MOAP #5

We continue on, to the next installment of Tom's "Mother of All Presentations," or MOAP, available now at ExcellenceNow.com. You can download the PowerPoint version or a PDF. We'll be releasing a section every other week throughout 2012.

Part 5 advocates practice in the art of listening. Tom states that mastery of this talent is difficult, but the effort pays big dividends. Try it today. Get Tom's three rules to follow and more in Part 5 of Tom's Mother of All Presentations.

Cathy Mosca posted this on 02/13, in Leadership.
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Share Your Love (and, Do So Before It's Too Late)

(This is a guest post by Raj Setty to introduce LoveThiz.com, just in time for Valentine's Day. Rajesh Setty serves as the president of Foresight Plus, LLC. He is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker based in Silicon Valley. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/rajsetty.)

When I look back at my engineering days a couple of decades ago, I remember a few teachers that made a huge difference in my life—even today. One of them was the late Dr. Sudhakar Samuel. Dr. Samuel was special. Very special. I still remember the sixth semester where he taught us Digital Electronics. Long story short—every single student in the class became an expert on the topic by the end of the semester.

I had an opportunity to thank Dr. Samuel at the end of the class. I don't know whether I did justice to what he had given to all of us. My appreciation for what and how he taught me in those days grew over these years. A few years ago, I thought I should go back and thank him again for the difference he made in my life. For some or the other reason, that time did not come. One day, all of a sudden, I got an email from an old friend that Dr. Samuel had passed away. There were tears in my eyes instantly, but there was also a feeling of guilt that I had left something incomplete.

Intentions do count. But, not much in such situations. Actions are what matter most.

[read more]

Raj Setty posted this on 02/10, in Brand You.
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Off the Cuff #2

Our Off the Cuff video series is a direct response from Tom to your questions. This is the second video in the series, which poses the question, "What is the greatest piece of advice you ever received that has made you a better writer or communicator?" It's a terrific question for Tom, and he discusses not only writing influences, but touches on public speaking as well. Don't miss the Dan Pink technique at the end; it may feel excruciating in practice, but there's no denying the improvement gained.

[ http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fft4ZlBR6ow ]

Shelley Dolley posted this on 02/07, in Brand You.
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TLBT Video #73
Strategy: Measure Innovation

We've posted the latest video in The Little BIG Things series on YouTube. Do you think it's impossible to measure innovation? In this video, Tom offers a brilliantly simple, easy-to-implement method for ensuring that a good portion of your work meets the mark on innovation.

You can find the video in the right-hand column of this page or watch it at YouTube (time: 2 minutes 3 seconds). Or, get a PDF transcript of the video's content: Strategy: Measure Innovation.

Cathy Mosca posted this on 02/03, in Strategies.
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MOAP #4

The latest installment of Tom's "Mother of All Presentations," or MOAP, is now available at ExcellenceNow.com. You can download the PowerPoint version or a PDF. We'll be releasing a section every other week throughout 2012.

Part 4 introduces Tom's conviction that encouraging your people to make friends in other functions of the organization should be a top priority. Tom says you should reward such behavior, make it an agenda item. Download Part 4 of Tom's Mother of All Presentations, and learn how and why cross-functional socialization (read, idea-sharing) is essential to business excellence.

Cathy Mosca posted this on 01/30, in Strategies.
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Race to Nowhere

Tom has said, "We tell our kids to 'be still,' then tell them to 'read history books'—which are replete (100%!) with tales of people ... who never sat still."

This is obviously not the ideal way to cultivate a talented workforce. The education system in the United States still seems to be attempting to churn out well-behaved factory workers. With the enormous pressure placed on teachers to produce sufficient test results, the classroom becomes more about test preparation than exploration and discovery. Albert Einstein, long since deceased, had this to say:

"It is nothing short of a miracle that modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry."

We recently heard from Matt Lintner, a teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia. He sent Tom his reflections on what children are learning, and not learning, in school in a piece he titled "Race to Nowhere." Tom asked Matt if we could share his thoughts with you, and Matt kindly agreed. We urge you to take a moment, read what Matt has to say, and think about what you can do to help our youth learn what truly matters. Please, fan the flames of their curiosity.

Race to Nowhere

Management guru Peter Drucker famously said, "What gets measured gets managed." But what if we're measuring the wrong things? Consider the following: you can graduate from high school with straight A's without ever having:

Perhaps most tellingly, you never learned to say "No."

America can continue down the path of national standards, high stakes testing, longer school days, expanded calendar, merit pay, and all the rest—but none of it will cure what ills us if we're not focused on what truly matters.

Matt Lintner

Teacher

Fairfax County, VA

Shelley Dolley posted this on 01/27, in Education.
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Advice,
For What It's Worth ...

I was asked to contribute (a very few words) to a family page offering words of wisdom to a graduating high school senior. That's a serious challenge—and I literally spent days on the task. Here, for better or for worse, is the result:

Rules For Living Life to the Hilt

Nothing will turn out the way you thought it would.

There is no bigger waste of time than making plans.

Any success you have will be the byproduct of having thrown yourself headlong and without reserve into what you were most passionate about—and then ridden the wave you created wherever and at whatever speed it carries you.

The greatest long term satisfaction comes from having behaved at all times with common decency.

(Above: School starts next week in New Zealand. A bit of holiday cricket on the sandy Tasman Sea beach in front of our cottage.)

Tom Peters posted this on 01/25, in Brand You.
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Off the Cuff Series

We're happy to announce the start of our Off the Cuff video series. A few months ago we asked for you to send us questions you'd like us to ask Tom on camera. The first question was posed by longtime fan Dave Wheeler, about how it came to be that Tom realized the importance of front line supervisors. We find the timing of this particularly remarkable, since it dovetails so well with the latest part of the Mother of All Presentations released at ExcellenceNow.com, First-line Supervisors Rule.

Shelley Dolley posted this on 01/23, in Announcements | Leadership.
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RSS at ExcellenceNow.com

You can now subscribe via RSS to ExcellenceNow.com so that you're alerted as soon as a new Part of the Mother of All Presentations is released. Go to ExcellenceNow.com and use the little orange button at the bottom of the Slide Set list to subscribe. Happy reading!

Shelley Dolley posted this on 01/20, in Announcements.
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"Tom Peters Still Rocks"

We're quite excited about the overwhelmingly positive response we've seen to our new ExcellenceNow.com site. We hope you're finding lots of inspiration about why you do what you do from Part 2's Moral Basis for Enterprise, and are starting to focus in on your front line supervisors after this week's release of Part 3.

Erika Andersen wrote a kind review of the site at Forbes.com that we think you'll enjoy reading. She talks about her first encounter with Tom through In Search of Excellence, and describes him as a "tribal elder." As 2012 marks 30 years since In Search was published, perhaps that moniker is apt.

Shelley Dolley posted this on 01/18, in Announcements.
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