Tom Peters “The Little BIG Things” Vook review

kaplandj • September 19, 2010

Software Business

On the heels of reading my first Vook, I just read 5 Vooks by Tom Peters and I’ll talk about that experience as I did with Seth’s Godin’s Linchpin Vook. Tom Peters is a pretty famous and well know guy I guess. I have never read one of his books but a few of you out there must have. With the Vook platform, its nice to put the face with the fame and in this instance it really enhances the experience.

The 5 Vooks: Strategy, Enterprise, Excellence, Leadership, and You.

As I consumed the Vooks I noticed I’m now bring the information into my brain faster on the iPad Vook app. The 5 titles didn’t mean that much to me. I wanted to hear the next “Little” nugget Tom had for me. Many of these you know are common sense, but are just the dam things you forget to do that would make a difference in the course of a day.

Here are a few LITTLE things I liked:

From Strategy:

Small stuff matters. Think thoughtful. Boring is beautiful. People turning 50 have half their adult lives ahead of them (good for me). Build green now. Forget fold ’em….hold ’em and keep holding them…persistence. Be kind. Customer is She. Women are different. R+D. Put outsider inside your organization. Diversity. Reach out to S.W.P (Serious Weird People). Everything is design. Remove Grunge. Remove slop….1 percent drill. Nothing good ever came in on budget (don’t I know it). Hire fanatically.

Enterprise:

Be there. Be kind for everyone is fighting a great battle (yes). Thoughtfulness. Suck down for success. Internal customers are more important. Call a customer today. Up your people budget….cut cap ex instead (my clients don’t get that.)  S.A.V (Screw around vigorously).  Prototype. Be quick about it. Create 2 cent candy stories. Recession advice…bottom line work harder. (crap, been doing that!).

Excellence:

Small courtesies are great. Excellence. Now. Always. Excellence is selfish. Resilience. Managing by wandering around. Screw up often. Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes. Make friends in other functions. Do not bad mouth. Do lunch. Do lunch every day. Only 240 lunches in the year. Organizations exist to serve. PSF (Professional Service Firm). No Wow…no go. How to mimic other success stories. The three Howards stories: “Stay in touch….Sweat the details…..People first!”. Create a Cathedral.

Leadership:

It’s always about  relationships. Always make it personal. Call 25-50 people in the next 5 days.  Ask “What do you think?”. Say Thank You. Say I’m Sorry. Tell the truth always. Listen. Listen. Listen. It’s later then you think.  Master milestoning. To Lead is to helps others.

You:

You are the product…develop it. Amuse yourself. Stay fit. Think professional. Everything passes through Finance….it should. We are all in Sales. Make that three minute call today. Show up. It’s a Start. Get up earlier. Make an insane public gesture. To Don’ts are more important then the To Do’s. Make learning a lifetime mission. Out study ’em. Out Read ’em. Out Write ’em. (which I’m trying to do more of…..). Don’t let the enemy rule your life. Never bash the competition. Retirement sucks. Think of your legacy. Top 50 have You’s listed (read the Vook!).

I love Tom Peters. When he yells “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER…..” your ears perk up. The Videos are just him in front of his bookcase.  So there is no diversity of settings like Seth’s Vook. (I think Seth’s Vook in only available in Vook form. I think.). One could think of this as Tom Peters 1000 commandments. They are things you can put in place quickly (now) and they will enrich your life. I’m really fascinated by the Vook platform. It’s given me new app ideas just interacting with it and I think you should and will check it out.