The Circle of Innovation Author: Tom Peters UK Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton General ISBN: 0340717203 US Publisher: Knopf ISBN: 0375401571
Soundbite: “Customers are faced with a sea of sameness. It’s the ‘different’ that they will notice, and that means developing an innovation culture in your organization. Tom Peters shows us how and why.” Phil Dourado, eCustomerServiceWorld.comOne Sentence Summary: Innovation is not just a product-renewal strategy; it’s an organization-renewal strategy that applies to service, too! What’s so special? “I’m no longer interested in excellence. I’m interested in the weird, the oddball, the different,” we heard Tom Peters say recently. Which is, he maintains, exactly how customers feel. Excellent quality is now expected and, as such, is no longer enough to make you stand out from the competitive pack. We need to recognize that ‘being different’ rather than ‘being better’ (though you have to do that, too!) is the only sustainable advantage. 'Being better’ is less of a competitive advantage, because competitors can benchmark your service levels, target improvements based on that and race past you. By having a rapid improvement pace, you may stay ahead of them. But, this is still linear thinking, argues Peters, when you can make yourself ‘un-passable’ by allowing your people to be creative in what they do. By moving sideways into new space, you make it harder for competitors to copy or overtake. Of course any new initiative can be copied, hence the need to create a culture of continuous innovation, becoming an innovation machine, if you will. Peters illustrates his theme – the need to generate a virtuous circle of innovation - using ideas from his seminars, including such classics as "The Michael Jordan Syndrome" and "The Hollywood Model". Quote we like: “You don’t succeed in service by being formulaic. You succeed by allowing Mary to be Mary, Tom to be Tom (or whatever your people’s names are) and letting personality shine through.” buy UK() buy US($)
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