| |  | | | Tom Peters Times for August 2008 | | A Passion for the Future
"Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied." --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The successful search for excellence in today's turbulent times requires a continuing dissatisfaction with the status quo and a deeply held belief that we can do better, we can be better. At Tom Peters Company, the element of ambition sits atop our Future Shape of the Winner model for good reason. Whether you call it a goal, a vision, or a purpose statement matters little. The passion unleashed by this shared and compelling desire for a better future provides the fuel for the pursuit of excellence. A well-communicated ambition invites like-minded organization members to align their best efforts towards the promise the future holds. Likewise, it can serve to filter out those who have ambitions that could run counter to the organization's pursuit. Ambition is the mechanism for engagement, and with today's research showing levels of disengagement reaching as high as 75%, a shared ambition provides a significant competitive advantage. Here are a few things we have learned about the criteria for a successful ambition: -- It must be shared by all the members. People rarely wake at the beginning of the work week with a hearty, "Thank God it's Monday," and race to work to improve the organizational scorecard. Metrics are important, but rarely a source of engagement.
-- It must be compelling. Even inspiring. It should be a statement of aspirations, rather than a dour warning of what our fate will be if we don't perform. Pursue excellence rather than avoid failure.
-- It must be in the line of sight. People can't hit a target they can't see. The leader must communicate the ambition in words that create a clear and inviting mental image in all the members of the organization.
-- It must be a stretch. Longfellow got it right ... it should leave us wanting even more.
-- It should be an invitation to dialogue, not the leader's monologue. If members of the organization can't see themselves in the ambition, it won't be shared. Don't create it in a vacuum.
We recognize that merely having ambition is not enough for excellence. The other elements in our Future Shape of the Winner are necessary for success. But without that ambition at the beginning, the other elements cannot move you closer in your search for excellence. Max DePree, former CEO of Herman Miller understood this when he taught his leaders this: "Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a leader always is: 'Who do we intend to be?' Not 'What are we going to do?' but 'Who do we intend to be?'" Excellence starts with this.
Mike Neiss
Tom Peters Company
US Consultant, Facilitator, Keynote Speaker |
 | Getting Started
Several of Tom's recent blog entries point the way to bringing a unified vision to your company. Get started by reading about our approach to harnessing ambition on FutureShapeoftheWinner.com. Then, continue reading Tom's observations on the topic, in these blog posts: All At Once!, in which he describes the importance of having a grand vision as the start point for a project. And, The Real Stunner, where Tom discusses the critical importance of having personal ambition to drive performance improvement, using Tiger Woods as an example. Continue with Tom's special presentation, The Rules. See especially the last 16 slides in the deck, from the one that reads "Excellence. Ambition. Universal." to the end. |
| TP Wire Service Selections
We'd like to point out these recent posts on TPWireService.com that illustrate our concept of ambition:
"Bridging Your Goals with Their Goals: A 'Context-driven Approach to Leadership'"—Over the past several decades, Russ Palmer has been CEO of Touche Ross (now Deloitte & Touche), dean of Wharton School of Business, and now owner, chairman, and CEO of The Palmer Group, a corporate investment firm. Each of these positions required very different skills and the ability to adapt to a unique set of challenges. This article from Knowledge @ Wharton discusses Palmer's new book, Ultimate Leadership: Winning Execution Strategies for Your Situation.
"Building Bold Goals for Your Business"—At BusinessWeek.com, tips from Robert Mondavi, Howard Schultz (Starbucks), and Doug Ducey (Cold Stone Creamery) on how to articulate a compelling vision for your company.
"A Geek's Guide to Great Service"—At the Harvard Business School Publishing website, Cool Friend Bill Taylor explains the importance of ambition in the success of The Geek Squad. Its founder, Robert Stephens, has a clear vision of what the company should be, do, and even look like. |
| Cool Friend
 Our latest Cool Friend interview is not in the same vein as the rest of this edition of the TP Times, but we think it is one you won't want to miss. Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist, and, as such, he studies how people will act in a wide range of financial transactions and other daily activities: such as buying (or not), saving (or not), ordering food in restaurants, pain management, procrastination, dishonesty, and decision making. The title of his book, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions, gives you further insight, but you'll learn more by reading Dan's Cool Friends interview. You can also download this MP3: Three Things from Dan Ariely. |
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