A Summary and Review of The Pursuit of WoW by Tom Peters for Thinking Executives – and Those Who Want to be One
This summary and review of the book, The Pursuit of Wow: Every Person’s Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times, was prepared by Aimee Ortis while an Accounting major in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University.
The Pursuit of Wow: Every Person’s Guide to Topsy Turvy times is a book written by Tom Peters, a well known management guru and author of 15 other books. The Pursuit of Wow follows Peters through several years of experience in the field of management. He was able to take all the knowledge he gained from previous employment experiences, interviews, seminars, and other areas, and compile a list of 210 observations, interviews, and notes of effective ways to manage and run a business. The book is broken down into fourteen different categories with each category ranging from two observations to over twenty.
In the beginning, Peters starts with a simple starter category. This covers the basics starting with one minute excellence, and how people can begin to achieve excellence just by doing it, and working like crazy through the rest of your life to maintain the change. He then goes through and discusses to make your business work, you have to be willing to change. In fact, throughout the entire book, Peters often references change and how to accomplish it. He makes numerous points in saying that failure is a very valuable key to success. Also, in his starters category, Peters alludes to the six key facts that are valuable in transforming a company. Another reoccurring concept throughout his book is diversification. In numerous observations he discusses the advantages to a company with strong diversification and how the ideas can be considered much more of a pro than a con.
In another category, Peters discusses the fact that he believes customers do not come first. Instead, the employees should come first and the customers second. If you expect to have a good relationship with customers, you have to make sure your employees have a strong foundation and respect for the company they are working for.
Another important concept for Peters was the use of Power. Power is an extremely important tool in any business, and in order to earn that power, respect from employees is a must. He starts by saying that power isn’t earned through being a bully. Power is earned in little ways. Sending thank you notes and giving credit where credit is due are very important. You can never say thank you to the people who have helped you too many times.
Another important topic discussed is the ability to make your product stand out. If you do something different than the rest of the market, that’s a great competitive advantage. But, if you’re trying to excel in a market where there are several products or services of the same type, make yours stand out above the rest. Deliver a product or service with exceptional quality and customers will notice. This, in turn, will give you a solid competitive advantage against businesses not doing the same.
Don’t be afraid to be spontaneous and innovative. Some of the best innovations weren’t created on the floor of some corporate headquarters. They were created out in some small area by someone a little more eccentric than the rest. Don’t be afraid to do things a little different, and if your first attempt is a failure, then try again. Failures only lead to future successes if you pursue them.
Finally, once you get to the top positions in a company, like a chief, you have to be willing to make some sacrifices. Times will be tough and compromises will have to be made. A chief is going to have to perform certain tasks and jobs that a regular employee won’t have to face.
In conclusion, you can change the person you are and the business you run, but it’s going to take a lot of effort and work to maintain those ideas. If you aren’t willing to put in the necessary time, the change in yourself and in your company, is going to fail.
The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from The Pursuit of Wow
1. Never Underestimate the Power of a Thank-You note. I gathered more in that one sentence than in the entirety of the book. People remember thank you notes. They remember when you forget to send them a note. A small thank you note can make all the difference to an employee.
2. Never Underestimate the power of failure. Failure is often times the first major step towards success. Of course, failure is often a deterrent from pursuing goals, but if you follow through and learn from your mistakes, you’ll find success at some point.
3. In order to be innovative, sometimes you have to be a little ‘off.’ Some of the best ideas are invented by the quirkiest people. Don’t be afraid to be a little different in your career.
4. Keep the employee first and the customer second. If you make sure your employees are happy and satisfied with their job and career, then customer service is going to be more efficient and effective as well. If the customer is always put first, employees are going to feel resentment and may not work as productively.
5. Do your job right and do it well, and your enterprise will grow. Don’t underestimate the power of a referral. If you do a great job for one person, they’re probably going to tell someone else. Your reputation will grow as well as your client base.
6. You can set yourself up for excellence in less than a minute. If you want to change the way you do your job, do it. Then work like hell for the rest of your life to keep your excellence up. Be better than anyone else at whatever you chose to do.
7. In order for an economy to grow, the home country must not thing of itself as the only its own resources. Never underestimate emerging countries as valuable trade sources.
8. Make your product stand out. Whether it’s a certain look and design you’re going for, or a superior service you’re providing, make sure your business stands out. Be more creative in design and have a higher quality product than anyone else. People will notice.
9. Don’t talk down to your customers. This could be the most obvious thing to say, but companies still don’t have good relationships with customers sometimes. Value strong customer service and you’ll keep clients. Your business will grow by word of mouth.
10. Have fun in your career. If you own a business, make sure your employees are enjoying their job. Go above and beyond a normal 9-5 job. Make employees excited about working for your company. Make customers excited about dealing with your company. Don’t take good relationships for granted.
Full Summary of The Pursuit of Wow: Every Person’s Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times
The book deals with several observations that Tom Peters has made over the years about running a business. He’s collected information, interviewed people, and compiled all his findings into a list of roughly 210 observations. The following is a summary of these observations.
In the first heading of the book, Starters, the author begins his list of observations very simply and continuously builds on them. Some of his observations have titles; some do not. The following lists a summary of the basic observations he discovered and how he built on the ideas.
- The concept of one minute excellence is simple. If you want to achieve something. You have to make it happen. The hardest part is getting started. The rest of your work is in maintaining your pursuit of excellence.
- Embrace and understand your errors. Realizing that you’ve failed at something doesn’t close the door for the idea. It means that you have area for improvement and that another solution can work out.
- Pay attention to your customers. The majority of customers who aren’t satisfied with a supplier leave because of bad customer relationships. Make sure the customer knows that you are thankful for their business. Send your customers a friendly phone call, and they’ll appreciate it.
- “Change is a door that can only be opened from the inside,” is Terry Neill’s interpretation of an old French saying. Basically, people have to want to change themselves. Outside forces can influence people to change, but the only thing that can truly set a person out to change is that person.
- “Nothing is carved in stone.” Nothing in life is definite. Sometimes, great ideas happen through failure. Though some people set out how to find success, their original plan almost never finds itself through until the finished product. If a person or company isn’t willing to make way for changes, their idea is almost bound for failure.
- At one point, he tells a story about trying to get some service work done around his house. He has a girl on the other end who seems to be following a check list, and when his problem isn’t solved that way, she gets stubborn and won’t go out of her way to help his problem. Basically, don’t be rude to customers. If you’re working in the service industry, if you don’t know an answer, don’t blow off the customer asking the question. Find someone who knows the answer to the problem and can help the customer. All it does is cause stress for the customer and a potential loss of sale.
- There are six key ideas in managing a business transformation, and there is an order to these six key ideas.
6. Total quality management- Superior quality is a must in our economy these days.
5. Reengineering- Reinventing key business processes.
4. Leveraging Knowledge- Knowledge about the economy is extremely important. Hoarding information isn’t always the best practice.
3. The curious, cannibalistic corporation- Innovation is an absolute must in a global corporation. Cherish failures. Step away from the cash cow. Try new things out. Don’t settle for the same way of doing things every time.
2. The virtual organization- Enables ways form people to work together across time and space. The concept of owning your own resources is out of date. It’s the ability to gain access to the best resources at any time. Impermanence and Improvisation are markers for success.
1. Empowerment- Average workers are being asked to take on more and more responsibility. The simple concept is that regular people doing their normal jobs are, in fact, the ones who keep a company running. Without people willing to do their job, the company would cease to exist.
H. A company having a diversified employment set up should never be considered a problem. The more people there are with different backgrounds, the more ideas that will be developed. Of course, there will be several disagreements, but once the employees can agree on a particular concept, it will represent more of a universal concept than one that was formed with the majority of members from the same background.
I. Make a list of things you think are important. If you plan on owning your own company one day, make lists. Make a list of the things you don’t like about your current employer and how you would change them. For example, if you don’t like assigned parking spots, make sure the company you plan on running one day doesn’t have them. And design is important. Make sure people can recognize your company from any other one.
- Getting Things Done
Getting things done is the second section of the book. The main concept in this area is gaining and maintaining power within a company. It’s not an easy task, but once gained and kept, can make a huge difference in your career.
- The easiest and quickest way to move up in a company is to gain power. One way power is gained is through the respect of your coworkers. And once you’ve gained power, don’t forget to thank the people who’ve helped you get there. Write thank you notes often. Recognize the work that’s being done for you. Remind people of the work you’ve done for them. Correct people in private, and sometimes, praise in public. Give credit where credit is due. Stand behind people when stress levels are high, they’ll be thankful and remember. And most importantly, always remember, it’s the little things that count to people.
- Also, in gaining power, do the things that aren’t always enjoyable. They make an impact. Go to cocktail parties and socialize. Go to lunches with coworkers. Answer phones and give friendly service to customers. Study areas in you field so you’ll be credible to outsiders. People can tell when you’re emotionally committed to your cause.
- Don’t use your power to cut people down. Don’t be rude or condescending. There are no right answers in life. Every person thinks that he or she is the center of their own universe at one point or another. Keep one good friend who isn’t afraid to tell you the truth. This friend doesn’t need to be someone you work with, or that you speak to on a regular basis. Just someone you can trust to tell you exactly how they feel about you. Building bridges with friends is far more important than burning a bridge with an enemy. If you hurt someone’s feelings, apologize before it turns into a fight. Be the bigger person if you need to. In general, don’t be a jerk and people will respect you, which is a way to gain power in and outside of your company. People take the stern yet nice boss more seriously than the jerk who barks orders around.
- Milk, Cookies, and Managing People
The customer doesn’t always come first. The employees of the company should be the priority of the company, and then customers should be second.
- In this section, he lists several ideas on how business can give a ‘rebirth’ to their company and keep the employees engaged and enjoying their jobs and careers. These include taking a daily break, do something out of the ordinary for you employees, take the department to the movies, have meetings outside, and have a talent show.
- Don’t make employee groups too big. If there are too many members in a group, with a main supervisor for each group. If it’s a big corporation, try not to have groups of more than 600 people. Some companies like only 50 people in a group. If there are less people in a group, there is less of a power struggle and people can feel more empowered when working with their group. They feel as if they have more of a say in how their particular area of the company is run.
- The concept of 1,000 people, 1,000 careers. The concept is simple. Focus on each person’s individual talents and build their career around their talents. It will provide for better quality of work.
- If you have a company policy and procedure manual, focus on the Do’s and not the Don’ts. Don’ts seem to stop innovation and creativity. Instead, focus on things that employees can do whether it comes to customer relations.
- When you want something new and exciting for your company, find something new and exciting for your company. Be more strenuous with your prospective hires. Make sure they have the qualities that you are looking for that can give your company a new and exciting makeover. It’s not just going to happen by itself.
- There are several tips to follow when interviewing people or being interviewed. Don’t over-schedule interviews; you’ll tire yourself out. Save the more important interviews for last. Try small talk; it may help to loosen up the person you’re interviewing. When an interviewer asked, ‘please give me an example,’ make sure you’re prepared to answer the question. Many interviewers love real-life situations where you could have gained experience. While preparing for your interview, know questions you want to ask and play scenarios in your head. By practicing, you may be able to calm yourself down during the interview.
- Change can be a pain. Most people don’t like change, and sometimes it’s difficult to cope with things that are different. Help employees cope with it. Change is something that needs to happen for companies to evolve and grow. By letting employees know that it’s necessary and often a good thing, they may become more acceptable to the change the company is trying to implement.
- Ethics should always be a hot topic. One person’s idea of what strong business ethics are may be completely different than another’s. Ethics is considered an often confusing topic which may never have a true right or wrong answer. Only interpretations from people in a company.
- Pens, Toilets, and Businesses That Do It Differently
This section has a lot to do with product design and how to keep your company’s product separate from a competitor. If you can successfully implement a strategy to make your product seem better than a competitor’s in some way, you’ve just created a competitive advantage in your field. The section also gets in to keeping your employees separate from the rest of the field as well. Making them different than others in the same field is key.
- Don’t always bail out on ideas that aren’t popular. Sometimes, like in the case of the Twingo, a French-made car, polls showed that only 10% of participants liked the car. France still chose to produce the car to the public, and the Twingo quickly became France’s second best-selling car. Dare to be different. It may pay off.
- When designing a product, take the customers into consideration. The example of shampoo bottles in hotels is used. If you know your customers tend to be older and may have sight problems. Use a bigger font on your labels. It’s always the little things that add up, and your guests will be thankful.
- Employees should be encouraged to do things differently. They should be encouraged to take risks, make mistakes, take initiative, spend energy on solutions, shoot for quality, break things, focus on opportunities, experiment, take responsibility, try to find the easier way to get things accomplished, stay calm, smile, and above all else, have fun!
- Don’t keep looking in the rear-view mirror. Looking back constantly is no way to see where your company is headed to in the future.
- If you’re trying to make a small business work, there are a few tricks that may help your business stay alive. Make sure your business has some type of distinction from the rest, give it a soul, be passionate about your small business, focus on the details and give it some culture, be a friend of the community, have some good material to use for the company, get a business partner, perseverance is key, and don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself.
- Just Say No To Commodities (And Yes to Free Spirits)
The whole section is dedicated to eight senior managers discussing various topics about business and how they react to them.
- Breaking the Mold
Even if you have the same product that many competitors have to offer. Provide better quality and service, and your product will still stand out above the rest.
- Make sure your company has soul. Whether the company is set on the lowest prices and best service or not, make sure it has a deep caring relationship with whatever the company has set out to do. It’s that simple. Make sure you, as the CEO, supervisor, or just average employee has a passion for what you’re doing. Without passion, a company has no true future or soul to keep it alive.
- Not every problem is solved by using a check-list. Give the employees with the most customer face-time the power to sort problems out that customers are having. If they’re just blindly telling customers ‘the way things are done,’ they’re providing no help to the customer. Being able to cope with an inconsistency is a good thing.
- Immigrants can be seen as America’s greatest kept secret. Immigrants bring new light and ideas to companies. They are able to supply input into certain ideas that natively born Americans may not be able to supply.
- Innovation is one of, if not the most important, business topic in a crowded market place. The idea of ‘leap, then look,’ comes into play here. Some companies research and plan relentlessly before they come up with a product. Others may have a small idea and run with it. Once they see a finished product, then they judge its value and performance and tweak the product from that point.
- The Wacky World or (Mostly), What Have You Done About Asia Today?
Americans tend to be extremely self-centered. The thought that the world begins and ends at our shores is very predominant in this country. If America is going to stay at the top of the World economy, that idea will have to change.
- If Americans want to stay at the top of the World economy, we are going to have to take notice in the power of Asia. Asia, at the time, had two emerging powerhouses. Thailand and Malaysia, and of course, Japan was still a huge factor in the economy.
- If you want to learn how the Japanese economy works, take a vacation to Japan, but write it off as business travel.
- India is also becoming a major player in the economy. Companies and products were moving into India just as fast as products were starting to move out.
- People are different. People from the same culture are different; people from different cultures are different. The thoughts and ideals of one person usually aren’t the exact same as another person’s.
- When traveling, be conscious of the culture you’re in. Read about it, mind your language, watch your humor, slow down body language ques, watch your schedule, make friends, use your time wisely, walk the streets and explore, learn the language, and always remember, tomorrow is another day.
- Searching for the Diversity Advantage
As previously discussed, diversity should never be considered a problem. Diversity opens up new opportunities and ideas. For many companies, diversity in employees should be seen as an advantage.
- Basically, a walk down just about any street in America will show you just how diversified this country is. People from all different races and backgrounds have come here. Of course, this doesn’t just apply to the streets, but businesses are flooded with people from any possible background you can imagine. Of course, the clash of cultures can easily cause conflict, but at the same time, can bring a company to new heights.
- The rest of this sections deals with Tom Peters interviewing several workers at Fed Ex, and their thoughts and ideas about diversity in the workplace.
- Tomorrow’s Strange Enterprises
Basically, this section discusses the simple concept that if you are willing to put work and dedication into your enterprise, it will grow.
- Enterprises tend to organize themselves because busy people are smarter and faster than some of the most clever systems. If you perform your job well, people will take notice. You’re going to move up in the company and have people depend on you. If an entire company works this way within an organization, everyone will be able to count on each other.
- If you do your job right, you’ll be recommended by others. This is going to help your career grow. Whether you are working in a firm or 30,000 people or a sole proprietor. If you get recommendations, your business is going to grow and be able to sustain itself.
- Entrepreneurs’’ Dreams
In this section, Tom Peters interviews 11 entrepreneurs for a discussion on the perils and joys of starting your own business. They come from all different business backgrounds with completely different products and services to offer.
Thousands of businesses have tried large agendas to change the way their company performs. Most of these companies fall short, but CEOs Jack Welch, Mike Walsh, and Percy Barnevik had made successful turnarounds.
- These three men had very similar characteristics that made the transformation possible. They were very smart, had an animalistic energy, irrational about action, they had a distilled vision. They also knew how to cut to the chase. They were all performance freaks and had a disgust for bureaucracy. They were straight forward. They all knew tomorrow was another day, and they were all very driven individuals.
- Attaining Perpetual Adolescence
Another simple concept is introduced here. Most innovative and wild creations don’t come in a corporate headquarters. Really exciting and new things come from small, middle of nowhere kind of places.
- Dare to be different and innovative. Boring people usually don’t come up with great ideas. Many of the most interestingly innovative people have similar traits. Some of these are: child-like, self invented, inquisitive, jolly, a little quirky, honest, multidimensional, and larger than life.
- As stated previously in the book, make your company a fun place to work. Let it have flair and spirit. Make it a generally fun place to work.
- Don’t be afraid to personally reinvent yourself.
- Make a list of the people you truly trust. They’re your best bet for a lasting friendship.
- Parting Shots
The concept of what you do in work often mimics what you do in life.
- This concept mainly focuses on a corporate chief rather than a worker. They will have to deal with problems that a regular worker may not have to deal with. For example, they don’t have a true job description, deal with budgets, have projects, manage networks, sacrifice family, and deal with vendors.
- And finally, take management, religious, and political gurus with a grain of sale. It’s healthy for a person to do.
“There are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
The Video Lounge
The Following Video is done by Peters. He discusses diversity in the video, a topic he wrote numerous points on in his book. He discusses how no matter where a person comes from, they are a benefit to whatever problem they are trying to figure out.
Why I think:
- With business conditions today, what the author wrote is and isn’t true for several different reasons. Some of the main aspects of the book are true. The power of thank-you notes and the power of change are still true. But for some of the topics, such as India being an emerging power, are no longer true. Products from India are seen throughout the world now. As years have passed, most of Peter’s predictions have turned out to be true or have several elements of truth to them.
- If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:
1. I’d have lessened the sarcasm throughout the book. In my opinion, the way Peters worded some of the sentences could be taken either way. For someone who can’t detect sarcasm in writing, it’s easy to misinterpret what he’s trying to say.
2. I’d have thought about the order a little more. Sometimes, his observations seemed to be out of place or repeated. He listed diversity in three or four different areas, each saying basically the same thing. I’d have either tried compacting them all into one observation, or set them in transition sentences leading from one point to the next.
3. Another aspect of the book I would have changed is the quotes. Sometimes they made sense within the concepts they were used, and sometimes they didn’t. On a few of them, I had trouble understanding why they were even put in the book, and, for that matter, what exactly they meant.
- Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:
1. I’m not really sure if Peters changed my opinion on much of anything in this book. I felt a lot of it should have been common sense. I liked the concept of employees first and customers second, but I think most companies are still going to see the ‘customer is always right and comes first,’ mentality.
2. The concept of changing yourself into excellence in less than a minute is a new concept for me, but the concept still seems like common sense. I may have never put it into the exact words of ‘one minute excellence,’ but the simple fact that you can change the type of worker just by doing it is obvious.
3. I knew thank you notes were important, but for Peters to argue that the concept of writing thank you notes was the most important aspect of the entire book surprised me. I definitely think it’s important, but I don’t know if I would have categorized it as the most important thing before he said so.
- I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:
1. Don’t be a jerk to your employees. Treat them with respect and kindness and they are going to return the favor. Don’t embarrass them in public, and don’t forget to thank them. Give credit where it’s due, and above all else, write thank you notes!
2. Empowerment is key. If I have employees to work for me one day, I’ll make sure to give them the power to handle situations. Without their devotion and care for the job, I wouldn’t have a business to run.
3. Finally, I’m going to make sure I have fun in my career. If I’m not enjoying what I’m doing, or the people around me aren’t enjoying what they’re doing, either I’m in the wrong field or management isn’t doing their job. Ultimately, it’s up to me to make sure what I’m doing makes me happy.
- Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book and its author:
What others have said about the book and its author vary to a degree. Many agree that Peters is extremely creative and well perceived by management groups from all areas. Though many praise his work, some of criticized the book by saying Peter’s contradicts himself throughout many areas of the book. Then there are others who seem to think Peter’s can do no wrong in his message. However, the overall view of the book is positive.
Becker, Dale. (2008). Book Review: The Pursuit of Wow! Retrieved from http://rockymountainreblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/book-review-pursuit-of-wow.html.
Peters, Tom. (1994). The Pursuit of Wow: Every Person’s Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times. New York: Vintage Books: A Division of Random House, Inc.
Refresher Publications Inc. (2000). A Refresher Review from the Archives Tom Peter’s Pursuit of Wow! Retrieved from http://www.refresher.com/!pursuit.html.
SocialPulse. (2011). The Pursuit of Wow. Retrieved from http://www.SocialPulse.com/The_Pursuit_of_Wow_.
Thompson, June. CD Book Club Reviews: The Pursuit of Wow. Retrieved from http://www.swe.org/SWE/RegionH/Detroit/CDBooks/0996peters.html
To contact the author of this article, “A Summary and Review of The Pursuit of Wow by Tom Peters for Thinking Executives – and Those Who Want to be One,” please email Aimee.Ortis@selu.edu.
About the Publisher
David C. Wyld (firstname.lastname@example.org) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of works he has helped his students to turn into editorially-reviewed publications at the following sites:
- Management Concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
- Book Reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
- Travel and International Foods (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/).