eConsultant Book Reviews

The Professional Service Firm 50 by Tom Peters

Summary:

Notes:

The Professional Service Firm 50 by Tom Peters

PSF = Inc + Clients + Projects

1. Think Inc
1a. Commit "Cool."
2. Think client. Period.
3. Select clients very carefully.
3a. Seek out clients who are leaders.
3b. F-i-r-e clients upon occasion.
4. Turn every "task" into a Project.
4a. The work matters.
5. Become a catalyst for revolution.

Portfolio Quality
6. Visit every client.
7. Create an immodest current projects list.
8. You are a venture capitalist.
9. Conduct a weekly - or a more frequent - formal current projects review.
9a. Words … matter.

Impact
10. Transform every "job" into a … Wow project.
11. Never ever compromise your identity.
12. Pursue P-A-S-S-I-O-N.
13. Measure: Did we make an impact?
14. Tom's Epithet No. 1: "Thoroughly professional … but not provocative"
15. L-e-a-d your client.
16. Another flaovor of Wow: Politics.
17. PSF success boils down to … the fine art of balance.
18. Accounting (etc.) is a performing art.
19. Speaking of accounting … remember the bottom-line: "Business-ing."
20. Got any quirky projects on the list?
21. Think … legacy.
22. Pitch in … or bail out.
22a. Practice serial monogamy.
23. PSFs need vision statements.
23a. We help people.

Live with Them
24. Make clients an integral part of every project team.
24a. Cohabit with the client.
24b. Turn the client into an expert.
24c. Engage clients in a measured "risk progression" process.
25. Insist that clients submit a formal evaluation of "your people" (and "their people") at the end of the project.
25a. Think external.
26. Client-centric = PSF imperative.
27. Bring in wild and woolly outsiders. E-x-p-a-n-d the box.

A Culture of Urgency
28. Create a "sense of urgency" / "excitement" / "vibrancy" / "buzz."
29. Hot teams thrive in hot spaces.
30. Celebrate … constantly.
30a. Projects-worth-doing are bumpy.
30b. You need a clown.
31. Love thy "support staff."
32. A rabid scheduler is must.
32a. We're in this for the money.
33. Pay attention to the "hard stuff" … e.g. Methodology.
34. Embrace marketing.

Knowledge is US
35. Become a research & development evangelist.
35a. Devote a sizeable share of effort/revenues to knowledge development.
36. Turn your current portfolio of projects into a … Research & Development playground / goldmine.
37. Think … design.
38. Evaluate the possible bases of PSF competitive advantage.

Talent
39. Become a … connoisseur of talent.
39a. We want to be magnet for talent.
40. Cherish instability. Mix up teams.
40a. Mix redux: encourage turnover.
41. Demand that every PSF member be known for … something.
42. Champion passion. Champion perfection.
43. Create stories / mythology around "project winners."
44. T-R-A-I-N. Teach the "PSF basics" … with a vengeance.
45. Provide "project management-leadership" opportunities … ASAP.
46. Cherish great listening skills.
47. Geeks - the antisocial, masterful diggers-of-obscure-facts - should be adored.
48. Challenge. Challenge. Challenge.

It's ours.
49. Think … Dream … Act. Wow. Beauty. Impact. Distinction.
50. We own this place.

Please Bookmark

add to Del.icio.us | add to Yahoo | add to BlinkList | add to Furl.net | add to Spurl.net | submit to reddit

Book Reviews Index :

100 Simple Secrets of Happy People by David Niven | 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People by David Niven | 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself by Steve Chandler | Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy | Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi | Focal Point by Brian Tracy | Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen | Gig by John Bowe | It's Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden | It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy by Michael Abrashoff | Keep Your Brain Alive by by Lawrence C Katz & Manning Rubin | Learned Optimism by Dr Martin E P Seligman | Life Strategies by Phil McGraw | Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fullfillment by George Leonard | Never Wrestle with a Pig by Mark H McCormack | Please Don't Just Do What I Tell You by Bob Nelson | Rules for Revolutionaries by Guy Kawasaki | The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management by Hyrum Smith | The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success by Brian Tracy | The Brand You 50 by Tom Peters | The Power of Optimism by Alan Loy McGinnis | The Professional Service Firm 50 by Tom Peters | The Project 50 by Tom Peters | The War of Art by Steven Pressfield | The Wisdom of Teams by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith | Thriving in 24/7 by Sally Helgesen | Time Tactics of Very Successful People by B. Eugene Griessman | Weird Ideas That Work: 11 1/2 Practices for Promoting, Managing, and Sustaining Innovation by Robert I. Sutton