Susan and I had a rather boisterous and extended argument over pretty much nothing last night. How sad to take notes on a spousal argument, but in the end I yam what I yam. Actually the note, on a scrap torn from the Rutland Herald, “merely” said “not indifferent.”
Temper soothed, I got to thinking about it, and one thing I thought is I’d like that on my tombstone: “Tom Peters. Not Indifferent.” (No rush.) That is, that’s most of what I’ve offered over the years. Often as not my “axioms” were not original (nothing new under the sun, etc.), but I put them forward with a visible/vocal determination that brooked little dissent. Customer is King. People are All. Women Rule! (Etc.) At a recent conference in Sydney, my pal Anita Roddick, who followed me to the podium, said in the Green Room just before she went on stage, “‘Raging enthusiasm.’ That’s what you sell … no matter what the topic.” I guess that’s true. I am “not indifferent,” and do not open my mouth about a topic unless I feel it’s worth going to the mat for. Make “every” project a “Wow Project”! “Every,” you say; “that’s nutty.” Answer: I damn well do mean “every” … why else, at 63, would I have bothered to fly 12,000 miles or so to Sydney. Moreover (I admit it), I think anyone who doesn’t “get it”—in 2005—is a bloomin’ idiot.
“Not indifferent.” Sorry, Susan. I will try to “curb my enthusiasm” at inappropriate times … but not bloody likely to occur.