Peters' book, which was over five years and 400 seminars in the making, is essentially about how to get better at whatever it is you do faster than everyone else. His one big idea — innovation — is approached through fifteen individual concepts, each of which comprises a separate section of the book.

Distance is Dead

Because Peters wastes no time with an overly wordy introduction before moving on to a discussion of the first concept, we shall follow his lead here. "Distance is Dead," writes Peters as he launches us on our incredible journey. In our technologically sophisticated world, we are all next door neighbors. Accordingly, if we, as North Americans, want to hold on to our competitive advantage we're going to have to abandon the idea of gradual progress and embrace the idea of revolution.

To do this, we'll need to rely more than ever before on the brain-power of young people. Obviously, this entails reversing the modern trend of organizational downsizing. In this new era of hyper-competition, if we don't somehow manage to grow faster than Europe and Asia then all will be lost. So let's stop CUTTING and focus instead on GROWING.

Destruction is Cool

Our next stop on the road to innovation involves a discussion of the merits of decentralization. For Peters, the best way to innovate is to decentralize. But because decentralization almost never works in practice, he argues, the second best way to innovate is to completely dismantle your organization.

"Destruction is cool," says Peters. Mergers are almost always a bad idea because they undermine diversity and stifle creative energies. "Today's acquisitions are tomorrow's spin-offs," writes J. Randall Woolridge, an esteemed professor of finance at Penn State. Tom Peters agrees. Instead of buying new production facilities and the like, he argues that firms should be concentrating on acquiring hot new talent.

At times, this strategy may mean buying start-up industries and all the future mega-performers that come along with them. Clearly, that's what the executives at Microsoft have been doing lately and no one could dispute their success. Peters recognizes that this approach may produce a little waste and inefficiency in the short-run, but he stresses that over the life of a firm its benefits are immeasurable.

You Can't Live Without an Eraser

What's more, "You Can't Live Without an Eraser." It seems logical, then, that our lesson would soon turn to a new section and discussion of "organizational forgetting." Organizational learning is one of the hottest management topics of the 1990's, but, according to Peters, FORGETTING is far more important.

A great deal of anecdotal evidence is provided to show that experimentation and the pursuit of risk are the only ways to get rich in the 1990's. Furthermore, Peters knows that it's impossible to foresee what the big products of the future are going to be, so sometimes being innovative will also mean making mistakes. But, from his point of view, that's okay.

"Failure," writes Peters, "is the only precursor to success and BIG failure is the only precursor to BIG success." To continue to play by the rules of the past, to avoid sticking your neck out, will mean countless missed opportunities.

Peters admits that following this strategy will sometimes mean forgetting about achieving consensus. "If you have two people that think the same," reads one quote, "fire one of them. What do you need duplication for?" In short, nobody has ALL the right answers because there often aren't ANY right answers. Unfortunately, preservation in most organizations gets top billing, while creation and destruction get often put on the shelves. This is what has to change.

We Are All Michelangelos

Once we have accepted the necessity of forgetting about the past, we can then move forward to Peters' next stage where "We Are All Michelangelos." On this subject, Peters' supporters believe that every job should be turned into a business and every worker into a businessperson. We are told that this is possible for about 98 percent of all employees. Workers must be given the appropriate tools to become the "Michelangelos of accounts receivable" or the "Michelangelos of marketing."

Under such a regime, there's no excuse for not being great at what you do once you've been given the tools to achieve great things. Proper leadership and coaching, mixed with a healthy dose of trust and the proper incentives (i.e. financial rewards), can transform any employee into an architect of brilliant new ideas.

Welcome to the White-Collar Revolution

With that, Peters offers us all a warm "Welcome to the White-Collar Revolution."

According to our colorful host, most new jobs are white-collar jobs. And these new employees should all be in a position to "make things happen." To that end, these individuals must be prepared to explain to their superiors HOW THEY HAVE MADE THE COMPANY A BETTER PLACE on an almost daily basis. If they cannot do this, then they should be tossed out. Period.

Obviously, this notion entails employees trying very hard to make every single day count. That means embracing power. "The thing women have got to learn," writes Roseanne Barr, whose wisdom on this subject applies equally well to men, "is that nobody gives you power. You just TAKE it."

Formal organizational charts don't even begin to tell the whole story of who's really important in an organization and who's not. It is still possible to lead the way without necessarily having much in the way of formal authority. Your success will not be defined by your title. Self-promotion and a little bragging from time-to-time are not necessarily bad things. In fact, without them, nobody will ever know what a good job you're doing.

All Value Comes from the Professional Services

Because "All Value Comes from the Professional Services," Peters' next section deals with the concept of turning every job into a project complete with measurable goals and high levels of client involvement. Once everything has been transformed into a scintillating project, people are free to become independent consultants. They then become fabulously good at something — they become professionals (or, as Peters calls them, "Value Added Projects Freaks"). Well, a rose by any other name still smells as sweet. Next idea.

The Intermediary is Doomed

As most of us have already realized, "The Intermediary is Doomed." In this next section, we are told that technology has undermined the need for the "middle man." Successful organizations of the future aren't just flat, writes Peters, they're like a bowl of Campbell's Soup. They're here, they're there, they're all over the place. And, because direct sales and distribution are on the rise, people who play the role of intermediary are in big trouble.

In large part, this is due to the fact that interaction costs (i.e. the implications of "friction" in economic terms) are plummeting. Most of us will remember that it used to cost hundreds of dollars to process a simple transaction. Now, in Australia a grocery store's automated debit card system can clear a Toronto-based bank transaction in two or three seconds. On the positive side, this means that small one-person consultancy firms can become successful global players. On the down side, it suggests that old-style middle managers have no useful role to play in the new economy.

The System is the Solution

Because people sometimes need to be encouraged to share, Peters' next idea reveals that "The System is the Solution." Formerly warring organizational departments must be brought on the same side — reorganized around essential processes that cut across vertical boundaries. Firms should take the procedures they're working with and not only cut them, but make them more "chatty, friendly, graceful and artistic." Systems can be beautiful. A marvelous concept.

To illustrate his point, Peters tells us that the Marriott chain has combined the tasks of doorman, bellhop and desk clerk into a single position — Guest Service Agent (GSA). A guest is greeted at the door, checked in and taken to her room by the same person. In Peters' words, "it's a beautiful system."

Sometimes making the system beautiful means getting rid of the fine print. If that means a few bad guys will take advantage of the situation, so be it. Information should be friendly, easy to understand and available to everyone who wants it. This is clearly one of Peters' favorite concepts.

Create Waves of Lust

"Create Waves of Lust," orders Peters as he moves us on to the next lesson. With an explosion of new competitors and new products, all of which have fine quality, customers have become far more value conscious. North Americans can no longer afford to produce identical products to places like Brazil and Malaysia — our wages are too high here to justify those kinds of inefficiencies. We have to stay interesting. We have to innovate. We have to create LUST.

World-class quality and rapid product development won't accomplish this goal alone. Instead, new products and services must be able to "fulfill even unexpressed wishes and needs." Personality, firms should realize, is a market niche in and of itself. To get ahead they must seek to amuse, surprise and entertain. As the late Jerry Garcia once said, "it's not enough to be the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do."

Tommy Hilfiger Knows

Like Tom Peters, Tommy Hilfiger, knows all about this next concept. Not too long ago, some of us will recall, just about everyone had given up name brands for dead. Now folks like Tommy Hilfiger have brought them back with a vengeance. Branding, for Peters, means nothing less than creating a distinct personality and then telling the whole world about it. Everything must have its own experience. It's the Starbucks EXPERIENCE, the Levi's EXPERIENCE, etc., etc.

Brand loyalty is not dead. It's more alive and important than ever.

Become a Connoisseur of Talent

Managers who adhere to Peters' total philosophy have become "Connoisseurs of Talent" — our next concept. Peters reminds us that our most beloved products were developed by hunch, guesswork and fanaticism. It may make a lot of middle-aged businessmen uncomfortable, but experience is out and inexperience is in.

Successful managers are always on the lookout for the youngest, the brightest and the very talented. They hire for intelligence and train for skill. They're always on the lookout for intriguing new people. It's worth thinking about.

It's a Woman's World

"It's a Woman's World" according to Tom Peters. We're now nearing the final stop of our journey toward innovation.

Twenty percent of American women earn more than their husbands, but most businesses fail to cater to them in any way whatever. For example, the vast majority of car-buying decisions are made by women, but less than 10 percent of car salesMEN are women. What's more, women are better educated than men yet there are so few of them in top management positions. Women represent so many un-tapped opportunities (witness the amazing success of Saturn over the last few years). They're the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Does your firm have a women's strategy?

Love All, Serve All

Peters leaves us with a warm sentiment: "Love All, Serve All." Businesses have to realize that no one NEEDS anything anymore. It's entirely about fulfilling wants nowadays. Accordingly, service, service and service is the key. Yet, as Peters points out, very few companies have established an advantage based exclusively on service. What a shame.

Managers who hire, reward and promote convivial, customer-obsessed folks have got the right idea. Love all, serve all is such a simple — and beautiful concept — it's amazing why everyone doesn't do it. A little enthusiasm goes a long, long way. Remember, "People Stuff is the Only Stuff."

With so many diverse ideas, it's hard (impossible?) to wrap-up Tom Peters' book in a few glib sentences. Maybe, then, it's best just to remind everyone that a deep and ongoing commitment to innovation means a commitment to leadership. And, as Peters forever reminds us, we are living in unbalanced times. Why not consider being an unbalanced leader? If nothing else, you'll be original.