Thomas J. Peters (born November 7, 1942) is an American writer on business management practices, best known for ''

In Search of Excellence ''In Search of Excellence'' is a book written by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. First published in 1982, it sold three million copies in its first four years, and was the most widely held monograph in the United States from 1989 to 2006. The ...

'' (co-authored with

Robert H. Waterman Jr. Robert H. Waterman Jr. (November 11, 1936 - January 2, 2022) was a non-fiction author and expert on business management practices. He was best known as the co-author, with Tom Peters, of ''In Search of Excellence''. Waterman later directed his own ...

)

Life and education

Peters was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

. He went to Severn School, a private, preparatory high school, graduating in 1960. Peters then attended Cornell University, receiving a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1964, and a master's degree in 1966. He returned to academia in 1970 to study business at Stanford Business School receiving an MBA followed by a PhD in Organizational Behavior in 1977. The title of his dissertation was "Patterns of Winning and Losing: Effects on Approach and Avoidance by Friends and Enemies."

Karl Weick Karl Edward Weick (born October 31, 1936) is an American organizational theorist who introduced the concepts of "loose coupling", "mindfulness (psychology), mindfulness", and "sensemaking" into organizational studies. He is the Rensis Likert Disti ...

credited Peters' dissertation with giving him the idea for his 1984 article: "Small wins: Redefining the scale of social problems." While at Stanford, Peters was influenced by Jim G. March, Herbert Simon (both at Stanford), and Karl Weick (at the University of Michigan). Later, he noted that he was influenced by Douglas McGregor and

Einar Thorsrud Einar Thorsrud (30 April 1923 – 29 May 1985) was a Norwegian psychologist, researcher and professor at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim and University of Oslo, who is known for his work in the field of organizational development ...

. In 2004, he also received an honorary doctorate from the

State University of Management The State University of Management is a public university in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1919. Its rector is Ivan Vasilyevich Lobanov. There are more than 250 professors and 12 academics and members of the Russian Academy of Sciences workin ...

in Moscow.

Career

From 1966 to 1970, he served in the United States Navy, making two deployments to Vietnam as a Navy Seabee, then later working in the Pentagon. From 1973 to 1974, he worked in the White House as a senior drug-abuse advisor, during the Nixon administration. Peters has acknowledged the influence of military strategist Colonel John Boyd on his later writing. From 1974 to 1981, Peters worked as a management consultant at

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

, becoming a partner and Organization Effectiveness practice leader in 1979. In 1981, he left McKinsey to become an independent consultant. In 1990, Peters was referred to in a British Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) publication as one of the world's ''Quality Gurus''. In 1995, the ''New York Times'' referred to Peters as one of the top three business experts in the highest demand as a speaker along with

Daniel Burrus Daniel Burrus is an American technology futurist, business adviser, author, and public speaker in the areas of business strategy, global trends, and disruptive innovation. He has written on the topics of business transformation and technology-d ...

and

Roger Blackwell Roger Blackwell, Ph.D., is an American marketing expert and public speaker. He was described in the ''New York Times'' as one of America's top speakers on business and marketing, along with Daniel Burrus and Tom Peters. He has served on the board ...

. By 2000, Peters was noted for his ever-increasingly aggressive and sometimes "crackpot" demeanor while at the same time his target audiences had changed towards the considerably lower ranks of SMI management. In 2017, "Thinkers50" awarded Peters with its Lifetime Achievement Award for his paving the way for the " thought leadership" and

business book Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

industries.

''In Search of Excellence''

The publication of the popular business book ''In Search of Excellence'' in 1982 marked a turning point in Peters' career. Peters states that directly after graduating with a PhD from Stanford in 1977, and returning to McKinsey, the new managing director,

Ron Daniel Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

, handed him a "fascinating assignment." Motivated by the new ideas coming from Bruce Henderson's Boston Consulting Group, Daniel noted that businesses often failed to effectively implement new strategies, so Peters "was asked to look at 'organization effectiveness' and 'implementation issues' in an inconsequential offshoot project nested in McKinsey's rather offbeat San Francisco office." ''In Search of Excellence'' became a bestseller, gaining exposure in the United States at a national level when a series of television specials based on the book and hosted by Peters appeared on PBS. The primary ideas espoused solving business problems with as little business-process overhead as possible, and empowering decision-makers at multiple levels of a company. The December 2001 issue of '' Fast Company'' quoted Peters admitting that he and Waterman had falsified the underlying data for ''In Search of Excellence''. He is quoted as saying, " This is pretty small beer, but for what it's worth, okay, I confess: We faked the data. A lot of people suggested it at the time." He later insisted that this was untrue and that he was the victim of an "aggressive headline."

Later work

In 1987 Peters published ''Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution''. In later books, Peters has encouraged personal responsibility in response to the " New Economy." More recent books are The Excellence Dividend, released in April 2018, and Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism, released in 2021. Peters currently lives in South Dartmouth, MA with his wife Susan Sargent, and continues to write and speak about personal and business empowerment and problem-solving methodologies. His namesake company "Tom Peters Company"http://tompeterscompany.com/ is based in Essex, UK.

Works

* 1982 – ''

'' (co-written with Robert H. Waterman, Jr.) * 1985 – ''

A Passion for Excellence A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' (co-written with Nancy Austin) * 1987 – '' Thriving on Chaos'' * 1992 – ''Liberation Management'' * 1994 – ''The Tom Peters Seminar: Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organizations'' * 1994 – ''The Pursuit of WOW!'' * 1997 – ''The Circle of Innovation: You Can't Shrink Your Way to Greatness'' * 1999 - ''The Reinventing Work Series 50List Books'' ** 1999 – ''The Brand You 50: Or: Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an "Employee" into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion! (Reinventing Work Series)'' ** 1999 - ''The Project50: Fifty Ways to Transform Every "Task" into a Project That Matters! (Reinventing Work Series)'' ** 1999 - ''The Professional Service Firm50: Fifty Ways to Transform Your "Department" into a Professional Service Firm Whose Trademarks are Passion and Innovation! (Reinventing Work Series)'' * 2003 – ''Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age'' * 2005 – ''Talent'' * 2005 – ''Leadership'' * 2005 – ''Design'' * 2005 – ''Trends'' (co-written with

Martha Barletta Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to Je ...

) * 2010 – ''The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence'' * 2018 - ''The Excellence Dividend: Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last'' * 2021 - ''Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism''

References

External links

tompeters
– official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Tom 1942 births American business writers American management consultants Business speakers Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Living people McKinsey & Company people Writers from Baltimore People from Tinmouth, Vermont Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Writers from Vermont