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I'm labeling what follows a "précis" of my current concerns. It originated with a client request for projected takeaways associated with a forthcoming speech. I responded, as requested, with a single page. Then I expanded the outline in a 2,000-word short essay. Imperative No. 1 Innovation is Strategy 15 Takeaways from Business Guru Tom Peters 1 It's been said a million times, but it must be repeated: The pace of change is unprecedented—and staggering. Robotics, genetics, artifi cial intel- ligence, and nanotechnology, among other things, are literally "changing everything." White-collar work can be augmented (IA/Intelligence Augmented) but high-end white-collar jobs by the tens of millions are under threat (AI/ Artifi cial Intelligence). Robots to vacu- um the liv- ing room f l o o r a r e terrifi c, but roboticized war via autono- mous drones is too gruesome to con- template. "Designer babies" (and other genetic "miracles") may result in extraor- dinary healthcare advances—but may also introduce the stuff of wild-eyed science fi ction. Our organizations—and nations—must take all this into account. The world will change shape—for bet- ter, and for worse. And it's happening more or less in a fl ash. Leading physicist Albert Bartlett goes so far as to suggest, "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." 2 From a business— and, for that matter, government— perspective, there is, in a sense, only one overarching strategy: constant, high-speed innovation. The likes of effi - ciency and top qual- ity are imperative for every enterprise and the achievement thereof is hardly a small thing. But that's "table stakes" in 2015/2015+. The (only) win- ning hand for one and virtually all is an organization designed from top to bottom as a de facto "innovation machine." In three words, innovation is strategy. 3 Needless to say (but it always needs saying—and then saying again and again), capturing and keeping an energized, empowered, engaged, growing workforce is the bedrock of all the above. "Putting people fi rst" must stop being a slogan and become everyday reality and agenda item No.1 in every organi- zation of every size; the payoff is stag- gering, from retail to biotech. Training and development—with a passion and a big budget—are the bedrock of the bedrock. As one executive put it, "Why go berserk over training? Greed—it pays off in spades." (E.g., When the fi nancial crisis hit, the Container Store, voted the top company to work for in America a couple of years back, doubled rather than cut the front-line training budget in order to increase the sales tickets from the lesser number of customers coming in the door. It worked. And, yes, I did just say that a middle-market retailer, not Google or one of its sexy peers, was the No.1 U.S. company to work for.) 4 Forget the vision: Improving leadership effectiveness stems mostly from assiduous attention to a bin full of tactics. Vision is one thing but I like to focus on the (so-called) little stuff: (1) Religiously doing your daily MBWA/ Managing By Wandering Around—i.e., staying in direct touch with the likes of Robots to vacu- um the liv- ing room f l o o r a r e Robots to vacu- um the liv- ing room f l o o r a r e Robots to vacu- um the liv- ing room "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." 2 and, for that matter, um the liv- ing room "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." "The greatest shortcoming of the human "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." f l o o r a r e "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." the exponential function." "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand But that's "table stakes" in 2015/2015+. The (only) win- ning hand for one and virtually all is an organization designed from top to bottom as a de facto "innovation machine." In three words, innovation is strategy. words, innovation is strategy. is hardly a small thing. But that's "table stakes" in ning hand for one and virtually all is an organization designed from top to bottom as a de facto from top to bottom as a de facto "innovation machine." In three "innovation machine." In three "innovation machine." In three "innovation machine." In three from top to bottom as a de facto ning hand for one and virtually all is an organization designed "innovation machine." In three "innovation machine." In three continued on page 26 24 FEDA News & Views