November 12, 2007. More than 1000 entrepreneurs, managers and policy makers together with one angry Tom Peters - we told you so – resulted in an inspiring session. As one participant told us: “Tom Peters confronts the audience with the basics of business. Everyone back with their feet on the ground.”

Tom Peters is 65 but still as fervent as he was in the sixties, leading an American batallion in Vietnam. As he announced, he told nothing new. But he urged the audience to think about the basics of their business.

• people and relationships
• which are the main values of your organisation
• innovation: too much talk, too little do

As ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once said: “You miss 100 % of the shots you don’t take.” Try new things. Fail. Learn. Try again. Experience is the sum of our mistakes.

Tom Peters attributes a greater future to SME’s, the engine of innovation and economic development of a region. Furthermore, in many companies women and the elderly are undervalued consumers and employees. Also the standard HR evaluation form attracted Peters’ anger. Every person should be seen as a unique learning path. Some HR managers put forward that they already do that.

By the time of Q&A the passionate Peters was exhausted (literally dehydrated!). We once heard a better answer on the question ‘How to avoid the trap of paralysis and bureaucracy in big companies?’ from a not named CEO. His answer: ‘to put a small company’s soul in a great company’s body’. Tom Peters gave a slightly longer answer and referred to GE: split up your business in SME-like parts and delegate practically all responsibilities. Some things are just too big to manage, cf. exit Citi CEO Prince.
And as a CEO, don’t forget to visit 25 shops a week, as Howard Schultz of Starbucks does. To conclude as a reminder the ten P’s of Peters:
1. Purpose.
2. Passion.
3. Potential.
4. Presence.
5. Personal.
6. Persistence.
7. Priorities.
8. People.
9. Potent.
10. Positive.

So re-think –re-imagine- your organisation!