Thursday, November 02, 2006

A List of World Famous Mavericks

Anita Roddick - The Body Shop, Richard Branson - Virgin Group, Rupert Murdoch - News Corp, Ted Turner - CNN, Wayne Huizenga - Block Buster Video, Samuel Goldwyn - MGM, Steve Jobs - Apple, Rod Canion - Compaq, Andy Gove - Intel, Mitch Kapor - Lotus Development, Soichiro Honda - Honda, Akio Morita - Sony, Hiroshi Yamauchi - Nintendo, Luciano Benetton - Benetton.

Some wore dark suits - some wore nothing at all - Benetton in Benetton ad. All were mad as hatters. And they - rogues, scallywags, and dreamers - are the Colour-by-Kodak, Dolby Sound business people that make business interesting and exciting.

They are creators. They are larger than life, people who make business and economics an adventure. They are the "animal spirits" Keynes referred to... So...

Mad Luciano (Benetton) shows up stark naked for a job interview at your company; or profane Anita Roddick arrives for the same purpose, in dungarees that are slightly worn and with a Latin American or African villager or two in tow.

Tom Peters, in his fabulous book, In Search of WOW... asks two questions:


  • Would you hire them?

  • Would they come to work for you if you did offer them a job?

If your answer is no to both questions... you had better start thinking of how to change your business.

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