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TOM PETERS Advice for Tough Times December 2008

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· Advice for Tough Times
· Excellence
· Opportunism
· Visibility
· Transparency
· Demeanor
· Paradox
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Tom Peters Times--December 2008
Advice for Tough Times

This special edition of the Tom Peters Times contains contributions from around the Tom Peters Company team. We are collectively frustrated at the general air of negativity in the business news, so we decided to compile an extra TPTimes edition with personal stories, advice, and selected media clips to help sustain you through these testing times.

Visitors to the blog on tompeters.com know that Tom frequently recommends tactics for this most disruptive of eras. We have synthesized some of Tom's most compelling messages into six pieces of "Advice for Tough Times." Using this list as a template and an idea from Tom as introduction to each section, TPC-ers have added their contributions under the following headings:

Excellence

Opportunism

Visibility

Transparency

Demeanor

Paradox

We hope that our observations, insights, and stories will inform and inspire your own action agendas. Think of this as a smorgasbord of ideas! Enjoy! We've posted the text on our website, also, to give all our readers the chance to revisit this newsletter if you choose.

Madeleine McGrath
Managing Partner, UK

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Excellence

Get on with doing the business you have and see it through brilliantly. Stick to the basics. Keep it simple! The devil is always in the details.

When it comes to focusing on the basics, cash flow and customers both come near the top of most peoples' agendas. Recent entries on tpwireservice.com, offer some great advice on these subjects.

In "Hug Your Customers," we are reminded about good habits that can turn customers into a cadre of unofficial marketing evangelists and keep our business in the forefront of their radar screens.

"Economy Requires 'Back to Basics' Cashflow" presents reminders and tools to help us stay focused on the lifeblood of our businesses--CASH!

And a recent BusinessWeek feature warns that the current financial crisis requires a different approach to the fundamentals of our businesses in "Why Traditional Recession Tactics Are Doomed to Fail This Time." On the basics theme, one of their key observations is that "strategists must rediscover the lost art of authentic value creation."

Lessons for us all?

Are you doing all you can to ensure that the resources you have at your disposal are deployed on the products and services in your portfolio that create the most value for the customer?

Are you making it absolutely clear to everyone who works with/for you that the fulfillment of the customer work you do have must embody the highest level of excellence that you can collectively achieve?

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Opportunism

Opportunism--there may be a lot of room for it--will pay off through speed off the mark and excellence in execution.

Richard King, Managing Partner, UK, observes that, like London buses, recession and business opportunities often come along at the same time! Virgin Chairman Richard Branson is currently talking to a group of interested parties about a possible bid for London's second largest airport, Gatwick. The UK Competition Commission has ruled that Gatwick's current owners, BAA, may have to sell the airport because of their market domination. BAA also owns London's Heathrow and Stansted airports. In these difficult times, Gatwick may turn out to be worth a lot less than its £2.5bn market valuation. So, it's "opportunity knocks" in recessionary times for Sir Richard, who never needs asking twice, and a big challenge for Virgin to put together the consortium needed to pull off what would be a major coup, for Virgin and for all victims [Richard's word] of the current London airports' customer service!

Madeleine McGrath has unearthed an opportunistic proposal from the New Zealand Institute (NZI) to their Government that may have ramifications for business leaders. Previous recessions have seen unsettled expat New Zealanders move back to the Australasia region, but too many have chosen to settle in Australia rather than coming all the way back to their homeland, says the NZI. The intention this time is to compete aggressively to encourage talented Kiwis to return home and deploy their skills in support of their own nation's economy. (See the NZI's October 2008 paper, "Economy on the Edge.") How many employers see their current employees as an asset rather than an expense when times are tough, let alone their former employees? Yet businesses often lose their best people to the competition, and this downturn may be the chance to get some of them back!

Lessons for us all?

Are you thinking laterally enough about opportunities and needs that are being manifested in your marketplace?

Are you thinking laterally enough about your talent pool, and using the recession as an opportunity to attract the very best?

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Visibility

March toward the sound of the guns. MBWA (Managing By Wandering Around). People have to see who they are working for and who they are dealing with.

Tom Peters says "Treble Your MBWA": "One of my favorite quotes, from Carolyn Lamb ... goes like this: 'A year from now you may wish you had started today.' Yes, today many of us wish we had 'wildly' 'over' invested in those employee-vendor-client-community relationships when the market was heading North and there was a little slack in the system. Well, perhaps we didn't, but ... it really is never too late. ... Work the damn phones. Keep working the damn phones. Show up. Keep showing up. Call clients and suppliers, ask them how things are going, and how you can help. This is not about sales (directly), but about 'showing up'-taking time from your busy affairs to offer assistance of any sort. (E.g., offer up your network ... Etc.) This is even more important with our employees. 'Over'inform--the rumors are invariably worse than reality. 'Over'do your MBWA ..." (Read the complete blog entry.)

Richard King has this story for us all: "Like most business leaders these days, the CEO of a specialist manufacturing group I know well has planning and implementing cost reductions right up there at the top of his jobs list! Last week I heard that one of his Directors had missed a committed savings milestone. This delinquency had come to light in the week before the Director concerned had booked a family holiday. Rather than reacting immediately and risk spoiling the whole family's break, the CEO lived with his frustration until after the holiday. When the Director returned, he was invited to an offsite one-to-one session with the CEO--on his first morning back. I'm sure there was some pretty straight talking done, in private, between the two of them! How do I know this story? The Director told it to me because he knew I was looking for stories of leaders facing up to the unpleasant realities of this recession. He especially wanted to express his appreciation for the considerate way his CEO had treated him.

Lessons for us all?

Are you tracking numbers of customer, prospect, and networking contacts in your regular reporting and recognizing those people who are working hardest on relationships?

Have you adopted/recommended "face to face" as the management medium of choice for delivering tough news to employees, colleagues, and partners?

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Transparency

Be absolutely straight with people, especially those at the front line. People who play the blame game in any way, shape, or form are out of here!

"Our people are our most important asset," or so says many an annual report. Val Willis, a U.S.-based Facilitator, spotted a great example of a business facing up to the challenges of these tough times, but staying true to its people principles. In San Antonio, Texas, the downturn forced Toyota to close their plant for three months. The dilemma they faced was how to handle this in regard to their 4,500-person workforce. According to Financial Week, Toyota is redeploying their workers on community work, retraining, and education classes in lieu of layoffs. "This was the first chance we've really had to live out our values," said Latondra Newton, general manager of Toyota's Team Member Development Center. "We're not just keeping people on the payroll because we're nice. At the end of all this, our hope is that we'll end up with a more skilled North American workforce."

In a second example, Ruth Smith, a UK Facilitator, explains how a retail client had set about responding to their constantly changing market conditions by instigating weekly management/front line sales reviews to pick up and respond to trends in customers' purchasing habits quickly. At the meetings, they make instant decisions on changes to promotions and product offerings in order to capitalize on customer demand. This week-by-week approach had led to criticism by staff of so-called "knee jerk and reactive" managers, and changes were often resisted by front liners until they were brought in on the review meetings. Once managers took the time to engage everyone in the process, rapid adjustment and constant change have become normal business.

On tpwireservice.com, we find this Daniel Goleman article entitled "Tea and Empathy" from strategy+business. Goleman identifies what he calls the crisis of accountability that organizations are facing, and contends that transparency, social and emotional learning, and leadership must take a much higher profile on the leader's agenda.

Lessons for us all?

Are there any ways in which you can use layoff situations to build and strengthen your workforce and your culture?

Are you doing everything you can to keep all employees informed of your emergency plans and strategies?

How tuned in are you to the emotional temperature of your business?

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Demeanor

Banish "gloomy" from your persona, even if it kills you! But remember, "sunny" is pretty stupid, too. Who do you think you're kidding?

As we watch the media pundits and commentators pick holes in the world's politicians' brave attempts to address the current economic mess, a new book from one of Tom's Cool Friends, Raj Setty, is a welcome ray of light. The book's title is Upbeat, and it contains many gems of inspiration to encourage a positive attitude during tough times. At the outset, Raj sounds off at the insidious impact that negative conversations have on your life. If every conversation that you have begins with a depressing catalogue of doom and gloom, not only are you setting a depressing tone, you are also wasting that time. In that context, banning gloomy conversations about things over which you have no control becomes an immensely sensible, positive resolution. Think about it!

UK Executive Coach David Pilbeam helps to shed more light on what leaders can do to engender a positive attitude in their people and sustain an upbeat atmosphere in the workplace. "People always feel better and can perform better when they are in situations where they can use their strengths," says David. So he recommends that leaders take the time to think, or discover, what the strengths of their key team members are, and to reframe work projects so that people can use their natural strengths and the business can benefit from them. Productivity, performance, and personal confidence all go up.

Lessons for us all?

Are you doing your best to stay out of negative and unproductive conversations? How about stimulating the opposite?

Are there any ways in which you can reframe what your people are working on in order to make better use of their strengths?

Consider appointing a "mood monitor" to give you direct feedback when your demeanor is becoming too gloomy (or vice versa!).

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Paradox

Have a positive mental attitude AND be ready for the worst.

Mike Neiss, U.S. Facilitator, reports that he recently attended a meeting at a client company whose market had just tanked. Rated the number one place to work in their industry by Fortune, this business is in Fast Company's top fifty innovative companies in the world, and its latest product line is winning rave reviews from publications ranging from Wired to BusinessWeek. The COO announced that it was essential to make an immediate workforce reduction, and because the company was already quite lean, the reduction would really test the mettle of the organization. They discussed how to act in strict accordance with the core values of the company and how they would ensure the business reasons for the cuts were communicated to everyone. They were concerned about the impact on the essence of what had made them a great company, and the heavy additional burden that would be transferred onto those who remained. The COO then revealed the information they would be sharing with employees about the company's future plans, including continued funding of R&D projects, investments in employee development, and improving the infrastructure of the business. "This was clearly not just PR spin," Mike reflected afterwards, "but actual plans with real numbers coming directly from the top officers of the company." The confidence that they would emerge from this recession a stronger company "with their soul intact" was obvious. Mike left the meeting impressed with their commitment to be absolutely honest with their workforce and inspired by their confidence about the future. Not a word was said about creating or protecting "shareholder value," but Mike is convinced that market value will increase as a result of the changes.

Necessity and hard times often go hand in hand with invention. With this in mind, Helen Green, another of the UK team, reports on a letter she saw in the London Times. The writer, British Academic Brian Kettell, drew attention to the explosion of innovation that took place during, or shortly after, the Great Depression of the 1930s ... "frozen food, jet engine and Sellotape (1930), electron microscope (1931), Polaroid and parking meter (1932), FM and stereo recording (1933), cat's eyes [retroreflective safety device] and Monopoly (1934), canned beer, nylon and radar (1935), voice recognition systems (1936), photocopying (1937) and ballpoint pens and instant coffee (1938)" ... the list goes on and on!

For more ideas about how to stimulate innovation, don't forget an all-time favorite, Tom's "Pursuit of Luck," which gives you lots of ideas about ways to break free from your current thinking patterns.

Lessons for us all?

Have you been back through your list of cutbacks to be sure that you are not draining off your future lifeblood, personal or business?

Are there any uncomfortable changes you have been avoiding (be honest!) that you really should act on now?

Have you considered making a list of the things you will be most proud of achieving in 2011?

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(C) 2008 tompeters!company


CONSULTEN, OPINEN , ESCRIBAN LIBREMENTE
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
Diplomado en RSE de la ONU
www.consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
www.calentamientoglobalchile.blogspot.com
oficina: Renato Sánchez 3586 of. 10
Teléfono: OF .02-  8854223- CEL: 76850061
e-mail: rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago- Chile
Soliciten nuestros cursos de capacitación  y consultoría en LIDERAZGO -  RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL – LOBBY – BIOCOMBUSTIBLES  ,   y asesorías a nivel internacional y están disponibles  para OTEC Y OTIC en Chile

La sustancia del pensamiento (entrevista a Steven Pinker)

Dic 4th, 2008 | By Germanico | Tags: , ,
 
En los símbolos y reglas que constituyen el lenguaje están escritas nuestra historia y nuestra cultura. Pero en él también podemos captar, si sabemos leer entre líneas, algunos mensajes sobre cómo funciona la mente humana y, en consecuencia, sobre nuestra naturaleza. El psicólogo canadiense Steven Pinker lleva años dedicado a estudiar el desarrollo del lenguaje en los niños. Lo ha hecho desde una perspectiva evolucionista, concibiendo el lenguaje como un instinto. Tanto este como la mente que contribuye a expresar, a proyectar en la realidad social humana, son productos de la evolución. Así, para Pinker, resultan particularmente sospechosas, cuando no definitivamente erróneas, las teorías que apuntan a lo social, lo cultural y lo ambiental como la causa de nuestras capacidades y nuestras tendencias. Sin ser un innatista sensu stricto (después de todo estudia la psicología del desarrollo) Pinker rompió una lanza a favor de la naturaleza en su obra más famosa y leída: La Tabla Rasa, en la que tira abajo el Muro que constituía el modelo estándar de las ciencias sociales, con una poderosa argumentación acompañada de múltiples evidencias y ejemplos tomados de la cultura popular y de la erudita.

En su última obra, The Stuff of Thought, traducida al castellano como El Mundo de las Palabras, ahonda en las cuestiones que ya planteó en sus anteriores obras, penetrando la estructura profunda del lenguaje y desvelando mientras lo hace aspectos fundamentales de nuestra naturaleza. Lo que pensamos es mucho más de lo que nos decimos interiormente, y desde luego no está determinado por el lenguaje, ni por la cultura. Hay un lenguaje del pensamiento sobre el que se articula ese otro lenguaje que compartimos con los demás, emitiendo y escuchando sonidos modulados por nuestro aparato fonador. Este lenguaje del pensamiento resulta ser otro universal, otro aspecto esencial de nuestra naturaleza.

Steven ha tenido la amabilidad de respondernos unas preguntas. Gracias a Marzo por lidiar con las sutilezas de la lengua de este sutil lingüista, y al Sr. Guardia por convertir nuestros balbuceos "indios" en preguntas escritas en un correcto inglés.

En ingles:

Germánico-You started explaining the language's instinct, then how the mind works, then put the nature / nurture controversy in its place, throwing away The Blank slate, and with it, the standard model of social sciences. Now, do you integrate everything into The stuff of thought, speaking of how the deep language of our mind works, unequivocally pointing to what is innate and what is learned in us?

S.P- The goal of The Stuff of Thought was to explore the connection between my two main interests, language and human nature. It uses language – in particular, meaning and use – as a source of evidence about human nature, including our concepts of space, time, causality, and substance; our emotions such as hate, disgust, and fear; and our social relationships such as dominance, communality, and reciprocity.

Antonio Gimeno- One of the best passages in your last book is the one that deconstructs the Declaration of Independence of the United States, reducing the entire poetic force of the founding text to semantic rubble… How could our language instinct have been able to develop concepts like freedom?

S.P-It is like that it originated in the physical concept of being unencumbered by physical constraints, such as burdens or entanglements. However, in many languages the closest equivalent to the word freedom means licentiousness or irresponsibility!

Memetic Warrior-What is your opinion about multilevel evolution as was defined in this paper from David Sloan Wilson and Edward O Wilson?

S.P-I think it is mistaken – groups do not replicate and form other groups inheriting their properties in the way that genes do. Certainly there is the phenomenon of group psychology – people, and other organisms, have adaptations to flourishing in the context of a group, which means balancing the benefits delivered by the overall welfare of the group against the costs incurred by sacrificing for that welfare. But I don't think this is lucidly analyzed by analogizing groups and genes.

Kantor-Do you think that conscience, that the essential rules of morality are a fundamental fact of the universe, or a contigent result of the evolutionary process? Do people build or discover morality?

S.P-I don't agree that conscience (at least in its English sense) is a fundamental property of the universe; it is a feature of our psychology, evolving to deal with the inherent problems of living with other organisms of the same species. It is possible, though, that some notion of morality is a feature of reality – the position that philosophers call "moral realism." Perhaps any creature that is both rational and social is forced by logic to gravitate to some version of the golden rule or categorical imperative, since nothing in logic privileges the notion of "me" as opposed to "you" or "everyone else.

Luis I. Gómez.- In your book "The Blank Slate. The Modern Denial of Human Nature" you defend that the humans are born with certain determined personality traits, the free will as one of them. You argue that because of it humans naturally resist against slavery and totalitarianism. Nevertheless, we live indeed at a time on which the mainstream of the dominant classes (political, intellectual, social) base their paternalistic, overprotective and igualitarian action on the idea that we are a kind of "blank slate" , susceptible to be educated in what they consider politically correct. Are we witnessing the evolutionary degradation of the individuality as human characteristic, or the birth of a conflict between "genetic" and "social", hardly dirimible without violence?

S.P- My own feeling is that there is increasing receptiveness to the concept of human nature, partly because of the advances of the sciences of evolution and genetics, partly because the younger generations are not as committed to the politically correct dogmas of their 1960s-mindset parents. But clearly there are forces in both directions.

En castellano:

Germánico- Comenzó explicando el instinto del lenguaje, después cómo funciona la mente, a continuación puso la controversia naturaleza/crianza en su lugar, tirando por la borda la Tabla Rasa, y, con ella, el modelo estándar de las ciencias sociales. ¿Ahora lo integra todo en The Stuff of Thought, hablándonos de como funciona el lenguaje profundo de nuestra mente, apuntando inequívocamente a qué es innato y qué aprendido en nosotros?

S.P- El objetivo de El mundo de las palabras era explorar la conexión entre mis dos intereses principales, el lenguaje y la naturaleza humana. Usa el lenguaje ­en particular, el significado y el uso­ como una fuente de evidencia acerca de la naturaleza humana, incluidos nuestros conceptos de espacio, tiempo, causalidad y substancia; nuestras emociones tales como odio, repugnancia y temor; y nuestras relaciones sociales tales como dominación, comunalidad y reciprocidad.

Antonio Gimeno- Uno de los mejores pasajes de la obra es aquel en el que "deconstruye" la declaración de Independencia de Estados Unidos, reduciendo a escombros semánticos toda la fuerza poética del texto fundacional … ¿cómo es posible que nuestro lenguaje instintivo haya sido capaz de elaborar conceptos como libertad?

S.P-Es probable que tenga su origen en el concepto físico de no estar estorbado por limitaciones físicas, tales como cargas o enredos. Sin embargo, ¡en muchos idiomas el equivalente más próximo a la palabra libertad significa licenciosidad o irresponsabilidad!

Memetic Warrior- Cuál es su opinion sobre la evolución multinivel tal como fue definida en este artículo de David Sloan Wilson y Edward O. Wilson?

S.P-Creo que es errónea; los grupos no se replican y forman otros grupos que hereden sus propiedades como lo hacen los genes. Ciertamente existe el fenómeno de la psicología de grupo; las personas, y otros organismos, tienen adaptaciones para prosperar en el contexto de un grupo, lo que significa equilibrar los beneficios que proporciona el bienestar general del grupo con los costes en que se incurre al sacrificarse por ese bienestar. Pero no creo que esto se analice lúcidamente formulando una analogía entre grupos y genes.

Kantor-¿Cree usted que la conciencia, las reglas esenciales de la moral, son hechos fundamentales del universo, o un resultado contingente del proceso evolutivo? ¿Las personas construyen la moral o la descubren?

SP-No estoy de acuerdo con que la conciencia (al menos en su sentido en inglés) sea una propiedad fundamental del universo; es un rasgo de nuestra psicología, que ha evolucionado para tratar con los problemas inherentes a vivir con otros organismos de la misma especie. Es posible, sin embargo, que alguna noción de moralidad sea un rasgo de la realidad (la posición que los filósofos llaman "realismo moral"). Tal vez cualquier criatura que sea tanto racional como social es forzada por la lógica a gravitar hacia alguna versión de la regla de oro o imperativo categórico, ya que nada en la lógica privilegia la noción de "yo" frente a "tú" o "todos los demás".

Luis I.Gómez-En su libro "La Tabla Rasa. La negación moderna de la naturaleza humana" usted defiende que los humanos nacen con ciertas características de personalidad determinadas, el libre albedrío es una de ellas, y sostiene que, debido a ello, los humanos se resisten-por naturaleza- contra la esclavitud y el totalitarismo. Sin embargo, vivimos de hecho en un momento en que la corriente principal de las clases dominantes (políticas, intelectuales, sociales) basa su acción paternalista y su igualitarismo sobreprotector en la idea de que somos una especie de "tabla rasa", susceptible a ser educados en lo que ellos consideran políticamente correcto. ¿Somos testigos de la degradación evolutiva de la individualidad como característica humana, o más bien del nacimiento de un conflicto entre lo "genético" y lo "social", difícilmente dirimible sin violencia?

S.P-Tengo la sensación de que hay una creciente receptividad hacia el concepto de naturaleza humana, en parte por los avances de las ciencias de la evolución y la genética, en parte porque las generaciones más jóvenes no están tan comprometidas con los dogmas políticamente correctos de sus padres, con su mentalidad de los años 60. Pero está claro que operan fuerzas en ambas direcciones.

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CONSULTEN, OPINEN , ESCRIBAN LIBREMENTE
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
Diplomado en RSE de la ONU
www.consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
www.calentamientoglobalchile.blogspot.com
oficina: Renato Sánchez 3586 of. 10
Teléfono: OF .02-  8854223- CEL: 76850061
e-mail: rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago- Chile
Soliciten nuestros cursos de capacitación  y consultoría en LIDERAZGO -  RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL – LOBBY – BIOCOMBUSTIBLES  ,   y asesorías a nivel internacional y están disponibles  para OTEC Y OTIC en Chile