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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
vice, bureaucracy-free communicationamong those who do the work.10. Do you serve and satisfy customers,or go berserk attempting to provideevery customer with an awesomeexperience that does nothing less thantransform the way she or he sees theworld? As global competition heats up,merely making a quality product orservice is not enough. You need tooffer remarkable experiences.11. Do you know that the two biggestunderserved markets are Women andBoomers-Geezers and that to take advantageof these two Monster Trendsrequires realignment of the enterprise?Getting with the program is not aboutsegmentation—it’s about wholesale culturalrealignment of the enterprise.Women = Opportunity No. 1. Womenbuy everything (and they have their ownapproach to purchasing things). Thoseleaders who shortchange this businessopportunity are simply stupid.12. Are your leaders accessible? Dothey wear their passion on their sleeves?Does integrity ooze out of every pore? Is“We care” your implicit motto? Todaythe boss’s mantra is: “Help! Please commityour heart, soul and imagination toinventing clever and wonderful services-solutions-experiences-dreamscome true. Join with me in inventingan adventure, a quest worth our timeand our clients’ time and money.” Atrue partnership among all partiesdemands as a price of entry: unstintingintegrity, total transparency, passionon-our-sleeves,and spirit to burn.13. Do you understand businessmantra #1: Don’t try to compete withWAL*MART on price or China on cost?Clients want either the best or the leastexpensive—business as usual is dead.And I say, “Hurray.” Try instead to be“the only ones who do what we do “—whether the tableau is a one-personaccountancy, a 10-chair beauty salon, a400,000-person behemoth, or yourcareer as newly minted “Brand You.”Cubicle slavery is ending. Commoditystrategies are bankrupt. Passion and commitmentmatter most. Creativity wins.Individuals reign. Re-imagine! TechnicolorTimes demand Technicolor leadersand Boards who recruit TechnicolorPeople who are sent on TechnicolorQuests to execute Technicolor Projects inpartnership with Technicolor Customersand Technicolor Suppliers all of whomare in pursuit of Technicolor Goals andAspirations fit for Technicolor Times. LETom Peters is the author of In Search of Excellence and severalother best-selling books and one of the original contributingeditors of Leadership Excellence. Visit www.TomPeters.com.ACTION: Seek strategic execution excellence.CHANGESUCCESSChange ModelThree stages to success.by Connie HritzCHANGE IS INEVITABLE—and the key tosuccess is adaptability.If you’ve lived through change, you alreadyknow that it occurs one person ata time. If you can bring people throughchange individually, you can managechange successfully. Organizationschange when the people in them change.Change happens at three levels:individual, team, and organization. Asindividuals adapt to change, theiractions shift the team. As their adaptationsand shifts work their way up, theorganization changes. So, focus yourchange management efforts on gettingindividual commitment.Employee attitudes toward changeroughly follow bell-shaped curve: 15percent embrace change; 60 percent areuncertain; and 25 percentresist. Since most employeesare ambivalent, yourideal strategy is to applaudthe minority who embracethe change and move theambivalent group towardcommitment. The resisterswarrant your attention andenergy only as they sabotagethe change.Our three-stage change model is basedon a belief that organizations changeas a result of changes in individuals:Stage 1: AssessDetermine the degree of changereadiness. People tend to fall into sixchange readiness states:Indifference. Some see no need tochange. Behaviors may include apathy,disregard, and an unwillingness to takerisks required to produce the change.Rejection. Some people don’t wantto change. Behaviors may include fearof change, refusal to change, challengingthe business case of the change, anddiscouraging others from changing.Doubt. Some people may focus onthe downside. Behaviors may includeskepticism, suspicion, the search forproof, hesitancy, or questioning.Neutrality. Some people will participatewhen asked, but won’t initiate.Their behaviors include sitting on thefence, indecision, and non-commit-ment, but they will listen and observe.Experimentation. Some people providemomentum for the change withoutbeing committed to it. Behaviorsmay include a willingness to participateand move the change forward.Commitment. Some embrace thechange. They’re eager to learn and performwell. They accept and supportthe change. They collaborate to integratethe change and show dedication.Stage 2: Customize and ImplementTo move people toward commitment,you need to acquire four competencies:Communication. Explain the changeand its drivers, being authentic aboutbenefits and challenges, exploringreactions and implications, and gainingcommitment to next steps.Accountability. Ensure that correctbehaviors bring rewards and resistancebrings undesired consequences.Creating a safe environment. Ensurethat people have a safe place to expresstheir feelings. People can’t commit tochange in a closed environment.Coaching. In coaching throughchange, you focus on feelings and personalimplications. Such coachingtends to release muchdeeper emotions, and meetmuch stiffer resistance.Authenticity and problemsolvingtake precedence.Stage 3: SustainHelp each individualbuild “change muscle.”Since it’s easy for people tofall back into old habits orlose sight of why change is needed,apply four skills:Reinforce key coaching skills.Practice working with people who arein challenging states like rejection.Focus on clearly defined action plans.Use coach-the-coach routines. Observecoaches. Help them grow anddevelop in the role.Refresh coaching skills. Offer follow-uptraining programs: onsite sessions,webcasts, conference calls.Reassess change readiness.Reevaluate to see if you are gettingcloser to total commitment.Changes happen at the individuallevel, and coaching is an effective wayto influence behavior. “Change muscle”enables you to navigate change moreeasily. Cultivate your change resilience,and you’ll be ready for anything. LEConnie Hritz is senior VP of R&D for Omega Performance, aconsulting, training, and coaching firm. Visit www.omega-performance.comor email info@omega-performance.com.ACTION: Observe these three stages.14 May 2008 Leadership Excellence
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