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Tom Peters! Times October 2006 | | | Where's Tom?!?!?! Where oh where will his travels take him? Where oh where has he been? Here is what is on the agenda for the globe-trotting Mr. Peters:
October 2006
10/5 Copenhagen, Denmark - Affinion Group (private event).
10/17 Istanbul, Turkey - FED Training (private event).
10/18 Barcelona, Spain - CIDEM (private event).
10/24 Frankfurt, Germany - PUBLIC EVENT!! HSM presents Tom, Rudy Giuliani, Malcolm Gladwell, Anne Mulcahy and more. Click here for information and registration. (Please note: it is in GERMAN!)
10/27 Milan, Italy - World Business Forum PUBLIC EVENT!! HSM presents Tom, Madeleine Albright, Rudy Giuliani, and more. Click here for information and registration. (Please note: it is in ITALIAN!)
Remember to check Tom's calendar at www.tompeters.com to check for updates that may have been added after this newsletter went to print. Also, slides will be added after each event, so be sure to check for those as well. Finally, a list of Tom's recent travels, including links to slides, can be found at the end of the newsletter. Enjoy! |
![Back to top]() | | The Pursuit of Luck Unofficially called "Getting Lucky," of course. This is a list that appeared in Liberation Management in 1992. In it Tom offers 50 ideas for increasing the likelihood that you'll "get lucky"-in business. (Don't miss the challenge at the end.)
Liberation Management, pages 612-614
Innovation is a low-odds business - and luck sure helps. (It's jolly well helped me!) if you believe that success does owe a lot to luck, and that luck in turn owes a lot to getting in the way of unexpected opportunities, you need not throw up your hands in despair. There are strategies you can pursue to get a little nuttiness into your life, and perhaps, then, egg on good luck. (By contrast, if you believe that orderly plans and getting up an hour earlier are the answer, then by all means arise before the rooster and start planning.)
Want to get lucky? Try following these 50 (!) strategies.
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![Back to top]() | | Leading in Times of Crisis ![]() Friends of the tompeters !company, the New Mexico Military Institute, will be hosting a leadership summit this month. Speakers include author James Bradley, RADM Christopher McMahon, and RADM Jody Breckenridge. For more information, please click here. |
![Back to top]() | | Panning for Gold - Finding Work that Matters! Our company has met with several clients on a weekly basis. These companies are composed of all sizes, and are from many different industries. What has become very apparent for all of them is that a lot of people are suffering from "initiative burnout" as a result of mergers, acquisitions and culture changes. To further complicate their issues, there are a lot of disconnected training efforts being initiated that create confusion among their workforce.
A well-known artist named Annie Lee has a figurine called 'Blue Monday.' This figurine shows a woman sitting on the edge of her bed, hunched over...weary before her day even begins. Does this sound familiar? What is your Monday morning like? Are you excited? Jazzed? Enthralled with what the day can bring? Or, are you more like the 'Blue Monday' figurine - but throughout the entire week? Your work life doesn't have to be like this!
When we speak with people in organizations, they tell us that they really want to make a difference; they want to do work that is meaningful and that adds value. People in the workforce are starved to find meaningful work. People need work that gets them energized and excited to go to work every day. What are people looking for? In a recent conversation with someone about their work, it was noted that he became very excited when he started to talk about the projects he was working on. These projects gave him a creative outlet. The work was intense, it allowed him to interact with people of diversity, and perhaps most important of all - he had freedom of expression. Despite the fact that there were many things he couldn't resolve in his work, the opportunities presented to him kept him excited. The work mattered to him!
We all have many projects that we could work on. The key is finding the right one. We think of this as "Panning for Gold." We all spend too much time working on the "stuff" that doesn't matter - and fail to spend enough time panning through our work to pull out those gems - those "Golden Nugget" projects that will make a difference. When we can identify those "Golden Nuggets" and focus our attention and energy on them, we start to find excitement, joy, and purpose...and become energized in our work.
Stop being robotic! Stop doing the "same old stuff!" You haven't taken the time to look at the work you are doing, and to begin to think about it in a new light. Robert Cooper, author of The Other 90%, says:
"Nothing brings out hidden qualities like passion does...many of us have lost touch with the zeal that can bring out our best."
Think back to the time of the Old West....the Gold Rush. Once news got out that there was a vein of gold identified, people from all walks of life left their jobs in anticipation of the gold they would find in the West. Most folks worked out of the streams that ran from the mountains where the gold was found. With their metal pan (with a sieve in the bottom), they scooped up the water and gravel from the bottom of the stream, sifted out the water, and rummaged through what was left hoping to find gold nuggets. In many cases the sun shined on the gold, making it flicker and glitter, allowing the prospector to see them more clearly. THAT is how to bring the passion back into your work life - Find the projects that are "Golden Nuggets" that will attract others to it. Become the gold vein for others!
Here's how to bring passion and zeal back into your work:
1. Pan: Make a list of all the projects you are currently working on. Look at them from a new perspective. Remember, we are trying to find the "Golden Nuggets!" Rate these projects based on their impact to the organization. Ask yourself, "Does this project matter? Does it make a difference? Will it add value? Is this project aligned with the key goals and objectives for the organization?" Keep panning until you sift up the "Golden Nuggets" - the projects that really matter.
2. Re-Frame: Reframe the project! In other words, connect with other people inside and outside of your organization, and discuss how you can make your projects ("Golden Nuggets") even better. As Doug Hall from Eureka Ranch would say: "Make this project dramatically different." Go for the gold! You want these projects to be memorable and to leave a legacy.
3. Sell: The easiest way to get excited about a project is to sell it to someone else. That forces us to think about what is important about the project, and why the project matters. Sit down and develop a compelling 3-minute pitch that highlights the benefits of the project and why you are in love with it. If you can't get excited about your own project, neither will anyone else! Practice the pitch with a friend. Once you feel comfortable with it, share the pitch with someone who understands nothing about the project. This will allow you to determine how clear your pitch is. Lastly, refine your pitch, print it out (in color), and put it in a visible place to remind you of why this project matters.
4. Celebrate: As you move along in life, find little wins to celebrate along the way. Take time to notice what your peers and co-workers are doing, and make it a point to acknowledge their achievements. When we do something good for someone else, not only do we feel better, but we have also made the day of someone else. Adding joy to another's life will add joy to yours.
Work doesn't have to be mundane and boring. We just have to take the time to look at where and how we are spending our time. Are we working on the "Golden Nuggets," or are we working on golden flecks...the little stuff? The projects we work on can have a big impact on our attitudes. Pan to find the "Golden Nuggets," get excited about work again, and celebrate and enjoy life!
Valarie D. Willis |
![Back to top]() | | TPC's own Valarie Willis is part of ThinkSmart Learning System's Innovation Igniter Program! ![]() What is it? Read on!
Innovation Igniter -- what if *everyone* in your organization knew how to create new value? What if you had a simple, no-travel or classroom time required way to teach them the innovative thinking skills required for today's "Creative Age" jobs?
Now there is a way ... go to http://www.innovationigniter.com/
Innovation Competency Series:
Primary Thinking Objective: Act, pt 4 of 13
In order to innovate, you need to act. Here is a perfect example of how the ACTIONS of workers brought innovation to Argentina when it was needed most.
In 2001, the Argentinean economy was in a deep depression and unemployment was staggering. Then, in December of that year, the government froze bank accounts and the economy collapsed. There were no jobs available and plants were closing across the country. Then an amazing thing started to happen: workers took over the plants that had been abandoned by management. At first they were fearful of using equipment that didn't belong to them but, after weeks of waiting, they went back to work producing goods without the management and supervision of their former bosses. After expenses were paid, workers equally shared the profits and soon were making more than they had made before the crisis.
By 2005, 200 abandoned and worker-reclaimed factories were employing over 10,000 people who would otherwise have been unable to find work. However, this is still an experiment in democracy as workers struggle for legitimacy and full ownership in a country dedicated to protecting the rights of private property.
The best-known of these recovered factories is a ceramic tile factory called "Factory Without Bosses." According to an article in the "Nonviolent Activist," before the collapse, the factory was owned by an Italian family who "never paid taxes, had exploited workers and had stolen land and raw resources from the region's indigenous Mapuche community. Under the management of the Zanon family, the factory had between 25 and 30 serious occupational accidents per month and one fatality per year.
"Since the workers recovered the factory, working relationships have been reinvented; elected committees oversee the running of the factory and all decisions are made in assembly on general consensus, everyone has the right to be heard, every worker has a vote, all workers are paid equally, there have been no occupational health and safety crises, there have been 170 new hires as of April 2005, production is higher than when the Zanon family locked out the workers, and the tiles now have Mapuche names in honor of the factory's neighbors and allies."
Having the vision, skill and courage to take effective action is the launching pad for innovation. Without it, nothing happens. And, if oppressed, under-educated workers in factories across Argentina can step up and figure out how to work together to create a better future in the face of police threats, government sanctions and community outrage, surely those of us in organizations can also grab hold of opportunities and learn how to effectively take them forward.
** June 20, 2006 update on Zanon, the "Factory without Walls."
After successfully running the plant for several years after the owner defaulted owing $170M U.S., the workers are still getting death threats and being threatened by the Argentinean judicial system.
*Reprinted with permission from ThinkSmart Learning Systems
What does this story tell us?
Act -- Take effective action to sell and implement new ideas. Act is one of the primary thinking objectives of the new Innovation Igniter Thinking Wheel series of 13 innovative thinking competencies.
The 15-minute learning module for this competency is presented by our own Valarie Willis, who we all know is a noted speaker, consultant and writer. These thinking skills are critical for innovation and for the creative work required for today's world. A 15-minute video module on "Engage Energy" is available at http://www.innovationigniter.com. You can purchase the entire Thinking Wheel Series, which includes 15-minute video modules by Doug Hall, Joyce Wycoff, and Stephen Denning to name a few. The cost of the entire Series is a steal at $595 USD!
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![Back to top]() | | Cool Friends ![]() Bob Tomasko published Bigger Isn't Always Better: The New Mindset for Real Business Growth, his fourth book, in January 2006. He has a website and a blog expanding on the topic, and you can find his Cool Friends interview here. |
![Back to top]() | | Where's Tom?!?!?! (part II) As promised, here is where Tom has been. Slides included!
August 2006
8/1 Bangkok, Thailand - Global Leaders Summit (private event). Slides here.
8/2 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Global Leaders Summit (private event). Slides here.
8/4 Singapore - Global Leaders Summit (private event). Slides here.
September 2006
Adelaide, South Australia - AIM, SA (private event). Slides here.
9/7 Autsin, Texas - Hughes & Luce, LLP (private event). Slides here.
Rancho Mirage, California - CMP Media (private event). Slides here.
9/14 and 9/15 Seoul, South Korea - KMAC. Slides here, here, and here.
9/20 Omaha, Nebraska - First Data Corp. (private event). Slides here.
9/28 Fajardo, Puerto Rico - PR SHRM (private event). Slides here.
9/29 Phoenix, Arizona - Hexaware Technologies (private event). Slides here. |
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