Tom called me from the road to tell me this story. He’s celebrating an anniversary. On the 15th of October, 1982, he received a small package from New York at his Palo Alto office. When he returned from a meeting in mid-afternoon and opened the package—there it was—two copies of his first book, from an initial print run of 5,000. Beside himself with delight, Tom fondled the book—and headed off to Cupertino with the second copy to give it to a senior executive at Apple, a little computer company with about 200 employees.
And now, exactly 25 years later, Tom is still out on the road, “spreading the word” about “MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around,” “A Bias for Action,” and other more or less eternal truths. On this 25th anniversary to the day, Tom is making the 10,000-plus-mile trip to Seoul, where he will present, along with General Powell and the President of Korea, among others, at a major event aimed at vaulting Korea’s innovation skills to another level.
Happy Anniversary! to Tom and In Search of Excellence.