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Excellence is not an aspiration. Excellence is what you do in the next five minutes.

Tom Peters

Leadership is about tapping the wellsprings of human motivation – and about fundamental relations with one’s fellows.
TOM PETERS

Fundamentals Leadership Motivation
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

Miserable Stuff Trying Way
Quite simply, no matter how hard you try, no matter how “open” you are, you’ll end up surrounded by “yes people.” It’s hard not to believe people who are repeating your own ideas. Resist the temptation.
TOM PETERS

Believe Friends Ideas
David Ogilvy contends that the greatest ad copywriters are marked by an insatiable curiosity ‘about every subject under the sun.’
TOM PETERS

Copywriters Curiosity Subject Sun
It may be primarily property taxes in the case of a public library, or state taxes and tuition in the case of an academic library at a public university, but the funding sources of most libraries continue to have a strong geographic component.
TOM PETERS

Academic Library Strong Tuition
You can only improve what you measure.
TOM PETERS

Improve Measure Only People Possible
Mastery is great, but even that is not enough. You have to be able to change course without a bead of sweat, or remorse.
TOM PETERS

Able Mastery Remorse Sweat
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

Concept Exhilarating Mistake Occasionally Passion Peace
We cannot innovate without opening the door to havoc.
TOM PETERS

Doors Havoc Innovation
Formula for success: under promise and over deliver.
TOM PETERS

Educational Inspirational Success
Listen while you can, so that you can lead when you must.
TOM PETERS

Deliver Formula Success
What gets measured gets done.
TOM PETERS

Done Inspirational Customer Service Measurement
Progress is mostly the product of rogues.
TOM PETERS

Products Progress Rogues
Rewards should go to teams as a whole.
TOM PETERS

Rewards Should Teamwork
The dominant culture in most big companies demands punishment for a mistake, no matter how useful, small, invisible.
TOM PETERS

Culture Mistake Punishment
The dumbest mistake is viewing design as something you do at the end of the process to ‘tidy up’ the mess, as opposed to understanding it’s a ‘day one’ issue and part of everything.
TOM PETERS

Design Issues Mistakes Something Understanding

Excellence is not an aspiration. Excellence is what you do in the next five minutes.

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Excellence is not an aspiration. Excellence is what you do in the next five minutes.

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Popular Authors

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