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PERFORMANCEEXCELLENCEStrategic ExcellenceHere’s all you need to know.motto? Message: Hot begets Hot! (Coldbegets Cold.) My work has been to repaintdry and dreary “managementtalk” in Technicolor hues! Business isabout people creating things for people.People serving people. People growingand achieving beyond their dreams—one Wow Project at a time. I’m still inlove with “excellence” with exceedingexpectations. I’m convinced that anyactivity, no matter how humble, can beturned into a Work of Magnificent Art.Great Aspirations don’t ensure greatresults. But the absence of GreatAspirations will ensure non-greatresults. If reaching for the moon is routine,then falling short will also occurfrequently. But with the playing fieldsmorphing, time devoted to a “mediocresuccess” is a tragic waste.7. Do you subscribe to Jerry Garcia’sdictum: “We do not merelywant to be the best of thebest, we want to be theonly ones who do what wedo”? Doug Hall, myfavorite marketing guru,gives us Three Laws ofMarketing Physics. The Lawof Dramatic Difference isLaw 3: Prospective customersevaluate a newproduct and are thenasked 1) if they’d buy itand 2) if they see it as unique. Thefirm’s execs in turn evaluate and weighthe prospective customers’ reactions.Without fail, the execs deciding tolaunch or not bet all their marbles onthe intent-to-buy question, and ignorethe uniqueness issue. The problem: theintent-to-buy response is a poor predictorof success (or failure), while the“uniqueness” assessment almost perfectlypredicts the true response to theproduct.8. Do you elaborate on and enhanceJerry G’s dictum by adding, We subscribeto Best-Sourcing—and only wantto associate with the best of the best.My punch line has been: Not out-sourcing.Not off-shoring. Not near-shoring. Notin-sourcing. But Best-Sourcing. Companiesthat try to be best at everything aredoomed. Every unit (logistics, IS/IT,HR, finance, R&D, marketing, sales)must offer proof that it is, “the onlyones who do what we do”—or at leastequivalent to the best of the best.9. Do you embrace the new technologieswith child-like enthusiasmand a revolutionary’s zeal? The wholeidea of thoroughly modern IS/IT is theright information at the right place atthe right time. Adios, middle managers!Welcome, direct agency and inter-serbyTom PetersIAM NOT A CHAMPION OFthe school of thoughtthat implies, “Get thestrategy right, and the rest will automaticallyfollow.” Knowing whereyou’re going—with today’s marketgyrations—is difficult to do. For me,knowing who you’re going with topsthe list of imperatives, along withknowing that those you’re going withshare your passion and determination—and the flexibility of mind to adjust.What do you need to know aboutstrategy? My answer: 13 eternal verities:1. Do you have awesome talent,everywhere, and do you push that talentto pursue audacious quests? It’s thepeople, stupid! It’s the people on yourroster. Become a “connoisseur of talent.”And then, what do you do withthis Great Talent you’ve recruited?Send them out on Inspiring Quests! Aimto have this Great Collection of Talentsurprise and delight you by heading offto explore territories that neithercould have imagined. If you are settlingfor de-motivation and mediocrity,no strategy will save you.2. Is your Talent Pool loaded withwonderfully peculiar people whomothers would call “problems”? We’reseeking adventurers for quests, right?Adventurers tend to be a bit quirky.They travel paths of their own making.Their commitment shows on theirsleeves—sometimes to the annoyanceof “company men.” I say: It’s a weirdtime! Bring on the Misfits! And I’d extendthis Keystone Idea to customers,vendors, and the extended enterprise.How do you do measure up on theWeirdness-Misfits-Pioneers Scale?3. Is your Board of Directors as coolas your product offerings—and does ithave 50 percent (or at least one-third)women members? “The bottleneck is atthe top of the bottle,” strategy guruGary Hamel reminds us. That’s whereyou are likely to find people with theleast diversity of experience, thelargest investment in the past, and thegreatest reverence for dogma. TheBoard ought to bear some slightresemblance to the market you serveor aim to serve, but most Boards dono such thing! Women, minorities andyouth are nowhere to be found! I see noexcuse, save an open acknowledgement ofstupidity, for less than one-third of boardmembers being female. This issue is of theutmost “strategic” importance. Whocares what the strategy is—if the Boardis completely, maliciously misalignedwith the market served?4. Is creating a culture that cherishesinnovation (not imitation) and entrepreneurshipyour primary aim? We areassaulted by a siege of “me too” atexactly the wrong time—atime of profound and rapidchange. It is thus a momentthat cries out for profoundinnovation. No promotionshould be granted to anyonewho does not demonstratea clear, compelling,sustained commitment toRadical Change. The heartof “good strategy “ goes farbeyond any plan. The heartof the matter is Heart andWill—a record of upsetting apple carts,dislodging establishments and alteringdeep-rooted cultures to embracechange. We need leaders who can reimagine,call forth wellsprings of daringand guts, spirit and spunk, fromone and all, to topple the way thingshave been—and inspire us to ventureinto white waters with insouciance,bravado, and determination.5. Are the ultimate rewards heapedon those who exhibit an unswervingbias for action? Many brilliant strategiesare executed poorly. At excellentcompanies, we see less emphasis onthe strategy per se, and a persistentfocus on simply doing stuff, not talkingit to death. Problem One: Too muchtalk, too little do! An abiding bias foraction, results, performance remainsExec Job One. A “bias for action” is theDeep Cultural issue. Instilling such abias begins with the front-line recruitingprocess and continues all the wayto the selection of the CEO.6. Do you routinely use hot, aspirationalwords-terms like “excellence”andBHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal, perJim Collins) and “Let’s make a dent inthe Universe” (per Steve Jobs)? Is “Rewardexcellent failures, punish mediocresuccesses” your de facto or de jureLeadership Excellence May 2008 13