Top 60 Tom Peters Quotes

The best leaders… almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.

Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing… layout, processes, and procedures.

Winners must learn to relish change with the same enthusiasm and energy that we have resisted it in the past.

Statistically and emotionally, I believe that the way I can be of help to society is by doing what I know and what I’ve been good at.

‘In Search of Excellence’ was an afterthought, the runt of the McKinsey consulting litter, a hip-pocket project that was never supposed to amount to much.

Leaders understand the ultimate power of relationships.

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

The magic formula that successful businesses have discovered is to treat customers like guests and employees like people.

Today brands are everything, and all kinds of products and services – from accounting firms to sneaker makers to restaurants – are figuring out how to transcend the narrow boundaries of their categories and become a brand surrounded by a Tommy Hilfiger-like buzz.

South Africa has all the tools to compete in the new global village – an eager workforce, ready to take on any challenge.

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

Mittelstand companies are incredibly focused and almost always family-run. The young men and women go through the apprenticeship system and learn that the goal is excellence.

As far as I’m concerned, the first business leader who was able to establish a cult of personality around his tenure was Lee Iacocca.

The whole secret to our success is being able to con ourselves into believing that we’re going to change the world because statistically we are unlikely to do it.

Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills.

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

Communication is everyone‘s panacea for everything.

I don’t read many business books. I read good fiction. Business is about people, so my favorite business books are anything by Dickens.

Vision is dandy, but sustainable company excellence comes from a huge stable of able managers.

My problem is not that I see all 17 sides of any issue, but I’m equally passionate about all 17 sides simultaneously.

If you‘re not confused, you’re not paying attention.

If you really want to kill morale, have layoffs every two months for the next two years.

One of the biggest problems of ‘In Search of Excellence’ is that it focused on giant, publicly-traded companies. There are thousands upon thousands of excellent companies. Some of them are two-person accountancies in a community of three thousand people.

One of the biggest problems of ‘In Search of Excellence’ is that it focused on giant, publicly-traded companies. There are thousands upon thousands of excellent companies. Some of them are two-person accountancies in a community of three thousand people.

Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing… layout, processes, and procedures.

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

Today brands are everything, and all kinds of products and services – from accounting firms to sneaker makers to restaurants – are figuring out how to transcend the narrow boundaries of their categories and become a brand surrounded by a Tommy Hilfiger-like buzz.

The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.

Leaders understand the ultimate power of relationships.

Celebrate what you want to see more of.

I know it sounds crazy, but you’ve got to let what you’re going to do find you, rather than you pursuing it.

All business success rests on something labeled a sale, which at least momentarily weds company and customer.

Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.

As a consumer, you want to associate with brands whose powerful presence creates a halo effect that rubs off on you.

If you‘re not confused, you’re not paying attention.

I think economics is about passion. Economic progress, whether it is a two-person coffee shop or whether it is Netscape, is about people with brave ideas. Because it is brave to mortgage the house, when you’ve got two kids, to start a coffee shop.

As a consumer, you want to associate with brands whose powerful presence creates a halo effect that rubs off on you.

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.

All business success rests on something labeled a sale, which at least momentarily weds company and customer.

The whole secret to our success is being able to con ourselves into believing that we’re going to change the world because statistically we are unlikely to do it.

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

For the blue-collar worker, the driving force behind change was factory automation using programmable machine tools. For the office worker, it’s office automation using computer technology: enterprise-resource-planning systems, groupware, intranets, extranets, expert systems, the Web, and e-commerce.

I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote ‘Search.’ There was no carefully designed work plan. There was no theory that I was out to prove.

Anybody who is an entrepreneur is a person who essentially has impaired judgment. The odds of success are zilch.

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

Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.

Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.

If your company has a clean-desk policy, the company is nuts and you’re nuts to stay there.

‘In Search of Excellence’ was an afterthought, the runt of the McKinsey consulting litter, a hip-pocket project that was never supposed to amount to much.

Stop being conned by the old mantra that says, ‘Leaders are cool, managers are dweebs.’ Instead, follow the Peters Principle: Leaders are cool. Managers are cool too!

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

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.

The top athletes are consummate pros who work obsessively at their craft. Approach yours the same way.

Stop being conned by the old mantra that says, ‘Leaders are cool, managers are dweebs.’ Instead, follow the Peters Principle: Leaders are cool. Managers are cool too!

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.

I endorse a lot of people – sometimes people say I endorse too many books. And my response has always been the same: If I can get one case study that can give me one good idea that I can implement for $25, or for these days one-third of that on Kindle, I’ve gotten a very good deal.

Give a lot, expect a lot, and if you don’t get it, prune.

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

Business book writing for me is when some set of ideas gets stuck in my mind, I write a book about it. I haven‘t got a theory and I haven’t got a framework.