Book Reviews

The Pursuit of WOW!
Every Persons' Guide to Topsy Turvy Times

By Tom Peters

Reviewed by Steve Buchwald, CIRM

Tom Peters' writing in this book is very similar to his seminar presence - total commitment, punchy delivery, quirky viewpoints. You have to love a guy who uses "Motorola" as a verb.

Broken into 210 sections sorted into 13 categories, WOW! can be opened at any page or read from beginning to end. The trick to getting value out of Peters' stream-of-consciousness narrative is to stop every few sentences and really think about how what he's saying fits into your world.

But let the great man speak for himself. Here are a few random excerpts that grabbed me:

• It takes forever to maintain change but it takes just a flash to achieve change of even the most profound sort.
• Anyone who is not very confused all the time about ethical issues is out of touch but at least being confused means that we are considering our ethical stance. That's a good start.
• Design is why I fall in love with things; why I stay in love with things; why I hate things; why I'm never neutral about things.
• Make sure that every person in the organization makes at least two customer visits a year.
• Distribute all good and bad customer letters to everyone.
• You don't have to have all the answers. Make the effort to discuss things openly, vigorously, and repeatedly.
• If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade because it doesn't fit into your long-term plan.
• Don't forget your thank-you notes.
• Firing anyone is awful You are screwing up people's lives in a big-league way, even if it honestly is for the long-term good. You are also acknowledging that you did: (1) a rotten recruiting job, (2) a rotten development job, or (3) both. "Both" is most likely the correct answer. The day firing becomes easy ("guilt-free") is the day to fire yourself.

Even when you don't agree with Tom Peters, you find yourself thinking about what he's saying. When I ask myself why I don't agree with him, eventually it comes down to being afraid to take risks. And what Peters has to say about people who are afraid to take chances would fill several books. It has, in fact - this one included.

Good reading!

And now, for the review of the tape of the same book:

Here's an interesting concept for you, "Avoid non fiction like the plague it is too unrealistic!" Have any idea where this quote comes from? Well, if you couldn't guess it, it is a quote from Tom Peters. Tom Peters, a provocative, business visionary, has challenged our sanity once again in an abridged tape version of his popular book, The pursuit of WOW, read by Tom Peters himself. So without any further ado let's get into the review.

The box that the tape comes in has the following written on it, "Peters wants to give you the words, the tools to survive in the tumultuous nineties." However, I don't agree with this observation at all. When you really listen to this tape you can't help to hear Peters underlying message, "Avoid simple solutions -- there are no simple answers." Peters doesn't want to give you any other tools other than the ones that force you to ask how can you change for the better. He even begins this tape with a discussion of what he calls "One minute Excellence." What is one-minute excellence? It is the notion that if you want to change you will either do it in a second or you will not do it at all. As the Nike ad says, "Just Do It" and then it is done. Change is not the tough part, Peters explains - it only takes a second. However, it takes forever to maintain change.

I'm not sure what this has to do with WOW or why Peters decided to use the title that he did. My only guess is that it has to do with customers and WOWing them with a product and/or service that is well beyond their expectations. Why aren't companies doing this now you ask? This idea about WOWing the customer has been around for a long time. Well, so has this tape. The ideas in this tape were first released in 1994. Nonetheless, after listening to this tape I still find the presentation style interesting and the message uplifting. Yet, I realize once again that not enough companies are listening.

Peters can be very direct at times. In one part of the tape he says that Vermont farmers are crafty and have a lot to teach business executives. He discusses this issue in relation to rebirth and renewal. Employees in business lack passion they do the same things in the same routine everyday. No wonder they get stale he says. On the other hand these Vermont farmers witness the rebirth of life every year as the winter season yields to spring. Does he offer any advice then to the routine bound business employee? You bet. Here are just a few: Take a serious break or call a time out; Do something different; and/or Change the scenery. I especially like the comment about locating your office next to a park with picnic benches so you can arrange to have an outside meeting to get the creative juices flowing.

This tape is a fast moving collage of thoughts. As you can tell it is organized into thought-and-action provoking elements that form an idea-generating guide to tactics and strategies for WOWing the customer. For example, he says he needs to take exception with the term knowledge worker. He goes on to say that Freud once said that curiosity is more important than knowledge. Therefore, we should call them curiosity workers. In another example, there is a whole discussion on the importance of packaging. Packaging is an item he believes businesses take much too lightly. And then, in yet another example, he says to beware of an inert workforce. We must open our ears, hearts, and minds to raucous dissent.

This brash, digestible audio might drive you up the wall, it might drive you to distraction, but it might drive you to new heights.

Good listening!