To meet the demands of the fast-changing competitive scene, we must simply learn to love change as much as we have hated it in the past.
TOM PETERSSorry, but those are two of the most profoundly upsetting questions anyone can ask – upsetting because the answer should be obvious: Do what turns you on, not what the statistics say is best.
More Tom Peters Quotes
-
-
Passion. The life of an entrepreneur is occasionally exhilarating, and almost always exhausting. Only unbridled passion for the concept is likely to see you through the 17-hour days (month after month) and the painful mistakes that are part and parcel of the start-up process.
TOM PETERS -
I think economics is about passion. Economic progress, whether it is a two-person coffee shop or whether it is Netscape, is about people with brave ideas. Because it is brave to mortgage the house, when you’ve got two kids, to start a coffee shop.
TOM PETERS -
Progress is mostly the product of rogues.
TOM PETERS -
But there’s no substitute for getting smarter faster. And the way you get smarter is to screw around vigorously. Try stuff. See what works. See what fails miserably. Learn. Rinse. Repeat.
TOM PETERS -
As a consumer, you want to associate with brands whose powerful presence creates a halo effect that rubs off on you.
TOM PETERS -
I’m fundamentally not interested in the Fortune 500 companies – in US, Mexico, anywhere. The real backbones of economic growth are small and medium businesses.
TOM PETERS -
The whole secret to our success is being able to con ourselves into believing that we’re going to change the world because statistically we are unlikely to do it.
TOM PETERS -
Authority never matches responsibility. That’s one of the great myths and delusions of all times. Winning managers and individual performers at all levels know that effectiveness means building your own network and creating your own authority.
TOM PETERS -
Winners must learn to relish change with the same enthusiasm and energy that we have resisted it in the past.
TOM PETERS -
I used to be skeptical when educators and technologists predicted that we may be entering a new era of oral culture, in which audible information will be at least as important as visible information.
TOM PETERS -
Those who succeed always reach far beyond formal deputation, take initiatives, and take the heat when things go awry. That’s true in the military in times of war, true for 200 person manufacturing firms, and true at giant automakers or software companies.
TOM PETERS -
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.
TOM PETERS -
You can’t think your way out of a box; you’ve got to act.
TOM PETERS -
The delivery and presentation media are important, and each format has its advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately I just want to read what I want to read, when and where I want.
TOM PETERS -
Leadership is about tapping the wellsprings of human motivation – and about fundamental relations with one’s fellows.
TOM PETERS -
Gandhi and Mandela and Churchill and JFK and Reagan and Thatcher and Sarkozy and Franklin and Washington set the tone to an incredible degree-their “personal style” was their “brand.” (“It” starts with personal style of the tip-top leadership team.
TOM PETERS -
Treat the customer as an appreciating asset.
TOM PETERS -
What have you done lately – this week – to make yourself stand out? What would your colleagues or your customers say is your greatest and clearest strength? Your most noteworthy (as in, worthy of note) personal trait?
TOM PETERS -
Hire attitude train skills.
TOM PETERS -
What gets measured gets done.
TOM PETERS -
The company’s most urgent task is to learn to welcome, beg for, demand – innovation from everyone.
TOM PETERS -
How do you achieve excellence?…Stop doing non-excellent stuff!
TOM PETERS -
Effective listening is a professional achievement-achieved only through hard work.
TOM PETERS -
Excellence is not an aspiration. Excellence is what you do in the next five minutes.
TOM PETERS -
Hire disrespectful people.
TOM PETERS -
Accept change as a friend. And don’t take yourself too seriously.
TOM PETERS