Tom Peters is considered one of the most sought after and expensive management lecturers in the world.
He wrote the book "In Search of Excellence" with Robert Waterman in 1982 which has been called "the world's best selling business book". He later wrote "Thriving On Chaos" which was also very successful.
Before he became a McKinsey consultant in 1974, he worked in the Pentagon for two years where he became fascinated by complex organizations.
He gained a masters degree in civil engineering at Cornell University and then served in Vietnam. Later he took an MBA at Stanford and worked at the Washington Office of Management and Budget.
He is founder of the Tom Peters Group which has formed a substantial business in videos, cassettes, a TV series, personal appearances and consultancy work.
The Brand You 50 (1999) by Tom Peters Fifty ways to Transform Yourself from an "Employee" into a Brand that Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion!
Managing at any time, but more than ever today, is a symbolic activity. It involves energising people, often large numbers of people, to do new things they previously had not thought important. Building a compelling case - to really deliver a quality product, to double investment in reseach and development, to step out and take risks each day (e.g. make suggestions about cost-cutting when you are already afraid of losing your job) -is an emotional process at least as much as it is a rational one.
In order to survive in these wild times, you're going to make a total fool of yourself with incredible regularity. If you can't laugh about it, then you are doomed.
Rigid hierarchies, departments, and job descriptions are history.
Today companies are fluid, transformative, organized around temporary networks focused on the WOW! Project - a superbly executed, high-impact, piece of work with a beginning, an end, a Client, and specific deliverables, and an outcome you'll be bragging about 5 (!) years (!) from now.
If you are interested in Knowledge Management, the
Knowledge Café
or the role of conversation in organizational life then you my be interested in this online book I am writing on
Conversational Leadership
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