University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
The Pursuit of WOW!
Book

The Pursuit of WOW!

Every Person's Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times

Tom Peters
Vintage Books, 1994
First Edition: 1994
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Even when he’s not at his best, and he isn’t here, Tom Peters stands head-and-shoulders above other management gurus, particularly if you like your messages delivered straightforwardly with a good dose of exclamation points. Peters is all about simplicity and excitement, both in his language and in his message. His basic mantra never changes: the workplace is becoming ever more competitive, so you need to make yourself and your company stand out. Do this by viewing your work as a series of critical projects and injecting limitless enthusiasm into each one. In delivering his consistent message, Peters tosses out scores of common-sense lines that are so true that you just have to jot them down. You’ll find quite a few such keepers in this book, but you won’t find much of an overriding theme. Instead, Peters presents a string of 210 useful, fun, pithy observations that flow together loosely, all to imbue you with a dose of Pow! Now! Wow! If you want to get going, getAbstract.com recommends this motivational booster.

Summary

Pursue the "Wow!"

What is "Wow!"? "Wow!" is excitement that makes you and your company stand out from the crowd. It’s enthusiasm, excellence and success. Here’s how to pursue the "Wow!" for your organization. First, you have to get up and get going.

From loosing weight to giving up those cigarettes at last, just get moving and get it accomplished. The basic principle is to muster your determination to do whatever it takes, and to start now. Decide to be the greatest, and then start acting accordingly. In a nanosecond, make that decision to attain the "Wow!" and then work passionately toward that goal to make it happen. Along the way, you may experience errors, but that’s part of the process, since the only way to advance is to play a new game and risk doing something wrong. In fact, respect the mistakes you make and learn from them. Anticipate making some very large errors, because that is the sole means of moving forward in big jumps. Just learn as you go.

A big snafu can turn into a big gain. For example, the Bon Marche store in Seattle incorrectly advertised a compact disc (CD) player for $99, instead of the accurate price of $179, discounted from $199. But...

About the Author

Tom Peters is a management consultant whose books include In Search of Excellence (with Robert H. Waterman, Jr.), A Passion for Excellence (with Nancy Austin), Thriving on Chaos, Liberation Management and The Tom Peters Seminar. He is the founder and chief executive of the Tom Peters Group in Palo Alto, California.

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