Tom Peters Quotes

Entrepreneurs have no memories. They take on the world with a completely fresh view.

Treat the customer as an appreciating asset.

It's not enough to be close to the customer. You've got to be glued to the customer.

They say plan it. I say do it.

Who comes first? Don't be silly, says King Hal; it's employees. That is - and this dear Watson, is elementary - if you genuinely want to put customers first, you must put employees more first.

If not excellence, what? If not excellence now, when?

Mastery is great, but even that is not enough. You have to be able to change course without a bead of sweat, or remorse.

Even a poor, out-of-datecollection reflects in its own way the values of the people who created it and the community it serves.

Cost does not equal value... and low cost parts decrease brand equity for a very long time.

Collections of books and other documents, either printed or electronic, are a form of congregation.

I think it's wonderful to save the world, but you need to be part of the world, too.

Inspiring visions rarely (I'm tempted to say never) include numbers.

Integrity may be about little things as much or more than big ones.

An ability to embrace new ideas, routinely challenge old ones, and live with paradox will be the effective leader's premier trait.

The company's most urgent task is to learn to welcome, beg for, demand - innovation from everyone.

Business is about people. It's about passion. It's about bold ideas, bold small ideas or bold large ideas.

What is my personal strategy for the next 10 hours? Who can I talk with or what can I volunteer for to learn something new?

Send 10-TEN!!-people flowers. Today. As "Thank yous" for good things "small"-or even large-done in the last two weeks.

...high end does not necessarily equal high price. It's a matter of attitude.

Want to accomplish something, any-damn-thing? Sharpen your political skills!

We are no doubt in the Great Age of the Brand.

The idea of intimately entwining with customers [to get ideas] is an idea whose time has come.

I believe in the age of the Internet, Facebook and Twitter, that relationships are everything.

Ready, fire, aim. Do it! Make it happen! Action counts. No one ever sat their way to success.

All white-collar work is project work. The single salient fact that touches all of our lives is that work is being reinvented.

When you choose a managerial path, you are choosing to devote your life to people. Period.

I don't want the 35-year-olds in my audience to think of me as as 'pops' giving the kind of advice that only 65-year-olds can understand.

One simply cannot pay tribute to Stephen Covey without saying at the outset that he was a lovely human being.

Remember: You are the only human being in the world who can help this particular customer at this particular moment in time.

I want the public as well as libraries and schools to enjoy unlimited access to public-domain books. This means no charges for these kind of texts themselves.

Screw-ups are the mark of excellence.

Because nearly all digital libraries are tied to bricks-and-mortar institutions, the funding base tends to be quite localized.

Brand inside is more important than brand outside for sustained success.

Now it is much faster and cheaper to bring thedocument to the user, rather than ask the user to come to the document or collection.

We often hear that the digital age has resulted in a devaluing of time, space, and place. But I wonder if theseclaims are exaggerated.

Think about the market, think about the design, and think about who is going to design for that market. Hit the mark.

The dominant culture in most big companies demands punishment for a mistake, no matter how useful, small, invisible.

Musing on the phrase 'waste of time.' So much more complex than it appears. Many 'wastes of time' small talk, daydreaming are imperatives.

What you decide not to do is probably more important that what you decide to do.

The unthinkable is thinkable. No: likely.

Have you thanked a front-line employee for carrying around a great attitude ... today?

If timing ain't everything, it's damn close

Take someone NEW AND WEIRD to lunch today

Don't let the vision be shot through with holes, but be damn sure some of your best and brightest are shooting at it -- with bazookas as well as sniper's rifles.

Be guided by the axiom: There are no limits to the ability to contribute on the part of a properly selected, well-trained, appropriately supported, and, above all, committed person.

Confidence means non-paralysis, a willingness to act, and act decisively, to start new things and cut failing ventures off.

The common wisdom is that ... managers have to learn to motivate people. Nonsense. Employees bring their own motivation.

Are Your Customers saying WOW?

The drive for control, or the perception thereof, is truly the strongest force in human nature.

Rewards should go to teams as a whole.