The Little Big Things

by Thomas J Peters

  We shall never forget that the bedrock of EXCELLENCE is the unwavering commitment to growth of 100 percent of our employees—and in fact all of those we come in contact with.

  Success

  157. The “3H Model” of Success.

  The 3Hs:

  Howard.

  Hilton.

  Herb.

  Three men, three principles.

  (A lot of “life”/“success” explained.)

  1. Starbucks has hit a rough patch, but as “they” say, we should all have Howard Schultz’s problems—a guy who took a cup of java and grew a business of over 10,000 iconic shops worldwide. (And the one I visited in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, was as busy as my local on Charles Street in Boston.)

  There is no doubt that running an international show as big as Starbucks is quite a chore, and the staff is tops, and there’s data by the ton. Yet the boss, Mr. Schultz, aims (and usually succeeds) to visit—hold on to your hat—25 shops per week.

  He believes you’ve gotta see the real deal up close with all your senses (after all, Starbucks sells an all-senses “experience”) to know the score.

  2. If there’s ever been a more prominent and successful hotelier than Conrad Hilton, I’d like to know who it is. One Hilton anecdote: The story goes that at the conclusion of a gala honoring his career, Mr. Hilton was finally called to the podium to “share his success secrets.” He made his way to the front of the house, stood very formally at the podium, and intoned …

  “Remember to tuck the shower curtain inside the bathtub.”

  And that was it, and back he went to his seat.

  (Oh, my heavens, how I love that quote!)

  3. In 2009, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines held their annual meetings on the same day in Dallas, headquarters to both. APA, the Allied Pilots Association, picketed American’s meeting. The Southwest meeting marked founder Herb Kelleher’s retirement after 37 years. Like Mr. Hilton, Herb was asked to reveal his full set of secrets, and, like Mr. Hilton, he severely limited his remarks:

  “You have to treat your employees like customers.”

  Apparently Mr. Kelleher has been asked that please-tell-all question a raft of times, probably thousands of times—and has always answered with the same one-liner, same eight words. And no more.

  (Whoops, I forgot to mention that on the same day APA picketed American, Southwest’s pilots’ union paid a small fortune to take out full-page ads in the likes of USA Today thanking Herb for his years of service—and support of the union and its pilots. Quite a contrast, eh?)

  Bottom line from the 3Hs:

  (1) Stay in touch! (Howard)

  (2) Sweat the details! (Hilton)

  (3) People first! (Herb)

  Stop.

  Right now.

  Put down the book.

  Assess only the last 24 hours.

  (I’m not interested in your grandiloquent “lifelong concerns.” Last 24 hours. Period.)

  On a scale of 1–10, how do you rate … in the last 24 hours … on each of the 3H elements?

  158. A 5-Word, 5-Point “Complete” “Excellence Manifesto.”

  Maybe it’s an “age thing,” my apparent obsession with summarizing stuff. Or maybe it’s an engineer’s passion for lists.

  Whatever.

  Here goes, my “summary of everything” … in five words, generated for a seminar in which I wanted to leave behind a truly punchy message:

  Cause.

  Space.

  Decency.

  Service.

  Excellence.

  Cause: An objective worthy of our commitment. An aim that supersedes the need for an alarm clock and that we can brag about to our friends, our family, and our mirror.

  Space: Room to roam. Constant and insistent encouragement for taking the initiative. An expectation that everyone will perceive herself or himself as a Change Agent-Entrepreneur.

  Decency: Thoughtfulness to a fault in everything we do. Fairness to a fault in everything we do. Sky-high respect for every person with whom we come in contact.

  Service: We unfailingly aim to “be of service.” Our leaders at all levels are “in service” to their staff. Each staff member is “in service” to her or his peers and internal and external customers.

  Excellence: Our ultimate aim is always … Excellence. Nothing less. In our treatment of one another. In the products and services we develop. In our relationships with customers-vendors-community.

  Amen!

  (At least as far as I’m concerned.)

  (And if you agree … how are you doing, on each of the five points, in your six-person insurance brokerage on Main Street, Small Town? In your three-person executive development unit in Biggish Co?) (“How are you doing” I: How are you doing on each point in general? “How are you doing” II: How have you done on each of the five … today?)

  159. The Full Nelson—Or: 13 Lessons on “Navigating” Excellence.

  Lord Horatio Nelson, to me, an old navy man and avid student of naval history, epitomizes EXCELLENCE. And, near the 200th anniversary of his singular victory at Trafalgar, I happened upon a new biography (I’ve probably ingested a dozen over the years), Andrew Lambert’s Nelson: Britannia’s God of War. It looked worthwhile; and, incidentally, I was to give a speech on Leadership in Dubai 48 hours hence. So I made the purchase, devoured the book during a subsequent six-hour flight from Heathrow, where I’d picked the book up … extracted 13 Lessons … and foisted them on my UAE friends. (No great friends of the Brits—sorry. But it was, I thought, a helluva useful list.)

  Following this set of lessons is obviously far easier said than done. Still, they offer an intriguing model worthy of our examination if Excellence is your or my aspiration. Moreover, it is particularly interesting to consider the way in which each of the 13 reinforces the other 12. Effective leadership and the achievement of Excellence (in this rare case, “achievement of,” rather than “aspiration to achieve,” is merited) are the result of the interaction among a complex set of characteristics:

  1. Simple scheme. Nelson’s orders of battle were paragons of simplicity and clarity—he was a damn good writer among other things. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it.)

  2. Soaring/Bold/Noble Purpose. Nelson pursued total victory. Many of his peers were willing, essentially, to rate surviving as victory enough. Though scary, bold goals are motivating as hell—even if you’re an involuntary sailor, at least if the likes of Nelson is your commander. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Not on a Nelsonian scale, of course, but in the context of our more pedestrian pursuits.)

  3. Engage others. Nelson made his captains full partners in the process as he devised plans—unheard of in those days. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it.)

  4. Find great talent, at any age, let it soar! Nelson gave his best captains, young or old, far more leeway than his counterpart admirals—and he eschewed seniority as the primary measure of assigned responsibility; if your star had shined brightly, you were given a choice assignment regardless of seniority. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it.)

  5. Lead by Love! The sailors, every biographer agrees, loved Nelson, and he them. (Last clause in the sentence is crucial.) His concern for their well-being, regardless of the rough nature of the sailor’s life in those days, was legendary. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it. Mostly. Assuming you “get off” on people who do the real work.)

  6. Seize the Moment! Nelson’s sixth sense about enemy weakness was remarkable. He would skip to “Plan B” in a flash if merited by changing circumstances. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it. More or less—“good instincts” are the indirect product of insanely hard work. And adaptability is, alas, not a universal trait.)

  7. Vigor! His energy was palpable! (Doable for you or me? Yes. Mostly. Low-energy folks probably aren’t top picks for leadership positions in general; but we can at least get better in terms of our conscious projection on this dimension.)

  8. Master your craft. Nelson was the best damn sailor in the Roya
l Navy—sailors and officers appreciated that beyond measure. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it. We are not all created equal—but often “the best” is not the one who tops the charts on raw talent.)

  9. Work harder-harder-harder than the next person. No explanation needed. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it.)

  10. Show the way, walk the talk, exude confidence! Start a Passion Epidemic! Nelson led from the front—visible, in full dress uniform as the cannons roared. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it. With practice! “Practice” passion? Yes, in the sense of a willingness to express what’s inside that often you try to hide or suppress. The Churchills and Roosevelts and Nelsons express emotion—of course it starts with caring about what you do; can’t fake that. NB: “Express emotion” does not mean bellowing!)

  11. Change the rules: Create your own game! Nelson always took the initiative—thus forcing rivals, from the beginning and throughout maneuvering during battle, to be constantly in a reactive mode. Back to No. 1, his simple schemes and the autonomy given his commanders made taking and holding the initiative much easier than it otherwise would have been. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Mostly—if you can measure up on several of the earlier points; as I said, it’s all connected.)

  12. Luck! Believe it! Always necessary! Not “desirable”—but necessary. (Doable for you or me? Anybody can get lucky—and preparedness ups the odds of getting lucky. But, truthfully, lucky is lucky.)

  13. Be determined to come out on top, come hell or/and high water! Lambert:

  “Other Admirals were more frightened of losing than anxious to win.”

  This last is a big deal—it belongs as either #1 or #13. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it.)

  As noted, the value of this set of Nelsonian traits goes beyond the particulars—it is the totality, the pieces reinforcing one another, that matters. My “action” suggestion is simply to review the whole—and perhaps try laying out your own philosophy, as a whole. Such an exercise, I find, is invaluable—at the least it may lead me or you to realize and then emphasize the missing links; at most it could cause me or you to rethink what the heck we’re doing with our life—e.g., are we trying to avoid messing up (avoid losing), or are we determined to personify the positive-proactive Aspiration of Excellence in our chosen field (pursue winning)?

  NELSON’S TWIN: U.S. GRANT

  As a lad raised in the near-South of the United States, I was taught of the greatness of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee. And taught equally to dismiss the man who garnered the Union Army’s initial victories and then led that army to ultimate victory—General Ulysses S. Grant.

  Hence it was not until recently that I became a full-fledged Grant fanatic. Though not suggesting that I am a thoroughgoing student of military history, I now put Grant on a pedestal, much the same pedestal as Admiral Horatio Nelson. For me the two have few peers.

  (NB: Theodore Roosevelt called Grant one of the three greatest Americans; Washington and Lincoln were the other two.)

  Grant’s obsession with action and simplicity of plan, and his genuine affection for his troops (and vice versa), are, indeed, in my mind, matchless—and rank with Nelson. Consider these quotes I’ve extracted from several biographies.

  Action. Execution. Offense. Relentless. Opportunistic.

  “The only way to whip an army is to go out and fight it.” (Grant)

  “Grant had an aversion to digging in.”

  “The one who attacks first will be victorious.” (Grant)

  “dogged”

  “simplicity and determination”

  “quickness of mind that allowed him to make on the spot adjustments … his battles were not elegant set-piece operations”

  “[other Union generals] preferred preparation to execution”

  “If anyone other than Grant had been in command, the Union Army certainly would have retreated.”

  Lincoln (urged to fire Grant): “I can’t spare this man; he fights.”

  “instinctive recognition that victory lay in relentlessly hounding a defeated army into surrender”

  “The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike at him as hard as you can and as often as you can, and keep moving on.” (Grant)

  “One of my superstitions had always been when I started to go anywhere or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop, until the thing intended was accomplished.” (Grant)

  “Grant had an extreme, almost phobic dislike of turning back and retracing his steps. If he set out for somewhere, he would get there somehow, whatever the difficulties that lay in his way. This idiosyncrasy would turn out to be one of the factors that made him such a formidable general. Grant would always, always press on—turning back was not an option for him.”

  Simplicity. Clarity. Room for Others’ Initiative.

  “The genius of Grant’s command style lay in its simplicity. Grant never burdened his division commanders with excessive detail … no elaborate staff conferences, no written orders prescribing deployment … Grant recognized the battlefield was in flux. By not specifying movements in detail, he left his subordinate commanders free to exploit whatever opportunities developed.”

  “Grant’s moral courage—his willingness to choose a path from which there could be no return—set him apart from most commanders … [Grant and Lee] were uniquely willing to take full responsibility for their actions.”

  Bond with Soldiers

  “Above all the troops appreciated Grant’s unassuming manner. Most generals went about attended by a retinue of immaculately tailored staff officers. Grant usually rode alone, except for an orderly or two to carry messages if the need arose. One soldier said the soldiers looked on Grant ‘as a friendly partner, not an arbitrary commander.’ Instead of cheering as he rode by, they would ‘greet him as they would address one of their neighbors at home. ‘Good morning, General,’ ‘Pleasant day, General’ …”

  After Grant’s victory at Chattanooga:

  “The [Union senior] officers rode past the Confederates smugly without any sign of recognition except by one. ‘When General Grant reached the line of ragged, filthy, bloody, despairing prisoners strung out on each side of the bridge, he lifted his hat and held it over his head until he passed the last man of that living funeral cortege. He was the only officer in that whole train who recognized us as being on the face of the earth.’* [*quote from diary of a Confederate soldier]”

  (NB: This is in no way to dismiss the military leadership qualities of General Lee. And while I know that some of my great friends will never forgive me, I do admit that I have indeed become rather unstintingly admiring of the man from Galena, Illinois.)

  160. A Cheat Sheet for Tough Times (and Other Times, Too).

  Amid all of the advice “out there” on dealing with difficult circumstances, how do you … boil it all down? Some thoughts:

  (1) Be conscious in the Zen sense—that is, learn to and exhibit extreme sensitivity to one’s Immediate Surroundlngs. Carefully consider, far more than you normally might, how you project: Does your “energetic” approach, for example, look more like panic? Is your smile in place? Nothing is amusing about tough economic times, but a permanently grim demeanor, even if it’s merited, is a guaranteed demotivator.

  (2) Meet … daily, first thing … with your leadership team—to discuss whatever, check assumptions. Perhaps meet again late afternoon. Meetings max 30 minutes, maybe 15.

  (3) If you are a “big boss,” use a 100 percent trusted, private sounding board—check in daily, whether you “need to” … or not.

  (4) Concoct scenarios by the bushel, test ‘em, play with ‘em, short term, long term, sane, insane. (Not necessarily a formal exercise—but a constant “playful” exercise.)

  (5) MBWA (Managing By Wandering Around). Wander. Sample attitudes. Visible but not frenzied. But visible … VISIBLE … visible.

  (6) Work the phones, chat up experts, nonexperts (!), customers, vendors. Seek enormous (!!) diversity of opini
on. (NB: Big bosses invariably spend too much time with “experts”! Expert = Blinders = Particularly bad in uncertain/ambiguous times.)

  (7) “Over” communicate!!!!!

  (8) “Over” communicate!!!!!

  (9) Exercise—encourage your leadership team to double up on their physical exercise; physical sharpness is insanely important to mental evenness.

  (10) Underscore “Excellence in every transaction”! (Now, more than ever!)

  Big

  161. Retirement Sucks.

  My college fraternity brothers have a wonderful ritual: an annual newsletter that we all contribute to. A few years back (I was 62 at the time), I vented about the topic of “retirement,” which appeared to be on the minds of many:

  “You’ve all doubtless heard the Churchill yarn. The old man was transiting the Atlantic by ship. An aide made a mental calculation and turned to WSC, ‘Sir Winston, I’ve calculated how much brandy you’ve drunk. It comes to about here,’ he said, pointing to a spot about halfway up the wall of the cavernous ballroom in which they were seated. WSC leaned in toward the chap, pointed to his de facto marker on the wall, and purportedly said, ‘So little time, so much to do.’

  “I am a troubled 62. Why?

  “So little time, so much to do.

  “I have no idea whether this brief missive will attract contempt or mere indifference. Just let me say that I am appalled by the idea of retirement … or slowing down in any way, shape, or form. I write from New Orleans. It’s 5 A.M. I’ve been up for three hours, working on today’s speech.

  “I am blessed. I have a chance (in just 4 hours) to influence 3,500 lives. I dare not f*** it up.

  “I am often tired (I’m 62, not 22), but I Love & Appreciate the Opportunities I’ve been granted to take part in in the Universal Dialogue about the Meaning of Work & Life & National Purpose.