Tom Peters’ X25* EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. Tupelo/26 October 2007 * In Search of Excellence 1982-2007

1. Welcome to Tom Peters “PowerPoint World”! Beyond the set of slides here, you will find at tompeters.com the last eight years of presentations, a basketful of “Special Presentations,” and, above all, Tom’s constantly updatedMaster Presentation—from which most of the slides in this presentation are drawn. There are about 3,500 slides in the 7-part “Master Presentation.” The first five “chapters” constitute the main argument: Part I is context. Part II is devoted entirely to innovation—the sine qua non, as perhaps never before, of survival. In earlier incarnations of the “master,” “innovation” “stuff” was scattered throughout the presentation—now it is front and center and a stand-alone. Part III is a variation on the innovation theme—but it is organized to examine the imperative (for most everyone in the developed-emerging world) of an ultra high value-added strategy. A “value-added ladder” (the “ladder” configuration lifted with gratitude from Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore’s Experience Economy) lays out a specific logic for necessarily leaving commodity-like goods and services in the dust. Part IV argues that in this age of “micro-marketing” there are two macro-markets of astounding size that are dramatically under-attended by all but a few; namely women and boomers-geezers. Part V underpins the overall argument with the necessary bedrock—Talent, with brief consideration of Education & Healthcare. Part VI examines Leadership for turbulent times from several angles. Part VII is a collection of a dozen Lists—such as Tom’s “Irreducible 209,” 209 “things I’ve learned along the way.” Enjoy! Download! “Steal”—that’s the whole point!

2. NOTE:To appreciate this presentation [and ensure that it is not a mess], you need Microsoft fonts:“Showcard Gothic,”“Ravie,”“Chiller”and“Verdana”

3. Tom Peters’ X25*EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS.Tupelo/26 October 2007*In Search of Excellence 1982-2007

4. All you need to know …

5. 25

6. Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his life, was asked, “What was the most important lesson you’ve learned in your long and distinguished career?” His immediate answer: “remember to tuck the shower curtain inside the bathtub”

7. “… a blinding flash of the obvious”—Manny Garcia

8. THE SECRETS OF EXCELLENCE I: THE MID-SIZED ENTERPRISE.BUT BEFORE I BEGIN THIS STORY …

9. “What’s Really Propping Up the Economy: Healthcare has added 1.7 million jobs since 2001. The rest of the private sector? None.”Source: Title, cover story, BusinessWeek, 0925.2006

10. HealthWorks!NMMC! Mississippi!Global Leadership!#1 Problem of our time!

11. THE SECRETS OF EXCELLENCE I: THE MID-SIZED ENTERPRISE.

12. #1 Exporter?

13. #4 Japan#2T China#2T USA

14. #4 Japan#3 USA#2 China#1 Germany

15. Reason!!!Mittelstand

16. Skunk Camp #1: American “Mittelstand” (F500 A.W.O.L.) Frank Perdue/ Perdue Farms(“It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.”) Tom Malone/ Milliken and Company Don Burr/ People Express Tom Monaghan/ Domino’s Pizza Stew Leonard/ Stew Leonard’s Hal Rosenbluth/ Rosenbluth International John Fisher/ Bank One of Columbus John McConnell/ Worthington Industries Bill and Vieve Gore/ W.L. Gore Bob Buckman/ Buckman Labs(Bob almost single-handedly invented what we now call “knowledge management.”)

17. THE SECRETS OF EXCELLENCE II: MAINSTREET.(BEYOND “HIGH VISIBILITY EXPORTERS.”)

18. Jim’s Group

19. Jim’s Mowing Canada Jim’s Mowing UK Jim’s Antennas Jim’s Bookkeeping Jim’s Building Maintenance Jim’s Carpet Cleaning Jim’s Car Cleaning Jim’s Computer Services Jim’s Dog Wash Jim’s Driving School Jim’s Fencing Jim’s Floors Jim’s Painting Jim’s Paving Jim’s Pergolas [gazebos] Jim’s Pool Care Jim’s Pressure Cleaning Jim’s Roofing Jim’s Security Doors Jim’s Trees Jim’s Window Cleaning Jim’s Windscreens Note: Download, free, Jim Penman’s book: What Will They Franchise Next? The Story of Jim’s Group

20. Basement Systems Inc.

21. *Basement Systems Inc.*Larry Janesky*Dry Basement Science(115,000!)*1990: $0; 2003: $13M; 2007: $62,000,000

22. etc.PRSX/Paragon Railcar Salvage**Salvaged railcars into bridges, etc.

23. *Lived in same town all adult life*First generation wealthy/no parental support*“Don’t look like millionaires, don’t dress like millionaires, don’t eat like millionaires, don’t act like millionaires”*“Many of the types of businesses [they] are in could be classified as ‘dull- normal.’ [They] are welding contractors, auctioneers, scrap-metal dealers, portable toilets, dry cleaners, re-builders of diesel engines, paving contractors …”Source: The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley & William Danko

24. THE SECRETS OF EXCELLENCE III: UNBRIDLED IMAGINATION.

25. Single greatest act of pure imagination

26. 24%

27. dubai

28. “THE FUTURE BELONGS TO … SMALL POPULATIONS … WHO BUILD EMPIRES OF THE MIND … AND WHO IGNORE THE TEMPTATION OF—OR DO NOT HAVE THE OPTION OF—EXPLOITING NATURAL RESOURCES.”Source: Juan Enriquez/Asthe Future Catches You

29. THE SECRETS IV: EDUCATION FOCUSED ON NURTUTING CREATIVITY.

30. “Human creativity is the ultimate economic resource.”—Richard Florida,The Rise of the Creative Class

31. “My wife and I went to a [kindergarten] parent-teacher conference and were informed that our budding refrigerator artist, Christopher, would be receiving a grade of Unsatisfactory in art. We were shocked. How could any child—let alone our child—receive a poor grade in art at such a young age?His teacher informed us that he had refused to color within the lines, which was a state requirement for demonstrating ‘grade-level motor skills.’ ”—Jordan Ayan, AHA!

32. “Every child is born an artist. The trick is to remain an artist.”—Picasso

33. Muhammad Yunus:“All human beings are entrepreneurs. When we were in the caves we were all self-employed . . . finding our food, feeding ourselves. That’s where human history began . . . As civilization came we suppressed it. We became labor because they stamped us, ‘You are labor.’ We forgot that we are entrepreneurs.” Source: Muhammad Yunus/The News Hour—PBS/1122.2006

34. Ye gads:“Thomas Stanley has not only found no correlation between success in school and an ability to accumulate wealth, he’s actually found a negative correlation. ‘It seems that school-related evaluations are poor predictors of economic success,’ Stanley concluded. What did predict success was a willingness to take risks. Yet the success-failure standards of most schools penalized risk takers. Most educational systems reward those who play it safe. As a result, those who do well in school find it hard to take risks later on.”—Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes, Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins

35. THE SECRETS OF EXCELLENCE V: THE ESSENCE OF ENTERPRISE.

36. Cause(worthy of commitment)Space(room for/encouragement for initiative-adventures) Decency(respect, grace, integrity, humane)service(worthy of our clients’ & extended family’s continuing custom)excellence (period) servant leadership

37. EXCELLENCE.1978.1982.1992.1994.1996.2006.2004-2007.SEPTEMBER 2007.15 OCTOBER 2007.1966-2007.

38. 1978.A START.

39. Hard Is Soft (#s)Soft Is Hard (people)

40. 1982.(OCTOBER)A BOOK.

41. Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics” 1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties”

42. “Breakthrough” 82* People! Customers! Action! Values! *In Search of Excellence

43. 1993.LOU FINDS GOLD IN THE RUBBLE.

44. $55B

45. Trapper: <$20 per beaver pelt.Source: WSJ

46. wdcp/“Wildlife Damage-control Professional”:$150 to “remove” “problem beaver”; $750-$1,000 for flood-control piping … so that beavers can stay.Source: WSJ

47. Trapper = RedneckWDCP = PSF/ Professional Services Provider (40X)

48. 1994.COOL IS COOL.

49. “You knowa design is goodwhenyou want to lick it.”—Steve Jobs Source: Design: Intelligence Made Visible, Stephen Bayley & Terence Conran

50. 1996.THE EDUCATION OF TOM.