In Pursuit of
Excellence
WITH: TOM PETERS
WITH ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) replacing humans in
unprecedented ways, Tom Peters predicts a coming “employment
apocalypse.” As he notes, an Oxford study shows that 50 percent
of American white-collar jobs could disappear over the next 10 to
15 years. “It may be an extreme prediction, but if it happens, the
effect will be transformational,” says Peters, co-author, with
Robert H. Waterman, Jr., of the best-seller In Search of Excellence.
In his upcoming book, The Excellence Dividend, Peters offers
ideas on how both companies and individuals can stay relevant.
Although the business world has changed drastically in the 36
years since In Search of Excellence came out in 1982, the path to
business distinction in many ways remains the same.
In The Excellence Dividend, Peters examines the success of
Vernon Hill, founder of Commerce Bank in the United States and
Metro Bank in the United Kingdom. While the recent retail banking
model has entailed closing brick-and-mortar bank branches
and reducing staffing in favor of online alternatives, Hill has
maintained a contrarian view. Rather than specializing in “soulless
transactions,” according to Peters’ book, he wanted to transform
“every inhuman account number into a fully engaged member of our
family.”
Hill accomplished this feat by taking a completely unorthodox
approach in everything he did—from remaining open seven days a
week to instituting a dog-friendly policy to teaching employees to
never say “no.” His methods worked, with thousands coming out
for splashy, new branch openings and the growth of Metro Bank’s
customer base to more than one million accounts. The bank’s
attention to customer service—delivering banking in fun and
unconventional ways—not only benefited the bank but also helped
create thousands of well-paying jobs. That accomplishment is even
more impressive given that the banking industry is in the top decile
of software automation.
“If you spend the $17 to purchase The Excellence Dividend, I
guarantee you there will be nothing really new in it,” he jokes. “The
principal messages of focusing on people, paying attention to
your customers, and managing by wandering around [which Peters
terms MBWA] is still not being done by most companies.”
The solution to surviving this fallout from AI is to focus on unique
human attributes, which are likely to remain beyond the scope of
artificial intelligence, Peters suggests. “The things I talked about
over the last few decades were always good things to do in order
to stand out from the competition, but now they are becoming
basic survival tactics,” he says. “You can’t in any way, shape, or
form get away with what you could 20 or 25 years ago. The heat
has been turned up dramatically.”
Peters refers to this type of outcome as an “Excellence Dividend,”
essentially saying that businesses that commit to excellence in both
their internal and external dealings are likely to be the survivors.
“They are better and more-spirited places to work,” says Peters.
“Their employees are engaged and growing and preparing for
tomorrow. Their customers are happier and inclined to spread
tales of their excellence far and wide.”
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