I have to admit. I am a Tom Peters fanboy. I own and have read all of his books and began reading his first, In Search of Excellence, in the late-1980s shortly after it came out. I saw him in person in October 1997 at an event in Jacksonville, Florida in when I took members of a project team to one of his seminars as a team-building exercise to help facilitate out-of-the-box thinking.
The Pursuit of Wow! Every Person’s Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times was the book I was reading at the time, and I took it along. During one of the breaks, we spoke briefly about the challenges of innovation in staid industries such as Insurance. He said something then that I have incorporated into every project since: The customer must be at the center of all innovation for the best results.
I am re-reading The Pursuit of Wow! for my Masters of Entrepreneurship program, and it reminds me of how much the book reads like Tom Peters speaks at his seminars, or like someone took his presentation slides and slapped them into a book form. In that sense, it is not a book that requires reading from front-to-back; rather it’s a book that a reader can thumb-through and still learn a few things. It is full of seemingly random, yet meaningful quotes, stories from innovators, and snippets of advice and guidance. The book’s common theme if there is one, is that successful businesses never stop innovating and keep the customer at the center of that innovation.
Over the next few weeks, my blog posts will incorporate thoughts and ideas gleaned from The Pursuit of Wow! I hope you’ll read along and make the time share your thoughts and observations.
___
Advertising Disclosure: David Harkins may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.
