Tom Peters

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

South Africa has all the tools to compete in the new global village - an eager workforce, ready to take on any challenge.

My problem is not that I see all 17 sides of any issue, but I'm equally passionate about all 17 sides simultaneously.

In Search of Excellence' - even the title - is a reminder that business isn't dry, dreary, boring, or by the numbers. Life at work can be cool - and work that's cool isn't confined to Tiger Woods, Yo-Yo Ma, or Tom Hanks. It's available to all of us and any of us.

One of the biggest problems of 'In Search of Excellence' is that it focused on giant, publicly-traded companies. There are thousands upon thousands of excellent companies. Some of them are two-person accountancies in a community of three thousand people.

I don't want the 35-year-olds in my audience to think of me as as 'pops' giving the kind of advice that only 65-year-olds can understand.

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

The whole secret to our success is being able to con ourselves into believing that we're going to change the world because statistically we are unlikely to do it.

Mastery is great, but even that is not enough. You have to be able to change course without a bead of sweat, or remorse.

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

Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills.

For the blue-collar worker, the driving force behind change was factory automation using programmable machine tools. For the office worker, it's office automation using computer technology: enterprise-resource-planning systems, groupware, intranets, extranets, expert systems, the Web, and e-commerce.