = New Economy Match Improv skills Relationship-centric Less “rank consciousness” Self determined Trust sensitive Intuitive Natural “empowerment freaks” [less threatened by strong people] Intrinsic [motivation] > Extrinsic
“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
“Boys are trained in a way that will make them irrelevant.” Phil Slater
It’s Girls, Stupid! 1996: 8.4M women, 6.7M men in college (est: 9.2 to 6.9 in 2007); more women than men in high-level math and science courses More girls in student govt., honor societies; girls read more books, outperform boys in artistic and musical ability, study abroad in higher numbers Boys do rule: crime, alcohol, drugs, failure to do homework (4:1) Source: The Atlantic Monthly (May2000)
“AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE: New Studies find that female managers outshine their male counterparts an almost every measure” Title, Special Report, Business Week,
Mantra2000 Talent = Brand
“We have transitioned from an asset-based strategy to a talent-based strategy.” Jeff Skilling, COO, Enron
Learning Connection Forget it: Hire freaks. Hire kids. Dump males.
New Economy: Was-Is Pine-paneled Office Address: 1 Big Man Plaza Secretary Suit Formal Rank conscious Pretense (“Failures are for fools.”) I love “Yes men” Self-contained Seat 9B, UA233 Address: Typing: 60 WPM Casual M-F Approachable We are a HOT Team Screwing up is as normal as breathing I love Misfits! I love partners
Renewal = The “High S.D.” Org/Individual Pioneer Acquisitions [+ “Sell-by”] Pioneer Customers [Measure the Portfolio] Divide & Conquer [Lessons from the Bees] Pioneer Assignments/Pioneer Projects [F2F & K2K] Hire Weird [Diversity]/Train Weird/ Promote Weird/Acquire & Cherish & Pay & Promote [Fast] [“Six Sigma”] Talent/Appoint Weird Board Weed Un-weird [“One Sigma” “Talent”] Hang with Weird [Univ. of Weird]/Lunch with Weird Read & Surf Weird/Vacate Weird [Six Sigma, Zero Sigma] R.A.F. to R.F.A. to F.F.F. [O.O.D.A. Loops/ Prototyping Mania] Sense of Humor [Cherish Thine Failures]
Part I: Brand Inside Part II: Brand Outside Part III: Brand Leadership
Work II The Commodity Trap
“The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, working in similar jobs, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices and similar quality.” Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale, Funky Business
“We make over three new product announcements a day. Can you remember them? Our customers can’t!” Carly Fiorina
Brand Outside The Death Knell for Ordinary: Pursuing Difference!
Learning Connection Forget it: Ordinary kills. Pursue abnormal.
Beyond Ordinary: The Eight Strategies Pursue Pioneering Customers! Re-invent via E-commerce & the Web! Scramble up the V.A. Chain! Embrace Design! Emphasize the Total Experience! Seek Out “Opportunity #1”! [& #1A] Cede Control! Become Brand-obsessed!
Brand Outside Strategy 1 : Hitch Your Wagon to Pioneers !
“Our strategies must be tied to leading edge customers on the attack. If we focus on the defensive customers, we will also become defensive.” John Roth, CEO, Nortel
Learning Connection Forget it: Seek freaks.
Brand Outside Strategy 2 : Use E-Commerce to Re-invent Everything!
Tomorrow Today: Cisco! 90% of $20B (=$50M/day) 75% mfg. outsourced; 50% of orders routed to supplier who ships direct Gross margin: 65%; Net margin: 28% Savings in service and support from customer self-management: $500M
Anne Busquet/ American Express Not: “Age of the Internet” Is: “Age of Customer Control”
“The Web enables total transparency. People with access to relevant information are beginning to challenge any type of authority. The stupid, loyal and humble customer, employee, patient or citizen is dead.” Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale, Funky Business
“One cannot be tentative about this. Excuses like ‘channel conflict’ or ‘marketing and sales aren’t ready’ cannot be allowed. Delay and you risk being cut out of your own market, perhaps not by traditional competitors but by companies you never heard of 24 months ago.” Jack Welch [07.00/Forbes.com]Forbes.com
WebWorld = Everything Web as a way to run your business’ innards Web as connector for your entire supply-demand chain Web as “spider’s web” which re-conceives the industry Web/B2B as ultimate wake-up call to “commodity producers” Web as the scourge of slack, inefficiency, sloth, bureaucracy, poor customer data Web as an Encompassing Way of Life Web = Everything (P.D. to after-sales) Web forces you to focus on what you do best Web as entrée, at any size, to World’s Best at Everything as next door neighbor
Message: eCommerce is not a technology play! It is a relationship, partnership, organizational and communications play, made possible by new technologies.
Message: There is no such thing as an effective B2B or Internet-supply chain strategy in a low-trust, bottlenecked- communication, six-layer organization.
“There is no use trying,” said Alice. “One can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Lewis Carroll
I’net … … allows you to dream dreams you could never have imagined before!
Learning Connection Forget it: Blow up the corporation redux. Dream B-I-G.
Brand Outside Strategy 3 : Women Rule!
????????? Home Furnishings … 94% Vacations … 92% Houses … 91% Bank Account … 89% Health Care … 80% Consumer Electronics … 51% Cars … 50%+/80% Etc.
48% working wives > 50% 80% checks 61% bills 53% stock (mutual fund boom) 43% > $500K 95% financial decisions/ 29% single handed
Women … 50+% (!!!) of Web users; 6 of 10 new users; 83% of wired women are primary decision makers for family healthcare, finances, education. Source: Business Week; Jupiter Communications
$4.8T > Japan 9M/27.5M/$3.6T > Germany
Read This Book … EVEolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women Faith Popcorn & Lys Marigold
EVEolution: Truth No. 1 Connecting Your Female Consumers to Each Other Connects Them to Your Brand
“Men and women don’t think the same way, don’t communicate the same way, don’t buy for the same reasons.” “He simply wants the transaction to take place. She’s interested in creating a relationship. Every place women go, they make connections.” EVEolution
“The ‘Connection Proclivity’ in women starts early. When asked, ‘How was school today?’ a girl usually tells her mother every detail of what happened, while a boy might grunt, ‘Fine.’ ” EVEolution
Weight Watchers International “Model” “What if ExxonMobil or Shell dipped into their credit card database to help commuting women interview and make a choice of car pool partners?” “What if American Express made a concerted effort to connect up female empty-nesters through on-line and off-line programs, geared to help women re-enter the workforce with today’s skills?” EVEolution
“Women don’t buy brands. They join them.” Faith Popcorn, EVEolution Faith Popcorn
“Honey, are you sure you have the kind of money it takes to be looking at a car like this?”
STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY: I am a businessperson. An analyst. A pragmatist. The enormous social good of increased women’s power is clear to me; but it is not my bailiwick. My “game” is haranguing business leaders about my fact-based conviction that women’s increasing power – leadership skills and purchasing power – is the strongest and most dynamic force at work in the American economy today. Dare I say it as a long-time Palo Altan … THIS IS EVEN BIGGER THAN THE INTERNET! Tom Peters
Psssst! Wanna see my “porn” collection?
“If we are single, they say we couldn’t catch a man. If we are married, they say we are neglecting him. If we are divorced, they say we couldn’t keep him. If we are widowed, they say we killed him.” Kathleen Brown, on the joys of female political candidacy
27 March 2000: to TP from Shelley Rae Norbeck “I make 1/3 rd more money than my husband does. I have as much financial ‘pull’ in the relationship as he does. I’d say this is also true of most of my women friends. Someone should wake up, smell the coffee and kiss our asses long enough to sell us something! We have money to spend and nobody wants it!”
Learning Connection Forget it: Boot all traditional habits. Think WOMEN.
Part I: Brand Inside Part II: Brand Outside Part III: Brand Leadership
Brand Leadership Passion Rules!
“Create a Cause, not a ‘business.’ ” Gary Hamel, Fortune (06.00), on re- inventing a company (Exemplar #1: Charles Schwab)
Brand Leadership: ENTHUSIASM RULES! “I am a dispenser of enthusiasm.”/ Ben Zander