Thomas J. Peters

Thomas J. Peters (born November 7, 1942) is an American writer on business management practices, best-known for, In Search of Excellence (co-authored with Robert H. Waterman, Jr).

16 Quotes

Five daily newspapers arrive in my California driveway. The New York times and the Wall Street Journal are supplemented by three local papers. As for magazines, I read, or at least skim, Business Week, Forbes, The Economist, INC; Industry Week, Fortune. Other subscriptions include Sales and Marketing Management, Modern Health Care, Progressive Grocer, High Tech Business, and Slaon Management Review from MIT. I religiously read Business Tokyo, Asia Week, and Far Eastern Economic Review. I glance at Newsweek and Time ... but I devour the New Republic, Policy Review, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Monthly, and Public Interest. How about books? A dozen or more each month.

Thomas J. Peters

The magic formula that successful businesses have discovered is to treat customers like guests and employees like people.

Thomas J. Peters

Winners must learn to relish change with the same enthusiasm and energy that we have resisted it in the past.

Thomas J. Peters

Communication is everyone's panacea for everything.

Thomas J. Peters

If your company has a clean-desk policy, the company is nuts and you're nuts to stay there.

Thomas J. Peters

We found that the most exciting environments, that treated people very well, are also tough as nails. There is no bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo... excellent companies provide two things simultaneously: tough environments and very supportive environments.

Thomas J. Peters

Excellent firms don't believe in excellence -- only in constant improvement and constant change.

Thomas J. Peters

Give a lot, expect a lot, and if you don't get it, prune.

Thomas J. Peters

Celebrate what you want to see more of.

Thomas J. Peters

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.

Thomas J. Peters

All business success rests on something labeled a sale, which at least momentarily weds company and customer.

Thomas J. Peters

The best leaders... almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.

Thomas J. Peters

Good managers have a bias for action.

Thomas J. Peters

If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade.

Thomas J. Peters

The simple act of playing positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.

Thomas J. Peters

Train everyone lavishly, you can't overspend on training.

Thomas J. Peters