This is quintessential Tom Peters. Having devoured Re-imagine! many years ago, I recognised and enjoyed his relaxed, conversational style. There are rants, asides and some very direct assertions.

I love these thoughts,
“This book is about hard work and unrelenting development and maintenance of a culture of excellence,”

“Excellence, to repeat, is a human-driven affair, a state of mind, not a computer-generated exercise.”

‘Excellence is profitable. Excellence is security.”

“Excellence is a moment-to-moment way of life, or it is nothing at all.”

Tom Peters speaks powerfully and clearly, indeed, you can’t miss the message.

There are fifteen chapters with fifteen ideas. The examples and stories throughout, illustrate these deep and broad concepts and help the reader better understand just what he means! For example, “...lousy grammar, poor word choice, carelessness of any sort, is a direct reflection of the level of your commitment to excellence.” Wow! No shortcuts in his world. I feel vindicated in taking a little longer on my communications. This may not resonate with you, but it does with me. As leaders of teams, communication is key and I have seen shortcuts in this one area alone, result in wasted time and effort, increase levels of frustration and have teams undertake do-overs because of that vague, casual briefing. The antithesis of excellence!

The content is so broad and could be quite challenging, yet the way the author pulls it all together makes it an entertaining read, one I found hard to rush through, one I found hard to put down. It speaks to the present, of an expert who devours new content, embraces change, experiments and shares what he has learnt. There are many additional resources included in the book should you want to explore any of the ideas in more detail.

I am so grateful that he penned it. Make sure this one is on your reading list for 2018, you won’t be sorry.

With many thanks to the author, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for my free copy to review.

This is a business book with a great message: put people first, whatever business you are in. Treat your employees right and they’ll treat your customers right. Do everything with excellence.

“You take care of the people. The people take care of the service. The service takes care of the customer. The customer takes care of the profit. The profit takes care of the reinvestment. The reinvestment takes care of the reinvention. The reinvention takes care of the future. (And at every step the only measure is EXCELLENCE.)”

There are multiple great quotes from great leaders in this book (as well as great one-liners from Peters himself). There is lots of good advice. There are memorable stories.

I would have given this book a 5-star rating except the formatting of the book made it difficult for me to read. The font size changes often; there are lots of ALL CAPS; much of the book is in outline form. This distracted me immensely from absorbing the content.

Nonetheless, it’s still a wonderful read with many life lessons, including:

“EXCELLENCE is not a long-term aspiration. EXCELLENCE is the ultimate short-term strategy. EXCELLENCE IS THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES.”

“Every day brings at least ten leadership opportunities for every one of us.”

“Choosing your attitude this morning is your … Biggest Life Decision! This is in no way an exaggeration!”

My thanks to Net Galley for the review copy of this book.

I interviewed Tom for ProlificWisdom.com
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I just finished reading Tom's book today, and love it. He read 100 books prior to writing The Excellence Dividend and its a tour de force of the best of his thinking in combination and analysis of the 100 books. He quotes them extensively throughout the book.

One quote made me laugh, and one quote brought a tear to my eye.

I found this funny. Tom was writing about deep listening and quotes Will Rogers... "Never miss a good chance to shut up"

And this combination of quotes somehow brought the tears. Tom was writing about Design & Innovation and first quotes the extremes Steve Jobs wife about the extremes he and Jony used to go to when designing "Steve and Jony would discuss corners for hours and hours" - Laurene Jobs. This is of course simultaneously amazing and crazy. Then Tom Peters goes on to quote from a book called 'Boys in the Boat' which is about an 8 man crew from the University of Washington that won the 1936 Olympics. The boat builder, George Pocock, talked about building the boat and said…"You had to give yourself up to it spiritually; you had to surrender yourself absolutely to it."

Overall, the book is an enjoyable read, with some great anecdotes layered in from the very wise and observant 75 year old Tom Peters. He's sifted through and highlighted the best of the current tomb of modern business mastery books. Definitely Prolific Wisdom!

My review for this book will appear in the September-October issue of Global Business and Organizational Excellence, A Wiley publication. I posted a rating on Goodreads, and I will probably add a small notice on my blog.

In THE EXCELLENCE DIVIDEND author Tom Peters says; "Excellence is a moment-to-moment way of life. Or it is nothing at all. There's no tomorrow in excellence; there is only right now." Peters has crafted this book in fifteen sections, dealing with the broad categories like people, innovation, adding value, and leadership. As I read, I vividly remember being a graduate student and referring to In Search of Excellence which Peters co-wrote with Bob Waterman. Both of these books are based on similar themes and filled with examples of successful companies like Commerce/Metro banks and their strong customer orientation which is profiled in THE EXCELLENCE DIVIDEND. As Peters himself notes, both books also appeared when "America's mood was dire." In 1982, recession was in full swing, unemployment was at 10.8 percent and concerns about Japanese inroads into markets like automobiles, electronics and steel were widespread. In 2018, we once again are focused on negative economic news associated with income inequality, a poorly prepared workforce (see NBC News'
recent report on equipping students with better skills), and concerns about foreign trade and competition.

Even if you are not a business person, this new paperback, filled with bolded quips and lists, is an inspirational read. For example, he writes (and has spoken) often about MBWA … Management By Walking Around. Hopefully, THE EXCELLENCE DIVIDEND will encourage readers to look at their work environments differently and to explore the guidelines and activities which Peters describes. THE EXCELLENCE DIVIDEND received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Link in live post:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/students-are-being-prepared-jobs-no-longer-exist-here-s-n865096

Tom Peters continues to be the "go-to" writer for business trends and what they mean in a greater context.