Tom Peters
May 22, 2009 by tom paperDigital Darwinism
May 15, 2009 by tom paperPosted using ShareThis
10 lessons from a failed startup
April 30, 2009 by tom paperNice summary from an entrepreneur whose start up didn’t make it. 10 lessons from a failed startup Venture Beat
Posted using ShareThis
Tech Tips #4
July 22, 2008 by tom paperEvery other month, Webster Pacific hosts Tech Talks, in which business professionals discuss new and effective technology solutions. Notes, descriptions, and places to find tools recommended by the June 20, 2008 Tech Talk are published on Data360.org.
Webster Pacific video
August 24, 2007 by tom paperWe just put together the video below of Webster Pacific and our three practice areas: 1) strategy consulting, 2) virtual cfo services and 3) data360. I’m interested in your comments and feedback.
Founders, Leaders, Stock Prices
August 23, 2007 by tom paper
Rich Karlgaard covers the USA Today article about founders staying with their companies and the corresponding increase in share price.
http://blogs.forbes.com/digitalrules/2007/08/loving-entrepre.html
Here’s the USA Today article:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2007-08-21-founder-ceos_N.htm
My take is that when a founder CEO figures out a) a market where he can make money and b) a sustainable way to lead the company, ie a method of being that resonates with both the leader and the team, then he will consistently beat the market.
Management Methods
August 21, 2007 by tom paper
Guy Kawasaki recently blogged about this site:
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/
As a consultant, I find the site interesting and a great reference site, something I will probably go back to at some point in the future. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I know all the theories on the page…or even half of them. Guy ended his blog with the following:
“You can use the page as a test: Anyone who knows all these theories is someone you shouldn’t hire.”
Hmmm. Guy has always been somewhat of a contrarian. He must find the information overwhelming to the point that he thinks that knowing all these ideas would cloud over a person’s ability to focus on the really important things to a business. Bottom line is that I can’t say that I disagree with his comment and….I still like the list.
By the way, where is Fred Reicheld’s work on loyalty in the list?
Web 2.0
April 23, 2007 by tom paperI recently attended the Web 2.0 conference put on by O’Reilly Media. The only event I could attend was the Ignite Expo event where 16 entrepreneurs presented interesting things that they were doing or had done. Fascinating stuff! Great ideas in here about evolving technology. You can see the whole schedule here: http://blog.web2expo.com/2007/04/ignite_expo_sch.html. My favorites were the following:
- David Crow, change the world – amazing organization of community to help Toronto’s transit authority improve
- nstructables,knex.com
- Confabb and how it got started
- Jason Schwartz, hive-mind.com
- Justin.tv – twitter – anything is possible
- Jane McGonigal, “the deathbed test” www.iftf.com and www.avantgame.com
- Robotreplay.com – great way to test your site
- Potenco, getting power to the 3rd world…http://potenco.com/
Who Sees What
April 4, 2007 by tom paperAs the world changes and information becomes more easily accessible, it is worthwhile asking the question, “Who should receive what information in a business?”
The following table is an example to help a business think about information flows to the various constituents in a business.
I believe that the only information that should be private within a business is payroll…and even with payroll, a leader should assume that everyone knows how much everyone else is making, because they probably do.
A very successful entrepreneur, founder of a multi-billion dollar retail enterprise, would focus himself at times on large strategic issues, and at other times on issues as mundane as how much was spent on a new phone system. He was not known as a micro-manager, because he was not interested in the small details ALL THE TIME. Instead, he was interested in small details once in a while and usually because he was testing someone, trying to figure out if he was really glad that that person was in the company. The real kicker to this entrepreneur’s effectiveness was that he was completely unafraid of firing someone if they were not meeting his standards.
Today more than ever, it is possible for leaders to delve into the details of what is happening in a business. Leaders should not be afraid of letting board members and others have access to details. However, leaders should also have a plan for the reports that each person in the business receives AND the frequency with which they receive those reports.
Monitoring details is one way to make sure that details are being covered. As Tom Peters has said, and continues to say, “What Gets Measured Gets Done.” Click here to his blog on this subject.
Built to Last
February 7, 2007 by tom paperBuilt to Last: Successful Habits Of Visionary Companies, by James C. Collins & Jerry I. Porras
The authors begin by describing their methodology in selecting visionary companies and also demonstrating that these companies have produced superior returns on equity to both comparison companies as well as the general market. The remainder of the book focuses on the successful habits.
1. Clock building, not time telling: Visionary leaders focus on building organizations that can repeatedly accomplish great things, not just on building one great product or letting the success of the organization be dependent upon their charisma.
2. No tyranny of the “or.” Embrace the genius of the “and.” Visionary companies do not accept the notion of having to balance their interests, such as long vs. short term or low cost vs. high quality. Instead, they take a yin-yang-type approach, accepting and embracing the paradox and still functioning at a highly effective level.
3. More than profits. Visionary companies don’t see the need to make a choice between making money and upholding their values, whatever they may be: customers, employees, products, innovation, risk taking. They see it as a challenge to find pragmatic solutions to their purpose while behaving within their core values. …And their purpose is more than profits.
4. Preserve the core; stimulate progress. Visionary companies are willing to sacrifice everything about themselves except their core values. At the same time, they feed their employees’ primal drive for progress, to do constructive things which accomplish their purpose. The authors believe this paradoxical concept is the most important one in the book. The next five chapters are depictions of various methods of preserving the core while stimulating progress.
5. Big, hairy audacious goals (BHAG’s). BHAG’s are mechanisms used to stimulate progress. They are clear and compelling. People “get it” right away. Ford’s goal to democratize the automobile in 1907; Boeing’s goal to make the 747; GE’s goal to be #1 or #2 in all its markets. The goal becomes peoples’ motivation, not the leader (Kennedy and going to the moon).
6. Cult-like cultures. Visionary companies know the who they are and everyone knows and embraces their goals and methods. “Motorolans, IBMers, HPers, Nordies.” People either fit or they don’t and the visionary companies eject those who don’t fit like a virus.
7. Try a lot of stuff and keep what works. Visionary companies realize that they can only achieve progress if are trying new things that are related to the core values and unafraid of failing. The process isn’t always rational. Visionary companies are constantly branching (trying new things; building multiple opportunities) and pruning (cutting out the deadwood). Listen inside.
8. Home-grown management. In succession decisions, visionary companies preserve not only quality of management, but also continuity of core values and purpose. Change and fresh ideas continually come from inside the company. An outsider isn’t needed. Continual rejuvenation.
9. Good enough never is. Continuous improvement is institutionalized. Visionary companies create internal discomfort to obliterate complacency. HP and Nordstrom both rank their employees, from top to bottom. Boeing assigns managers the task of developing a strategy as if they were going to compete with Boeing. Comfort is not the corporate objective and everyone knows it.
10. The end of the beginning. Creating a vision statement doesn’t make your company visionary. Instead, visionary companies are continually redefining themselves and “aligning” themselves to their vision. Vision is the combination of their core values with their planned future progress. Visionary companies align themselves by acting in the smallest of ways which are consistent with their vision.
