The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence
by Tom Peters
What do you say about this author/consultant/professional speaker? He falls into a somewhat unique category with other notables such as Bill Gates, Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, Ted Turner and Donald Trump. They’re all successful businessmen and outspoken authors. They’re all well-educated, experienced, controversial, well-read, insightful, thought-provoking, heavily networked, often bombastic, highly respected and tremendously passionate.
Oh, one more thing. People either love them or hate them. There is no mid-ground with these men, and they could care less. Tom will tell you as much. He has valuable messages to share—it’s up to you to take them or leave them.
I’m not even certain how to review this book. I always struggle when it comes to reviewing anything Tom has written. A true review of his content would almost require a book to do it justice. There are several reasons for that:
- While he had a good title and theme for each of his works, he’s all over the map with his content.
- He writes like he thinks … short choppy sentences, buzz words, a variety of fonts in every size you can imagine, and a ton of exclamation points!
- He repeats a great deal of material from his previous books but, oddly enough, blends it into new, creative content which flows smoothly and adds credibility to his message.
This book contains 538 pages spread across 163 chapters which focus on the pursuit of excellence. Thus far, Peters has published 16 books … all best sellers and all dealing, in one way or another, with the pursuit of excellence.
In this book, he does so by sharing “Little BIG Things” which he defines as: “Compelling nuggets of a life experience that is representative of a BIG and Potent Idea.” In this particular journey, he’ll take you all over the world as he drops very impressive names to illustrate his learning points.
To stay current, Tom writes this book in a blogging style and admits that it isn’t meant to be read like a regular book. While his ever-changing approach is a challenge to master, he continues to force readers to stop and think and offers a great deal of practical and achievable advice.
Peters has always been a “back-to-the-basics” guy and certainly stays true to form in this book. He argues that the power of small should not be underestimated, whether in big decisions like health care or in the power of having flowers in view or keeping restrooms clean at brick-and-mortar establishments.
The book also includes the 19 Es of Excellence and 7 Special Sections: Guru Gaffes, The Recession 46, The “Equations,” You, Me, & Charlie Wilson’s War, Quotations 34, Top 50 “Have-Yous,” and The Heart of Business Strategy.
Grab a box of highlighters, pour a drink, find a comfortable chair, buckle your seat belt and prepare for a typical “Tom Peters excursion” providing education, entertainment, and personal challenge. As usual, you won’t be disappointed!
The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE
About Harry K. Jones
Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.