Interacting with weird, strange, different, diversified, abnormal ... people AND hiring them

Tom Peters is best known for his books, "In Search of Excellence" and "A Passion for Excellence".

These were published twenty years ago and yet here he is back in SA for another visit to present his thoughts on 'Re-inventing Management Practices for the 21st century'.

Peters is quoted by many business people but also derided by many as being 'old school' or out of touch with modern business strategies and methods.

The interesting thing about him though, is that he is always questioning and raising issues. The old sage who stressed that knowing the questions is more important than knowing the answers was never more correct than when it comes to innovation in the workplace.

A quote from Peters new book "RE-IMAGINE" due for release in September 2003 gives some insight into where he is headed in re-inventing management practices.

"The challenge is to invent and implement totally new organisational forms fit for these totally new and unpredictable times. Your organisation must be a place where amazing stuff is Always being initiated."

My favourite chapter in his book "In Search of Excellence" is the one dealing with ambiguity and paradox. The quote at the start is from F.Scott Fitzgerald, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."

The ideas in his books are often paradoxical and at first can seem illogical. However, his portrayal of the innovative workplace and the successful organisation as anything but rational and ordered is essential reading for anyone who seeks innovation in the workplace.