Thomas J. Peters (born November 7, 1942) is an American writer on business management practices, best known for In Search of Excellence (co-authored with Robert H. Waterman Jr).
WORK ON YOUR STORY! Heshe who has the best story wins! In life! In business! The White House!
Make an extensive table of project 'deliverables'. Label one column 'as requested'. Create another column labeled 'could be'. Make each 'could be' wild and woolly!
The market may never coalesce around one basic design, or even around two or three dominant devices.
The top athletes are consummate pros who work obsessively at their craft. Approach yours the same way.
Usage tends to be global, while funding tends tobe local. When we allow it to happen, usage of a digital library is remarkably diverse and widespread.
Celebrate what you want to see more of.
I am my clients. I am defined by who I do business with.
We often hear that the digital age has resulted in a devaluing of time, space, and place. But I wonder if theseclaims are exaggerated.
Advantage comes not from the spectacular or the technical. Advantage comes from a persistent seeking of the mundane edge.
Train everyone lavishly. You can't overspend on training.
There is no such thing as an insignificant improvement.
Community. A friend started a real estate brokerage a few years ago. By the time she'd added her second employee, she was a pillar of her 35,000-person community. No rule says that only the local banker or car dealer can organize the program to raise supplemental funds for the public library or send the high school band on a well-earned special trip. Participating in community affairs, with time more than dollars, is good business from day one. It gets your name around, adds to your distinctiveness, and, best of all, makes you an attractive employer (which is the key to sustained success).
If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade.
The best leaders are the best notetakers, best askers, and best learners.
Treat the customer as an appreciating asset.
Effective visions are lived in details, not broad strokes.
I urge you to set a tough, quantitative target for adding "differentiators" as I call them, to every service you provide.
Quality involves living the message of the possibility of perfection and infinite improvement, living it day in and day out, decade by decade.
Remember my mantra: distinct. . . or extinct.
Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.