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Tom Peters is a biography of a scientist in the scientific theory of management. Thomas Peters

Tom Peters was born in 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland (Baltimore, Maryland). After high school, he entered Cornell University (Cornell University, Ithaca, New York), majoring in engineering. Peters later earned an MBA and a PhD from Stanford University Business School. business school). In 1966-1970 he served in the US Navy (United States Navy), it was during the Vietnam War. Following was the position of adviser to the White House (White House), he dealt with the fight against drug addiction.

In the mid-1970s, Peters became a consultant to well-known company"McKinsey & Company", and in 1981 he founded his own consulting company called "Tom Peters Group".

Tom Peters became world famous with his 1982 book In Search of Excellence, which was co-authored with Robert H. Waterman (Jr.). In their book, the authors considered models organizational structures the most successful American companies. After analyzing the results of the leaders, they described latest trends in management. The book was aimed at a readership of managers at all levels who are directly interested in improving the efficiency of their companies. However, the book turned out to be in great demand among other readers, whose circle turned out to be unexpectedly wide even for the authors themselves. Written in a lively language and in a very engaging style, In Search of Excellence is also full of interesting facts and stories.

Thus, as both a history of successful companies and a textbook, the book brought us closer to solving the eternal question - how did some top managers achieve such brilliant results?

After this book, Peters wrote several more books, each of which became a bestseller in its time - A Passion for Excellence was published in 1985, Thriving on Chaos - in 1987- m, "Liberation Management" (Liberation Management) - in 1992, and "The Circle of Innovation" (The Circle of Innovation: You Can "t Shrink Your Way to Greatness) was published in 1997.

In October 2003, Peters published another book - "Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age" (Imagine again! Business Excellence in an era of destruction), and in 2005 he became the author of "Talent", "Leadership", "Design and "Trends".

To date, Peters is considered one of the largest specialists in the field of management; annually he conducts at least 80 seminars in various countries of the world.

Tom Peters is a member of the International Academy of Management, World Productivity Association, International Customer Service Association, Society for Quality and Participatory Management.

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Among the businesses that receive advice from his firm on organizational change- companies such as Rolls-Royce, Starbucks, Bank of America, Continental Airlines, Virgin Direct and Intel and many others.

The last book, The Little Big Things, came out in 2010.

In 2000, National Public Radio named Peters' best-known book, In Search of Excellence, one of the "three best business books of the past century," and a 2002 Bloomsbury poll called it "the greatest business book of all time." times".

They say that lectures by Tom Peters are always a performance, a performance. They invariably charge with optimism and make you think about many things at once - about own business, about competitors, about the goals and the price of their achievement.

"I love life-as-it-is," says Tom Peters, one of the most respected and influential businessmen in the world, who is also called America's Management Guru.

Tom Peters ( Tom Peters) is one of the largest specialists in the field of management, a world-famous business consultant, a member of the International Academy of Management, the World Productivity Association, the International Customer Service Association, the Society for Quality.

I love life the way it is.
Tom Peters

Tom Peters was born on November 7, 1942 in the USA in the city of Baltimore, Maryland; studied engineering at Cornell University ( Cornell University, Ithaca, New York), then received a master's degree in business administration ( MBA) and a PhD from Stanford University. Served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. In the mid-70s, the young manager became a consultant McKinsey, and in 1981 founded his own consulting company - Tom Peters Group.

Tom Peters is credited with creating the modern business consulting industry. business magazines they write about him as a person who sells business ideas as works of art: “If your work is not very original, no matter how hard you do it, you will still be ignored, which means that you will never be pay a lot for it,” he says.

T. Peters' books are very popular, especially among university graduates and middle-aged managers. Many of his ideas have become an integral part of modern theory. In 1982, co-authored with Robert Waterman ( Robert Waterman), a work colleague in McKinsey, he wrote the book "In Search of Perfection" ( In Search of Excellence, 2005) is the first management bestseller of the 20th century. Soon the next bestseller came out - "Passion for Excellence" ( A Passion for Excellence, 1985).

"In Search of Perfection" is a publication that can be called a "classic of the genre." In it, the authors look at the organizational structures of the most successful US companies that have achieved amazing results and become leaders in their industries, and describe the latest trends in management. The book is addressed to managers of different levels who are interested in improving the efficiency of their companies, but it will also be useful for a wide range of readers. It is written in a lively, engaging style, replete with interesting facts and stories. It can be read both as a history of successful companies and as a textbook summarizing the answers to the question: “Why did these top managers achieve such brilliant results?”.

In this work, Peters emphasizes that successful structural solutions are created only with the "human factor" in mind. His research showed that a reasonable approach to organizational process includes at least seven variables that should be considered independent: 1) strategy, 2) structure, 3) people, 4) systems, 5) capabilities, 6) management style, and 7) shared values (i.e. culture ). This approach is reflected in the McKinsey model 7C ( rice. one), in the center of which is the most important element- shared values.

Rice. 1. Varieties of regulatory documents

Peters considers excellence as a cultural phenomenon, the important criteria of which, from his point of view, are quality and customer orientation. He places his main emphasis on modernization and simplification organizations. Peters writes that advanced companies have mastered the "basics of management" well: ready-made methods do not replace reasoning, intelligence does not replace wisdom, analysis should not interfere with action. These companies made great efforts to keep things simple in a complex world, fought for quality, valued their customers, listened to the opinions of their employees, and supported innovation. They were tolerant of "some degree of chaos" in the company and constantly experimented.

Action oriented. Employees of successful companies are encouraged ("do it, fix it, try it") in relation to standard operating procedures.

Proximity to the consumer. Successful companies learn from their customers.

Autonomy and entrepreneurship. Successful companies support the leadership and innovation of their employees.

People as a productivity factor. Leaders of successful companies consider front-line workers to be the main factor in improving quality and productivity.

Local management, value orientation. The achievement of an organization depends much more on its philosophy than on available technological or economic resources.

Loyalty to your calling. The advantage is given to companies that are engaged in business familiar enough to them.

simple structure, small management staff. The basic structural forms and systems in successful companies are elegantly simple.

Combination of flexibility and rigidity. Most successful companies combine a reasonable degree of centralization and decentralization.

In relation to the basic installations of management, Peters has always preferred the transfer of authority in the company. A manager cannot know everything thoroughly; striving for total control, he risks getting bogged down in useless details. It's better to do something wrong than to do nothing, so people shouldn't be afraid to make a mistake. After analyzing the reasons for the mistake and learning, next time they will do everything right and, as a rule, better. Peters is a big fan of paradoxes, his favorite expression is: "Reward great failures ... punish mediocre successes." Perfection must be achieved gradually, through a series of small steps leading to a common goal.

Today, Peters is no longer so optimistic - it seems that in reality, ideal companies do not exist. And the guru, in accordance with his philosophy, boldly modifies the ideas expressed earlier: the main thing is not the pursuit of perfection, the main thing is stand out out of the crowd! In today's world of ever-changing rules and flexible boundaries, calling for companies to stick to their cause sounds like a death sentence. Peters is now playing the role of a futurist and giving recipes for success to top managers. Companies must:

decrease, even completely change its structure;

be updated;

make workplaces more interesting for employees.

Traditional hierarchical structures are no longer needed, they only hinder progress. In the book Liberating Control ( Libertion Mngement, 1992) Peters predicts a radical change in management: "Middle managers in the usual sense for us have already sung their swansong"; each employee is forced to “brand” himself more and more ( to brnd himself). The gender prophecy of management gurus is also interesting: “tomorrow belongs to women”. He believes that women work better in a team than men, so their number among managers will increase. Unlike men, women focus on powers(but not hierarchical authority), besides, they develop relationships more easily, rely on intuition more often, improvise more easily.

In a series of books including The Brnd You 50(1999) and Project 50(1999), Peters focuses on research into the formation of the "new corporate citizen" ( the new corporate citizen).

In the latest bestseller “Imagine! Business Excellence in an Age of Destruction" Re-imgine! 2004) Tom Peters writes that the 21st century began on September 11, 2001. Whether we like it or not, this century will be dominated by a new type of organization - fast, agile, cunning, and resilient. He predicts the death of bureaucracy and invites managers - and all of us - to think! Moreover, “think beautifully ... think strangely and comprehend much more “changes” than we could imagine before.” We must understand that we no longer have a choice: soon microprocessors will take over all the routine work, and we will have to re-search ourselves and our place in the world. (“Like when we left the farms and came to the factories, and then when we were thrown out of production and moved to white-collar skyscrapers.”) The Guru considers as his enemies those leaders, managers and economists who are convinced that obtaining a degree MBA and adherence to the learned theoretical principles guarantees them infallibility in business.

The book begins with a very emotional account of a non-trivial event: Peters tried to convince Stanford to revoke his degree. MBA. He was prompted to take such a radical step by a television report he saw - a speech by his former dean, who taught him accounting, and now a member of the Board of Directors and chairman of the audit commission of the company Enron. In his speech, the chief auditor stated that he had no idea about the machinations that led to the collapse of the energy giant, and he did everything right! “He never understood that we live in a different world today!” exclaims Tom Peters.

In our world, you cannot rely on the past, you need to invent the future every day. The winners are those who are less bureaucratic, who take risks without fear of losses, who rely on a person, not a figure. In his characteristic paradoxical form, Peters argues that the secret of success is failure, and the secret of great success is a big defeat.

The principles of scientific management no longer apply! Today we need to forget everything that the old management was based on: about strategic plans and quality, about assets that can be “touched”. "Sustainable competitive advantage can only be unstable!” the guru says. He carefully examines the ongoing changes, and not so much in technology or management technologies, but in the very principles of doing business, in the picture of the world of people, as shown in figure 2.

IT WAS		THERE IS
Cost center		Profit center
Procedure orientation		Customer orientation
Cost minimization		Value Added Maximization
Work is completely limited outside the enterprise		Side work encouraged in every way
Downsizing or hiring employees when required		We invite "stars" - and pay accordingly
Carrying out assigned tasks born of inspiration		We participate in "crazy projects"
Increasing "efficiency"		Adjusting "changes"
office slaves		Proud professionals
Conservatism		Creation

"Solely for the sake of argument" Peters proposed his "Model Economy of 2005", in which the formula for success is:

Dell + IBM + Harley-Dvidson = Magic,

where Dell - remove all unnecessary,
IBM - to create stunning value-added services,
Harley-Dvidson - add a truly amazing experience.

In the style of Marx's manifesto, Peters calls: "Enterprises of all countries - collapse!" Today comes the time of short-term projects and enterprises without property (but with a maximum turnover and a minimum of employees), and not powerful corporations. “Don't own anything if you can. Even rent shoes,” the author repeatedly repeats. The only thing that work should give is freedom. The futurist guru sees a "company of the future" consisting of 300 people, and only six are full-time employees ( Executive Director, financial director, VP of Alliances and three Super Project Coordinators) and the remaining 294 are independent contractors. The company does not have a headquarters, but it has a very developed information network: all employees are “mobilized” (computers, Cell phones) to the teeth.

The theme of reconsidering the attitude towards man in general is the most important for Tom Peters; he predicts that 80% of all office work as it is today will disappear or change beyond recognition within the next 15 years. Indeed, “you work 50 hours a week. You're tearing yourself up. Tolerate this nonsense. And what do they end up calling you? "They" call you... "cost center" and "overhead." Horror!.

A special place in the book is given to the topic of attracting and developing talents. How to recognize them? Tom Peters gives the main signs of real corporate talent and tips for finding them:

Shows passion for his work. Looking for enthusiasts.

Think big. Consider strategists.

Hungry for action. Prefer action freaks over theorists.

Knows how to finish what he started. Invite people to finish the "remaining two percent" - the "first 98" are great for many ...

Inspires those around you. Ask yourself: does this inspire me personally?

Loves tension. Choose employees-"players" who know how to survive in crises.

Has a bunch of "crazy projects". Call out those whose accomplishments defy convention and bureaucracy.

The epitome of wonder. Hire eclectic/wonderful/special people in such "weird" times.

Exudes fun. For all positions, look for not just energetic people, but people with a “spark” who can create a spiritual atmosphere.

It is rather difficult to objectively assess the impact of Tom Peters' work on management development. But his books are read all over the world, many of the ideas he proposed are embodied. His self-esteem is as non-trivial as many thoughts about management. “He would have done something really worthwhile, but his boss wouldn’t let him” - such an epitaph deserves most of our modern managers, says Tom Peters. - A similar text could be written on my tombstone if I lived the way I did before I was 40. Now I will ask you to write on it: “He was a player!”.

Peters is not only a player with capital letter but also a brilliant actor. In his public speeches, as in his books, there is a reflection of messianism. Lectures by Tom Peters are always a performance, a performance (from 80 to 150 performances a year around the world). They give a charge of optimism and make you think about complex things - about your business, about competitors, about goals and the cost of achieving them. In 2005, Kyiv top managers could see this as well, having attended the guru's master class "Business Management in an Era of Change".

For our traditions and mentality, burdened by communism and collectivism, Tom Peters' pathetic attitude towards personal responsibility is probably especially useful: "You write the history of your life yourself, and it depends on you whether you create your own legend or not."

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Tom Peters is one of the leading experts in the field of management, a business consultant with a worldwide reputation, winner of the Toastmasters Golden Gavel award.

Need to train
Take every opportunity to say a few words in public.

Be active in the community!
Volunteer to work as a member of a fundraising committee, an activist in an organization, become a member of a parent committee.

Stay on your own!
Don't even start talking in public unless you're going to passionately defend your point of view. After all, you promote (sell) your reliability-care as a speaker through a heated conversation. Always and in any context of conversation.

Focus! Focus! Focus!
We write out a minimum of polished theses on small cards for public release.

Practicing among our
The people around us can also help you develop your speaking skills, for example, you can practice on your wife, on best friend, on the concierge, on the children, and even on his German shepherd.

No need to memorize
Roughness kills.

You shouldn't joke

You must be taken seriously.

Be modern!
In your speech, you can mention some new news from social media.

Simple and clear
You should not use bright graphics and a bunch of tables - this is a disaster.

Repeat your thought
Can 10 different ways reduce your ideas to 4-5 basic ones.

Tell stories
True eloquence implies a great story. And let it be interesting to listeners. You can talk about real people from the company, about consumers, that is, about people doing real work.

Hand out material with key messages
Let the listeners not bother with the painted information - after all, as William Shakespeare said, "Where there are few words, they have weight."

No need to justify
You are here to win friends and influence people, you should not demonstrate your superintelligence, so as not to make enemies for yourself.

Humility & Respect
Nobody likes the arrogant and boastful. We show full respect for the audience.

We attract listeners
Try to solve the problems of your listeners. The performance should have something for them, personal.

eye contact
At a certain point, you connect with only one person and pronounce only one for him.

Looking for supporters
They already love you. Plus, positive body language will put you at ease.

Forget about the "basics" of speaking
You don't have to start strong or finish bright to capture your audience. Only 4-5 clear theses in which you sincerely believe.

Of course there will be another chance!
In 94% it is wrong to think that "if not now, then never!"

If you're still not ready to communicate in public, Tom Peters advises inviting an actor from the theater to lunch with you and your colleagues. He will talk about how to present yourself correctly and how to achieve success in this.

I love life the way it is.

Tom Peters

Tom Peters is credited with creating the modern business consulting industry. Business magazines write about him as a man who sells business ideas as works of art: “If your work is not particularly original, no matter how hard you do it, you will still be ignored, which means that you will never they won’t pay much for it,” he says.

In this work, Peters emphasizes that successful structural solutions are created only with the "human factor" in mind. His research showed that a reasonable approach to the organizational process includes at least seven variables that should be considered as independent: 1) strategy, 2) structure, 3) people, 4) systems, 5) abilities, 6) management style and 7) shared values (ie culture). This approach is reflected in the McKinsey model 7C ( rice. one), in the center of which is the most important element - shared values.

Rice. 1. Varieties of regulatory documents

Action oriented. Employees of successful companies are encouraged ("do it, fix it, try it") in relation to standard operating procedures.
Proximity to the consumer. Successful companies learn from their customers.
Autonomy and entrepreneurship. Successful companies support the leadership and innovation of their employees.
People as a productivity factor. Leaders of successful companies consider front-line workers to be the main factor in improving quality and productivity.
Local management, value orientation. The achievement of an organization depends much more on its philosophy than on available technological or economic resources.
Loyalty to your calling. The advantage is given to companies that are engaged in business familiar enough to them.
Simple structure, small management staff. The basic structural forms and systems in successful companies are elegantly simple.
Combination of flexibility and rigidity. The most successful companies combine a reasonable degree of centralization and decentralization.

“I do not advise you to be “holier than the Pope”. Politics is okay. Compromises are eternal. Bad things happen. But everything has a limit.

Don't work with dishonest people.

Don't work with people who don't keep their word.

Don't work with people who only care about themselves.

Don't work with morons."

Tom Peters

decrease, even completely change its structure;
be updated;
make workplaces more interesting for employees.

In a series of books including The brnd You 50(1999) and Project 50(1999), Peters focuses on research into the formation of the "new corporate citizen" ( the new corporate citizen).

“In this age, value will be created on the basis of creativity and intellectual capital…we must also (obviously) recognize that our age is a true age of talent. Who the hell is supposed to lead the parade, to power the very process of creating value? People from HR!”

Tom Peters

In the latest bestseller “Imagine! Business Excellence in an Age of Destruction" Re-imgine! 2004) Tom Peters writes that the 21st century began on September 11, 2001. Whether we like it or not, this century will be dominated by a new type of organization—fast, agile, cunning, and resilient. He predicts the death of bureaucracy and invites managers - and all of us - to think! Moreover, “think beautifully ... think strangely and comprehend much more “changes” than we could imagine before.” We must understand that we no longer have a choice: soon microprocessors will take over all the routine work, and we will have to re-search ourselves and our place in the world. (“Like when we left the farms and came to the factories, and then when we were thrown out of production and moved to white-collar skyscrapers.”) The Guru considers as his enemies those leaders, managers and economists who are convinced that obtaining a degree MBA and adherence to the learned theoretical principles guarantees them infallibility in business.

The diagnosis of classical management is 1% efficiency.

Out of 100 the best companies ranking in 1917 for 70 years 61 went bankrupt. Of the 39 survivors by 1987, only 18 were still in the top 100, while between 1917 and 1987, 16 “lucky ones” showed results 20% below the market average.

Only one of the 100 best companies in the world in 1917 - Generl Electric— over the next 86 years, performed more efficiently than the market average.

Vivat GE! But in general - not so impressive ...

The principles of scientific management no longer apply! Today we need to forget everything that the old management was based on: about strategic plans and quality, about assets that can be “touched”. “Sustainable competitive advantage can only be unsustainable!” the guru says. He carefully examines the ongoing changes, and not so much in technology or management technologies, but in the very principles of doing business, in the picture of the world of people, as shown in figure 2 .

"Solely for the sake of argument" Peters proposed his "Model Economy of 2005", in which the formula for success is:

Dell + IBM + Harley-Dvidson = Magic ,

where Dell - remove all unnecessary,

IBM - to create stunning value-added services,

Harley-Dvidson - add a truly amazing experience.

In the style of Marx's manifesto, Peters calls: "Enterprises of all countries - collapse!" Today comes the time of short-term projects and enterprises without property (but with a maximum turnover and a minimum of employees), and not powerful corporations. “Don't own anything if you can. Even rent shoes,” the author repeatedly repeats. The only thing that work should give is freedom. The futurist guru sees a "company of the future" of 300 people, of which only six are full-time employees (executive director, chief financial officer, vice president of alliances, and three superproject coordinators), and the remaining 294 people are independent contractors. The company does not have a headquarters, but it has a very developed information network: all employees are "mobilized" (computers, mobile phones) to the teeth.

A special place in the book is given to the topic of attracting and developing talents. How to recognize them? Tom Peters gives the main signs of real corporate talent and tips for finding them:

Shows passion for his work. Looking for enthusiasts.
Think big. Consider strategists.
Hungry for action. Prefer action freaks over theorists.
Knows how to finish what he started. Invite people who complete the "remaining two percent" - the "first 98" are great for many ...
Inspires those around you. Ask yourself: does this inspire me personally?
Loves tension. Choose employees-"players" who know how to survive in crises.
Shows curiosity. Vote for those who never stop asking questions.
Has a bunch of "crazy projects". Call out those whose accomplishments defy convention and bureaucracy.
The epitome of wonder. Hire eclectic/wonderful/special people in such "weird" times.
Exudes fun. For all positions, look for not just energetic people, but people with a “spark” who can create a spiritual atmosphere.

It is rather difficult to objectively assess the impact of Tom Peters' work on management development. But his books are read all over the world, many of the ideas he proposed are embodied. His self-esteem is as non-trivial as many thoughts about management. “He would have done something really worthwhile, but his boss didn’t allow him” - this is the epitaph that most modern managers deserve, says Tom Peters. - A similar text could be written on my tombstone if I lived the way I did before I was 40. Now I will ask you to write on it: “He was a player!”.

Peters is not only a player with a capital A, but also a brilliant actor. In his public speeches, as in his books, there is a reflection of messianism. Lectures by Tom Peters are always a performance, a performance (from 80 to 150 performances a year around the world). They give a charge of optimism and make you think about complex things - about your business, about competitors, about goals and the cost of achieving them. In 2005, Kyiv top managers could see this as well, having attended the guru's master class "Business Management in an Era of Change".

Thomas J. Peters is one of the world's leading management consultants.

According to Accenture's Institute for Strategic Change as of May 2002, Tom Peters is ranked second among the most prominent thinkers in the field of management (after Michael Porter). The American magazine Fortune called him the "superguru" of management.

Tom Peters holds an MBA and PhD from Stanford University. He served in the US Navy in Vietnam, then in Washington (from 1966 to 1970). He worked as a White House adviser on the fight against drug addiction (1973-1974), from 1974 to 1981 he worked in consulting company McKinsey.

In his books, he calls for the destruction and interruption of meaningless patterns and the rethinking of generally accepted norms, for liberation from the burden of routine, for creativity.

Peters gained worldwide fame with his 1982 book In Search of Excellence. In a 2002 Bloomsbury Press poll, she was " best book business of all time.

Tom Peters annually conducts up to 80 seminars in various countries of the world. To date, the number of its listeners has approached 3,000,000 people.

If you do not have a trust fund in your name on hand, a radical restructuring of yourself - becoming a self-brand - is simply necessary for you!

What I am doing now is consistent with the task of building a brand - Am I a brand? If not, well, take an interest: are you wasting your time on this?

You can't build a brand in a day. Go - on foot, not running - in that direction. Play with ideas. Identify your strengths (and weaknesses). Think about " trademarks". Try them on for yourself. Customize for yourself. Be focused, but don't panic.

… in each of us there is enough audacity, that audacity that is systematically suppressed by an education system that is mainly focused on teaching us what we are should not do, and hierarchy-obsessed employers who don't believe we're capable of taking the initiative and coming up with something new. And this initiative strives - greedily! impatiently! - to release.

Be obsessed. Obsessed with the beginning. Obsessed with the end obsessed customers. Own "signature" of the I-brand. Be obsessed with what DOES matter. Obsession makes our world a little better. Sounds naive? Well, sorry. Cynicism is for losers. It's easy to be a cynic. No problem. But cynicism is deadly boring. Have the courage to be naive.

The main obstacle to self-awareness as a self-brand is just in your head. You have to learn to think independently.

Most of us, even if we get paid somewhere, need to work on acquiring these business skills. Work consciously.

Improving your business skills will only increase the quality of the services you "sell" within your department.

You simply need to know a lot about something that is of great value to potential customers. Determining factor: not explicitly in demand skills = no success as a self-brand.

A lost day... even a lost hour!.. is a LOSS.

You - and only you! – you are ultimately responsible for how much you strengthen – or weaken – your list of achievements with your actions today.

You don't have to be born wearing a shirt (or corporate uniform) to be successful. What you need is passion, persuasion, a few friends... and All-consuming desire take the next, usually tiny step.

From book "Turn yourself into a brand! 50 surefire ways to stop being mediocre »

Tom Peters is a biography of a scientist in the scientific theory of management. Thomas Peters

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The diagnosis of classical management is 1% efficiency.

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