The one-sentence summary
It’s the soft things that matter, and they are very hard to do.
WHAT THE BOOK SAYS
- This is not a book with a cohesive theme in the traditional sense – it contains 163 ways to pursue excellence that were originally a series of blogs
- It’s the soft things that matter, and they are very hard to do
- Hundreds of small acts of humanity add up to big improvements in operational effectiveness
- Behavioural economics tallies with irrationality, and that often means dramatic overreaction to some tiny thing, or under reaction to a big thing
- The characteristic that can help us when dealing with random events (Black Swans) is resilience, usually demonstrated by people with inner calm, high self-knowledge and a sense of humour
- Big change really can be achieved in a short space of time – it will take precisely as long as you think it will
- Big plans don’t work – small steps get things done
- Planners announce good intentions but don’t motivate anyone to carry them out. Searchers find things that work and build on them
- Serious play beats serious planning – all practical ideas evolve from prototypes
WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT
- Seth Godin says that if you can’t describe your position in eight words or less, you don’t have a position. Peters call this an RPOV (Remarkable Point Of View). All businesses, and people, should have one
- Kindness is free, so deploy it more often
- To Don’t lists are often more important than To Do lists – over half of what we do is unnecessary
- Leaders should practice Servant Leadership: what did I specifically do today to be of service to my people?
- Staff are a more important audience than the customer – if they are not happy and motivated, then the customer won’t be either, so it starts on the inside
- Apology is one of the most powerful tools at anyone’s disposal
- Don’t learn from your failures – look for things that went right and build on them
WHAT YOU HAVE TO WATCH
- The book is riddled with exclamation marks (over 60 on the inside cover and contents pages alone), which will prove irritating to those who favour a more sedate approach
- There is a lot of repetition to the point where it feels there is a lot less in it than the large format suggests. It could probably be edited down to less than half the size